Buddhism is in sharp contrast to Hinduism. Still, many Buddhist do not disregard the beliefs of Hindus, and the amount of similarities is numerous. The Hinduism at the time of Buddha was Brahmanism and included a transmigrating soul, the caste system, henotheism, and animal sacrifices, which Buddha rejected. However, these aspects of Hinduism that Buddha rejected aren't really what Hinduism is about at all, and are Misconceptions about Hinduism. Budai Canon applies to Buddhist and Hindu aspects that are similar to each other and belong to both religions. It mostly consists of Mahayana Canon and Hindu Canon. Hinduism and Buddhism share some of the similarities, such as Both Hinduism and Buddhism emphasize the illusory nature of the world and the role of karma in keeping men bound to this world and the cycle of births and deaths, desire is the root cause of suffering and removal of desire results in the cessation of suffering. Some of the Hindu texts such as the Upanishads (Isa) and the Bhagavadgita consider doing actions prompted by desire an attachment would lead to bondage and suffering and that performing actions without desiring the fruit of action would result in liberation, both religions believe in the concept of karma, transmigration of souls and the cycle of births and deaths for each soul, both emphasize compassion and non violence towards all living beings, both believe in the existence of gods or deities on different planes (Mahayana Buddhism), both believe in certain spiritual practices like meditation, concentration, cultivation of certain bhavas or states of mind, both believe in detachment, renunciation of worldly life as a precondition to enter to spiritual life. Both consider desire as the chief cause of suffering, Buddhism and Hinduism have their own versions of Tantra, both originated and evolved on the Indian soil. The founder of Buddhism was a Hindu who became the Buddha.
Differences[]
1: Vedas[]
The Main Difference that divides Buddhists and Hindus are the Vedas. The Vedas are among the oldest sacred texts. The Samhitas date to roughly 1500–1000 BCE, and the "circum-Vedic" texts, as well as the redaction of the Samhitas, date to c. 1000-500 BCE, resulting in a Vedic period, spanning the mid 2nd to mid 1st millennium BCE, or the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Hinduism is based on Vedantic philosophy and the structure of the Hinduism is outlined in the vedas. David N. Snyder, Theravada Buddhist and founder of Dhamma Wiki stated, "...Hindu scholars and philosophers were sometimes highly critical of each others’ ideas and practices. This would not have happened if the two were the same or similar. The Maitri Upanishad says, ‘There are those who love to distract believers in the Vedas by the jugglery of false arguments, comparisons and parallelisms…The world bewildered by a doctrine that denies the self, by false comparisons and proofs, does not discern the difference between the wisdom of the Vedas and other knowledge…It is said that there should be attention to Dhamma instead of the Vedas...But what is said in the Vedas is true. The wise should base their lives on the Vedas. A Brahman should only study what is in the Vedas.’" Despite this, Hinduism and Buddhism are very similar, and ignoring these specific aspects, the religions aren't that different.
2: Gods and Doctrines[]
Buddhism is so different from other religions that some people question whether it is a religion at all. For example, the central focus of most religions is God, or gods. But Buddhism is non-theistic. The Buddha taught that believing in gods was not useful for those seeking to realize enlightenment. Most religions are defined by their beliefs. But in Buddhism, merely believing in doctrines is beside the point. The Buddha said that we should not accept doctrines just because we read them in scripture or are taught them by priests.