Intro
to Hinduism and Buddhism
In our next Ancient
History unit we went over two religions that started in India, Hinduism and
Buddhism. For the Hindus there is no date of origin because it started so long
ago there are no records of its beginning and the Hindus make up the 3rd
largest religion in the world. The Buddhist religion started in approximately
560 B.C. and it is still going today, the Buddhist religion makes up the 4th
largest religion in the world. The ultimate goal for the Hindus is moksha which
is the perfect state of enlightenment which breaks the chain of reincarnations,
also you have to achieve the union of atman with Brahman and follow dharma and
have good karma. The ultimate goal for the Buddhist is Nirvana which is the
perfect state of enlightenment which breaks the chain of reincarnations,
blissful nothingness and a release from suffering and desire. Two major ways
these religions are different is that Hinduism has no founder or date and the
Buddhists have Siddhartha Gautama as their founder and a date of 560 B.C., also
the Hindus follow many gods and the Buddhists have no gods.
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| Hindu gods, Fantastic India, http://myfantasticindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/hinduism1.jpg, 17 January 2018 |
The key beliefs for the
Hindus is to worship Brahman, Brahma, Vishnu, Ganesha, Shiva, and etc. and they
don’t have any other leaders except gods. The Hindus attitude toward the caste
system is like Sumer where the wealthy rule and the untouchables can’t be
touched. The Buddhist beliefs include listening to the Buddha and the Buddhists
attitude toward the caste system is the Buddhists trying to escape it. The
sacred texts of the Hindus are the Upanishads, Tripitaka and the eightfold
path. The ultimate goal for the Hindus is to unite your soul with Brahman. The
goal of the Buddhists is to become enlightened like the Buddha. I invite you to
read my complete comparison essay on my Indus Valley page.
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| buddhism, Follow CN,http://buddha.followcn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/buddhafghf68.jpg, 17 January 2018 |
