Hinduism and Buddhism

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.

Although Buddhism evolved from Hinduism it differs from Hinduism in god beliefs. According to Buddhists there is no God, but they reverence the Buddha and his teachings as though he were one. Buddha, believe in no Atman’s, nor is there a Brahman or supreme being because all is not permanent. They believe that to have faith in a higher power is nothing more than illusion. The Buddhist “athirst” in fact think that life is not a reality. In Buddhism, a person strives to reach the Nirvana through mediation. The Nirvana is the “blowing out” of the fame of desire by ending the vicious cycle of reincarnation. By not going with their instincts and ending all desire for the illusion of this world, one is able to reach enlightenment and finally rest from his suffering. The Buddhists worship the Buddha and follow the four noble truths in order to reach salvation. The four noble truths are: life is suffering, all suffering is caused by ignorance of the nature of reality and the craving, attachment and grasping that result from such ignorance, suffering can be ended by overcoming ignorance, and the path to the suppression of suffering is the Eightfold Noble Path. The Eightfold Noble Path is divided into three categories: morality, wisdom, and concentration.

In contrast, Hindus say, “…that thou art.” This statement means that Brahman is the same as one true self, or his Atman. Not only do the Hindus worship Brahman, they also worship several other gods as well. The other gods are in the reincarnation series, or the samsara, they are not ultimate but they help to bring liberation throughout the grueling cycle. All Hindus believe in three most popular gods, which they are: Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma. Shiva is the deity of the renounces, especially of the many shiava sects that imitate him. These are Kapalicas, Pashupatas,...

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Hindus believe in souls and Buddhists do not. In Hindus religion it is believed that an individual should abolish all once and desires in addition to refraining from any temptations of sin in order to discipline himself or herself. Once all of these things are done, the perfect joy and harmony with the infinite spirit is reached. The infinite spirit refers to Hinduism belief that the soul never dies. Hindus believe that each time a body dies the soul is reborn into a new body. On the contrary, Buddhism believe in the Anatman or no soul. Buddhism sees human existence as made up of five bundles or Skandhas. These are material body of feelings, perceptions, predispositions or Karmic tendencies, and consciousness. Buddhists deny the permanent soul. Buddhists believe that as long as they follow the four noble truths they would be freed from the life sufferings.

Eventually, today both religions are still greatly worshiped and have millions of followers. Buddhism and Hinduism are connected in many ways and still continue to flourish after many, many centuries. Both religions have a similar goal, and path to achieve that goal.