Allison Oler

June 12,

2014
Module 6 Study Question
As I have had the opportunity to delve deeper into the roots of both
Buddhism and Hinduism, I find myself getting lost along the way. If you didnt
have the two modules that provided a strict distinction between the two religions
you may feel that they blend together quite easily. Being a person that is not well
versed in any religion there are times when I struggle to identify similarities and
difference between the two.
A similarity that can be found in both religions and has translated well to
the western cultures is Karma. In Hinduism, Karma can be described as the law
of cause and effect; what you do is what happens to you (RWR, section 4, part
15). Likewise, Buddhists believe that the circumstances and events in your
current life are tied to your behaviors in previous lives (RWR, section 2, part 33).
Both religions place great importance onto how your actions today will affect your
life tomorrow. They see proper conduct as an essential element to their faith and
firmly believe that the universe operates in this strict manner despite being of
different castes or monetary levels.
They also both find firm roots in meditation. In Hinduism meditation is a
technique for guiding thoughts that ultimately lead to Brahman consciousness or
liberation (RWR, section 5 part 7), while Buddhism regards meditation as the
primary method for achieving Nirvana (RWR, section 2, part 25). Even though
that are not exactly the same in their outcomes their, method/technique of
meditation is the same. Through meditation and self-reflection the worshippers of
these religions can find/ travel to their ultimate destination.
Reincarnation is one of the most central concepts to both Hinduism and
Buddhism. Reincarnation acts as a philosophical jail that encourages the
followers of each religion to stick firmly to the appropriate moral code of conduct
that has been designated. Since Buddhists believe that there is no self, they
must also believe in reincarnation. Buddhists have describing reincarnation as
the collection of elements making up the self as being passed from one lifetime
to another as a flame is passed form one candle to another or as wind passes
over grass (RWR, section 2, part 32). Hinduism sees reincarnation as the belief
that if an individual dies they will leave their current body only to be reborn again
into another body and another life (RWR, part 4, section 17). A difference
between the two is that Hinduism believes in the individual soul (jiva) which is
where someones ill actions would be carried through, while Buddhism does not
believe in the existence of individual souls (RWR, part 4, section 18).
One main difference is that Hinduism is not grounded in any one specific
prophet while the Buddha founded Buddhism. Buddhism focuses a great deal on
the doctrine of no self, also known as anatta. It is paramount that a person frees
themselves from desire through the process of giving up attachments of
particular hopes or ideas. An example of this would be the idea of self which is
regarded as the most difficult attachment to give up as one tries to progress
toward nirvana (RWR, section2, part 22).
I think the idea of karma and reincarnation are borderline genius. Without
any rules of conduct the world would be in complete chaos. When I look at my
own life and the religion I have been raised in, I find that I tend to rebel. The
reason for this is because someone is telling me that this all mighty being is who
predicts my ultimate faith based on what they have deemed as appropriate it.
That is something that I personally do not buy into, but I do buy into karma and
rebirth. The reason for this is because our actions are the only thing that decides
our fate and since we are in complete control of our actions we are in control of
our fate. I think that this is why this concept has been so popular in the West.
Most people are firm believers in repercussions and consequences because they
have encountered them in their day-to-day lives.