Hinduism And Buddhism Similarities

Both Buddhism and Hinduism are well known religions. They are two of the most popular polytheistic faiths in the world. Some people believe them to be sects of the same religion, but they are mistaken. Buddhism and Hinduism have some similarities, but many things set them apart from each other as well. They are each their own religion in many aspects.

“Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma ("eternal spiritual path") began about 4000 years ago in India. It was the religion of an ancient people known as the Aryans ("noble people") whose philosophy, religion, and customs are recorded in their sacred texts known as the Vedas” (United Religions). Vedas are written in the ancient language of India, called Sanskrit. Vedas means “knowledge” or “sacred lore.” The Vedas gives great intelligence about the variety of Gods from the Vedic period, 2000 to 500 BCE (Molloy,78).

““Worldwide, more than eight-in-ten people identify with a religious group,” says a new comprehensive demographic study of more than 230 countries and territories conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life.” (Harper). Within the top five most popular religions, Christianity if found to be at the top with Buddhism ranked number four. With millions of people from around the world participating in these religions, one may wonder how they compare to one another. Upon exploration of Buddhism and Christianity, many similarities are found such as the importance of a spiritual master, shared values, and the followers strive for spiritual perfection. Although Buddhism and Christianity encompass many similarities within the religions, the fundamental differences in the view of God, salvation, and reincarnation ultimately outweigh their likeness.

There are more than seven billion people living across the world and about 19 major religions with about 270 subgroups. In many states and countries, there are two or more religions that are being practiced by its residents. Hinduism and Buddhism are two of the 19 major religions, that are widely practiced. Hinduism and Buddhism both have common origins, and share similar beliefs. Both Hinduism and Buddhism are religions that focus on the way to live and the different paths to gain enlightenment. There are certain differences that make them different in terms of individual life time and its major principles (Silf).

Hinduism and Buddhism have common origins in the Ganges culture of northern India around 500 BCE. We have to admit that they share a lot of similarities, but also involve tons of differences. For example, as Hinduism claims that Atman is Brahman, Buddhism reject the existence of Atman. Hindus think that the way to becoming enlightened is to union with God, but Buddhists pursue a throughout understanding of the universe by following the Noble Eightfold Path. Hinduism believes that Atman is changeless, while Buddhism tells people that everything is impermanent. Disagreement about permanence is a very apparent issue between Hinduism and Buddhism.

Hinduism and Buddhism are among the oldest traditions in the world. Incidentally, both traditions have their roots in India. Since their beginning, both traditions have co-existed peacefully and even spread beyond India in similar patterns. Most people have scattered information about the traditions and make assumptions that they are similar. However, they also have clear distinguishing features. This paper intends to study the similarities and contrasts between the two traditions in various contexts. First, the traditions will be compared and contrasted based on how they began. The development processes of both religions will then be contrasted. The paper will then discuss the similarities and differences between the two religions based on the social and the political roles they played.

Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism are all religions that connect in more than one way. One major way that these religions connect is through the afterlife, otherwise known as the unconditioned reality. Hinduism and Buddhism have very similar views on the afterlife while Daoism has a slightly different view. In the end, they all have the same goal which is to achieve the final state that lasts forever. Even though this is true, that does not mean they do not differ in more than one way. Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism rely strongly on theoretical, practical, and sociological standpoints. A large part of the theoretical standpoints, are myths about the gods and how things are. A large part of sociological standpoints are festivals, and temples. Lastly, practical is practiced through mediation, yoga, and payers. In Hinduism, there are various sects that worship a total of roughly 360,000,000 different gods. As you could imagine, this would be difficult to generalize in just one essay, so the branch of Hinduism I will go over just includes the basic trinity and Vedic gods. Along with this, this essay will include information on the two major types of Buddhism and how one attains enlightenment. Finally, we will go over how one is to attain immortality through Daoism, along with the beliefs of the traditional Chinese Folk religions.

