Buddhism is a religion that has been spreading in the Western world for around twenty years and certain practices are adaptable to Western culture in certain countries. Hinduism, on the other hand, is a religion that exhibits devotion through worship and behavior of Hindus. But what are the similarities and differences between the two religions?
The similarities and differences between Hinduism and Buddhism
Indeed, Hinduism is the mother religion of Buddhism, yet some points affirm their similarities while several points make their differences.
- Their similarities are:
- Both religions appeared in India;
- Nirvana, that is to say the ultimate truth, is a goal common to both religions;
- Belief in the existence of Karma and reincarnation.
- Their main differences are:
- Hinduism worships a God different from Buddhism, which remains in its practical aspect;
- Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, is a natural person and a messenger of peace. Brahman, the Hindu god, is not a physical person;
- The fundamental principle of Buddhism is based on the reflection of the functioning of the world, while that of Hinduism is interested in its origin;
- Buddhism has a modern aspect and is easily accessible to Westerners, Hinduism retains its divine aspect and is closed to modernity ;
- Reincarnation is perceived differently in the two religions. In Hinduism, the process of reincarnation is the passage of a soul from one body to another. In Buddhism, reincarnation is explained by the change of one's good self.
Buddhism in its general aspect
Buddhism is above all a spiritual practice in search of wisdom and peace. This peace manifests itself in two forms, external peace and internal peace. The latter is specific to each practitioner and meditation is a way for them to learn to know themselves, their environment, those around them and their brothers and sisters. Buddhism aims to help practitioners maintain certain values such as kindness, empathy and compassion. Also, give up certain habits linked to matter and which generally result in a physical desire.
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Indeed, this type of desire should not dominate the daily life of a Buddhist, and it is even imperative that this material desire be transformed into spiritual desire. For what reason? Because according to the Buddhist principle, the more our human spirit is nourished, the more it pushes us to do good deeds and good gestures towards others, especially to help them when necessary.
What are Buddhist prayers?
The Buddhist prayer manifests itself in many forms, each of which is the subject of a solution or a way out of a problem. In general, Buddhists pray for the situation to improve, for peace to continue, in short, to find favorable prospects.
Therefore, Buddhists are considered optimistic pilgrims. Buddha taught his disciples that evil reigns in the world we live in and that it is our duty to defeat them.
According to him, in addition to religious practices, prayer is another infallible weapon. Buddhist prayers are characterized by mantras and chants. The mantra is nothing more than a phrase that repeats itself randomly.
There are two types of mantras, the one that calls for the presence of the Buddha Master in the first part of the prayer, and then those that end it and are called complementary mantras. Indeed, both are obligatory for the prayer to be well structured.
Tattooing, an essential characteristic of Buddhism
The Sak Yant is the Buddhist tattoo the most famous in the world. Whenever we talk about this tattoo, we think of the tattoo, that is, the “Sak” and the sacred prayer which means “Yant”. Sak Yant is indeed a representation of Thai culture and the ancestral traditions of Asian countries. Each tattoo carries a sacred message which aims to protect and bless the person tattooed.
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Ajarn Noo Kanpai is the master of this tattoo. He was trained by monks and his knowledge and skills later enabled him to set up his tattoo institute known as “Samnak”. For the Sak Yant to have value and meaning, the tattoo artist draws mantras on the tattooed person's body in relation to the blessing.
Hinduism in its general aspect
Hinduism, which appeared 800 years before Christ, is seen as the oldest religion in the world. The earliest Hindu texts are called “Vedas.” Hindus worship a God who is “Brahman”, for them it is the God who created the universe. Hindu cosmology accepts that the world was created in the form of Brahma's egg. There is an upper half, which houses several components of the universe such as air, earth, gods among many others, and a lower half which houses demons.
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This religion is the origin of Buddhism, that is to say that Buddhism comes from Hinduism. Gandhi represents Hinduism throughout the world, but he is neither a prophet nor a messenger. In Hinduism, the basic tenets of this religion recognize the diversity of voices that lead to Brahman. Moreover, Hindu teaching is primarily based on the acceptance of contrasts and differences between humanity and life itself.
The role of each Hindu God
In principle, Brahman is the only God, because he is the representation of a universal soul and an absolute reality for Hindus. For them, it is omnipresent, that is to say present everywhere. However, Brahman is not a physical person but is incarnated in different personified gods, the best known of which are Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu . Each deity has its own attribution, Brahma is its creative aspect, Vishnu is its conservative aspect and Shiva is its destructive aspect.
The majority of Hindus opt for the Vaishnavas, in other words, who worship Brahman for his conservative action. Next comes the minority, those who worship Shiva. Moreover, every god has an avatar as in the case of Vishnu, his earthly manifestation is the sacred “Krishna”. It should be noted that the notion of God in Christianity and Hinduism is different.
2 comments
Alex
Sincèrement ça valais le détour! J’ai l’impression que c’est arrangé avec le gars des vues! Mais je viens juste de constater comme l’hindouisme et le bouddhisme me déculpabilise profondément ici et maintenant d’être qui je suis. L’acceptation sous toute ces formes. Merci pour cette entré dans une philosophie qui m’est logique et pour vrai ça me décongèle le cerveau!! Wow tout es brahman
Blaise Ndala
Comment adhérer ?