Rise Of Two Religions

Hinduism is a religion that is in absence of a well-known founder, with its understandings and teachings developing over thousands of years. In Siddhartha, there is an immense amount of influence from the Hinduism religion. For example, “Still, even in the deepest meditation, he had been his father’s son, had been a Brahmin,

The rise of Christianity and Islam happened during a turbulent time in history, when major civilizations like the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire were in decline due to political infighting, disease, and outside barbarians constantly applying pressure. Christianity was adopted in the heart of the Roman Empire, as a way to continue the influence of Rome, while not being able to control all of Europe militarily. (Rise of Christianity, 2012) Therefore, early Christianity, as adopted by Rome, was about maintaining influence in the continent through the use of priests and monarchs under a feudalist system of control. The main benefit of Christianity came from its use of Latin and the Bible, a common language across the old Roman Empire, as well as a new technology in books that enabled priests to record extremely deep and convincing stories in an easily index able format. The Roman pagan religion used tablets for its mode of communication, tablets which could not hold very much information at all, and that lost legitimacy compared to the life of Jesus and the depth of the biblical writing style. Christianity rose during an age of danger in Europe, and the feudal system with knights and castles was simply the most beneficial system of governance that humanity had. (Stark, 1996)

Buddhism is a major global religion with a complex history and system of beliefs. The founder of Buddhism is said to be Siddhartha Gautama, the son of an Indian warrior-king. Gautama led an extravagant life through early adulthood, reveling in the privileges of his social class. Gautama became bored with the indulgences of royal life so he wandered into the world searching for understanding. After encountering an old man, ill man, a corpse, and an ascetic, he was convinced that suffering lay at the end of all existence. He then became a monk, depriving himself of worldly possessions in the hope of comprehending the truth of the world around him. The culmination of his search came while meditating beneath a tree, where he finally understood how to be free from suffering, and ultimately, to achieve salvation. Gautama became known as the Buddha, meaning the “Enlightened One.” He spent the remainder of his life

The spread of Islam and Christianity. Both belief systems spread both rapidly and were efficient religions that brought great change for the greater good. They were the largest religions in the entire world and both happened to be monotheistic. Both religions share a similar history and tradition. Christianity appealed to the people because of their unwillingness to live on and how hopeless they were to move forward in poverty. Travel played an enormous role in conversion because of the missionaries sent out to unknown lands to spread the faith through trading routes (Christianity) and contacts (Islam). Islam prospered, on the other hand, with a vision of the angel Gabriel from Muhammed (became a god messenger and prophet of Allah). Interactions with other civilizations developed the Islamic World. These new religions led to more growth in the aspects of their social, economic, and political systems in addition to influencing other upcoming religions in history.

In the book Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, many similarities and differences are displayed between Hinduism and Buddhism. Siddhartha, a Buddhist, seeks to find find complete peace within himself, also known as enlightenment. Siddhartha's father who is a Brahmin, is opposed to his son leaving the family and finding his own path to the ultimate goal of Nirvana. Throughout the novel, Hinduism and Buddhism are the same because both religions seek complete peace, called enlightenment, and they both have an emphasis on meditation, however, Hinduism believes in the caste system while Buddhism does not.

Since the sixteenth century, the Spanish expanded their religious, Catholicism, to the America and settle their belief into the Native American. During the time period of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the religious upheavals caused many changes in the society not only in the America but also some Europe countries. This put a huge impact on the life of people in many countries.

In this essay, I intend to compare and contrast two major religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, that came out of India thousands of years ago. Though these two religions are old, they are still practiced today by millions of followers within the continent of Asia and the West.

Buddhism is a world religion based on the teachings of Buddha, who was born Siddhartha Gautama in Nepal around 563 B.C.E. and lived in Nepal and India. Siddhartha was a privileged man who withdrew from the world, learned and meditated, and achieved the Enlightenment that made him Buddha. Buddhism has undergone schisms and evolutions but has some core beliefs such as Nirvana, Anatta and Dependent Arising. In addition, the Buddha's teaching centered on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path to end the cycle of suffering and achieve Enlightenment and Nirvana.

