Hinduism and Buddhism

Caste Social and/or economic divisions of people in a society.

Reincarnation The belief that after death, we are reborn in another form to live again.

Hinduism  No single founder.  No single sacred text (like the bible for Christians)  May have begun in the Aryan civilization.  Thousands of gods.

Basic Beliefs  There is an all-powerful spiritual force called “brahman”.  “god is one, but wise people know it by many names”  Their many gods give concrete form to brahman.

Top Hindu gods (Each god may take many forms, human or animal.)

Brahma – The creator

Vishnu – The preserver

Shiva – The destroyer

Sacred texts/writings  Vedas  Bhagavad Gita

Moksha – union with brahman.  Achieving Moksha is the goal of life.  Every person has an essential self, called atman, a form of brahman.  Moksha is achieved when one brings themselves into union with brahman, the all-powerful spiritual force.  To do this, individuals must separate themselves from worldly/selfish desires.  Most people cannot achieve this in one lifetime, so Hindus believe in reincarnation, which they believe gives them more time to achieve Moksha.

Karma  The effects of a person’s actions in life, on their next reincarnated life.  Virtuous people earn good karma and are reborn into higher levels of existence. (People, animals, plants)  Those who do evil earn bad karma and are reborn into suffering in lower levels of existence. (rocks, water, etc.)  Cycle of reincarnation is pictured as a wheel in Hindu art.

Dharma  Religious and moral duties of an individual, which help them escape the wheel of fate and reincarnation.

Ahimsa  Principle of nonviolence.  Jainism is an extreme form of ahimsa adherence.

The Caste System  Social and economic divisions in Indian/Hindu society.  People are born into these groups and can face severe consequences for moving, or acting, out of their class.  Highest class people are the Brahmin priests.  Lowest class people are the dalits, or “untouchables”  Caste system connects with karma, to create social order. “If I fulfill my role faithfully, I will be reborn higher.)

Buddhism Founded in the foothills of the Himalayas by Siddhartha Gautama.

Gautama = Buddha  Born a prince around 563 B.C..  Enjoyed all the pleasures of life during his early age.  His parents sheltered him to prevent him becoming a holy man.  At age 29, he ventured out of the palace for the 1 st time and saw an old man, then a sick person, and a dead body.  This was his first awareness of suffering.

His Journey  Witnessing suffering for the first time sets Gautama out on a journey to find a realm where there is neither suffering or death.  Was not satisfied by Hindu explanations of life, so he sat under a tree and was determined to stay there until he had his answers.  By morning he believed he had his answers, he felt he understood the cause of and cure for suffering and sorrow.  He was no longer Gautama, now he had become Buddha, “Enlightened one”.

4 Noble truths of Buddhism. 1.All life is full of suffering, pain, and sorrow. 2.The cause of suffering is non-virtue, or negative deeds and mindsets such as hatred and desire. 3.The only cure for suffering is to overcome non-virtue. 4.The way to overcome non-virtue is to follow the eightfold path.

The Eightfold Path 1.Right views (beliefs) 2.Right aspirations (goals) 3.Right speech 4.Right Conduct 5.Right livelihood 6.Right effort 7.Right mindfulness 8.Right contemplation (thoughts)

Nirvana  Union with the universe and release from the cycle of rebirth.  The end goal for Buddhist.

Hinduism vs. Buddhism Compare and Contrast  Both believe in karma, dharma, reincarnation, and non-violence.  Buddha promoted meditation over priests, gods, and rituals.  Buddha also rejected the caste system. He believed that anyone could achieve nirvana.’