There have been an increase in the number of religious beliefs and religions in all parts of the world which has sparked a lot of different perspectives on the beliefs and teachings of given religions. Buddhism and Hinduism religion are some of the religions which people in other parts of the world who do not practice or follow their teachings form perceptions and false beliefs on their beliefs. It is important to look at the foundational teachings of the two religions to know the differences and/or similarities while at the same time learning what their beliefs and religious activities comprise of. The Indians and other Asian countries practice these two religions which are said to originate from India and spread to other parts of the continent (Johnson, 1997). This paper looks into the two religions assessing the reason why they should be considered as religions, the History of these religions and the changes which have been made in the different revolutionary changes in the world. This paper aims to offer an insight into the two religions by looking at the foundational changes and the different teachings and their similarities.

Hinduism is a religion which is synonymous with the Indian people and the term Hinduism is said to have started being used in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. In order to look at the foundations of Hinduism it is important to look at the history of the Hinduism religion looking at the different periods (Ridgeon, 2003). These periods are the Harappan period (3000BCE) , Vedic period (1500BCE-500BCE), Period of the North Indians (500BCE-600CE), Period of regional Kingdoms (600CE-1200CE), Period of Muslim rule (1200CCE-1800CE), Period of British rule (1800CE-1947CE), Post-independence period (1947CE onwards) (Ridgeon, 2003). The Harappan period was discovered in the 1920s by archaeologists where it is believed that it was a place which is the origin for the Indus valley civilization (Hawkins, 1999). The area has the remains and sites which show that the area was once host to human population where there are remarkable artefacts and also splendid uniformity and geometry in the structures and bricks built in the area. The area has huge female sculptures which the archaeologists believed to have been the statues of the mother goddesses worshipped by the Hindus in the villages and the large baths which are also in the city are believed to have been pools for ritual bathing (Ridgeon, 2003). The Harappan archaeologists also believe to have witnessed the god Shiva and the Hindu religion belief in rebirth is believed to originate from the Harappan period.

Unlike the Harappan period where there is no literature and all the evidence can only be authenticated by archaeological means such as the radiocarbon techniques the Vedic period has literature which although it is not written it is a record which has been passed through generations orally through the Veda (Ridgeon, 2003). The Veda was songs and poems which are recited by the Priests as they perform their rituals. There are still citations in the Hindu religion which date back to the Vedic period as there are verses from the Veda which are still recited today however most of the gods and goddesses of the Vedic period are not known to the Indian religion today (Klostermaier, 2007). The period of the North Indian empires saw the region being ruled by Kings and their patronage there was a body of learning in all fields including rituals, artefacts, medicine, and advanced mathematics (Ridgeon, 2003). It is in this period that the fundamental texts of Hindu theology were composed and were incorporated in the devotional poems which gave lessons in moral discipline and an account of the world in relation to God. One of the teachers I this period was Gutama but was also known by his title the Buddha which meant that he had reached a state of perfect and infinite knowledge of the nature of phenomena and of personality. The Buddhist practice involved maintaining monks through voluntary donations to follow a discipline of meditation and study which allowed the monks to develop structured arguments and independent ideas and as a result they were able to develop counter arguments to the teachings (Hawkins, 1999). The Buddhism religion started in south Asia and did not last long in this region as it was later practiced in Nepal and Sri-Lanka only (Ridgeon, 2003). The religion however spread to Central, East and Southeast Asia and it was later claimed that the religion once one of the great contributions of the Indians to the world. Mahavira was also another religious teacher and was known as the conqueror because he had overcome the limitations of the human existence and like Buddha he had perfect knowledge of the nature and phenomenon of human personality (Ridgeon, 2003). The two rejected the authority of the Veda but agreed on the facts that a person is reborn as a human or an animal after they die according to the deeds the person had while he was still alive. In the period of the Regional Kingdoms there were kingdoms which rose and fell and depending on the kingdom and ruler the type of religion which the region practiced varied. The Vedic teachings were practiced by most and not all the kings in this period with some of the Kings preferring the Buddhist teachings and some went on to build a Buddhist University (Ridgeon, 2003). It was a period when there was shift and changes in the religion which was hugely practiced in the region.

