More handpicked essays just for you.
Explain the major differences between Hinduism and Buddhism
Differences and similarities christian and buddhism
Explain the major differences between Hinduism and Buddhism
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Buddhism was created in early Indian civilization. Development of the religion began with the death of their founder. The Buddhist community established their standard cannon and their common goal which was, to bring enlightenment to the world. (Robinson and Johnson, 3) Buddhism spread rapidly and as with all other major religions when it begins to spread it breaks up into sects. Buddhism divided into two sects Hinayana and Mahayana. The Hinayanas settled in greater India and followed the earlier traditions. The Mahayanas traveled throughout India and Asia. The most dense areas of Buddhist populations are within central and east Asia.
Buddhism's main goal when created was to bring enlightenment to the world. It was also founded on the commitment to nonviolence, this is called Ahimsa. Ahimsa is an extremely important foundation that Buddhism was built from. Buddha once said to his followers “Overcome anger by peacefulness: Overcome evil with good. Overcome the mean by generosity;and the man who lies by truth” (Fink, 375) This quote shows that the Buddhist religion is one
…show more content…
of peace and forgiveness. If you are a Buddhist you are expected to live a nonviolent and peaceful life. The teaching of living a nonviolent life is not only taught to every Buddhist from a young age, they are also etched into the walls of the temples. Children are taught when they are younger to not kill any small insect even if it seems like a pest. Elders of the village proudly will tell the children that they have never killed a single insect in their lifetime. Buddha would tell his followers to not travel during the Monsoon season because he feared they would step on and kill too many insects on the way. These examples show how the Buddhist religion stresses non-violence not only with humans, but with any organism on the earth. (Harris, 205) Although Buddhism seems to be a peaceful religion some have struggled with this. Sri Lanka's population is 69.1% Buddhist and even this country has had many problems with violence and war. Sri Lanka is an island off the southern coast of India and Asia.
Its population is 21,866,445. The majority of their population are Buddhist the rest are either Muslim, Hindu, or Christian. Buddhism was brought to Sri Lanka in the 5th century B.C. The legend that is told states that Buddha ordered a group of his followers to travel to Sri Lanka and spread Buddhism. According to this legend Buddha said that Buddhism would strive in Sri Lanka for 5,000 years. (Flinkins,3) This legend holds true for the most part, the sinhalese Buddhists have taken down any threat that has been made to their religion. With the knowledge that Buddhism is a religion of nonviolence and peacefulness one may assume that Sri Lanka could be one of the most peaceful nations in the world. Unfortunately this assumption is very wrong. The way the Buddhist tackle the threats to their religion causes this country to be
hostile. Sri Lanka was once a British Colony named Ceylon they went under British rule in 1833 and gained full independence in 1948. During this time, many Tamils began immigrating to Ceylon from South Asia. As the Tamil population raised the ethnic tensions between the Sinhalese and the Tamils grew stronger. Tamils were put on plantations to work and stripped of their rights in 1949. In 1956 Solomon Bandaranaike was elected Prime Minister. He was elected because of his strong nationalist policies. He immediately made Sinhala the official language which only made the Buddhist and Sinhalese feel more superior to the Tamils. These nationalist policies led the ethnic tensions to become hate crimes toward the Tamils. When the Tamils tried to protest the new nationalist policies 100 of them were killed. Again in 1958 200 Tamils were killed and thousands were displaced from their homes. In 1959 Solomon Bandaranaike was assassinated by a Buddhist Monk. The new Prime Minister became his wife Sirimavo Bandaranaike she followed her late husband's ideologies and continued the nationalist policies. In 1972 Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka this angered the Tamils because this was a Sinhalese name. Also at this time Buddhism became the religion of the country. These changes in the country made the ethnic tensions even worse with the Tamil people. (BBC website) Being fed up with how they have been treated by the Sri Lankan government in 1976 the Tamil people started the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, LTTE, the Tamil people started this group to fight back against the nationalist policies. Throughout the next seven years the tensions between the two groups grew increasingly high. In 1985 the civil war begins between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The government enforcing their nationalist policies pushed the LTTE into the city of Jaffna. At this time the LTTE started to feel the same tensions they did with the Sinhalese with the Muslims. The LTTE wanted an ethnic cleansing of the areas the north. The LTTE pushed thousands of Muslims out of their homes and out of the area. Eventually the government signed an agreement with LTTE to send the Indian peacekeeping force into those areas. (BBC website) When the new Prime Minister came into