Ancient India has lots of rich history from the first settlers, the Aryans and Vedic ages, the great religions and to the Mauryan Empire. I will focus on the three major Religions to come from India: Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism. I will explain the origins of all three religions and further compare their similarities as well as their differences between them. The practice of all three religions still today in countless countries proves the importance of this history.
Jainism, Founded by Varhamana Mahavira in 520 B.C.E., Son to chief of state. He home at the age of 30; for twelve years to become spiritually enlightened. He taught his new doctrine for about 30 years. Traveling all over India he gathered a discipline order of Monks as well as many common men and women. Mahavira took the doctrine of Karma and re-birth but developed his ideas into a new direction. The new direction being that Human beings, animals, plants and even inanimate objects had living soul enmeshed in them; accumulated through Karma. Even rocks had souls locked inside them. Jains believed that suffering could dissipate some accumulated karma making progress towards total spiritual liberation. The soul would float or sink depending on the amount of matter with which they are enmeshed. These ascetic people strived to make their souls light in hopes of escaping all matter weighing it down. When it becomes lighter than ordinary objects the soul will float to the top of the universe and remain forever in inactive bliss. Some early Jains starved themselves to death because it was impossible to eat without destroying something else. Most took a less severe approach recognizing different levels of life. Human 1st, animals 2nd, plants 3rd and inanimate objects last....
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...aste system which was practiced in Brahmanism a religion that came before them. They believed that every person had a chance to free their spirits and be with the gods of the universe forever not matter the social status. Hinduism on the other hand embraced and evolved from the Brahmanic religion Hinduisms belief Vedas are sacred revelations and the caste system is implicitly prescribed in them.
In conclusion I’ve discussed the beginnings of Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism; there similarities and differences. All three played important roles in the evolution of India’s religious foundation. From Jainism which is considered the toughest religion to follow because of the strict rules to Buddhism and Hinduism with a more relaxed approach of spiritual enlightenment. The devote following them has spread worldwide. I now have a better understanding of these religions.
Like Hinduism, Buddhism also started in India. It is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who is called the Buddha or the Enlightened One. Buddhism started a monastic movement in the Brahman tradition.
The origins of Hinduism can be traced back to the Vedic traditions of the Indus Valley Civilization (Mittal and Thursby 23) where as Buddhism can be seen as originating from Hinduism, and yet they are seen as two completely different religions. Why? These religions do share some of the same practices, however there are also vast differences. The caste system is a major social institution of Hinduism, but Buddhism rejects the caste system. Buddhism opposes the idea of a soul, while Hinduism perceives the soul as being one with Brahman. Moksha and Nirvana are both the release from saṃsāra, but the pathways to attaining release are dissimilar.
In every civilization there exists a hierarchy that is accepted by the people that are a part of it. This hierarchy, which is present in all societies, is called a class system and usually includes an upper class, a middle class, and a lower class. The upper class consists of those who are the richest in a society, the middle class consists of the working people, and the lower class consists of the poorest people. There is one class system that consists of five tiers, including one that is below its lower class, and differs from any other system; the caste system of India. In a caste system, the class that is received is hereditary and cannot be changed like in other societies. The civilization of India has an extensive history with this longstanding and controversial caste system that has evolved over time and is still in place today.
Fisher, Mary Pat. "Chapter 5: Buddhsim." Living Religions. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2005. 150-62. Print.
...onsibility in life which is decided by the caste they are born into. However, living amongst other people, one’s soul might become “forgetful of the Lord” which leads to “[attaching] itself to pleasure” which would make it “bound” to the wheel of the universe. For a soul to escape this cycle birth, death, and rebirth, it is necessary to connect with this god. The Hindu people believed that “by uniting oneself with him…one ceases to be ignorant” and this means “Birth, death, and rebirth will be no more.” This credence of rebirth and karma highly influenced the way the Hindu society developed.
I will now examine what it means to be religious with a critical enquiry into Buddhism, Hinduism and
Eliot, Sir Charles. HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM. 1921. Vol. 1. London: ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL LTD, 1954. 3 vols. wisdom library. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. .
