Salvation And Salvation

Salvation is typically found in Christianity. In the Christian context, its definition states it as the act of saving someone from sin or evil. The second definition is something that saves someone or something from danger or a difficult situation. Hinduism and Buddhism are nearly parallel religions. But their means of salvation are slightly different.

In Hinduism, life was perceived as a mistake and an impure state of being. Life is considered as an impure state of being because the atman, or individual soul, is separated from Brahman, the worldly soul. Their ultimate salvation is the unification of atman with Brahman. This salvation is called moksha. Only then would life be considered as pure. Salvation is attainable through three steps: dharma, karma, and reincarnation. The first step in achieving moksha is through dharma. Dharma is the duty or obligation given to each person. A person’s dharma depends on their caste level.

Dharma can be achieved in four different ways, known as the Four Yogas: jhana yoga, bhakti, yoga, karma yoga, and raja yoga. Jhana yoga is the way of knowledge, achieving salvation through knowledge. Bhakti yoga is the way of love, acting out of love, happiness, and positive attitudes. Karma yoga is the way of action, attaining salvation through acting rightly because it is the honorable thing to do. Lastly raja yoga is the way of meditation; monks employ this.

Karma is the good and bad deeds we do to complete our dharma. It influences specific life circumstances such as the caste one is born into, one’s state of health, wealth or poverty, etc. This continuous cycle is possible through reincarnation. They would repeatedly reincarnate into different types of life forms until they would achieve their dh...

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..., by both religions, to be attained alone. There is more than one path in achieving salvation, such as by ending all desire and minding all feeling. While Hinduism has the Upanishads and the Four Yogas, Buddhism has the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Paths, both having set principles as a guide in finding salvation.

Because there are similarities, there are clearly differences as well. For example, in Hinduism, once moksha is achieved, reincarnation ceases. On the other hand, nirvana is attainable in every single lifetime lived. Life continues even if nirvana is reached. Because Hindus still go by the caste system, only certain levels of the system can attain moksha. Nirvana is attainable by everyone; the poor, rich, sick, dying, old, and young. Hinduism places such importance on its gods, while Buddhism does not show any significant adoration to any gods.