Hinduism and Buddhism Essay Example

Hinduism and Buddhism Essay Example Hinduism and Buddhism Essay Hinduism and Buddhism Essay The term â€Å"Hinduism† came from the Greek and Persian travelers of Indus Valley. This was adopted by the Hindus; they also used the term â€Å"Veda† or â€Å"Vedic religion† which refers to the ancient texts at the core of the tradition, or the â€Å"Sanatana Dharma or the eternal Law. Hinduism is a diverse religion that is found primarily in India. The Hindus differ unlike in the practice of most religions, they believe that being acknowledge as Hindus come first because their beliefs and practices are just a component of their religion. Other religion beliefs differs in the sense that in order to be acknowledge as a follower in a certain religion you have to be able to practice first the beliefs of the group. The Hindu tradition encourages Hindus to seek spiritual and moral truth wherever it might be found. The Hindus believe that that no statement of belief can contain every rightful thing that a person must do instead they believe that an individual must realize the true meaning of life and the truth of all things according to how he is able to perceive things accordingly. They also believe that our experiences and practices with people are some of the factors in order for us to see moral and spiritual truth.The Hindus have three Gods, Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. They believe in the so called â€Å"nirvana† which for them is the ultimate peace and happiness but in order to pursue nirvana they have to first live accordingly towards their norm and other necessities. Dharma is an important content of their doctrine. This dharma signifies the right aright knowledge in order to be in the correct path and have a correct action. The Hindus emphasize living in accordance with the dharma in order for the individual to attain the spiritual knowledge and the right course of ethical action.The Hindu tradition aims at comprehensiveness; Hinduism aims to make a person rich in a way that Hinduism will b e available to all people without having to limit their traditions and practices. It also encourages an individual to explore life in order to gain divine realization by providing diverse system in realization. Another thing about Hinduism is that it constantly experiment and assimilate new ideas.   It is not mainly concern with the origin of a thing or how a person has evolved on to his becoming, but it is more concern with realization of what is the truth through our experiences. Hinduism is very open with new ideas, teachers and practices. It is not exclusive unlike other religions but it aims to be more universal.The Hindus believe in â€Å"karma†. Karma is believed to be the condition where a person is in the present which is determined by his/her past. According to the practice of karma our actions makes up an important role in determining our position in life. It is believed that whatever choices we make directly affects us in the future. Our actions have its consequ ences. That is why in order to have good karma or consequences in life a person must make choice between doing a good thing to others and not harming them. Karma is the principal framework of ethics in Hinduism, it is also known as destiny to some, but the difference is that karma is unlike destiny where there is no freewill, in karma it is still up to the individual to make a choice and the consequences follows.According to Hinduism our body plays an important role in the goals that we want to achieve. They believe that human beings consist of not one body but three bodies. The three bodies consist of the gross physical body, a subtle body of our thoughts and feelings and an even subtler body, known as the casual bodies. This known casual body is known to have our ignorance of the truth around us. The physical body separates after death leaving only our subtle and casual body to travel on the next life. Hinduism believes in reincarnation, that is why they value every living thing t hat exists because they believe that when humans die they are either reincarnated into a plant or an animal.BuddhismBuddhism is based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha. It is a practices the spiritual development of a person in order to realize the true essence of life. They incorporate meditation into their practice in order to change one self and develop the right qualities such as awareness, kindness and the wisdom.   This experience has mold and developed the traditions of the Buddhist for more than a thousand years already that has lead many to achieve Enlightenment.Unlike other religion, Buddhism does not have to worship a God or a creator. The Buddhist teaching is straightforward and practical. They believe that nothing is permanent or fixed, everything changes. A person who practices Buddhism believes that every human action have its own consequences. Since nothing is constant, there is always a possibility for change to occur. Buddhism is available to all people and can be practice by any individual who wishes to despite their age, race or nationality. In fact many people around the worlds are practicing Buddhism because it teaches people with practical ways in realizing how to develop and utilize these teachings in order to transform themselves in a more responsible individual in control of their lives and has gained wisdom