Similarites And Difference Of Hinduism And Buddhism Essay Example For Students

Similarites And Difference Of Hinduism And Buddhism Essay Introduction-Hinduism and Buddhism are two of the five major religions in our worldtoday. They are widely practiced, and have survived for centuries. Both havesimilarities and differences, as do all forms of religion. Hopefully, in thispaper I will show you the basic structure of each religion. I would also like toshow how they compare and contrast. Hinduism: FoundationNo one is completely sure of where Hinduism was started and by whom. Their oldest written documents, the Vedas, were written down in 1000 B.C. butthey had existed orally long before. The Vedas are where Hinduism originated. Today, Hinduism is the worlds third largest religion. Many changes have comeupon Hinduism since they practiced it first. Hinduism includes many differentsects, or denominations, and beliefs that have arisen. Though, there are manythings in common with all of the Hindu sects. Their basic beliefs are what tiesthem together. Basic Beliefs-The religion of Hinduism teaches us that each living body, includinganimals, is filled with an eternal soul. Hindus say that the individual soul wasa part of the creator spirit, Brahma. It is each souls job and wish eventuallyto return to Brahma. It is not possible though because by a souls sins, andimpurities from the world, they are no longer pure and holy to return. Instead,a soul must become pure before returning to Brahma, who is absolutely pure. The process of becoming pure is so hard that no soul can become pure inonly one lifetime. The soul is forced to live life after life until it is pureenough to return to Brahma. The cycles of rebirths are called samsara, or theWheel of Life, by the Hindus. When a soul is finally cleansed enough to breakfree of samsara it is called moksha. The soul returns to Brahma for an eternityof contentment and ecstasy. There is no one incorporating creed in Hinduism. A follower may chooseany god as their personal god, or may worship several of them. Though to be aHindu there are certain things that a follower must believe in and live by. Their main beliefs are:1. A belief in karma, the result of ones good and bad deeds in a lifetime. 2. A belief in dharma, Hindu traditions. 3. A belief in the three main gods: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. 4. A belief in reincarnation after death. 5. Honor for the sacred Vedas. 6. A belief that, if lived a religious life, the Wheel of Life can end and achieve moksha. 7. An honor for an ascetic religious life, to be an orthodox Hindu. Hindus worship many gods, but they are truly monotheistic by believingin a single god. The reason behind this is that everything comes from Brahman. It does not matter who the worship is for because it is ultimately Brahman. Brahman does not reward or punish those for their deeds in life. Every soulcreates their own rewards and punishments through karma. Karma rules what eachsoul will be in its next life, and it is formed from a souls good and bad deedsin each life. If a soul has had more good deeds than bad deeds, then they havegood karma. Or vice versa if they have had more bad deeds than good. Dharma is the ultimate meritorious balance of all things living. Itbelongs to everything, including the universe. Every soul is responsible forbalancing their dharma. The areas to balance in dharma are religious, social,and within the family. They must keep promises, and remain faithful to religiousrituals, while also taking care of their family. If a soul loses this balance,then it will affect their karma. Dharma has been called tradition, duty, and acustom, but to a Hindu it is spiritually more than that. Hindus also follow acaste system, resulted from dharma, which I will discuss later. Gods-There are three main gods in Hinduism. Many others exist in the religion,but these are the most noteworthy. Brahma is the creator of life. Vishnu isknown as the preserver of life. You might pray to Vishnu if someone you knew wasgoing in for surgery so that theyll come through it with no problems. Finally,Siva, or Shiva is the destroyer of life. All three of these gods are portrayedas female and male. Vishnu is more often a male, and Shiva is more often afemale. The Caste System-The society of Hinduism is strictly divided. The different levels,called castes, do not mingle. The division is largely due to the practices ofdharma and karma. Both practices express the idea that if someone is born into aspecific lifestyle, they must stay there. It would be bad karma to attempt toleave that lifestyle. Renewable energy EssayThe two religions of Hinduism and Buddhism believe in the process ofreincarnation. Reincarnation is being reborn again with one soul. Inside thisbelief, they also believe that your deeds, or activities, during your life willdetermine where you will end up. If you have lived a good life, you will berewarded by another good life, or you might be allowed finally to rejoin withBrahma. If youve led a bad life, you will remain on earth longer, and mostlikely have a bad life when you are reborn. Another similarity is that both Hinduism and Buddhism are very kind toanimals. They believe every living creature has a soul, and throughreincarnation, you might one day end up as one. Most Hindus and Buddhists thatstrictly follow the religion are vegetarians of one sort or another. Itsimpossible to tell whether or not that hamburger you ate at Burger King was arelative of yours. Eating them would bring you bad karma, and break one of theEightfold Paths. Contrasts Between Hinduism and Buddhism-In the religion of Hinduism there are castes, or social classes. Theydecide what your lifestyle will be like in that lifetime. If you are born aslave, you must stay a slave your whole life. Or, if you are born a wealthy manor woman, that is what you must be all of your life. To the Hindus, it is a sinto try to change what caste you belong to. As well as to associate with a personfrom a caste that is lower than yours. On the other hand, the teachings of the Buddha did away with the castesystem. A person is allowed to change their social class. They can go from aslave to an emperor or a president, if that is their calling. If they follow theEightfold Path, then this is permissible. It is an honor to be a monk or a nun,for they are the ones who can achieve nirvana. Buddhists also will mingle withthose of less importance then themselves. Hinduism teaches that you must go through samsara in order to finallyreach moksha. They do not believe that a soul can totally cleanse itself of allimpurities in just one life. It is a gradual process involving dharma, balancingones life, and karma, weighing the deeds of a lifetime. Meanwhile, the Buddha again went and brought question to samsara. Hefound that it is possible to cleanse oneself in one lifetime and return toBrahma. He called it nirvana. In order to achieve nirvana, a Buddhist mustfollow and accept The Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path. The EightfoldPath serves as an instructional guide as how to keep yourself on the right pathto nirvana. Hinduism and Buddhism also have several smaller differences. The area ofgreatest concentration for Hinduism is India. India is where Buddhism originated,but Hinduism eventually was a more appealing religion and it died out. Buddhismis found mostly in East Asia, inside China and Mongolia. These areas preferhaving many, many small gods, as opposed to the Hindus only having three majorones and then smaller, less important gods. Buddhism was founded by SuddarthaGautama, or the Buddha. Hinduism was started gradually; no one knows for surewho founded it; most likely, it was many people. Both practice meditation, butthey practice it in different forms. A Hindu will meditate obtaining inner peacethrough the charkras of the body. Once all of the centers, charkras, have beenbalanced, a white light is said to be above the persons head, and they areenlightened. Buddhists meditate similarity, but have different variations of howit is preformed. Their main goal is to end suffering. Conclusion-The two religions of Buddhism and Hinduism are very alike, and yet verydifferent. To accept their way of thinking, one must put aside their religion ifthey arent Hindu or a Buddhist. They strive for an inner peace, and finally toreach heaven through either moksha or nirvana. I being a Christian, have foundin some ways it hard to understand the process of reincarnation, and Brahma. Though, I can see how that for people of another culture, these religions arevery supportive, and soothing. Culture plays a big part in determining yourbeliefs. Obviously, they are very deep-rooted for surviving for longer thanChristianitys been around. Through this paper, I learned a lot about acceptingdifferent beliefs, and gained a sense of what it really means to be a Hindu or aBuddhist. I admire their strong faith and their desire to become pure andunblemished. Hinduism and Buddhism are two major religions, firmly planted intheir cultures, and I am sure that they will remain for a long time to come. Category: Religion