Comparative Eastern Influences Response
All religions have similarities, but it is the differences that make them stand apart from one another. Hinduism and Buddhism both originated via Indian philosophies, though Hinduism is the elder of the two. Both of these religions believe in the concepts of soul transmigration, karma, rebirth, and the ideal of having several heavens and hells. Many people believe that Buddhism branched off of Hinduism, and that is understandable considering all of the similarities, especially the spiritual practices both use (i.e. meditation) and the fact that they both emphasized non-violence and compassion as their core morals.
It is interesting that supposedly no one founded Hinduism; one would have to ask if that is even possible, while Buddhism was formed by Siddhartha Gautama who later became known as Buddha. Hinduism believes in the Vedas; whereas, Buddhism believes in the Bodhisattvas concept. Hinduism also believes in several gods within the Hindu trinity, one being Mahavishnu, who the Hindu believe Buddha to be the incarnation of. On the flipside, Buddhism only believes in Buddha. The Buddhists do not believe in any of the Hindu gods and certainly do not believe that any of them is worthy of being hoisted over Buddha. When it comes to the purpose of life the Buddhists consider finding an ending to sorrow to be their main objective. Whereas, Hindus believe that they go through stages of life, known as the “four ashramas” (i.e. dharma, artha, kama, and moksha).
In an attempt to take an ethical approach, one would probably assume the Buddhist religion if they had to make a choice between the two. The intricacies of Buddhism appear to be less confusing considering the fact that there is only one god to choose from. Additionally, the Buddhists only have one goal in life and that is to attempt to find the answer to the hole left by sorrow. This religion seems to have reduced all of the potentially...