and compassion for others.There are many people practicing all over the world and is not merely concentrated in India alone. Even westerners are practicing Buddhism. They follow many different Buddhism but all are geared towards realization of the truth and having wisdom. It reflects the importance of non violence practices and that no harm should be done to other people or nay li8ving thing in this world. Everything according to Buddhism is equal. Another thing that is common among the different practice of Buddhism is the four noble truths. These four noble truths are important in order to achieve wisdom and compassion for ot hers they must be able to take this into practice. Another component of this four noble truth is practicing the eightfold path. The eightfold path basically talks about the right things to do in order to achieve enlightenment.Hinduism and BuddhismThe practice of Hinduism and Buddhism are similar in many ways. One is that they are both polytheistic. Both of this religion come from the same background and are both diverse in their beliefs about afterlife, deity and rituals. Buddhism and Hinduism believe in reincarnation, which a person after death is reincarnated, but the difference is that where the individual goes after he or she gets off the endless cycle. They are also different in terms of whom they are going to worship and not to worship.Just like other religion both Buddhism and Hinduism both have rituals and traditions to follow. After the Hindus accomplish redemption they go to moksha but the Buddhist believe that the main goal is to achieve nirvana in the afterlife.   The Hindus can achieve redemption by living in life asceticism, they need to become a holy man and relinquish all their material possessions in order to become one with the Brahma.   In order for the Buddhist to become one with the universe they need to live their lives according to the doctrine of eightfold path. This would help the Buddhist to attain nirvana. Basically the eight fold path speaks about the right that any Buddhist should possess in order to attain nirvana.Another difference between the two religion is that Hindus believe in the caste system, where it prohibits intermarriage among those Hindus that is not within their caste and their marriage are to be arrange with same people in the caste system that they are in. For the Buddhist they did not believe in the caste system and see past this. One the similarities in both religion is that they both believe in karma’ that every of our actions has its return effect on us. The Hindus believe that karma plays an importa nt role in their reincarnation as well the Buddhist. According to both of their beliefs, our action is directed towards others and every living thing in this world plays an important role on the consequences that we will achieve. The Buddhist believes that we do will come back to us. If we are to harm others therefore our karma would also inflict harm to us and that if we are good to others we will have a good karma as well.Another similarity among the two religions is they both believe in seeking for the truth in order to gain wisdom and appropriate knowledge. They are both subjective through learning and giving importance of being kind to others achieving peace and harmony within oneself. Although there are a lot of crucial differences between the two, their main similarity which is being good to others and practicing no harm to others plays an important role in molding a person.I believe that what is important in the teachings of these two religions especially in the world today were many people are driven with so much greed for themselves is that we must be good to others. Another is being responsible for actions, since everything is changing and constantly changes are also directed towards only thinking what is best for us that sometimes we are not aware that many people are hurt and suffering as a consequence of our abrupt behavior. Another importance that is important about the teachings of these two religions is having a peace of mind because when one has this a person can be of sound judgment to what he or she is doing. Being at peace of oneself also plays an important role in how we interact with others, if we are able to have an inner most peace of ourselves then we won’t have a hard time dealing with people appropriately. What is also important in the perspective of both religions is that they both stress the importance of a person being genuinely good and take responsibility in their actions. If people of today possess such character then t here would be less misunderstanding and less fighting and people would be less violent and more people would be more open to settling their problems in a more conducive and appropriate way.References:Boeree, C., G. (2000). The Basic of Buddhist Wisdom. Retrieved June 29, 2008 from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/buddhawise.htmlBuddhaweb.org (2008). Essentials of Buddhism. Retrieved June 29, 2008 from buddhaweb.org/Encarta (2008). Hinduism. Retrieved June 29, 2008 from http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761555715/hinduism.htmlFwbo.org (2008). What is Buddhism? Retrieved June 29, 2008 from http://fwbo.org/buddhism.htmlLorentz, M. (2008). Basic Belief of Hinduism. Retrieved June 29, 2008 from mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/religion/hinduism/beliefs.html