Essay on hinduism and buddhism.

Essay by reeperHigh School, 10th gradeA, October 2003

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Hinduism and Buddhism have different similarities and are in some ways connected to each other. Some of the practices of the two religions are similar in many different ways and there are several examples to show this. Hinduism first started in India around 1500 BC. The word Hindu comes from the word "sindhu" or river. The Hindu community think of themselves as "those who believe in the Vedas", or "those who follow the way or dharma of the four classes and the stages of life. The four classes being the varnas and the stages of life being the ashramas.

Like Hinduism, Buddhism also started in India. It is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who is called the Buddha. Buddhism started a monastic movement in the Brahman tradition. Another name for buddah is the enlightened one. It is generally agreed that the Buddha was born in 563 BC in Kapilavastu to the ruler of a small kingdom.

He grew up as a rich guy and had a splendid life. When he was 29 he came to realize that high life up to this point had been so empty. He let go any earthly things and soon left to find peace and enlightenment trying to stay away from the cycles of rebirths. He started practicing Yoga and "adopted a life of radical asceticism." He soon gave up this way of thinking and focused on a middle path between the life of "indulgence and that of self-denial". After a while of great "inner struggle", he began to wander to different places and preach and organized a community know as the sangha.

The Buddha started the movement for all different peoples and denied that a person's spiritual worth is a matter of birth. The Buddha left no written word.

"The Cannon...