Sramanism

Introduction

“He, who knows one, knows none.” This is a great remark made by Max Müller. It is outstanding because it begs scholars to study other religions as well as their own. As a theologian or religious student, it is important and necessary for us to understand beyond the protected and comfort space. That is to say, be open-minded and learn further than our own religion. Why is this so? Because this enables us to tolerate, sympathize as well as being objective and critical of religion as a whole and our own belief as individual.

According to the natural law of cause and effects, nothing in this world could have grown out of a vacuum, there must be some short of germs that give rise to one thing or another. This is the same for Buddhism. It is a fact that Buddhism was founded by the Gautama (the Buddha) in the land of India. Nevertheless, what gave rise to Buddhism and why the Buddha rejected other ideologies of his time such as hedonism and asceticism and developed one own principle called “the Middle Path?” To answer the above questions, this essay examines existing teachings during Buddha’s era (six century BCE), through careful study of contemporary school of thought and practice such as Brahmanism, the Ājīvika, Lokāyata, the Agnostic (Ājñāna), and Jainism.

Speaking in terms of text and context, for us to be able to understand the Buddha’s teaching, it is very crucial to comprehend his background, the society and milieu that he lived. It is also important to learn of prior and contemporary’s teachings of his time. And by study these areas we would have better knowledge and be enlightened to why the Buddha has chosen the Middle Path.

Vedic Tradition

Speaking of Indian religion, there is a tradition prior to the Vedi...

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