How Buddhism rejected Hinduism

Many people in the West are not familiar with Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism in

fact many people think they are the same. Yes it is true these religions share similarities

Buddhism was born of Hinduism, but it is what Buddhism rejects of Hinduism that makes it its

own religion. The Buddhist religion was born in the fifth century around the time when many

people were practicing Hinduism and a prince named Siddhrtha Gautama decided to break

away from Hinduism after seeing the suffering in the world. Hinduism and Buddhism are

different in many ways but I am going to look at four major examples of how Buddhism rejected

Hinduism.

A main belief in Hinduism is the idea of reincarnation. Hindus believe that you are once

you die you are reborn as something else, they believe if you committed wrong or sorrowful

actions then you would be born in a lower caste in your next life until you eventually reach

liberation1. Buddhist saw how people were being treated in different castes and decided to reject

this idea by getting rid of the caste in their religion as well as teaching the idea of Samsara is not

a cycle of life after death but that throughout your life you are continuously being reborn.

Buddhist adopted is called the Midway2. Buddhists do not believe in extreme self

indulgence or tournament to achieve spiritual enlightenment unlike some Hindus. For example,

there are sects of Hinduism that focus on enduring pain to better themselves, one of these

Hindus practice are Prayopavesa which is death by starvation. Other practices Include other

extremes like self indulgence, and excessive wealth. This is another Idea Buddhist reject they

believe instead of living extremes they should find moderation in between and a balance in life.

1
Mary, P Fisher, Living Religions, 9th Edition, 2014
2
Mary, P Fisher, Living Religions, 9th Edition, 2014
 Olivia Hofheins
Religions
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3/16/17

Another common Hindu belief is the idea of Brahman which the book explains as the

Impersonal ultimate principle in Hinduism3 They also explain that brahman is contained in

Atman, which is yourself or your soul in the Hindu belief. Buddhist however, do not believe in

Atman. They believe that we do not have a soul. Buddhist reject atman because of the Five

Skandhas written in the Pali Canon4. The Five Skandhas talks about our senses and perceptions

and how they are not part of our soul because they are fleeting and not constant.

One trait of Hinduism is that Hindus believe in many gods and are monotheistic.

Buddhism has rejected this idea however, Siddhartha Gautama believed in Hindu gods and even

worshipped Vishnu. Siddhartha claimed people do not harm themselves for worshipping a

personal god... eventually each person must go beyond the dependence of individual deities and

all distinct gods are imperfect5 As the book explains Buddhist reject the ideas of gods and

instead choose to live a life of meditation and the teachings of Buddha to help them reach

enlightenment and salvation.

Looking at these examples we can see that Buddhism rejects many things from Hinduism

including, Castes Systems, Hinduism Samsara, Atman, Ideas on Hinduisms Moderation, and

their belief in different Gods. Some see Buddhism as more accepting and not as harsh as

Hinduism, others see Buddhism as too radical or too progressive. For example, many people

have issues with how the Hindu religion treats those of lower class and women in general, but in

the Buddhist religion women are allowed to be bhikkhun unlike in Hinduism. Even though there

3
Mary, P Fisher, Living Religions, 9th Edition, 2014
4
Nyanaponika Thera, Devotion in Buddhism, 2004, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nyanaponika/devotion.html
5
Mary, P Fisher, Living Religions, 9th Edition, 2014
 Olivia Hofheins
Religions
2300-001
3/16/17

are many things that separate Buddhism and Hinduism there are still a lot that they have in

common and both religions started first from Hinduism.

Bibliography

"Devotion in Buddhism", by Nyanaponika Thera. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30

November 2013,

Fisher, Mary Pat. Living religions. 9th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.