office in 1994 the citizens of Sri Lanka felt that he would put an end to all of the conflict between the ethnic groups. Unfortunately they were wrong. On April 19th, 1995 the LTTE sunk two naval gunboats which began Eelam War Three, the war for peace. This is when the Sudu nelum,White lotus, movement began. The Sudu nelum movement began with government backing and its goal was to educate the people of Sri Lanka to bring peace. (Harris, 197) The only issue with this group is that they felt that peace would not come about unless there was military victory. The war was between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamils, LTTE. Due to the fact that Buddhist are expected to be nonviolent people the Buddhist population of Sri Lanka were on two different side either; opposing the war or justifying the war. There were two things in common on both sides; first they claimed that their main goal was peace and second both used the Pali Canon's text to justify their reasoning. The Buddhist opposing the war interpreted the text as “Assessment of violence is context-dependent and negotiable”. (Harris, 207) These Buddhists interpreted that they must use violence to protect their country from the LTTE. The Buddhist who opposed the war interpreted the same text as violence as “context-independent and non-negotiable”.(Harris,207) These Buddhists stayed true to their values which include Ahimsa which means nonviolent. The Buddhist who opposed the war took nonviolent actions to try to make the war end in a peaceful way. A Buddhist Monk, Ven Uttarananda, said “We come together not to represent the rights of one chosen nation, one race or one religion. We stand for the rights of all people without any distinctions. We love all people alike. We respect alike the teachings of all religions regarding human love and social justice. This is the Buddhist teaching and vision - equality of all. It is on this basis that we analyse all economic and political problems, including the problem of the people of our country.” (Harris, 208) Uttarananda felt that the Buddhist in Sri Lanka must come together and figure out what injustices were done to the Tamil people and work with them to figure out a peaceful way to end the war. Uttarananda was a part of the Inter-Religious Alliance for Peace. This organization was formed by twenty Buddhist Monks along with leaders from all other major religions within Sri Lanka. (Harris, 202) The group worked with the LTTE having open discussions with them until 1999. The Inter-Religious Alliance for Peace was eventually broken up because of internal problems within the organization. One Monk that was a former member of the Inter-Religious Alliance for Peace moved to the border of the war zone in 1999. His goal was to promote inter-religious and ethnic unity within Sri Lanka. Similar to the work he was doing in the Inter-Religious Alliance for Peace he worked with a Hindu priest, a Muslim and a holy family sister. They tried to push for peace by going into schools and educating people on how the war has brought nothing but pain to the country and that it must end. These Buddhist actually followed the teachings of Buddha and non-violence. Contrary to the Buddhist who opposed the war, the Buddhists who justified the war were not following the virtues that Buddha taught specially Ahimsa. The Buddhists who support the war read the same texts as the Buddhists who oppose the war and translate the meaning completely different. Hadigalle Wihelesaqa, a Buddhist Monk said “Buddhism teaches kindness, but you do not allow yourself to be destroyed”. (Filkins, 2) Buddhist who agree with Wihelesaqa started the National Movement Against Terrorism, NMAT. This organisation was found by Buddhists to bring peace but the problem with the organization is how they wanted to go about bringing peace. NMAT feels that the only way to bring peace is by military action. Their leader is Kamal Deshapriya was giving a talk to a group of Buddhists when he told a tale that insinuated that Buddha commends violence. Deshapriya said “Finally, the crabs killed the stork because he had taken all the fish. In Buddhist teachings, it is acceptable to wage war against a minority that is threatening you”. Deshapriya and the Buddhists that are following him are forgetting about the main foundation of Buddhism which is, Ahimsa. (Flinkins, 4) NMAT is infamous in Sri Lanka for only sympathizing with the Sinhalese and not truly understanding why LTTE feels the way they do. In 1999 NMAT organized a march to display their disapproval of the Sri Lankan government holding peace talks with the LTTE. NMAT received support from over 200 Buddhist Monks who marched in the front of the procession. (A 2 p 207) The Buddhist who agree with NMAT and the war are taking actions that Buddha would not approve of. A verse from the Dhammapada states “A central tenet of Buddhism is that violence is unwholesome. Akusala.” (Harris,204) This verse shows that the Buddhist who are openly supporting the war are not following the word of Buddha. Unfortunately the Buddhists in Sri Lanka discriminating against minorities did not end with the Tamils. Currently the country is on the verge of another civil war beginning with the Muslim citizens. If these Buddhists were truly following the teachings of Buddha and one of the main foundations Ahimsa these issues between ethnic groups would not exist. As long as the nonviolent peace organization continue within Sri Lanka there is peace for the country and Buddhism.
