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Hinduism and Buddhism
Develop
Hinduism Evolves over Centuries
• Hinduism is a collection
of religious beliefs that
developed
• Not one founder with one
set of ideals.
• Hindus share a common
belief that religion is a
way of liberating the soul
from the disappointments,
and mistakes of everyday
existence
• The achievement of
separation from these
desires and suffering
Hinduism Evolves over Centuries
• When a person understands the relationship
between atman (their soul) and Brahman (world
soul), then they achieve perfect understanding
and release from this world.
• This understanding does not come usually in
one lifetime – reincarnation in necessary. A
soul’s karma, or good and bad deeds, follows it
from reincarnation to another.
• The karma influences life circumstances, such
as caste, etc.
• Dharma is the religious and moral duties an
individual must have.
Hinduism and Society
• Hindu ideas about karma and reincarnation
strengthened the caste system – if someone
was born as an upper-class male, it was said
that he had good karma, or fortune. If he was
born lower-class, it was said that he deserved it
because of past misdeeds.
The Buddha Seeks Enlightenment
•
•
Siddhartha Gautama founded
Buddhism. He was locked in his
palace by his father to fulfill a
prophecy of him becoming a great
king. He finally left the palace and
understood that only religion offers
freedom from the cycle of birth
and death.
He wandered through the forests
of India for 6 years to find
enlightenment. After 49 days of
meditation under a fig tree he
achieved an understanding of the
causes of suffering in the world.
From then on he became known
as Buddha, or “Enlightened One.”
Origins & Beliefs of Buddhism
• In his first sermon, Buddha outlined the Four
Noble Truths of his faith:
– First Noble Truth: Life is filled with suffering & sorrow
– Second Noble Truth: The Cause of all suffering is
people’s selfish desire for the temporary pleasures of
this world
– Third Noble Truth: The way to end all suffering is to
end all desire
– Fourth Noble Truth: The way to overcome such
desires and attain enlightenment is to follow the
Eightfold Path, which is called the Middle Way
between desires & denial.
The Eightfold Path
• “What is the Middle Way?
It is the Noble Eightfold
Path – Right Views, Right
Resolve, Right Speech,
Right Conduct, Right
Livlihood, Right Effort,
Right Mindfulness, and
Right Concentration.
This is the Middle Way.”
• Buddha, from
Samyutta Nikaya
Dharma Wheel, often used to
symbolize the Eightfold Path
Origins & Beliefs of Buddhism
• Like Hinduism, Buddha accepted
reincarnation
• He shared the concept of enlightenment
by a belief in nirvana, or a release from
selfishness and pain.
• The final goals of both Hinduism and
Buddhism are similar – both involve a
perfect state of understanding and a break
from the chain of reincarnation.