Evidently, all of the religions in the world have different beliefs. Beliefs are the basis of one’s behaviour. Everything an individual does, traces back to the beliefs they have about the world. Hinduism and Buddhism are two religions that originated from the same nation, India. Both religions share beliefs on different paths to enlightenment, beliefs on reincarnation, and both believe in the spiritual practices of meditation. The purpose of this paper is to further discuss these beliefs, along with their similarities.

Hinduism and Buddhism were both founded and popular in northern India by 600 CE. Although Hinduism and the Hindu caste system maintained a strong influence in South Asia throughout 600-1750 CE, the Hindu majority eventually gave way as Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and syncretic faiths gradually moved in and across the Indian Ocean basin by 1750 CE. Even then, Hinduism did spread from northern India through southern India to Southeast Asia. The caste system was maintained from 600-1750 CE, given the fact that Hinduism promoted such rigid class distinctions as morally right, though the caste system developed sub-castes during this period. Buddhism actually declined with Hinduism and Islam gaining more ground in its native India only to slowly gain influence in SE Asia. This spread was caused by Buddhist merchants, who brought their religion to their trade partners. Founded in 622, Islam had large and rapid growth due to early military conquests, spread of religion through missionary work, and trade, which exposed non-Muslim merchants to the religion. Other faiths such as Christianity, Sikhism, and Akbar’s “Divine Faith” had modest success. By 1750, the Indian Ocean contained many different religions, and each faith influenced various empires, social classes, and port cities to differing degrees.

Many people believe that Hinduism and Buddhism are same religion, but if you look closely you will notice that they have their differences. Along with their differences they also have their similarities. If you want to learn the differences and similarities between the two religions keep on reading.

Although we do not know the exact time that Hinduism began, it is believed to be over 4,000 years old. There have been overlapping civilizations in India that may have molded the religion into what it is now (Kinnard 1). Around 2,000 B.C.E., located near the great Indus River, the Indus Valley Civilization, who worshipped many goddesses, may have been the very beginning of the shaping of Hinduism. Near the end of the Indus Valley Civilization around 1,500 B.C.E., a new society surfaced in India. Believed to be brought by the central Asian Aryans, the Vedic religion began (Kinnard). The Aryans’ practices included the sacrifice of animals and other offerings to their gods into a sacred fire. The gods they worshipped were mainly gods of nature such as the fire god and the plant god (flood). This era was the time of the Vedas, which are scriptures describing rituals to please the gods (Kinnard). Later, around 1,000 B.C.E., priests called Brahmins began to reject the materialistic ways of the Vedic tradition and began to adopt practices

Hinduism and Buddhism have a connected history as both of these religions use similar teachings and terminologies to maintain order among their respective followers and societies. Ideally a society’s religious teachings should contribute to its political, social, economic and cultural discussions. However, correlating this way of thinking to a political theology may prove to be difficult because most people have more important matters to be concerned about than adhering to morale. Various people find that maintaining social standards, discrimination others who are less fortunate, asserting dominance, becoming too passive, and getting caught up in a revolution takes priority over the fact that most of these issues could be avoided if someone who works in politics were take action and deal with said problem properly.

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.

Hinduism originated in India over four thousand years ago. The India-based religion lacks an individual founder. In the beginning, the term “Sanatana Dharma” erupted; but Sanatana Dharma soon transformed to “Hindu” after Islamic invasions occurred: “the Muslim invaders pronounced H for I” (Patheos), thus, the inhabitants along the Indus River were called “Hindus” as a result. The primary goal Hindus hope to achieve is to become reincarnated – thus reaching closer and closer to the state of nirvana every Hindu is called to with each transformation after death.

Almost every religion in the world promises some kind of happily ever after, a way to attain eternal happiness. However, us Westerners might not understand the complexity of such a concept in religions in the Far East. Hinduism and Buddhism, even though they are intricately intertwined, have expansive systems for attaining salvation that are, at their cores, completely opposite of each other. The best examples of this are expressed in Hinduism’s origin country, India, and Buddhism’s evolution from Hinduism as shown in Japan and China.