In the world, there are five major world religions, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. In the past few classes, I have been exposed to and absorbed a tremendous amount of information on the religion of Buddhism. According to the dictionary, Buddhism is a religion of which originated in India, was founded by the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, and teaches that life is full of suffering caused by desire and that the way to end this suffering is through enlightenment that enables one to halt the endless sequence of births and deaths to which one is otherwise subject. Buddhism is a way of finding peace within oneself. It is a religion that helps it’s believers to find the happiness and contentment us humans seek. One thing I found
Buddhism was originated in India in the fifth century B.C.E by Siddhartha Gautama. In today estimation there are about three
In the comparison with other class of Chinese faith , the study of Chinese Buddhism benefits. First, the International range of Buddhism allows for fruitful comparison with developments in other neighboring finish such as India and japan and the contemporary identicalness of Buddhism as a missionary. Buddhism is a way of breakthrough repose within oneself. It is a organized religion that helps us to find the happiness and contentment we seek. Buddhist develop inner peace, kindness and wisdom through their daily practice; and then share their experience with others delivery real number benefit to this humankind .They try not to injury others and to live
Buddhism was founded by one man, Siddhartha Guatama. He was born into royalty around 563 B.C.E. in a Kingdom near the border of India and Nepal. He was raised in wealth and luxury, and at the age of 16, he married a wealth woman and they had a child together. Around the age of 29, he began to realize that all humans were in a cycle of suffering, dying, and then being reincarnated only to suffer and die over and over again. It was then that he decided to leave his wife and child to find a way out of this repeating cycle of life and death. First he studied with teachers, but found he was coming to no conclusions, so he turned to more extreme things such as self-mortification, but he was still left unsatisfied.
Buddhism is a religion of the Buddhist. Buddhist are non theistic meaning they don't believe in or worship a God or Goddess. Buddhism originates from northern India between 1000 and 5000 years ago. As of today there are between 488 and 535 million Buddhist throughout the world.
Compare And Analysis The Japanese Buddhism And Indo Buddhism Buddhism is a religion and philosophy founded by Siddhartha Gautama in northeast India during the period from the late 6th century to the early 4th century BC. Spreading from India to Central and Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan, Buddhism has played an influential role in the spiritual, cultural, and social life of much of the Eastern world. It is the prevailing religious force in most of Asia (India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Tibet). ‘Buddhism’ is reformulated and re-expressed in different cultures and at different times, adopting and redefining aspects of the cultures in which it has taken root. Today, there are about 300 million followers. (Yamplosky) The Indian religion Buddhism, founded in the sixth century BC, is one of the common features of Asian civilization, and Buddhist institutions and believers are found all over East, South, and Southeast Asia. While Buddhism is now just a minority belief in the country of it’s founding, it remains a significant religious and cultural force in Japan today. Buddhism started in India and made its way to China and Korea. From there, it ended up in Japan. Buddhism went through several different periods before it became Japan's national religion. In indo Buddhism, the temple is the main sanctuary, in which services, both public and private, are performed but Japanese Buddhism is mainly hub of individual activities and services. Similarly to Japanese Buddhism, in Indo Buddhism the monastery is a complex of buildings, located usually in a spot chosen for its beauty and seclusion. Its function is to house the activities of the monks. Images are important features of temples, monasteries, and shrines in both Indo a...
