Comparison and Contrast Essay: Hinduism and Buddhism Moral Studies

The world is characterized by many religion influencing the attitudes, beliefs and peoples way of life. Buddhism and Hinduism are among the common profound religions having common philosophies and roots whose origin is in India (Brown, 2013).

Regarding morality, they both consider the cause of suffering is desire. Hinduism is considered a religion with no founder who is known, no universal readings, no central authority but has a caste system. About morality, they believe that all human have a place in the world and they cannot neglect their responsibilities. On the contrary, Buddhism is considered a philosophical school and not a religion.

According to the Hinduism culture, the caste system is the dominant belief that structures the society into different status depending on the inheritance. It is the root of social stratification placing individuals into different classes. These include; the Brahman, Vaishya, Kshatriya, Shudra and the untouchables. As an orderly society, the individuals in the highlighted categories must play in maintaining unity and the original order within. On the contrary, the Buddhists strongly disputed the Hindu caste system as Buddha believes in equal opportunity to all members of the society. The Buddhists consider social stratification as unjust immoral and against the equal opportunities freedom and rights provided to them by Buddha.

Buddhists and Hindus both believe in the conception of Samsara holding that life is a cycle composed of birth, deaths, and rebirths. It, therefore, implies that they acknowledge the role of women in giving birth as it is the major pillar determining the progress of and the ultimate objective of Samsara. To the Hindus, they believe that immediately one dies, they are reborn in a different world but in a different form from the original with a motive of understanding how one should live in any form of existence.

Buddhism considered women to be at the same footage to men; no one was considered inferior or superior to another. Buddha emphasized and respected the fruitful duty of women as being wives and mothers to men and family (Swearer, 2010). Similarly, the Hindus considered women as wives and mother, but the difference exists in the sense that women were not treated equally as men. Furthermore, the respect accorded to women was lost immediately the husband dies in the Hindu community, but for the Buddhist, it was to stand to the end. Buddha gave women equal opportunities and even to stand in place of husbands and for that reason had less restrictive opportunities in education and religion. Conversely, for the Hindus, the women primary reason was to be a helper to the husband, and their roles were much stricter to the highly ranked castes.

Notably, both religions practice meditation and of which they possess a common belief of placing them in a closer place to nirvana. In the Hinduism religion, it is observed that worshippers repeatedly chant the OM syllable to uplift them into a different level of consciousness during meditation. Furthermore, they believe that the process of chanting will make them better positioned to access knowledge about the reality and inner self. Similarly, through the acts of meditation, Buddha received an enlightenment and acquired the entire knowledge regarding the existence of Dharma (Jain, 2011). Buddhists, therefore, holds that, for an individual to reach nirvana meditation is key as it is the source of personal reflection and greatest insight that links knowledge of reality, the existence of nature and the philosophies surrounding humanity.

In conclusion, despite the existence of similarities and differences, the notion of meditation remains supreme and common to their spiritual nourishment. Above all religion is revealed to an instrumental tool in shaping the culture and morality of the entire society.

References

Brown, P. (2013). Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Period). Read Books Ltd.

Jain, P. (2011). Dharma and ecology of Hindu communities: Sustenance and sustainability. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd..

Swearer, D. K. (2010). The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia. Suny Press.