IS.218 Jahnice Thomas January 8, 2012 Ancient India Hinduism & Buddism We have been studying India .in particular we have compared the two major religions that began there. Hinduism is practiced and is considered to be the most important religion in India. Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world that teaches compassion and nonviolence. Hinduism is the most important religion located in India. Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world .the caste system evolved from Hinduism.
It instructed its followers to follow the Dharma, or the Buddha Doctrine. Ashoka Maurya further spread the influence of Buddhism when he switched to it after conquering Kalinga. Hinduism was the original religion of Classical India, until Siddhartha Gautama created Buddhism, his followers called him “Buddha” which means “Enlightened One,” most of what derived from Hinduism was a part of Buddhism. Buddha was a Hindu Mystic before; he changed some concepts of Hinduism around, such as believing that violent acts against nature and other are purely immoral. Both religions had this theory of reincarnation, , but stated that it was because of karma, if something needed to be fulfilled, a debt or curse, or simply one’s life was not lived to its fullest than they were reincarnated back on earth not always as a human, but sometimes maybe an animal.
Additionally, both believe in the spiritual practices such as meditation, yoga, concentration, and cultivation of states of mind, called mindfulness. While Hinduism and Buddhism share similarities, they also celebrate differences; Hinduism is not founded by any particular prophet and Buddhism was founded by Buddha and Buddhists do not believe in the existence of souls like Hindus, neither do they believe in the sacred texts of the Vedas or any other Hindu scripture. Refuge in the Buddha, the Sangha and Dhamma are the three fundamental requirements of the eight fold path while Hinduism offers many choices to its followers for
Religion 201 02 April 2014 Buddhism Buddhism was founded in India over 2,500 years ago. Today there are approximately four hundred million Buddhists (Melton). There are many different forms of Buddhism, but all forms believe in the teachings of Buddha. Buddhism is a hard religion to define and the simplest way to define it is “individuals who believe in Buddha’s teachings” (Maguire). The term ‘religion’ is “perhaps not a very good term to use in connection with Buddhism since it recognizes no God” (Zaehner).
• “It is the element within Tibetan Buddhism of magic and the supernatural, so remote from the original teachings and practices of Buddhism that has led to its designation as Lamaism, as if it were a separate religion.” (Lieberman, 2003) Conclusions concerning points of agreement and disagreement between Buddhism and Hinduism • Both Buddhism and Hinduism believe in reincarnation and salvation as the highest goal. • Buddhism is in opposition of the Hinduism Brahmanical religion. Brahmanism practices the value of sacrifice. • Hinduism & Buddhism have considerable influence in their practices and ideals, both strive for ultimate liberation and the correspondence of spirituality of renunciation. (Schmidt,2007) • Hinduism believes in Gods and Buddhism does not believe in Gods.
I think Hinduism is a very unique religion that is among the world. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world and it is mankind’s spiritual declaration of faith on earth. I know to my knowledge that Hinduism was not founded in a historic event; however it has a recorded history. Hinduism have nick name and they are “mother of religions and spiritually”. The reason for those two names is because Hinduism has influenced virtually in religion and can absorb other religion so it can honor and embrace their saints.
Hindus believe that their belief system has existed forever and many aspects within their belief system are cyclic in character instead of possessing a beginning, middle and an end, as is common among other belief systems. Given that Hinduism has no single founder or prophet, no one universally accepted holy book or scripture and no exact time in history documenting its origin, many Hindus choose which of many paths and components they believe as accurate or true based on their own region and tradition. The sacred elements chosen contribute to the simplicity or complexity of this ancient belief system while supporting the belief that Hindu practices and rituals among its followers
Comp Essay 1 - Buddhism and Daoism Comparative Essay- Buddhism and Daoism Daoism and Buddhism were similar religions during the classical era because of their shared belief in balance as a way to maintain order in the world, and neither was intended for political advancement nor were they the dominant religion because their beliefs and leaders were concerned less with government and more with maintaining oneself in harmony, however they were different in that the ultimate goal of Buddhism is to reach Nirvana, whereas Daoism attempts to find 'the way' to live one's life and find knowledge and harmony in the universe. Daoism and Buddhism both held to the core belief that human life should be composed of balance. The name of Daoism came
What is Hindu Dharma? One of the major living religious traditions of the world, Hinduism is also recognized as the most ancient. It is different from most others because it was not started by any single individual, seer or prophet, and its origins cannot be traced to a particular period of human history. It is not based on one single book or a set of dogmas; on the contrary, it allows a great deal of freedom of thought, faith and worship. Hinduism is not a single religious faith system because it does not insist on any fixed set of doctrines.
The incessantly interesting feature of Zen Buddhism is that there is no dogma, philosophy or doctrine one must believe in to be a Zen Buddhist (“Buddhist beliefs”). O’Hara describes Zen as a “practice of coming back to the actual right-now-in-this-moment self, coming back to the naturalness, the intimacy and simplicity of our true nature.” In A History of Zen Buddhism, Dumoulin quotes Bodhidharma, a highly regarded teacher of Buddhism, as describing Zen in the following way: A special tradition outside the scriptures; No dependence upon words and letters; Direct pointing at the soul of man; Seeing into one's own nature, and the attainment of Buddhahood. (67) Zen