Buddhism is one of the oldest religions in the world, which began in India. The origin of Buddhism is traced back to the experience of single man, Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha. Born around 563 B.C.E., legend follows that Siddhartha was the son of a prince in a kingdom near the border of what is now India and Nepal. As such, he was sheltered from the world and lived a life of luxury and comfort. (Molloy 124) However, at age 29 Siddhartha left the royal grounds and witnessed the suffering of ordinary life for the first time. What he saw deeply affected him and caused him to question everything in his materialistic life. Siddhartha made the decision to give up his possessions and embark on a search for enlightenment, an event known as the Great Going Forth. (Molloy 125)
Buddhism prevailed as a religion indigenous to west India and comprises of varieties of traditions, beliefs and practices based on the teachings of Buddha. There are many reasons why Buddhism became so popular and entered into many civilizations. Buddhism began to be popular throughout Asia alongside India. Buddhism has blossomed in the contemporary world, especially in the West. It is an issue to wonder what Buddhism offers that other religions cannot and has become so significant worldwide. Buddhism has become an idea that is widespread and the teachings of Buddha have made a real difference in many civilizations like India, China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea and surprisingly Buddhism has come to make a significant difference in American culture.
Buddhism, like most other religions, originated in a particular place at a particular time, and its roots are in forms and ideas that were part of the environment in which it developed. The most important of these areas at the time of the Buddha was the valley of the Ganges river which flows from west to east across most of northern India. It was here that the great religions of India first arose and flourished. Only later did they spread to the south. In the time of the Buddha, about 500 B.C.E., this area was undergoing a period of vigorous religious development.
The world as we know it evolves every day; the people who inhabit it evolve, our languages evolve, our religions evolve. The religions that first began when humans became civilized are not the same as those practiced today. Everything as we know it shape shifts in order to fit into modern standards. One of those religions that have evolved from the beginning is Buddhism. The whole ideology of Buddhism appeals to more people than some of the other religious groups. Why is this so? Is it because of its concepts that it teaches or the fact that it does not focus on a “god” as much as western religions do.
The story of Buddhism begins in the 6th century B.C.E., a time during the period known as the Axial Age. All over the world new ideas and movements were sprouting such as Platonism in Greece and Confucianism in China. During this time India was split into kingdoms and in the palace of the Shakya clan a prince was born and named Siddhartha. Soon after a soothsayer approached the king and declared that the baby boy would go on to have great success as eith...
One of the three jewels that many Buddhists seek support in is the Buddha. In Sanskrit, the Buddha is defined as the “awakened or enlightened one.” The Buddha is a teacher or model of the perfect Buddhist. The goal of Buddhism is to reach enlightenment and to end the cycle of rebirth. This can be accomplished by following the life of the Buddha.
Ancient India’s religion greatly impacted their traditions and way of life. The three main religions of Ancient India were Brahmanism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. These religions are very diverse in many ways. They all are highly diverse in many ways. These religions play a massive role in India’s culture and society.
The religion of Buddhism was created by the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama; the first person to discover Buddhism in the late 6th century B.C.E. He
Buddhism is unlike any other religion I learned about throughout my time in this class. There is no god in Buddhism and Buddhist do not worship any supernatural being. Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama. His teachings, the Dharma, are a guide to follow to reach ultimate liberation. Understanding the four noble truths and following the noble eightfold path would lead to nirvana. As with any religion there are a few different types of Buddhism such as Theravada, Mahayana, and modern day Buddhist. Starting in Asia, Buddhism has spread to the west and all over the world. I hope to convey my thoughts on Buddhism’s past, present and future.