Buddhism and Hinduism, Nature of the Divine

Malavolta 2

Buddhism and Hinduism, Nature of the Divine

Marcus Malavolta

Mr. Morelli

December 18 th

2013

Malavolta 2

Buddhism and Hinduism, Nature of the Divine

Buddhism and Hinduism are both very intriguing religions that are similar in many ways,

and are almost identical in their belief of the afterlife. Both religions believe in reincarnation,

reincarnation is the reappearance or revitalization of someone or something in another form

(Thefreedictionary 1). Buddhists and Hindus believe that after death, the human body returns to

earth in another form, however, this form is not completely random. There are five different

forms that a person can be reincarnated into; the lowest, is the untouchable form. To move into

the next form, a person must fulfill their dharma throughout their whole life. If they do in fact

fulfill their dharma, they will be reincarnated into the next highest form after their life is over.

Once the person has fulfilled their dharma in each caste they will achieve moksha or nirvana, a

greater state of being.

In Buddhism the goal of one's life is to achieve moksha, this can only be achieved once a

Buddhist passes through each of the castes. The five castes are from lowest to highest are

Untouchable, Sudras, Vaishyas, Kshatriyas and Brahmans. A person in the untouchable caste has

jobs such as having to kill or dispose of dead cattle or pursuing activities that bring the

participant into contact with emissions of the human body (Britannica) all in all, it is the worst

caste to be in. The caste above the untouchable caste, is the Sudra caste; most people that are In

this caste are very poor, they have jobs such as washing and shoemaking (Britannica), both the

untouchable caste and the Sudra caste are not great castes to be...