One of the most important elements of these religions is their history. The Hindu religion disputably began around 2500 years before the Common Era (B.C.E.) in India. It was geographically based along the Indus River, which was called “Hindu” by the Persians who had migrated there. They also called the land Hindustan and it’s inhabitants, Hindus. After that, the religion that followed was called Hinduism. Today, almost 800 million people practice the Hindu religion (Spodek, 261)
Hinduism is the 3rd most popular religion in the world followed by Buddhism, together they are followed by 22 percent of the world’s population. These two religions are alike in many ways, and are tied together by Asia, where they have deep roots in its culture and history. Although Hinduism and Buddhism are similar in many ways, very important and large differences separate the two. No one and nothing can ever truly prove either religion is better than the other because that is up to personal beliefs and opinions, but many more people around the world prefer Buddhism over Hinduism because of its beliefs and practices.
Hinduism is an ancient religion. It has no known founder. It has several holy books. The most important of these is the Vedas, a collection of hymns. Hinduism like buddism believes in reincarnation. The goal of this religion is also to escape the birth-death cycle. Through Hinduism the entire Indian social structure was formed by creating the caste system. The major difference between Buddism and Hinduism is that Hindus believe in a god. Brahman is the spirit that encompasses all living things. There are several lesser gods who are believed to be incarnates of Brahman.
Jainism is an ancient Indian religion that teaches spiritual liberation and to live a life of nonviolence. One of the main purposes of Jainism is to deal with people’s search for meaning and the truth of their own nature and of the universe. Along with Hinduism and Buddhism, Jainism is one of three ancient Indian traditions still in existence. While sharing concepts with Hinduism and Buddhism, the Jain tradition must be seen as an independent phenomenon. Jainism has been mostly practiced in India, although recent migration of Indians to other countries has spread its practice to many nations including the United States.
Upon reading about the historical and religious background of Ancient India, one can clearly assume that the country was strongly influenced by three main religious teachings: Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. These three sects in religious thinking have many similarities as all recognize the life-cycle and the need of liberation, they worship one central deity that used to be a human who gained enlightenment and they all recognize the existence of the eternal soul and after-death re-incarnation. However, they also share a lot of differences that mark the underlying principles of practicing them. I will identify the scope of differences and similarities in these ancient religions in an attempt to understand why each attracted followers, why each was shaped a certain way and how they preserved the interest of followers on into the modern times as well.
I found the Jainism religion interesting as I hadn’t heard of that one before. It was interesting to note that the Jainism did not believe in the caste system and allowed women to pursue the holy life. They also believe in nonviolence and asceticism (abstinence and self-denial), these traits help obtain moksha. Moksha is the release from death and is based of karma – the balance of good and bad a person does during their life. After death, if a person did not have enough good karma, they would return to another worldly life (reincarnation). I also find it interesting how they did not follow the caste system and were also the most
Hinduism has been a religion for a long time, the Buddha was a Hindu before seeing how terrible the world was, he then found the religion Buddhism. Since the creator of Buddhism was Hinduism as a child, it is only expected for the two religions to be similar. While the two religions are similar they are also quite different as seen by their creation stories. The creation stories are these religions way of explaining how the world started. With most religions the creation story gives the most basic beliefs of the religion as this is where their religion supposedly starts its life. The two stories this paper focuses on is no different, and since they technically have the same origin, it can be obvious as to how they would be similar. However, in the case of the idea of social order and moral decline, they can be different too.
The Importance of Religion in Indian Politics India is the largest democratic country in the world, in the last fifty years it has travelled and been influenced by multiple social and economic changes in the future. Its independence from Britain in 1947. partition creating Pakistan and the Pakistan/ Indian debate over Kashmir has been a fundamental political movement within the past few years. As Y.B.Damle states, “Politics is concerned with goal-attainment and politics is the art of possibility”, the political process cannot. function without the structural features.