Hinduism and Buddhism (tradition, beliefs, evolution, America, atheist)

[MaddLlama]

Let's pretend that I am an idiot and know next to nothing about either Buddhism or Hinduism. Actually, we don't have to do a whole lot of pretending.

Is there a correlation between the two? I know that both began in India, but now that Buddhism has been more widely embraced by the far east I assume that has changed Buddhism, if only a little. Is there a point where the two meet as far as beliefs and practice? Do Hindu's and Buddhist incorporate certain things of the other into thier own practice?

[Booko]

Originally Posted by MaddLlama

Is there a correlation between the two? I know that both began in India, but now that Buddhism has been more widely embraced by the far east I assume that has changed Buddhism, if only a little. Is there a point where the two meet as far as beliefs and practice? Do Hindu's and Buddhist incorporate certain things of the other into thier own practice?

Buddhism has its roots in Hinduism, and there are some areas where it shows. There's one passage in particular in the Dhammapada that's a direct quote from the Bhagavad-Gita.

You might ask: How can an atheist or near-atheist religion spring out of Hinduism? My personal take on this is that the Buddha was reacting to *too many gods* in Hinduism, not unlike the iconoclastic nature of Islam has its origin and was a reaction to Christian practice of the time.

Their eschatologies have many similarities as well, fwiw.

As for daily practice, that's beyond my ken.

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by MaddLlama

Let's pretend that I am an idiot and know next to nothing about either Buddhism or Hinduism. Actually, we don't have to do a whole lot of pretending.

Is there a correlation between the two? I know that both began in India, but now that Buddhism has been more widely embraced by the far east I assume that has changed Buddhism, if only a little. Is there a point where the two meet as far as beliefs and practice? Do Hindu's and Buddhist incorporate certain things of the other into thier own practice?

The analogy of evolution comes into play here. Buddhism and Hinduism both evolved from a common ancestor, the Vedic traditions. It is fair to say that the Vedic traditions are more closely expressed in Hinduism and therefore Buddhism came from Hinduism. But it would be a mistake to think that the "Hinduism" that the Buddha was reacting to at his time is the same as the the "Hinduism" that exists today. Both Buddhism and Jainism came out of reactions against certain Vedic practices at the time, and they in turn influenced what Hinduism is today.

Both Buddhism and Hinduism are Dharmic religions. They share beliefs in Dharma, samsara, karma... but mean somewhat different things by them. There is enough similarity to be able to converse with each other.

Hinduism is so broad in its beliefs and tolerant of dissention that I think most Hindus think of Buddhism as just an offshoot of their jnana marga (path of wisdom). Buddhists would respectfully disagree.

The biggest disagreement between them would be the existence (or more accurately the relevance) of God, otherwise known in Hinduism as Brahman or Atman (with a big A). Hinduism says that Atman is the Ultimate, the goal of escaping samsara is to join with Atman. Buddhists say there may or may not be an Atman, such a question is irrelevant to nibbana. Nibbana is not the joining with God, as even God will pass away. Therefore joining with God would still be part of the cycle of samsara.

As for Buddhism changing when it left India, yes, definately. When it got to China, it melded with Taoism to become Ch'an Buddhism (Zen in Japan). When it got to Tibet it melded with the indigenous religion there to become Vajrayana or Tibetan Buddhism. In SouthEast Asia, Therevada Buddhism (truer to the original form) is more likely practiced. And Buddhism in the West (Western Europe and North America) has largely stripped it of any reference to rebirth/ghosts/devas to the extent that many Western Buddhists will argue that Buddhism is not a religion and has no concern with what happens after death. Well, yeah, their version of Buddhism is like that. Buddhism has definately taken on the cultural influences of the countries in which it is practiced.

[Random]

Buddhism is to Hinduism what Christianity is to Judaism. Each is supposed to embody an eventual fulfillment of the others thought and belief systyem.