Is Buddhism a part of Hinduism?

[ronki23]

I am having trouble understanding Buddhist-Hindu relations.

1. Siddartha Gautama rejected conventional Hindu practices

2. When he became Buddha Siddartha said he would not be reborn again, yet Hindus believe in Kalki Avatar and other Avatars

3. Many say Buddhism is a type of atheism but the Shinto, Daoist and Chinese religions which believe in Buddha also have Gods and Goddesses

4. India used to be a Buddhist Empire and Thailand, Cambodia, Burma and Bhutan used to be Hindu but this all reversed and now there are hardly any Buddhists in India and even fewer Hindus in South East Asia. There are no Hindus in China, Japan or Korea but they believe in Buddha

5. What do Sikhs think about Buddha?

 

[sayak83]

I am having trouble understanding Buddhist-Hindu relations.

1. Siddartha Gautama rejected conventional Hindu practices

2. When he became Buddha Siddartha said he would not be reborn again, yet Hindus believe in Kalki Avatar and other Avatars

3. Many say Buddhism is a type of atheism but the Shinto, Daoist and Chinese religions which believe in Buddha also have Gods and Goddesses

4. India used to be a Buddhist Empire and Thailand, Cambodia, Burma and Bhutan used to be Hindu but this all reversed and now there are hardly any Buddhists in India and even fewer Hindus in South East Asia. There are no Hindus in China, Japan or Korea but they believe in Buddha

5. What do Sikhs think about Buddha?

Buddhism is not a part of Hinduism, though there may be considerable overlap between practitioners.

 

[LuisDantas]

I am having trouble understanding Buddhist-Hindu relations.

1. Siddartha Gautama rejected conventional Hindu practices

2. When he became Buddha Siddartha said he would not be reborn again, yet Hindus believe in Kalki Avatar and other Avatars

3. Many say Buddhism is a type of atheism but the Shinto, Daoist and Chinese religions which believe in Buddha also have Gods and Goddesses

4. India used to be a Buddhist Empire and Thailand, Cambodia, Burma and Bhutan used to be Hindu but this all reversed and now there are hardly any Buddhists in India and even fewer Hindus in South East Asia. There are no Hindus in China, Japan or Korea but they believe in Buddha

5. What do Sikhs think about Buddha?

The boundaries of what constitutes Hinduism are somewhat controversial. My take on it is that the main factor is a degree of awareness and adherence to a certain religious language.

Rejection of conventional Hindu practices would not by itself be evidence of not being Hinduism, and I don't think there is much to be done about the simple reality that people interpret the Buddha in various, competing ways.

That said, there is such a thing as clearly Buddhist doctrine. It is in some senses fairly similar to some forms of Hinduism, particularly Advaita. But even then, the languages are fairly clearly separate. It is well and good if the practices are generally in harmony, but I still think that there is doctrine that is clearly Hindu in nature and other that is clearly Buddhist. Sometimes people try a bit too hard to emphasize a claim of mutual acceptance and may give an unwarranted sense of actual subsumming, which is something else entirely.

On the other hand, it is only fair to point out that Buddhism changed quite a lot in form as it spread geographically, not always in an uncontroversial way. Nor is religious identity necessarily a clear-cut thing, nor supposed to be.

Belief in the Buddha's existence and in the validity of his message may be an indication of appreciation and respect, but that does not necessarily hint of actual Buddhist doctrine either.

While I quite appreciate the compatibility of Buddhism with atheism, it is really an exageration to say that Buddhism "is" atheistic. It is far more like it has no real problem with atheism. Many Buddhists are theists of some variety, although the attitude towards those deities are all over the place - as they should be, IMO.

 

[crossfire]

I am having trouble understanding Buddhist-Hindu relations.

1. Siddartha Gautama rejected conventional Hindu practices

<...>

3. Many say Buddhism is a type of atheism but the Shinto, Daoist and Chinese religions which believe in Buddha also have Gods and Goddesses
<...>

If the gods are sentient beings, then they are vulnerable to the delusions that any sentient being would be. (Buddha said that many of the gods are under the influence of Mara.) This would make the gods beings worthy of compassion, rather than worship.

Some forms of Buddhism consider the gods to be aspects of ones mind.

