A Christian, a Muslim and a Buddhist die and arrive at the Gate of Heaven.
An Angel (or deva) stops them and asks, "Why do you come here? Can you
tell me the reasons why you are allowed to enter Heaven?"
The Christian replies, "My ancester disobeyed God, and I sinned all my
life: I killed, I lied, I cheated my wife and I was greedy. However, Jesus died
for me and all my sins are forgiven. So I deserved to enter Heaven." "OK,"
replies the Angel, "sounds good, but I must give you an entrance examination
before you can enter." The Christian promptly agrees and the Angel asks
him: "How to spell God?". It is an easy question and the Christian
passes through the Gate.
Next came the Muslim, who says, "I had not done any good or evil things
during my life but I was very devout. I prayed to God five times a day. So,
I too should enter Heaven." The Angel replied, "It sounds OK to me
but I have to give you a test also. How to spell Allah?" Not too bad, and
the Muslim passes the test.
Finally, it is the Buddhist turn, who tells the Angel,"I had done all the
good things in my life and I followed Buddha's five prescepts: I never killed,
I donated to charities, I meditated every day, and I never cheated my boss nor
my customers." The Angel replies, "that is very good, but there is
no exceptions. You must pass the entrance test also in order to get in."
Thinking that the test should be simple, he agrees to take the test. The Angel
then asks him: "How to spell Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva?"