The Traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism Essay examples

In the past few weeks of class we talked about so many different religions around the world. Three religions we discuss in class were Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. These are three of the major religions in the world that still exist today. I will be focusing on how all three religions started, and I will compare and contrast Hinduism and Buddhism. Then at the end, I will discuss on how I feel about the three different religions.

Some people may think that Hinduism and Buddhism are the same religions with just two different names. They aren’t, Buddhism and Hinduism both have different types of rituals, holidays, founders, and so-on. The two extensive religions of Hinduism and Buddhism have lots of information behind themselves. They are made up of cultures, rituals, practices, and many other things.

In India there are six orthodox schools of philosophy which recognize the authority of the Vedas as divine revelation, and they generally function as pairs - Nyaya and Vaishesika, Mimamsa and Vedanta, and Samkhya and Yoga. Those who did not recognize this authority were the Jains, Buddhists, and materialists. Even in India where spiritual ideas dominate the culture there were some who were skeptical of those ideals and held to a materialist view of the world; they were called Carvaka, and their doctrine that this world is all that exists is called Lokayata.

While Hinduism and Buddhism come from the same cultural backgrounds, they are extremely diverse in their beliefs on afterlife, deity, and rituals. Both religions believe in reincarnation, but it is where an individual goes after he or she gets off the endless cycle that differs. These religions also part when it comes to whom they do or do not worship. Every religion comes with rituals and Hinduism and Buddhism are no exceptions.

The word Hindu has evolved from being the word the Persians used for the Indus River in 500 BC to the accepted name for the primary religion of India this name was originally given by foreign rulers and ultimately used by Europeans in the 1500's as the official name of the religion. History plays an important part of Hinduism because new developments reinterpret an update past practices rather than end them. The Hindu religion is broke down into three periods the Vedic period, the Upanishadic period, the classical period, and the devotional period.

Buddhist believes that all people are reborn over and over again until they reach spiritual enlightenment and then Nirvana. In Buddhism good deeds are rewarded by receiving a better rebirth. Karma dictates a person’s rebirth including their financial state, appearance, class, health, species, and intelligence. Buddhist ultimate goal is to strive for Nirvana. Nirvana is the state that exists beyond the cycle of reincarnation, freedom from Karmic suffering, and provides a state of heavenly paradise.

Hinduism is known as the world's oldest religion. According to ISKCON Educational Services (2004), it is hard to construct a timeline because Hinduism has no identifiable human founder or specific origin in history. It is so old that its past goes into pre-history. It is extremely diverse with the Hindu people being more interested in the meaning of events than in providing first hand records. There is also no clear-cut divide between history and myth.

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.

Buddhism began in the fourth and fifth centuries before Christ by Siddhartha Gautama. The teachings of Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, are the major beliefs of Buddhism. Buddhism is a belief and religion based on an assortment of customs, principles, and practices. The name Buddha means the awakened one. Buddha’s teachings were of the termination of suffering, attaining nirvana, and absconding from the cycle of suffering and rebirth. Buddhism has spread all across Asia and throughout the world, now with between two hundred thirty million and five hundred million followers. Buddhism is largely based around the belief of Karma. Karma is the “action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation” (Dictionary.com) or “the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person’s deeds in the previous incarnation.” (Dictionary.com) In simpler words, how you live your life now determines how you will come back when your current soul expires. Buddhists live their lives in hopes of achieving to be placed in the highest state known as Heaven. The after-life stems from Karma and leads into Rebirth. Rebirth is a course of action where humans proceed within multiple lifetimes in one or more of the six states of after-life. Each lifetime begins with birth and ends with death. Buddhists believe that we should not fear death because

Hinduism - stands for the faith and the way of life most of the people who live

What elements of earlier belief systems do you see integrated into Hinduism? What were the external conditions (environmental/societal/political/economic etc.) which gave rise to the origination of Hinduism? What was it about this time period? Location? Population?

In this way Christians must strive to imitate the Heavenly Father by following the example of Jesus the Son of God. God gives the individual one life to prove that they are worthy of eternal life. In contrast, the Buddhist religion, life is relived over and over as it is only the separation of the mind from its body. "one life ends and another begins p.92" Therefore in contrast to Buddhism, Christianity does not accept the notion of reincarnation which provides the evidence that there are fundamental ideological differences between the two religions.

The Question of Origin is answered by the Hinduism Worldview as “everything has always been in existence and is a part of god” (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011). A part of the worldview is that the universe and god is one in the same thing. Hinduism believes that itself has always existed, that it did not have a creator. God is viewed "as an infinite, impersonal force" (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011).

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. It is the oldest and fourth largest religion in the world with around 500 million followers. Buddhism focuses on teaching people how to come to terms with and end the suffering of themselves and others by cutting out greed, hatred, and ignorance from their lives. Unlike most major world religions, Buddhism does not revolve around worshiping a god or divine creator, instead the focus of Buddhism is living one 's best life and transforming the lives of others. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to reach Enlightenment and upon death achieve Nirvana, the liberation of pain and suffering. For Buddhists, it is the individual’s responsibility to find his or her own path to enlightenment; the principles of Buddhism are seen more as guidelines than rules.

The Hindu religion and culture is a very complex subject. The Hindu religion combines rich ethnical and standard beliefs. We will take a closer look and try to understand the Hindu religion and culture. The Hindu religion is the oldest religion of the five major religions, which are Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism (Major World Religions, 2006). The Hindu religion began to develop about 4.000 years ago in India, but it there was no single founder or system of belief (Major World Religions, 2006). There are many diverse and various Gods in the Hindu religion. One of the most important beliefs is the theory of karma, which holds that all beings, human or animal have karma which determines which soul is for which body and