In the period of the Muslim rule the empires and kingdoms shifted as in the preceding period but in this period it was between the Muslims and the Hindus. It is however difficult to associate the war as between the Muslims and Hindus as some of the Hindus fought against fellow Hindus and Muslims against other Muslims (Ridgeon, 2003). There were many people who converted into being Muslim in South Asia with a fifth of the population having been converted but the converted Hindus still practiced the Hindu religion and culture. This gave rise to the emergence of religions which rejected some of the teachings and beliefs of the Brahmins and Muslims known as the Bhakti (Ridgeon, 2003). There was also an emergence of the Kabir and the Sikh community (Ridgeon, 2003). The period of the British rule also hugely influenced Hinduism as they brought the rule of law to the Indian community which had both the Muslims and the Hindus. They had to give the laws which were appropriate for the Hindus and for the Muslims who were ruled and judged differently depending on their religion (Ridgeon, 2003). This changed the ways of the Hindus and they had to integrate Hinduism with Western civilization.

Buddhism religion is a growing religion and the geographical expansion and historical community is only comparable to the Muslim and Christian religions. As described above the Buddhism religion originated from North India and then moved to Sri-Lanka and then spread to all over the Asian countries including china, Korea, and Japan and has recently moved to European West (Esposito et al, 2006). Buddhism religion is not a monotheistic religion and has exhibited affinity in other indigenous religions in China, Japan and Tibet. Buddhism focused firmly on the self and looks into the ego and was originally split from the Hinduism religion but together with the Jainism religion they dropped the rituals part of the Hinduism religion. Buddhism religion has transcended from the original Buddha teachings and the Buddhist canons which after Buddha’s death the followers of Buddha took the teachings of the Buddha and spread them to the masses all over Asia. The Buddhist religion has collected major canons and laws from the Chinese and Tibetian canons transcending into the religion it is today (Ridgeon, 2003). The Pali canon was also transcended into the Buddhist teachings and the canon was close to the Mahayana texts and teachings (Ridgeon, 2003). The Mahayan teachings were incorporated in the Chinese teachings and were absolved in the Buddhist teachings extensively rather than selectively. Buddhism does not have a central organization for controlling the doctrines and ecclesiastical matters. There were a host of general councils which were recorded in the early part of the religion’s early inception where the first council was held immediately after the Buddha’s death. There was a distinction in the different teachings in the schisms which generated further decentralization in the teachings and canons. The doctrines differed between the different teachings and had issues concerning their religious goals.

There are also acknowledgements that there are many “Buddhas” and there have been discussions by the early Buddhists as to when they are to expect the next Buddha and if there is by any chance other Buddha in other parts of the world. These discussions show that there have been extensive research and beliefs that there are other Buddhas in the world and therefore the reference meant that the Buddhist community did not follow one Buddha who has an origin in India but the name Buddha was given to the people who were seen to have achieved their religious goals. The title Buddha was used to call both Gautama and the founder of Jainism but was later used as a term to refer to Gautama alone (Ridgeon, 2003). The monks in the monastery try to achieve the high status of Gautama in their lives by living in holy and sacred lives and also looking deep into the self.

The paper has analysed the origin and spread of the two religions the Hinduism and Buddhism which both originated from India. It is from the teachings and doctrines of Hinduism that Buddhism started having its own teachings and doing away with the rituals which were conducted by the Hindus. There is however a point where the two religions are similar where the two religions believe that people change into either other people or animals after their death. Buddhism has however surpassed the spread of Hinduism religion as it has spread all over Asia and is now spreading into some parts of Europe. Hinduism is however being practiced in India with its spread limited to a few countries in Asia. Buddhism and Hinduism are religions with rich history and beliefs but their foundations are similar and although Hinduism religion was founded before Buddhism the spread of the two religions have been reverted with Buddhism surpassing Hinduism.

References

Esposito, J. L., Fasching, D. J., & Lewis, T. T. (2006). World religions today (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

Hawkins, B. K. (1999). Buddhism. London: Routledge.

Johnson, P. G. (1997). God and world religions: basic beliefs and themes. Shippensburg, PA: Ragged Edge Press.

Klostermaier, K. K. (2007). A survey of Hinduism (3rd ed.). Albany: State University of New York Press.

Ridgeon, L. V. (2003). Major world religions from their origins to the present. London: RoutledgeCurzon.

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