Hinduism Vs Buddhism

Just as Buddhism unified Japan during arduous times, it also helped unify India under Ashoka’s command. Ashoka fought great battles and imposed his rule on people southward along the eastern coast of India. The sufferings created by the war disturbed Ashoka and he found relief in the religion known as Buddhism. He adopted Buddhism to bring equality to all and found great comfort knowing the religion was so accepting.

Although originally emerged as a monastic movement within the dominant Brahmin tradition at that time, Buddhism developed quickly in another direction and acquired characteristics. Buddha not only rejected some important aspects of the philosophy of Hinduism, but also challenged the authority of their leaders, did not accept the validity of Vedic scriptures and argued against the sacrificial cult based on these texts. Moreover, Buddha opened his movement to people of all castes, openly rejecting the idea that the spiritual affairs of the people were determined by the social class into which they are born.

Through out all of India, there are a variety of religions that are practiced daily: Islam, Sikhism, and Jainism just to name a few. One thing that ties them altogether is that they have been greatly impacted by two influential and important religions; Hinduism and Buddhism. Hinduism originating first and a couple centuries later Buddhism arises, these practices have both distinct similarities and differences that have survived thousands of years and are still exercised today. Between the teachings from the Buddha and the role of the Bhagavad Gita sharing an outlook on the Varhnashramadhrama, there are some clashing elements like dharma and murder but also some key elements that hold them together.

Buddhism and Hinduism have some shared traits; this makes sense, as the Buddha was born during “the era of Hinduism’s upanishads and the emergence of the Jains and other schools” (Fenton, pg. 104). Similar to the Jains, Buddha found himself dissatisfied with Hinduism; after finally seeing the suffering of the world, he aimed to find the truest path out of the cyclical suffering of existence. With this in mind, it can also be shown that, while Buddhism and Hinduism share some high-level ideas, some concepts begin diverging when discussing more specific details.

Out of the worlds many beliefs and religions, Buddhism and Hinduism make of about 20% of them (The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050). Hinduism and Buddhism are the most influential and popular in the eastern hemisphere, mostly in and around the Asian continent. These two religions have similar ideologies. So much so that many say that Buddhism is an appendage of Hinduism. Such religions have different religious structures, which allow broader interpretations to which religion to believe in or stick to. These two religions, being from the same region, have familiar roots. One of several aspects they share is the belief in the word Dharma and the power it has to guide its followers to enlightenment. Even though the word Dharma has separate meanings for the two religions, it plays an important role in both. Although Dharma in Hinduism and Buddhism has a similar end result, which is guidance of their followers to enlightenment or salvation, the two religions are different because they define Dharma in different ways and have different ways of achieving it.

The carefully thought out eightfold path from Buddhism gives people simple steps to help them reach enlightenment while positively impacting their community. Opposing that, Hinduism only expects and encourages certain people to reach for enlightenment, making others wait several lifetimes. Buddhism not only is more open to all castes, it also is kind to women, and other religions. The suffocating castes of Hinduism and the focus on future lives, prevents people from living in the present and being the best person they can be today. The dharma makes Hindus are less likely to achieve their full potential because of being forced into a job, and not being able to follow your passion. Buddhism allows you to help yourself and encourage those around you right now, not lifetimes

Both Hinduism and Buddhism together have Shaped Indian culture in many different ways. On the Hinduism side of the equation the caste system was intergraded into the Indian society. The Caste system is a way of getting people into certain groups depending of their jobs and race. There were two caste systems India, the Jati system and the Varna system. The Jati caste system which is the primary system used a pyramid like structure Which was divided into five sections. The lowest section having the outcasts like the street sweepers, next up were the commoners and servants, then the merchants and landowners, after that the warrior class of people, and finally at the top were where the priests resided. Buddhism was mainly rejected overall (back

The two religions of Hinduism and Buddhism are closely related to each other in many ways, some similarities can be traced back to the beginning of both beliefs. Their views on conflicts in the world are noticeably intertwined, and to add one more thing, the aspirations of Hindus and Buddhists also show strong resemblances.

Buddhism and Hinduism both have their origins in India and Lord Buddha, the prophet of Buddhism, hailed from a Hindu family. In fact, Hindus even consider Lord Buddha to be a part of ‘dasavatar’ or ‘ten reincarnations of Lord Vishnu’. However, there are quite a few fundamental differences between both the religions.

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

Buddhism and Hinduism are two of the most philosophical religions around the world. Both religions stem from India before the Common Era and hold ranks as being one of the top five main religions around the world, therefore, having similar origins and philosophies. Hinduism places third as an organized religion and is much older than Buddhism. Hinduism and Buddhism have lasted for centuries and today is widely practiced among the world. Hinduism is considered to be monotheistic as they believe in the idea of cosmos being thus god takes variation of forms and manifestations, whereas, Buddhism is believed to be non-theistic, which is not belief in God. Hinduism has not been able to identified a founder as it dates one of the oldest history, while, Lord Buddha (recognized as Siddhartha Gautama), was the founder of Buddhism. Buddhism is founded on the knowledge of Lord Buddha which had been a Hindu before achieving Nirvana, and thus you find many similarities and differences in festivals and feast such as worship, birth of a child and festivals of lights

After my interview with The Buddha, I found two Hindus in power that were willing to tell me about their perceptions of Buddhism. One Hindu stated that Buddhism has always seemed to be not a new religion to him, but more of a natural development of the Indian mind religiously, philosophically, socially and politically. The other Hindu did not support Buddhism and stated that even though Siddhartha may have achieved peace next to the river, the merchants continued to rob, the elites continued to exploit, and the poor continued to go hungry. Therefore he believed that the Buddha’s perceptions on the world is both naive and hardly relevant to bringing about a better world and the betterment of humanity. Siddhartha Gautama went on to spread his

They share a very unusual, long and uncomfortable relationship. I realized Hinduism and Buddhism’s relationship could easily be compared to that of Judaism and Christianity. Christ was born in a Jewish family, just as the Buddah was born in a Hindu family. Many still argue that Buddhism was an outgrowth of Hinduism and that the Buddha was a part of the Hindu pantheon, a view that is not tolerable to many Buddhists. However, it is also said that Buddhism gained its acceptance and popularity because it freed the people in India from the oppression of orthodoxy and tradition (Jayaram). The Buddha’s understanding and teaching gave hope to those who had no hope for the freedom of choice in a dominated society. The society was governed and ruled by the case system, dominance of ritual form of worship and the high-class position of the privileged classes, which the Vedic religion considered as firm and unquestionable. The Hindu tradition established the Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu long ago. But heavy conflict occurred between both traditions in the subcontinent for a long period of time.

Thesis: Hindu and Buddhist practices are different because they follow different paths to similar goals and have different ways of living life.

India has always been the center of the Hinduism and it is also known as the most peaceful country in the world and as a result of its economic prosperity it has always been a target of other empires. This way, Buddhism appeared like four or five centuries before the Common Era and India got invaded by the Great Alexander but his mission was unsuccessful. As result, this invasion gave birth to the first empire of Chandragupta Maurya which drove Alexander away. The emperor of that period, Ashoka emerged along the popularization first rituals and concepts of Buddhism and that was the period of deep questioning for Indians whether how to identify themselves religiously.