Eastern Religions of Buddhism and Hinduism

Subject: Religion
Pages: 2
Words: 659
Reading time:
3 min
Study level: Master

Religion has been the sort to help people seek their higher being and believe in a superior being that controls man’s existence. This practice has also been found helpful in health as most people tend to keep their faith and will to live, which is essential for sick people. There are several other crucial aspects of religion such as the transformation that helps people achieve their best self. Most people seek to find a community of religious believers who align in practices and faith through all these attributes. As a result, there are various religions in the world. Buddhism and Hinduism are some of the common religious aspects. While Buddhism and Hinduism have different practices or beliefs, some similarities can be traced between both religions.

Buddhism does not base its religion on an individual God, thus referred to as a nontheistic religion. The faith believes that most things are not interconnected hence impermanent. The religion originated in northeastern India, with some of its prominent leaders being Dalai Lamas. Gautama Buddha is a leader whose teachings get practiced by Buddhists. Most of the individuals practiced yoga and meditations in an attempt to attain their higher awakening. Some of the religion’s central teachings include patience, generosity, and kindness. Additionally, they prohibit killing people, stealing, sexual immorality, lying, and abuse of drugs.

The Buddhist religion is characterized by holy days aimed at celebrating different functions. These days are Dhamma day, Nirvana celebrating the death of buddha, and Losar, where they celebrate the new year. Buddhism is also characterized by scriptures like the three baskets of wisdom, Mahayana Sutras, and Tibetan Buddhist texts. Furthermore, rituals are predicted actions among different religious groups. For instance, Buddhist monks sit in a cross-legged and upright way and stay silent in prayers. These are some of the rituals experienced in the religion. In addition, religion significantly impacts its people through the influence to meditate, remain calm, patient, and offer generosity to other community members.

On the other hand, Hinduism is among the oldest religions, with most of its members in India. The faith believes in a higher deity who may exist in different forms. The Hindu scriptures that define the truth of the religion are referred to as the Vedas. Additionally, the main gods living in Hindu are Brahma, the universe creator, Vishnu responsible for preserving it, and Shiva the destroyer. The central teachings of Hindu are the eternality of truth, the ultimate authority of the Vedas, and that everyone is required to stay virtuous.

Diwali, Holi, and Dussehra are some important days celebrated by Hindus. These festivals are intended to bring together members and celebrate critical divinity days. The rituals in the faith include initiation, marriage, death, and ancestry. Additionally, their prayers and offering sacrifices are also rituals practiced by the believers. Through these rituals, individuals get to celebrate essential stages of their life. The practices are considered sacred and spiritual hence everyone is expected to be a part.

Despite the differences mentioned above, the two religions possess some similarities. The belief in reincarnation and karma is a common similarity. Both religions believe that individuals come back in another form after death. They also hold the idea that karma exists; hence everyone eventually pays for their good or evil deeds. The two religions also practice meditations as part of their practices with the aim of awakening. Additionally, the prominent leaders are men whereby most women are not allowed to take charge of leadership. However, with the passing ages, women seek to understand the teachings and get involved in the activities.

In conclusion, religions offer spaces where individuals get to find purpose and transformation in their lives. Through these practices, all the members find the zeal to surpass every problematic situation because a higher being takes charge of everything in life. Different religions have different origins and practices that distinguish them from each other. However, despite the differences, some similarities can be traced among the various religions.