Hinduism

Hinduism and Buddhism are two of the five majorBuddha believed
religions in ourthat you could live a perfect life and not have to
world. They are widely practiced, and havecontinue in the
survived for centuries.samsara. The basic way to this is the Eightfold
Both have similarities and differences, as do allPath, which says to
forms of religion,practice moderation by having the right mind set,
and I will discuss the practices and theologicalactively wanting to
aspects of Hinduismeliminate suffering, not lying, insulting or causing
and Buddhism.No one is completely sure ofsuffering with
where Hinduism was started and by whom.words. Also, to have the right conduct, means of
Today, it is the world's third largest religion. Manylivelihood,
changes haveendeavors, mindfulness and meditation. Buddhists
come upon Hinduism since they practiced it first.believe that if you
Hinduism includesfollow this you will be enlightened.Many Buddhist
many different denominations and beliefs thatbeliefs are almost the same as a Hindu's.
have arisen. ThoughBuddhists do
there are many things in common with all of thenot practice the caste system. One of the only
Hindu sects, theirways to achieve nirvana
basic beliefs are what tie them together. Theirin one lifetime is to be a monk or a nun. If you
oldest writtenbreak an area in the
documents, the Vedas, were written down inEightfold Path, then you cannot achieve nirvana.
1000 B.C. but had existedAlso, in order to
orally long before.The religion of Hinduism teachesfollow the 4th part of The Eightfold Path, all
us that each living body is filledBuddhists are
with an eternal soul. Hindus say that the individualvegetarians. Killing of an animal is seen as causing
soul was a partsuffering. Like
of the creator spirit, Brahma. It is each soul's jobthe Hindus, an animal has a soul.Despite all the
and wish totalk about suffering, Buddhism is really about the
eventually return to Brahma. It is not possibleabsence of suffering. Buddhism is a way to
because of sins anddevelop the ability to love
impurities from the world; they are no longerthe entire universe, simply because it is. By
pure and holy to return.understanding that the
The process of becoming pure is so difficult thatuniverse exits inside a blade of grass, just as the
no soul canblade of grass
accomplish it in one lifetime. The soul is forced toresides within the universe. All things are
live life afterinter-connected.Both Hinduism and Buddhism
life until it is pure enough to return to Brahma.accept and believe that there is one
The Hindus call thecreator spirit. Each of them recognizes Brahma
cycles of rebirths samsara, or the Wheel of Life.or a version of Brahma
When a soul isas the creator spirit. Though they also recognize
finally cleansed enough to break free of samsaraother gods, Brahma
it is called moksha.is the ultimate god. All praise goes to him, no
The soul returns to Brahma for an eternity ofmatter which god you
contentment and ecstasy.There is no oneare praising. This is a significant similarity between
incorporating creed in Hinduism. A follower maythe two
choosereligions.The two religions of Hinduism and
any god as their personal god, or may worshipBuddhism believe in the process of
several of them.reincarnation. Reincarnation is being reborn again
Although, to be a Hindu there are certain thingswith one soul.
that a follower mustInside this belief, they also believe that your
believe in and live by. These beliefs include adeeds, or activities,
belief in karma,during your life will determine where you will end
dharma and reincarnation after death. Also, thatup. If you have
there are three mainlived a good life, you will be rewarded by another
gods: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Vedas is alsogood life, or you
honored for sacredness.might be allowed finally to rejoin with Brahma. If
Aside from these three gods, Hindus are trulyyou've led a bad
monotheistic bylife, you will remain on earth longer, and most
believing in a single god. The reason behind this islikely have a bad life
that everythingwhen you are reborn.In the religion of Hinduism
comes from Brahman. It does not matter whomthere are castes, or social classes. They
the worship is for becausedecide what your lifestyle will be like in that
it is ultimately Brahman. Brahman does notlifetime. If you are
reward or punish those forborn a slave, you must stay a slave your whole
their deeds in life. All souls create their ownlife. Or, if you are
rewards andborn a wealthy man or woman that is what you
punishments through karma. Dharma, on themust be all of your life.
other hand, is the ultimateTo the Hindus, it is a sin to try to change what
commendable balance of all things living. Itcaste you belong to,
belongs to everything,as well as to associate with a person from a
including the universe. Every soul is responsiblecaste that is lower than
for balancing theiryours.On the other hand, the teachings of the
dharma. The areas to balance in dharma areBuddha did away with the caste
religious, social, andsystem. A person is allowed to change their
within the family. They must keep promises, andsocial class. If they
remain faithful tofollow the Eightfold Path, then this is permissible.
religious rituals, while also taking care of theirIt is an honor to
family. If a soulbe a monk or a nun, for they are the ones who
loses this balance, then it will affect their karma.can achieve nirvana.
