what are similarities/differences of Buddhism and Hinduism?

Question

for example, the cow is sacred to both, both use the Om symbol...

Please explain to me as much detail and contrast/compare these 2 religions

Answer 1

Hinduism and Buddhism share some of the following similiarities.

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.
According to the Buddha, 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 Bhagavad-Gita consider doing actions prompted by desire and 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 several hells and heavens or higher and lower worlds.
Both believe in the existence of gods or deities on different planes.
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.
The Advaita philosophy of Hinduism is closer to Buddhism in many respects.
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. Buddhism is the greatest gift of India to mankind.
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Following are some of the differences we can see in the principles and practice of these two religions.

1. Hinduism is not founded by any particular prophet. Buddhism was founded by the Buddha.

2. Hinduism believes in the efficacy and supremacy of the Vedas. The Buddhist do not believe in the Vedas or for that matter any Hindu scripture.

3. Buddhism does not believe in the existence of souls as well in the first cause, whom we generally call God. Hinduism believe in the existence of Atman , that is the individual soul and Brahman, the Supreme Creator.

4. Hinduism accepts the Buddha as an incarnation of Mahavishnu, one of the gods of Hindu trinity. The Buddhist do not accept any Hindu god either as equivalent or superior to the Buddha.

5. The original Buddhism as taught by the Buddha is known as Theravada Buddhism or Hinayana Buddhism. Followers of this do not worship images of the Buddha nor believe in the Bodhisattvas. The Mahayana sect considers the Buddha as the Supreme Soul or the Highest Being, akin to the Brahman of Hinduism and worship him in the form of images and icons.

6. The Buddhists consider the world to be full of sorrow and regard ending the sorrow as the chief aim of human life. The Hindus consider that there are four chief aims (arthas) in life which every being should pursue. They are dharma (religious duty), artha (wealth or material possessions), kama (desires and passions) and moksha (salvation.)

7. Hindus also believe in the four ashramas or stages in life. This is not followed in Buddhism. People can join the Order any time depending upon their spiritual preparedness.

8. Buddhists organize themselves into a monastic Order (Sangha) and the monks live in groups. Hinduism is basically a religion of the individual.

9. Buddhism believes in the concept of Bodhisattvas. Hinduism does not believe in it.

11. Buddhism acknowledge the existence of some gods and goddesses of Hindu pantheon, but give them a rather subordinate status.

12. Refuge in the Buddha, the Sangha and Dhamma are the three cardinal requirements on the eightfold path. Hinduism offers many choices to its followers on the path of self-realization.

13. Although both religions believe in karma and rebirth, they differ in the manner in which they operate and impact the existence of individual beings.

Answer 2

All sentient life is "sacred" to Buddhists, not just cows, and yes we both use the "Om" symbol, but Buddhists do not rely on it as much.

Both Buddhism and Hinduism believe in the concepts of "karma", "ahimsa" (non-harming), rebirth, being vegetarian, monasticism (to a degree), the concepts of mind (somewhat), etc.

Hinduism believes in an omnipotent creator being, Buddhism does not. Hinduism still accepts the caste system widely, Buddhism does not.

It's far wiser to study both on your own, since there's so much more and much to the concepts (like the two I discussed above) that people interpret incorrectly. Check out hinduismtoday.com and buddhanet.net

Those 2 sites will start you on a nice track to understanding a bit about both.

_()_

Answer 3

I won't do a full comparison, but here's one major way in which they differ:

Hinduism is a polytheistic faith, meaning multiple gods.

Buddhism does not have a specific God involved with it, only the Prophet Buddha.

Answer 4

Buddhism is a dharmic, non-theistic religion, which is also a philosophy and a system of psychology.[1] Buddhism is also known as Buddha Dharma or Dhamma, which means the "teachings of the Awakened One" in Sanskrit and Pali, the languages of ancient Buddhist texts. Buddhism was founded around the fifth century BCE by Siddhartha Gautama, hereafter referred to as "the Buddha".