 

[sayak83]

If the gods are sentient beings, then they are vulnerable to the delusions that any sentient being would be. (Buddha said that many of the gods are under the influence of Mara.) This would make the gods beings worthy of compassion, rather than worship.

Or they maybe highly advanced practitioners themselves, in which case they may be of aid.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I am having trouble understanding Buddhist-Hindu relations.

1. Siddartha Gautama rejected conventional Hindu practices

2. When he became Buddha Siddartha said he would not be reborn again, yet Hindus believe in Kalki Avatar and other Avatars

3. Many say Buddhism is a type of atheism but the Shinto, Daoist and Chinese religions which believe in Buddha also have Gods and Goddesses

4. India used to be a Buddhist Empire and Thailand, Cambodia, Burma and Bhutan used to be Hindu but this all reversed and now there are hardly any Buddhists in India and even fewer Hindus in South East Asia. There are no Hindus in China, Japan or Korea but they believe in Buddha

5. What do Sikhs think about Buddha?

There is a relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism. The Buddha rejected Hinduism and discovered a path later labeled as Buddhism which of course is distinct as a religion. The middle way.

Buddhism at times gets mished mashed inwith other religions by which Buddhism gets confused with those elements as being a practice for which it's not. Thus I have heard....

 

[Kirran]

The emphasis on religious identity is largely a modern phenomenon, emanating out from Europe and the broader Mediterranean region. The strict linking of it with adherence to X and Y doctrine seems largely a symptom of the Reformation.

To a substantial extent today, and even more in the past, the preoccupation with being a Buddhist or a Hindu is not so important when following or not following/respecting a particular teachers, or when having devotion to a particular form. It's really more a family identity nowadays, being Buddhist or Hindu.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Kirran said, "The emphasis on religious identity is largely a modern phenomenon, .. To a substantial extent today, and even more in the past, the preoccupation with being a Buddhist or a Hindu is not so important when following or not following/respecting a particular teachers, or when having devotion to a particular form .."

^^^ I am a disciple of Buddha, I am a Hindu. I am an atheist but when I talk about ten avataras of Lord Vishnu, Buddha is the latest and the ninth. My son's name is Amitabha.

How come we have Hindus with the surname Jain? And how come many Jains and Sikhs are devotees of Hindu Gods and Goddesses?

 

[crossfire]

The emphasis on religious identity is largely a modern phenomenon, emanating out from Europe and the broader Mediterranean region. The strict linking of it with adherence to X and Y doctrine seems largely a symptom of the Reformation.

To a substantial extent today, and even more in the past, the preoccupation with being a Buddhist or a Hindu is not so important when following or not following/respecting a particular teachers, or when having devotion to a particular form. It's really more a family identity nowadays, being Buddhist or Hindu.

I'm Buddhist, my father is Christian, my mother is New Age Reiki, my son and my brother are both agnostic, my ex is Native American Shaman, his parents are secular humanists, my aunt is Wicca, and my cousin is a Satanist.

 

[ronki23]

Even in Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, etc. the Hindu and Buddhist temples are together and both have Swastikas and chant Aum. In China they say Buddhism came from India even though it's actually from Nepal.

Not sure if Sri Lanka's Hindus and Buddhists get along though as Tamils and Sinhalese hate one another

 

[Aupmanyav]

Not sure if Sri Lanka's Hindus and Buddhists get along though as Tamils and Sinhalese hate one another

No, they don't get along with each other. All because of a Prime Minister who was formerly a Christian, Solomon Bandarnaike, who started the language problem.

 

[ronki23]

No, they don't get along with each other. All because of a Prime Minister who was formerly a Christian, Solomon Bandarnaike, who started the language problem.

Doesn't help Rajapaksa was a Dictator and Congress supported him

 

[Aupmanyav]

It is an internal matter of Srilanka. We should not interfere. Let them sort it out.

 

[ronki23]

If Hindus believe Buddha to be an avatar of Vishnu, what is the role of the other Buddha's found in Buddhism?

 

[Vinayaka]

If Hindus believe Buddha to be an avatar of Vishnu, what is the role of the other Buddha's found in Buddhism?

Not all Hindus.