Dharma has beenBuddhists also will mingle with those of less
called tradition, duty, and a custom, but to aimportance then
Hindu it is spirituallythemselves.Hinduism teaches that you must go
more than that.The society of Hinduism is strictlythrough samsara in order to finally
divided. The different levels,reach moksha. They do not believe that a soul
castes, do not mingle. The division is largely duecan totally cleanse
to the practices ofitself of all impurities in just one life. It is a gradual
dharma and karma. Both practices express theprocess
idea that if someone isinvolving dharma, balancing one's life, and karma,
born into a specific lifestyle, they must stayweighing the deeds
there. It would be badof a lifetime. Meanwhile, the Buddha again went
karma to attempt to leave that lifestyle. Withinand brought question
the caste system,to samsara. He found that it is possible to
there are four levels along with two groups thatcleanse oneself in one
are apart from thelifetime and return to Brahma; he called it nirvana.
castes. Every caste comes from Brahma, withIn order to
the highest level beingachieve nirvana, a Buddhist must follow and
the Brahmin. This level is the priestly caste, butaccept The Four Noble
also includedTruths, and the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path
teachers and keepers or the religion. The nextserves as an
level, the Kshatriyas,instructional guide as how to keep oneself on the
were the kings and soldiers. The third level is theright path to
Vaisyas. Theynirvana.Hinduism and Buddhism also have several
occupy the jobs of merchants, artisans, andsmaller differences. The area
farmers. The fourth andof greatest concentration for Hinduism is India.
final caste is Sudras. These people are theIndia is where
manual workers,Buddhism originated, but Hinduism eventually was
represented by Brahma's feet. It is considered aa more appealing
sin to associate withreligion and became dominant. Buddhism is found
people of a lower caste than you. So each castemostly in East Asia,
is made up of ainside China and Mongolia. These areas prefer
different level of the society.There are also twohaving small gods, as
groups outside the caste system. One group isopposed to the Hindus only having three major
forones and then smaller,
foreigners. They might be a nonbeliever orless important gods. Buddhism was founded by
anyone who receives specialSuddartha Gautama, or the
treatment from the Hindu society. The secondBuddha. Hinduism was started gradually; no one
outcaste group is knownknows for sure who
as the Untouchables; these people are consideredfounded it; most likely, it was many people. Both
nonhuman and cannotpractice meditation,
participate in any Hindu practices. They do thebutthey practice it in different forms. A Hindu will
work no one wants tomeditate obtaining
do and do no associate with anyone that is of ainner peace through the charkras of the body.
higher caste.Siddartha Gautama founded BuddhismOnce all of the charkras
and became the Buddha. Hishave been balanced, a white light is said to be
intentions were not to form a new religion, onlyabove the person's
to modify an olderhead, and they are enlightened. Buddhists
one. Brahmanism, or Hinduism, had become verymeditate similarity, but
mainstream. Siddarthahave different variations of how it is preformed;
was a minor king of northern India. He venturedtheir main goal is
outside the palaceto end suffering.The two religions of Buddhism
walls one day and saw how life really was.and Hinduism are very alike, and yet
Inspired, Siddartha leftvery different. To accept their way of thinking,
his home, and family to discover the meaning ofone must put aside
life. For years hetheir own religion. They strive for an inner peace,
listened to and studied with the Indian wise men;and finally to
he then turned toreach heaven through either moksha or nirvana. I
meditation. Discouraged by not finding thebeing a Christian,
answer he desired, he sathave found in some ways it hard to understand
under a fig tree for 49 days. When the answerthe process of
finally came to him, hereincarnation, and Brahma. Though, I can see
became Buddha. Therefore, Buddhism washow that for people of
founded.Buddhism is a reformed version ofanother culture, these religions are very
Hinduism. Buddha discovered the Foursupportive, and soothing.
Noble Truths, which are the foundation for allCulture plays a big part in determining your
forms of Buddhistbeliefs. Obviously, they
philosophy. There is suffering, suffering is caused,are very deep-rooted for surviving longer than
eliminating theChristianity. I admire
causes of suffering can extinguish suffering andtheir strong faith and their desire to become
the way to extinguishpure and unblemished.
the causes of suffering is to follow the MiddleHinduism and Buddhism are two major religions,
Way stated in thefirmly planted in theirThe article was produced by
Eightfold Path.The Eightfold Path also comes fromthe member of
Buddha; it teaches to practiceSharon White is a senior writer and writers
moderation. If followed, one may achieve trueconsultant at term papers. Get some useful tips
enlightenment, orfor thesis and buy term papers.
nirvana. Nirvana is reaching Brahma in one lifetime.