Hinduism And Buddhism In America

Buddhism is the worshiping of the “enlightened one” and teaches to overcome one’s desires is to overcome pain. Islam teachings are written in a book called the Koran and was founded by Muhammad. He claimed to have a vision from God. There are two different types of Islam that are practiced: one believes the religious leader is inspired to interpret the Koran and the other believes that Modernism threatens religion (Chinatown-online- Chinese beliefs). In the United States there are hundreds of denominations and sects of religion. About 69 % of Americans belong to a church or synagogue. In the U.S. people are usually drawn to a certain religion because of social class, race and age. The most obvious classification of religion in the U.S. is race (Sociology A Down-to-Earth Approach, 1999, pg. 511). African Americas and the White population tend to separate themselves into their own churches. With so many congregations and denominations throughout the U.S. there is no dominate religion. Over the years moderilization in the U.S. has put less importance on religion. The Chinese culture is very much centered on religion (A Down-to-Earth Approach, 1999 pg. 512).

The core belief of the two religions is ‘Karma’, which means ‘action’. Buddhism and Hinduism both originated in India, therefore, some of its core beliefs are similar, however, the way the two religions perceive their core beliefs are different. In Hinduism, Karma could be defined as a process of cause and effect. The actions of people have an effect on them somewhere in their life (Tambyah). According to this concept, the good deeds of a person will take him to a good future or vice versa. Karma has also a strong link with the moral actions and intentions of a person. In this regard, if a person does well with a wrong intention, he or she will definitely get wrong effects in the future due to their bad intentions. On the other hand, Karma in Buddhism is commonly known as a‘virtue’. Similar to

When I visited the Phat Da Buddhist Congregation in San Diego, a Vietnamese Buddhist temple in San Diego, I was taken by surprise that the service was given in Vietnamese. The decorations on the wall, the sacred images displayed at the altar, and the vibrant color of the monk’s robe were still familiar, but what was being said was (very) foreign to me. I quickly became impatient and preoccupied with the question on why I was there in the first place. What would I write about for my final Buddhism assignment if I could not understand what was being said? One thing was clear, the day I visited, they were celebrating Buddha’s birthday with huge display of rituals and ceremony, and a big birthday cake at the end.

Karma is a belief that Buddhists, Hindus, and Christians believe in. Karma is simply “what goes around, comes around”. However, Buddhists and Hindus believe that karma occurs after reincarnation in the next life. Christians believe that karma can take place in the current life as well. Buddhism and Hinduism also believe in dharma, which are the ethics and duties.

How can we begin to understand such a diverse and ancient religion? The width of Buddhism is immense. It is a religion without any written rules. Buddhism is based on self-discovery. Buddhists are born with the quest to find their true form. They believe that they are prisoners of the physical plain until they reach nirvana. Nirvana is the ultimate goal for a Buddhist (Buddhism, 2007). It is the state that saves them from all suffering and evil. They believe that only nirvana can remove them from the never-ending circle of life.

“What does Eastern Religions mean to Americans?” Starting in the 19th century, Buddhism began to make its way to America through the immigration of the Chinese whom brought their religious traditions with them. Buddhism continued to gain popularity in America when Buddhist texts, as well as Buddhist teachers, were brought here to share and spread their religion. It wasn’t until the late 1950’s/early 1960’s that we see the interest in Buddhism, particularly Zen Buddhism, blossom throughout the country. Through the memoir “Sacred Hoops” by Phil Jackson, an NBA player and coach, we are able to see how Zen Buddhism not only altered his life, as well as his players, but how the religion also adapts to American culture. From reading both “Sacred Hoops” and learning about Buddhism throughout this semester, I would argue that Eastern religions, specifically Zen Buddhism, is not only a way for Americans to escape the reality of American culture but also provides a complete alternative to Christianity and other similar religions that are predominate in America.

In early India, there were many types of religions, two of which being Hinduism and Buddhism. Both Hinduism and Buddhism were extremely important religions in Early India. They shared some similarities and differences in qualities regarding their origins, sacred texts, and different beliefs. Hinduism believed in reincarnation and karma as it would help them in their coming life and will move them higher on the caste system, opposed to Buddhism which believed more in doing the right thing and not hurting anyone or anything because they believed that all deserve to be treated correctly. Buddhism was not about the caste system like Hinduism, it was more about being a good human being and that karma will return to you. The people that looked more in Buddhism were the people who were the rejects of the caste system.

Two of the most central ideas in Hinduism that are very important to my cultural identity in terms of my outlook on life and other people are reincarnation and karma. I believe that there is a cycle of death and rebirth, and depending on your deeds in your current life, you will be rewarded or punished in your next life. Eventually, every Hindu’s goal is to attain “Moksha” and break the cycle of life and become one with God. My belief in karma and reincarnation affects my everyday life because when I think about my situation or other peoples’ situation, I trace everything back to actions in our previous lives. My religion is the most important part of my life, and the values that it has taught me have stuck with me through times of joy and times of distress. My relationship with God is the most important one in my life, and it is the biggest part of my cultural identity.

Throughout the world, different nations have different beliefs or religion. Some religions evolve from others, and others are combination of other religions. Religion is a way of life, a lifestyle; it should dictate how you live your life. For instance, in India, Buddhism evolved from Hinduism, a religion were people believe in 300, 000 gods. Even though, Hinduism and Buddhism have different similarities such as believes in god, soul, and rituals, which in some ways connected to each other, both religions believe of what happens after life.

Buddhists are strong believers in Karma, the law of cause and effect. They are often morally

Albert Einstein once said, “the religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal god, avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all natural and spiritual and a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.”# Many great minds like Albert Einstein have converted or become Buddhists. Many people from the west are turning their attention towards Buddhism because of the Buddha’s simple way to life and the lack of worship or prayer to a divine being.

Hinduism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity developed centuries ago and have been practiced since then to today. Groups of people who practice these religions are bound to the conventional norms, beliefs, cultures and way of life of each. Each religion has a particular faith in a supreme being (Woodhead, Partridge & Kawanami, 2016). Muslims believe in Allah, Christians believe in Jesus Christ, Hindus believe in multiple Gods (Coomaraswamy, 2011) and Buddhism follower’s belief in various Gods and their enlightened priests especially the "most high priests" Buddha Almond, P. C. (2007). All these religions regard their places of which as sacred places which

Hinduism and Buddhism are both eastern traditions with much to say about the human condition as well as the reason human beings exist at all. In some ways they are different while also being similar in other ways. In this essay, those differences will be discussed and the similarities examined for their message. In conclusion, we will examine what these two faiths offer to the human beings of the twenty-first century.

In the western world, a dominant belief is that after life, a person’s soul is sent to a place of eternal bliss, heaven, or a place of eternal damnation, hell. To Buddhists, this concept is not the norm. Buddhists believe that a person is reincarnated into another life form, either human or animal. What life form a person is reincarnated as is determined by the person’s karma. The concept of karma not only affects reincarnation, but also what path a person’s life takes. While much of the concept of karma is believable and comprehensible by a person of any denomination, some aspects are dependant upon a belief in reincarnation and that a person will eventually be punished for his sins or rewarded

The Buddhist doctrine of karma ("deeds", "actions"), and the closely related doctrine of rebirth, are perhaps the best known, and often the least understood, of Buddhist doctrines. The matter is complicated by the fact that the other Indian religious traditions of Hinduism and Jainism have their own theories of Karma and Reincarnation. It is in fact the Hindu versions that are better known in the West. The Buddhist theory of karma and rebirth are quite distinct from their other Indian counterparts.