Hinduism and Buddhism’s Influence of Indian Culture in Southeast Asia

Many historians believe that Buddhism was originated in northern India in the 5th century. Buddhism emerged after social, political, and religious changes were happening in northern Italy. The founder of Buddhism was Siddhartha Gautama, often referred to as “Buddha.” The religion began when Siddhartha realized the suffering of this world and decided to come up with a cure. He wanted to free humans from suffering. That was his intention when founding Buddhism: to lead the living beings to permanent liberation of suffering. He began his teachings of enlightenment after he had been in an enlightened state.

Buddhism began in India; it was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, a prince, born in Nepal. Siddhartha Gautama wandered around for awhile acting like a beggar to figure out why it was that

They have duties and responsibilities that are personal and also involve their society. Taking care of their hygiene, of what they eat, their relations with their family, spouses, friends and castes. Because of all these reasons, when facts about the indian culture are mentioned, they involve their religion because they represent what an Hindu should do and what Hinduism is about. Even though, there are significant minorities that come from Asian Indian families but their religion is another one, like being Buddhist or Muslim. Hinduism and the existence of these other religions inside the Indian territory can be explained based on how Hinduism was developed in India. Different from other major historic religions, Hinduism can’t be traced directly to someone as their founder and there is no information about when it appeared in human history. Because of this Hinduism doesn’t have a beginning, it just appears in South Asia and its development is dense and complex. To be able to study the history of Hinduism, there have been identified six important periods for its

Buddhism is a very intricate religion that originated in east India over 2400 years ago by the original Buddha Siddhartha Gautama. His teachings were embraced and spread almost instantly because of its promise of enlightenment and Nirvana.

Unlike other religions to follow, Hinduism was not spread much past India, where it originated. Buddhism however, was spread to other Asian countries. It reached China in the 4th century, following with Japan in the 6th century; the

For example, when the Mauryan Empire came to power they supported Buddhism. One influential leader in the empire, Asoka, tried to spread Buddhism to overcome the Caste System and unite India. Whether he honestly was a believer in Buddhism is controversial but he used religion to his advantage to create a positive cultural change to gain more political power. However, the Gupta Empire reigned for a much longer time and used Hinduism as opposed to Buddhism to create unity. From 320 to 550 c.e the Gupta Empire spread the Hinduism beliefs to reignite the Caste System and triumph over Buddhists.

In the fifth century BC, in the eastern parts of ancient India, Buddhism was born. This faith was based on the teachings of Siddhārtha Gautama, and is one of the oldest religions today. As it spread along trade routes in Central, East, and Southern Asia, it evolved. Buddhism influenced most of the Asian continent at some point. An important part of the spread of Buddhism was the Silk Road.

Hinduism was a polytheistic religion which mean they believed and worshipped many gods. The main area that people practiced this religion was India. They believed in a strict caste system which was given to you by parentage or in other words birth. That position in the caste system would stay with you because the Indian caste system lacked social mobility. from there you would have to conduct good deeds to gather karma. This also works in reverse as negative deeds make you lose karma. At death the Hindu's

Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama in India. Siddhartha led a very privileged life, sheltered from the outside world by his father and kept in a palace. One day Siddhartha left the castle and was shocked by the sickness, death, and suffering that

In order to regain strength and popularity the Brahmans restructured and transformed their religion. This lead to the creation of Hinduism. Hinduism did not perform ritual animal sacrifices which was practiced by the Brahmans. Instead, Hindus pledged personal devotion to the gods called bhakti. This attracted Hindus of all social classes. Hinduism also adopted Buddhist and Jainist practices, identifying themselves with agricultural societies. Many Hindus acknowledged Buddha as a God.

Buddhism originated in Northern India and eventually traveled its way over the globe. It is heavily practiced today in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Japan, Laos, Cambodia, China, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. Along with that, it is practiced places in Europe and North America.

Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest religions. Hindus believe in many gods, numbering into the thousands. They recognize one supreme spirit called Brahman (“the absolute.”) The goal of the Hindus is to someday join with Brahman. Until that union takes place, believers are in a continuous process of rebirth called “reincarnation.” At death, the Hindu’s deeds (karma) determine what the next life will be. Followers work to break this cycle-birth, death, and rebirth and gain release. The Hindu’s soul then merges with Brahman in a condition of spiritual perfection (moksha). Hinduism has many sacred books, the oldest being a series called the “Vedas”. Traditionally Hindu society was divided into groups of four classes (or varnas). This was known as the “caste system.” People were generally grouped by occupations, as children were born, they became members of their parents’ caste and remained there for life. After death a person’s karma determine whether he or she was reborn into a higher caste or move downward to a lower caste. Included in the case system was the category called “untouchables.” People in this group were consider impure, shunned by the

Buddhism was founded in India by Buddha Shakyamuni thousands of years ago. He based centered his religion on peace and loving kindness. He established positive and negative states of mind. He created paths to find happiness and everlasting peace. There are many different form of expressing Buddhism that have evolved over the years, all of which originated from the teachings of Buddha. Buddhism practices positive thinking, emphasizes meditation, lays the path to find happiness, and does not believe that the world was created by a god or gods. Buddhism is also a faith that is flexible and practiced by anyone regardless of their religious and ethnic background.

In the view of many, religion is entrenched and founded in what people believe. In the case of Buddhism, it is understood that it originated from the Indian systems of life. In the process of their trading activities, the Arab traders made it possible for the religion to spread to the other nations such as Japan and China. It is also important to note that the Buddhist faith originated from Buddha. In essence, the adherents of this faith confirm that the life subsisted and experiences borne by Buddha serve as the guides to their present and future lives. For instance, notwithstanding Buddha’s skinny nature, it is understood that he managed to reach enlightenment upon fasting. He was the prince of a North Indian Tribe. It also suffices to

The beginning of Buddhism started in 5th century B.C. in India (Violatti). Siddhartha, also referred to as Buddha, was said to have seen the suffering of the world and set out a way to fix it. He was said to have reached a state of enlightenment that was said to have begun at the end of attachments. These attachments were said to have been able to be achieved through a large amount of meditation and analysis of the world (Violatti, Buddhism). Buddhism does not have a direct set of books to follow but there are two books Sutras (Sanskirt) and Suttas (Pali) that are said to have been the words of Buddha and many Buddhist live by those words (“Buddhist Sacred Texts”). Hinduism had a different start then Buddhism, it was said to have started