A prince named Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) founded “Buddhism” in the sixth century before the birth of Christ. Buddhism is better understood as philosophy rather than a religion and follows the concept of the Four Noble Truths and the Eight Fold Noble path.

Religions have changed constantly throughout history, beginning with the Egyptians and continuing through current day. Most of all new religions begin as polytheistic. This most likely developed because the people of the ancient world suspected that one god could not take care of all their needs. Therefore, they created several gods to take care of everything in the natural world such as water, fire, animals, etc. The first evidence of written religion was on the Sumerian tablets, around 3,500 B.C. The Egyptians demonstrated the first progression of religion in the area, during the time period around 4,000 B.C. The Egyptians believed humans ranked as partners with the gods to maintain order; it characterized similarly to the Mesopotamian’s religion. After a while, a change in religion transpired.

The three main religions that originated in Ancient India were Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. Hinduism grew out of overlapping beliefs and is currently one of the most complex religions. Hindus believe in brahman, gods representing natural forces or animals, and that gaining moksha is the ultimate life goal. Next, Jainism was founded by Mahavira and it emphasizes self-denial, extreme Ahimsa, and meditation. Lastly, Buddhism emphasizes the Four Noble Truths and the final goal of life is nirvana. Buddhism spread throughout the world, but soon began to decline in India. Therefore, Ancient Indian religions became not only very crucial to them but also to the rest of the world.

Buddhism is also a polytheistic religion similar to Hinduism. An Indian prince who founded Buddhism was called Siddhartha Gautama; he abdicated all his rights to become the enlightened one, Buddha. Like Hindus, Buddhists believe in reincarnation but instead of Moksha. They believe in Nirvana [the goal of the Buddhist path], both concepts are similar, understanding life and death and the cycle ending in reincarnation. Buddha reached enlightenment or wisdom, during that time, he found Four Noble Truths, which enabled people to achieve happiness so they could all stop suffering. People must give up all thought of achievement, desire living life in poverty. Buddhism has never had a caste system [division of social classes], therefore, the first

Since he is born and raised in a Brahmin household, Siddhartha looked to his family’s religious teachings to lead him towards his goal of reaching Nirvana. Siddhartha’s father is unable to give Siddhartha the proper guidance that he needed, which is the reason that Siddhartha is able to make the decision to step away from his family’s teachings in order to find his goal. However, when he failed to discover the external guidance he is looking for from these groups of people, Siddhartha decided to look elsewhere, when he interacted with the Buddhists and the Samanas. Buddhism is the religion and set of beliefs which are founded by the Buddha, who is known for reaching Nirvana. Buddha, also known as Gotama, is the man who made other people also believe that achieving Nirvana is possible.

Hinduism, one of the oldest religions refers to the collection of faiths and originated in India. Hinduism was brought to India by nomadic people thousands of years ago and is a polytheistic system with various gods and goddesses as well as lesser deities. Hinduism is related to Buddhism because many early ideas found in Hinduism influenced the Buddhist teachings. Founded in the fifth century by Gautama Siddhartha Buddha, Buddhism took on numerous forms as a religion all over Asia and is known as a philosophical-religious system. Buddhists make offerings to various buddhas and do not always worship them as god. Buddhism tries to help individuals overcome the

I was born and raised a Seventh-Day Adventist. As I was growing up I studied my denomination’s beliefs side by side with other common denominations. I have come to realize that despite the many differences between the religions, there are also many similarities. One of the most common religions that are compared against Adventism is Catholicism. Both religions actually share some common beliefs. Most people only focus on the differences though. Regardless of the different doctrines, Seventh-Day Adventists and Catholics have a strong connection because of their belief in God.