 

[ameyAtmA]

If Hindus believe Buddha to be an avatar of Vishnu, what is the role of the other Buddha's found in Buddhism?

It is a spiral and a cycle. The Self chooses Itself and enlightens Itself.

Siddhartha Gautam Buddha, the prince, was the VishNu avatAr. He set the trend, and VishNu's role was over. The Bodhisattvas that followed are beings that got enlightened to the high state. That means they became one with Buddha in spirit and existence.

AvatAr is descent of ParaBrahman' , whereas beings that get enlightened ascend to the high state realizing Brahman'.

All beings that think they are individuals are appearances within Brahman'. Enlightenment means the individual wave was subdued, appearance disappeared into the ocean at the pArmArthik level. No 'mine and my' attachment remains (ahaMtA, mamatA).

Shri KRshNa was a pUrNa avatAr - God Complete since birth. He gave shelter, protection, Showed by association, example and scripture. He enlightened others, and continues to. So walk with Mukunda.
KRshNa steered the trend of His time from kAmya-bhakti to freedom and enlightenment via upanishadic knowledge, selfless love, and karma-yoga. Thus he gave tailor-made solutions. He filled people's hearts with joy.

Shri RAma was a 'maryAdA purushottam' avatAr. He showed by association, example and scripture - as seen in Yog VasishTha. Life, living with extraordinary patience and humility without losing the highest ideals, and always situated as Brahman'.

NRsiMha is a one-time avatAr of VishNu who came with a specialized purpose : to protect little PralhAd - His 5 yrs old devotee with extraordinary faith, from the demon HiraNyakashyapU whom He killed without breaking the boon that HiraNyakashyapU had received from BramhA with extreme austerities. This way the other people were also protected and freed.

Others don't turn into a second NRsiMha, but they can reach the Brahman realization, the oneness. What we can learn from NRsiMha is faith that ParaBrahman' protects, trust in our own strength, courage, ability to sort right from wrong/evil (vivek-buddhi) and standing up to evil.

-----
The Divine Phenomenon of avatAr is more complex than it appears. It is ParaBrahman' descending in a material form.
An avatAr is not always a pUrNAvatAr (like in case of KRshNa or RAma). Sometimes , a jiva is empowered as a spark - vibhUti, shaktyAvesha-avatar, aMsha-avatAr (part of the Whole, for a purpose only).
It is like this: Why buy 265 GB and very high speed CPU with lots of features if you only want to check email and do nothing else? VibhUti and aMsha avatArs are like that. Only as much Yoga-shakti is presented to the world as much as is needed for the purpose.

 

[Srivijaya]

I think you would need to compare what is nowadays branded as Hinduism with what was going on in the region 2500 years ago. Buddha encountered yogis and ascetics of numerous kinds, including Jains. I guess many lineages have fallen by the wayside or have been integrated/evolved into other groups. Then there were tantrics, philosophers and so on. A diversity of local deities were worshiped in different areas and I doubt whether their devotees necessarily felt part of an overarching Hinduism.

I see the whole question in a different way. There is a sliding scale between a strong dualistic belief in a deity (or deities) on one hand, and a non-dualistic approach. Shaivism is a good example of a label which covers the whole spectrum. Buddhism is firmly on the non-dual end - perhaps the furthest extent. To what extent does modern Hinduism embrace the non-dual? The non-dual is distrusted in all religions, as its universality means it is free of any boundaries. Desert Fathers, Sufi Saints, Kashmiri Shaivites and Non-dual Buddhists have more in common with each other than any dualistically-minded adherents of their respective religions will allow.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Not all Hindus.

Most Himdus.

If Hindus believe Buddha to be an avatar of Vishnu, what is the role of the other Buddha's found in Buddhism?

As a theist, I would say they were 'part-avataras' (Amsha-avatara). Kashyapa was one.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Buddhism is firmly on the non-dual end - perhaps the furthest extent. To what extent does modern Hinduism embrace the non-dual?

Non-dualism is strong in Hinduism - Advaita. Buddhism is not concerned with dualism or non-dualism. It has other concerns.

 

[Srivijaya]

Buddhism is not concerned with dualism or non-dualism. It has other concerns.

That may depend on the Buddhist and how s/he defines non-duality. But, sure, most Buddhists have other concerns.