Comparing Buddhism And Hinduism

The second highest caste was the Kshatriyas. These were the warriors, rulers, and those concerned with the defense and administration of the village or state. Third came the Vaishyas, who were traders, merchants, and people involved in agricultural production. The lowest caste was the Shudras -- the laborers and servants for the other castes. Each caste included many sub castes divided by occupation. Below even the Shudras were the Untouchables. These people had no caste at all. They performed the most menial of jobs, such as dealing with dead bodies and cleaning toilets. Higher-caste people believed that if they touched one of the caste-less, they would be contaminated and would need to go through cleansing rituals. the caste system is not explicitly religious, although the Hindu religion has played a large part in maintaining its structure. Hinduism preaches a cycle of birth and reincarnation, in which a person's soul is reborn into a new form after death. Your actions in this life determine your fate when you are born again. If you are faithful and dutiful in this life, next time, you'll get a better lot. The caste system fits well with this belief. Lower-caste people believed that if they lived a good life, they could be reborn in a higher caste in the next. Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development leading to Insight into the true nature of life. Buddhist practices such as meditation

The religious history of India is long and complex. Hinduism was the first known religion to permeat India and the surrounding area. A couple thousand years later, Buddhism originated as a reformation of Hinduism–rejecting its caste system and deities–and began to rearrange the religious status of India. Today, Eastern Asia is divided between Buddhism and Hinduism. Only Nepal employs both religions, considering them inextricably linked. The history and current situation of the relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism begs the question: Can Buddhism exist in a Hindu society in a way that fulfills each religion? Huston Smith’s The World’s Religions and the Buddhist Scriptures each contribute to this controversial conversation. Despite strong arguments for the conjunction of the two religions and the similarities they share, the philosophical and categorical difference between the two demonstrates a tension better than it does a cohesion.

Next, Buddhism also had an impact on the society it was born into. To start out defining what Buddhism is, this particular religion focuses more on humans including finding ways to overcome human suffering (Smith, 1994). Parts of this religion include the four noble truths, including that life can go awry and that suffering is born from that, that the reason why people suffer from life is because they have selfish desires, that those desires can be overcome, and, finally, that the Eight Fold Path is the way out of suffering (Smith, 1994). To define it, the Eight Fold Path are edicts on how to live a right life and it includes ideas such as having an occupation that does not go against Buddha’s ideas and also the idea of not speaking ill about others (Smith, 1994). To get into how this particular religion shaped society, it is important to first note that Buddhism ended up existing with Hinduism in India at a certain point in time. However, now although there are Buddhists around the world, they are generally not in India (Smith, 1994). This is because Hinduism ended up absorbing some parts Buddhist ethos into their own religious structure, and some of their practices as well. To be more specific, this included changes such as decreasing the importance of the traditional caste structure as well as adding in segments of

Hinduism which had developed in India as one of the most followed, was and still is polytheistic which meant the belief in many gods. Furthermore, the followers of Hinduism believed in what was called reincarnation; the rebirth of your soul in a new body after death. Also, the caste system was the division of social

Other similarities between Hinduism and Buddhism are more apparent. Both religions maintain a broad perspective of religious worship. Hinduism is polytheistic while Buddhism maintains no structured belief in an independent, sentient god-like entity (especially in human form). Either of these concepts yields a malleable religion which can adjust and conform to local tradition and fluctuations in intellectual and spiritual thought. Both religions believe in a system of reincarnation, and both religions emphasize the community over the self. The major rift between the two religions seems to stem from the role of social structure in the two religions. Hinduism's caste system perpetuates a fatalism and apathy toward social rights and advancement while reinforcing the ruling establishment. Buddhism concentrates on the individual's release from suffering, implying no overriding social definition. The outstanding example of Hinduism's establishment tendencies is the caste system. The caste system divides the Hindu people into four major classes, Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra, and "untouchables," or people outside of

The caste systems, the practice of arrange marriages, the popular view of human development, the collectivistic nature of the society, and Indian rites of passage all have their foundation in Hinduism.

