Essay on Hinduism and Buddhism

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Hinduism and Buddhism Too Similar?

Maybe Not.

Hinduism and Buddhism are both very popular religions. Buddhism is a religion

in which lessons are followed in order to become enlightened and teaches that life is

suffering. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, originated in India, that like Buddhism,

believes reincarnation. Both of these religions go on pilgrimages to sacred places, but for

different reasons. Buddhism and Hinduism are very similar because of their belief of the

after life but are a bit different because of pilgrimages.

Hindus believe that after they die, they become reincarnated, which means

reliving in many lifetimes in different forms. Karma, the results of good and bad actions

in life. The Caste System plays a big part in what happens in their next life. The Caste

System is a strict social hierarchy that determines a person’s role in society split up in 5

castes, or Varna. Hindus believe if they’ve lived a good life, they’ll be at a higher caste

than before. They can also be any form of living thing, like an animal. Hindus will be

reincarnated multiple times. This is until Hindus have lived a perfect life and can finally

achieve their goal, which is Moksha. Moksha is a release from reincarnation. Hindus

achieve Moksha by completing one (or more) of the three yoga’s; Karma Yoga- the act

of selflessness. Jnana Yoga- is taking the “path of knowledge”. Bhakti Yoga- is devoting

themselves to one god.

Even though Buddhism is mostly about living your life well, they still believe in

some sort of after life. Buddhists believe that when they die, karma will be reflected in

their next life. So, if one lived a good life, they would get good things coming for them

and vice versa. Buddhists want to be enlightened, or freed from suffering. Reincarnation

or rebirth is what happens when one dies. Rebirth, in Buddhism, is your mind being reborn into another living thing. The mind is the central key to being a Buddha. The goal is

to live a good, well lead life on earth, but also to become enlightened and reach Nirvana.

These two forms of after life are very similar. They both believe in coming back

to life in a different form. Hinduism and Buddhism both believe that karma is reflected

on who you will be in your next life. Siddhartha Gautama, founder or creator of

Buddhism, who was an Hindu, probably applied some of his lifestyle beliefs and

incorporated it into the religion, Buddhism, and is why karma plays such a huge part of

being Buddhist. Moksha and Nirvana are Hindu’s and Buddhist’s forms of being freed

from the cycle of birth and reincarnation/rebirth. In Hinduism, reincarnation is an

exchanging of the soul between living things, but in Buddhism there is a rebirth of the

mind. Even though they both believe in reincarnation, the way they are being recreated is

A lot of Hindu’s go on pilgrimages to several places for many reasons. A

pilgrimage is a journey to sacred places. Hindus often go to a sacred river, such as the

Ganges, to purify themselves in the water. If someone they knew and loved has passed

away, they scatter the ashes in the rivers. They also go if they have committed anything

wrong and would like to make up for it. If Hindu‘s want to be healed from a sickness,

they can go on a pilgrimage. One of the sacred places Hindus go to is Varanasi. Varanasi

is so sacred to them because it’s a place where moksha can be achieved.

Buddhists go on journeys to holy places or on Pilgrimages. There are five main

sites that Buddhists go to on their pilgrimages. Lumbini, which is now Nepal, is where

the creator of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, was born. BodhGaya was the
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