Реферат: Hindu And Buda Essay Research Paper The

The main revolutionary idea behind the Buddha?s teachings was that he rejected

asceticism, which at that time had been a popular belief and a socially approved

route to salvation. Not only did he reject self-denial, but the worship of gods.

In his renowned Eightfold Path, there is never any mention of worship. Also, he

refuted the idea that one had to pass through countless rebirths to reach the

Brahmin caste before being able to obtain salvation. For this very reason,

Buddhism ultimately failed in India, because of the widespread control by the

Brahmins. The most challenging concept for the Hindus to except was that the

Buddha taught that the soul did not exist. Hindus thought that the Atman, or

soul, was actually God. The Buddha reasoned that if the soul is purely God, the

it is not individual and therefore is an An-Atman, or no soul. The achievement

of liberation then for Buddhist takes form in Nirvana. Nirvana occurs when

people release their yearning for a false selfhood, which is similar to

Hinduism. Paradoxically, as with Hinduism, the act of extinguishing this

yearning occurs simultaneously with an enlightenment. Studying Hinduism and

Buddhism has been surely an enlightenment for me. To my amazement, Hinduism

actually addresses a few questions I have had before. I?ve wondered about the

way life is connected and how life is a flowing circle of life and death.

Hinduism is based primarily on the idea of Brahman and that everything is one.

The idea that material positions are basically meaningless is something that I

dread to think about, because I am most certaintly a victim of todays society

based on wealth and power. It infuriates me to think that my possessions are

meaningless, but for some reason I am drawn to these teachings of Hinduism. The

majority of teachings of all the religions we have studied so far has made sense

to me, and this is the most puzzling conclusion I am faced with. What does this

mean? I have found something here and I am utterly confused. How the heck can

more than one religion make sense to me? It is almost as though I could draw

parts form different religions and form something new and rounded. This of

course is a ludicrous idea, for thousands of years of traditions stand in my