Hinduism is one of many religions practiced in the world. According to an article focused on the background and beliefs of Asian religions, Hinduism is a religion “developed over many centuries from a variety of sources: cultural practices, sacred texts, and philosophical movements, as well as local popular beliefs,” (“Beliefs Made Visible” 4). A system assigned by birth and social class is well known and used in this religion, otherwise known as a Caste System. In their respective groups, individuals will be born into these groups and must stay in their separate group until their death (“The Caste System” 1). It is divided into four categories: Brahmin (priests, scholars), Kshatriya (warriors), Vaishya (traders) and Shudra (laborers), (“Hindu Caste System” 1).

One of the major Hindu beliefs that Buddhism rejects is the Caste System, or “jati” in

Despite India’s diverse cultural landscape, both ethnically and religiously, Hinduism often serves as the predominant summation of the country’s culture—and justly, albeit incorrectly, so—as over 80% of the nation’s population practices the ancient tradition (“Religious Composition” n.p.). Hinduism’s history begins several thousands of years ago, as the nomadic Aryan peoples, sweeping in from the northern Hindu Kush Mountains, alternately clashed and mingled with the local Dravidian people with their downward migration; this Indo-Aryan synthesis, centered on the sacred Vedas scriptures of the Aryans, led to the development of a new religious tradition that would prevail for thousands of years: Hinduism (Lockard 50).

The significance of the caste system influenced India's religious beliefs. A caste system is a type of social organization in which a persons occupation and position in life is determined by the circumstances of his/her birth. In the religion Hinduism, four castes exist arranged in a hierarchy. Anyone who is not in a caste is seen as an outsider or outcaste. In the Hindu religion, order and stability is maintained through the caste system. Moksha is the ultimate goal for a Hindu, the soul is liberated from the cycle of death. The caste system is hereditary, whatever caste you are in you must work and hopefully in the next life be out in a better caste.

While not totally rejecting the teachings, religions like Hinduism have incorporated the main ideas of karma and samsara and warped it into creating a rigid caste system where people of higher class rarely associate with people of lower class in order to maintain reincarnation patterns. It is a political theology based on the Laws of Manu, otherwise known as dharma; a law that states that an individual’s duty is determined by his or her position in the caste. The main domestic consequence of this system is that for some people who live in such a place they are immediately discriminated against due to their class, one such case is the attitude towards the Dalits,

For thousands of years the caste members was well known how they lived, class, region, gender, tribe, and language. They ate, married, and worked with their own group and if that person was born they rarely changed caste or even mixed with other castes. Social rules defined how to behave within a caste and when in the presence people from other castes. In a caste system was well known in India and was supported by Hindu beliefs “the acceptance of one’s fate in life, several major caste dictated one’s life chance from the moment of birth, especially in rural areas” (Kerbo, 2009). The been many controversy in India’s society with stratification and inequality specially in the lower caste that lived in poverty in their lives and the lowest caste was the Dalits known has the untouchables and lived in polluting and unclean occupations and was considered outcastes. In the caste system it caused problems when each other overlapped each other when it came to unequal access to wealth, income, prestige, and power. This paper will examine the history of this group in the United States and misconception about this ethic group.

Starting in the Indus River Valley then eventually spreading all over the world, Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world. Starting with the writing of one of the sacred texts, the Vedas in a time frame of 1500-600 BCE. One of the focal points of the religion is the idea of dharma. In Hinduism, dharma means the truth or a way of life that all followers should adhere to in their best interest. It’s an obligation that every Hindu has to follow or he’s subject to a reincarnation that is worse than their current life. While the rise of Hinduism took place in the Indus River Valley, Buddhism started in approximately 500 BCE as a reform movement within Indian religions in the Ganges. The Buddha of our age, Siddhartha was born in

Buddhists have their own cultural and educational centers, their ideology. Buddhism, preaches social and political indifference. In practice, they made a huge contribution to the organization of society and its ethno-political awareness of their values. Society, politics and history are diametrically far for the followers of Hinduism. Hinduism is indifferent and unavailable for alteration or changes. Buddhism is more dynamic concept and it is attainable for renewal.

The first hints of Hinduism developed with the immigration of Indo-Aryans into South Asia. Vedic tradition was in Sanskrit and centered around the Four