Eastern Religion: A Comparison of Hinduism and Buddhism

Eastern Religion: A Comparison of Hinduism and Buddhism

Religion is a set of beliefs and cultural practices that are agreed upon by people. It manifests itself in many forms, but it is generally associated with acceptable qualities such as morality or superstitions and rejection of science (Jensen, 2014).

This paper discusses the history, holidays, rituals, holy books and impacts of Hinduism and Buddhist Eastern religions. By presenting this information, the study is hopeful that it will identify the differences and similarities of the religions.

Hinduism

Hinduism is a polytheistic tradition comprised of various cults and sects. It denotes the religion of the majority of the people living in India and Nepal (Flood, 1996). It is believed to be the oldest religion in the world, and its origin can be traced back to 4000 years (Hinduism, 2019) in the region of Bharat. It is the world’s third-largest religion with a population of nearly 1.15 billion Hindus worldwide (Hindu Countries population, 2019).

Hinduism grew from the ancient texts known as ‘Vedas’. The ‘Vedas is a composition of sacred hymns and verses written in ‘Sanskrit’. It teaches that sacrifice is the backbone of religion and encourages the practice of non-violence towards human beings and animals. It is based on various doctrines such as Karma as seen in the holy scripture of Brihadaranyaka Upashina (IV,4,II,6) that advices people to refrain from harming others if they do not want to suffer (Academy, 2020)

Hinduism promotes the worship of one god (‘Brahman’) while appreciating the existence of other gods. Hindus conduct various rituals such as; ‘Vivaha’ and the ‘Garbhadhana’ done during and after marriage, respectively, among others. Some rituals involve animal sacrifice to gods and goddesses. Other practices include yoga and meditation in the worship of lords Shiva and Ganesh.

Most Hindu Holidays are based on natural cycles such as harvests. The most popular Hindu holidays include; Holi celebrated to mark the end of winter and the beginning of spring, ‘Ganesha Chaturthi’ held to celebrate the birth of lord Ganesh in the month of ‘Bhadra’, and Navaratri celebrated for nine days in honour of the divine feminine in the Hindu month of “Ashvin”, among others.

Overall, Hinduism has impacted the modern world in various ways. Most people practice things such as veganism and yoga without the knowledge that both stem from teachings in Hinduism. Other than influencing society, Hinduism has influenced other religions such as Jainism and Buddhism. Many practices in these religions such as karma and reincarnation, originated from Hinduism.

Buddhism

Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Guatama (Buddha) over 2000 years ago in Northern India (Schumann, 2004). It is practiced by approximately 535 million people around the world making it the fifth-largest religion worldwide (Buddhist Countries Population, 2020). Buddhist do not recognize a single god or deity; they focus on achieving a state of inner peace and wisdom. They are guided by the holy book called the ‘Tripitaka’.

The most important teachings in Buddhism are:

a). the three universal truths are founded on the doctrine of ‘karma’ that every action has a consequence. According to (Bronkhorst, 2011) a person is reborn according to their actions.

b). the four noble truths (Santina, 1984) which include; suffering, its cause, identifying its cause, and ending it. They indicate that there is a starting point to suffering and identifying the cause of suffering is key to ending the suffering and;

c). the noble eightfold path is Buddha’s advice to end suffering. It consists of; the wisdom (‘prajna’) to understand the four noble truths. Morality (‘shila’) which entails doing the right thing and abstaining from harmful behavior such as lying, careless sex or stealing. And meditation (Bodhi, 2012).

Meditation is the key form of ritual in Buddhism. Other rituals include; mantras which are sacred sounds thought to have supernatural powers. Mudras are symbolic gestures used to indicate various things such as protection, they include meditation, and gift giving.

Buddha’s birthday is the most widely observed Buddhist holiday. Other holidays include; ‘Magha Puja’ to celebrate the full moon on the third lunar month, and ‘Alsalha Puja’ Day, held to celebrate Buddha’s teachings on the full moon.

Overall, Buddhism has greatly influenced societies with its simple rituals based on the ethical code of self-sacrifice, truthfulness, kindness and charity it promotes social justice and non-violence and animal sacrifice and yoga.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the study found that both religions originated from India and are mostly practiced in Asia although they spread across all continents. Moreover, they share various teachings and rituals like Karma and meditation. In addition to these, holidays in both religions are based on natural cycles such as the moon and harvest, and both have holy texts and scriptures used for guidance. This can be attributed to the fact that Hinduism is attributed to influencing Buddhism.

However, the study identified differences between the two religions. Practices such as fasting, belief in a god, and animal sacrifices are strongly forbidden in Buddhism but highly encouraged in Hinduism.