Hinduism vs. Buddhism

18 maja 2009 | Agata Madejska

Hinduism and Buddhism are the largest religions on the East. For many Poles these religions are one big question mark. Both, Hinduism and Buddhism have many similarities, as well as differences. The purpose of this article is to show you that this religions are not the same but slightly different.

Both: Buddhism and Hinduism have large number of gods and both follow the same way to achieve Nirvana (a state of eternal happiness). Some people think that these believes are not religions, only more philosophical believes. The three main gods in Hinduism are Vishnu who is the sustainer; Brahma is the creator and Shiva the destroyer. They are referred as Trimuti. Most Hindu gods are associated with animals and therefore Hindus feel that being a vegetarian is vital. Moreover, even Cows are sacred in India and are worshipped as the divine mother, making eating beef taboo. Both involves meditation and prayer. In Buddhism, the believer need to understand the four noble truths which are: the truth of suffering, the truth of the origin of suffering, the truth of cessation, and the truth of the path. These describes the ways in which one must live. In Hinduism, there is a description telling believers about rules in live, wealth, prosperity, love and happiness. It is believed that following this steps let you achieve Nirvana.

Both Hinduism and Buddhism have restrictions to the amount of freedom a woman can possess. In Buddhism women got more freedom that in Hinduism. In Buddhism everyone has chance to reach enlightenment so the place of woman in Buddhism is an inferior one which stems from traditional, cultural, and social values of Asia. In Hinduism woman must always be cheerful and clever, even in the household. She needs to take care about home, meaning that she has to be cheerful and cannot get angry with the husband for doing anything. There is no possibility for woman to have more than only one husband, even if he dies. If she break this rule, she would be burned to death. Moreover, all things that the couple posses belongs to a man. Though both these religions have restrictions to women's freedoms, a Buddhist female can do things more freely than a Hindu woman.

Both religions believe that avoiding violence is needed to achieve Nirvana. Buddhists have faith in compassion, charity and nonviolence while Hindus believe in pacifism and ahimsa, which is the avoidance of harm to people and animals. Furthermore, the believers still believe war is good in certain cases. In some cases they believe that fighting in a war belongs to their duties. Hindus as well as Buddhist believe that harming others is wrong, only if there is a war and it causes harming innocent peoples - the act of violent is justifiable. As we can see the way that Buddhist and Hindus look at the violence act are quite similar but we can observe some differences as well.

In both religions we can find information about reincarnation and concept of suffering. Buddhists have a faith of two extremes: one about pleasure and one about mortification. Both extremes are not so good, so believers should live the way to achieve the middle. Hindus believe in reincarnation. This will eventually lead one to true happiness or salvation. Reincarnation is mention both, in Hinduism and Buddhism.

Although Buddhism and Hinduism are similar, we should be aware of differences between them. Having two different religions is good, so then people can chose the one which mostly suit them, although some can argue that Buddhism has its roots in Hinduism.

O autorze:
Agata Madejska

Studentka drugiego roku Zarządzania w Wyższej Szkoły Biznesu- National- Louis University w Nowym Sączu. Stypendystka programu Socrates Erasmus we Francji - Pole Universitaire de Vinci, Paris. Właścicelka firmy Nails Secrets prowadzącej współpracę handlową z Chinami. Każdy problem jaki spotka na swojej drodze stara się traktować jako nową szansę. Uwielbia dalekie podróże, które pozwalają odkrywać nowe miejsca.
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