Early sources say that the Buddha was born in Lumbini (now in Nepal), and that he died around age 80 in Kushinagar (India). He lived around the fifth century BCE, according to scholarship[2]. Buddhism spread throughout the Indian subcontinent in the five centuries following the Buddha's passing, and thence into Asia and elsewhere over the next two millennia.

Indian Buddhism has become virtually extinct, except in parts of Nepal. The most frequently used classification of present-day Buddhism among scholars[3] divides present-day adherents into the following three traditions :

Southern Buddhism, or Theravada (its own usual name for itself), also known as Southeast Asian Buddhism, or Pali Buddhism - practiced mainly in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and parts of Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Bangladesh (Southeast Asia)
Eastern Buddhism, also known as East Asian Buddhism, Chinese Buddhism, Sino-Japanese Buddhism, or Mahayana - practiced predominantly in China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Singapore and parts of Russia
Northern Buddhism, also known as Tibetan Buddhism, Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhism, or Vajrayana, sometimes called Lamaism - practiced mainly in Tibet, Mongolia, Bhutan and parts of Nepal, India, China and Russia.
An alternative scheme used by some scholars[4] has just two divisions, Theravada and Mahayana, the latter comprising both Eastern and Northern. Some scholars[5]use other schemes. The term Hinayana, referring to Theravada and various extinct Indian schools, is sometimes used, but is often considered derogatory, and the World Federation of Buddhists recommends it be avoided.

Buddhism continues to attract followers around the world and is considered a major world religion. According to one source ([5]), "World estimates for Buddhists vary between 230 and 500 million, with most around 350 million." However, estimates are uncertain for several countries. According to one analysis[6], Buddhism is the fifth-largest religion in the world behind Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and traditional Chinese religion. The monks' order (Sangha), which began during the lifetime of the Buddha in India, is amongst the oldest organizations on earth.

In Buddhism, any person who has awakened from the "sleep of ignorance" (by directly realizing the true nature of reality), without instruction, is called a buddha.[7] If a person achieves this with the teachings of a buddha, he is called an arahant. Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, is thus only one among other buddhas before or after him. His teachings are oriented toward the attainment of this kind of awakening, also called enlightenment, Bodhi, liberation, or Nirvana.

Part of the Buddha’s teachings regarding the holy life and the goal of liberation is constituted by the "The Four Noble Truths", which focus on dukkha, a term that refers to suffering or the unhappiness ultimately characteristic of unawakened, worldly life. The Four Noble Truths regarding suffering state what is its nature, its cause, its cessation, and the way leading to its cessation. This way to the cessation of suffering is called "The Noble Eightfold Path", which is one of the fundamentals of Buddhist virtuous or moral life.


Hinduism (Sanskrit: Sanātana Dharma सनातन धर्म "eternal law"[1] ) is a religion that originated on the Indian subcontinent. With its foundations in the Vedic civilization, it has no known founder,[2][3] being itself a conglomerate of diverse beliefs and traditions. It is considered the world's "oldest extant religion,"[4] and has approximately a billion adherents, of whom about 890 million live in India,[5] placing it as the world's third largest religion after Christianity and Islam. Other countries with large Hindu populations include Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Hinduism provides a vast body of scriptures. Divided as revealed and remembered, and developed over millennia, these scriptures expound an equally vast range of theology, philosophy, and myth, providing spiritual insights along with guidance on the practice of dharma (religious living). Among such texts, Hindus revere the Vedas along with the Upanishads as being among the foremost in authority, importance, and antiquity. Other important scriptures include the Tantras and sectarian Agamas, Purāṇas and the epics: the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa. The Bhagavad Gītā, a deeply profound conversation excerpted from the Mahābhārata, is widely seen as summarizing the spiritual teachings of the Vedas.

Answer 5

Diffrence? basically nothing. both are same, just indicating diffrent ways to same thing or target