Hinduism and Buddhism
A religion defines the way in which any community gives gratitude to the believed creator and provider of life. Each community in the world has a religion and their specific religious practices. Comparing Hinduism and Buddhism helps us to have an insight on what religion is all about.
Hinduism is defined as the way of life among the Hindu community in India, Indians practice Hinduism as per the teachings from the ancient ways of living among the Indian people. Hinduism is not a religion as argued by the way their aspects of religion are unique. In the Hindu practice, they have a word that explains the correct path that leads those who practice spiritual nearness to God; the word is ‘dharma’. Hinduism is therefore a religious and cultural together with traditional practices that Indians practice mostly in their continent ( Flood, pg 69, 1996).
Buddhism is another religion that is growing in popularity and ahs many followers. It originates from Gotama with the name Buddha. Buddhism has no specific ethnic group because it is influenced around the world. Buddhism emphasizes more on philosophy than religion because it bases its practice on aspects such as moral life, wisdom and rationality of actions. These aspects are geared towards a way of life, which is more of philosophy than religion.
Hinduism has no specific timeline in which it originated, it is believed to have been in existence and no record can define its origin. It is therefore difficult to dig out the origin of their culture and geographical origin, perhaps what can be used to describe their origin is the sacred documents that have been used by the religion from way back. These doctrines constitute of different practices that interrelate. All the writings from the doctrines are centered towards a common practice that forms Hinduism.
Buddhism on the other hand is believed to have originated from Northern India under the reign of Gotama who is known as Buddha. The teachings of Buddha consist of chapters that sum up the overall doctrines of the teachings. The main purpose of Buddha teachings are centered towards the way of human life and how to live in the raging world. There are three main doctrines of Buddha tradition; the doctrine of the elders, the great vehicle and the diamond vehicle. Each of these scriptures has their different meaning and aspects on the way to live in the world. The roots of Buddhism originated from India but many people around the world have embraced this religion so that there are people in the world who identify their religion as Buddhist Jews, Christians and Atheists (Trainer, pg 82, 2004).
The religious practice of Hindu includes sacred animals the most valued sacred animal being cow, and therefore the killing of one is forbidden since it is worshiped. Other sacred animals include monkey, snakes, and squirrels. They also hold specific festival in each temple every year and it involves going around the city with their god while singing, dancing and giving sacrifices. In the houses of the Hindu, there is an idol that signifies their culture and they perform sacrificial offerings to the idol. Another aspect of religious practice is that of putting a red spot paint in the forehead, it is an identity of a Hindu (Bowen, pg 56. 1998). In every part of the world, the Hindus are recognized by their religious practices like celebrations and festivals that involve burning of incenses. Hindu has a unique religious practice that is recognized in the world and they also have a specific ways of life that differentiates them from other religions.
The religious practices of Buddhism differ a lot from those of Hinduism because the main aspect of Buddhism is based on philosophy of human life. Mediation is the most identifiable practice of the Buddhist religion, and it is derived from the teachings of Buddha, mediation involves the followers being dedicated to the teachings of Buddha. There are schools of Buddhism where the followers acquire their religious and cultural practices through the teachings from the doctrines. These schools are all over the world, the main being in India, China, and Asia. The other practices include mantras where it is about a sacred sound that is known by the followers, Mudras which symbolizes hand gestures and determines how the followers of the Buddhism recognize themselves. A prayer wheel also explains how the followers recite their prayers with each turn of the wheel (Trainer, pg 38, 2004).
The daily lives of people within various religions are influenced by their specific religion. This is explained by the fact that different religions have their own unique ways of life which contribute to difference in the culture of a community at large. With the insight of the religions of Hinduism and Buddhism, it is evident that the two religions are totally different and this results to difference on how they live. An example is the dress code of Hinduism differs from those of Buddhism, which is an influence on the day to day life of people living in a community and have different religion.
Reference
Bowen, P. (1998). Themes and issues in Hinduism. Continum Copyright.
Flood, G. (1996). An introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press.
Trainer, K. (2004). Buddhism: The illustrated guide. Oxford University Press.
