Is Hinduism and Buddhism a religion or a philosophy?

Question

This question is only to the Hindus and Buddhists here,I am well aware of the answer the others will give so pliz dont waste your time here.

One thing that i wud like to say is all the rituals and practices that were followed in India are by no way linked to Hinduism and thats confirmed,they were just man-made theories,none in the religious texts are mentioned of these rituals.
Thanks.

Guys please this question is not about the difference between Hinduism and Buddhism,I am asking about them individually,so kindly stick to it.Hopeful regards,
thanks.

Khan you ppl are just sick,pliz go away!

Answer 1

Hinduism has a deep philosophy and there are certain rituals and sects based on this philosophy

Upanishadas make the ground for both hinduism as religion and buddhism

So both hinduism & buddhism are religions based on deep philosophies

And those who are talking of Buddhism different from hinduism,...must note that Buddhism is based on Sankhya philosophy of hinduism...only those who have shallow knowledge of buddhism will reject its roots in sankhya philosophy of hinduism

Sankhya philosophy also do not speak of any personal god,hells and heavnes as adopted by Buddha !!


The biggest proof is that Aum is treated as sacred in Hinduism as in Buddhism...

The main philsophies of Hinduism are Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Vedanta, Yoga and Tantra

I would say all over the world what ever religion is being practices has its roots in any of the hindu philosophies

Answer 2

Many people dispute whether Hinduism (I view Buddhism as being a part of Hinduism as opposed to an independent religion) is a religion, or a culture, or a spirituality, or a way of life, or a philosophy. Hinduism is basically ALL of these things. One must bear in mind that the differences and boundaries between a religion, culture, spirituality and philosophy are very ambiguous.

Hinduism is a religion because it is a pathway to god. Any ideology or sacred institution which aspires to take man to god is a religion. In this respect it is extremely dubious when people say that Hinduism is not a religion. In order for a religion to successfully unite man with god, a man must adopt the correct lifestyle and ethical and moral code of conduct. Thus a religion is concomitantly a culture and a way of life as well. Hinduism is a religion that stresses the concept of the soul more than other religions do. For instance most Hindu forms of worship are intended to enlighten the soul, eg, yoga, meditation, trance, the recitation of mantras etc. Thus Hinduism is a spirituality as well. Hinduism, like all other religions educates the individual about the world, the universe, the cosmic system, the concept of life and maya (illusion), as well as arts, sciences and maths which are all contained in the vedas. In this respect Hinduism is a philosophy.

So in response to your question I have to say that Hinduism is ALL of those things and anyone who argues otherwise does obviously not know much about Hinduism .

Answer 3

Both are religions. Then you need to understand what is religion. If you give a wrong defenition to religion they might not qualify as a religion. But religion is not in the definition of words. A definition should be based on what purpose it serves. If you define religion as a pathway leading to the realisation of god or attaining the ultimate potentiality of man, these becomes religions.
But you can also define religion based on their charactaristic. If you say a religion should have one prophet, one holy book and their own hell and heven, then many religions will not qualify. It is like fighting if pluto is a planet or not. If you say anythng that revolves around sun is a planet, Pluto is a planet. But if you say something revolves in a tilted plane is not a planet then Pluto is not a planet. But after all it a member of solar family , it's based on sun. By defining anything their basic quality can not be changed. America was there whether Columbus found it or not. So the definition should be vast encopassing everything and that creates a lot of difficulties. If you have a few thousand planets it is very difficult to deal with them. How to remember them So we define it in such a way that is convenient to us.

Then what is philosophy? Philosophy is solving problems by words alone. There is no existential base for it. You can think and think and come up with many theories. It is just a mind excercise. It is like science too. You can propose a theory and tomorrow another theory will replace it.It is mere assumptions, a mind game. If you are intelligent you can play the game. But the problem is that the solutions given by the religion is also looking like some desperate theories. They are more absurd theories. At least philosophical theories look more logical and acceptable. But they are useless. they work on a mind plane only. How to differentiate then? That is impossible on a plane of words. Only in a particular state of mind can you decode it. Then you can directly link to religion and all the nonsense in the name of religion can be bypassed. What normally is done by people in the name of religion is also indulging in philosohpy. But religion and philosophy are two different things.

Answer 4

Hinduism is a way of life, a philosophy, a state of mind, and a religion. As a Hindu, I live my life a certain way according to Hindu philosophies and beliefs. It is a part of my everyday life, my every step, and my every breath.

Buddhism is also a philosophy, but I am not extremely knowledgable about Buddhism so I can't answer that for you.

Answer 5

First make this clear, Hinduism is not a religion its a way of life. It cant be a philosophy as its practical.
Lord Gutam Buddha was an Avtar, he worked and got enligtened. For that He did what great sages of Bharat varsa(India) did. He shared his enlightment with people and thus Buddhism was born.

In scriptures and in Hindu temples Lord Buddha is worshipped as an Avatara of Lord Vishnu. Hence though the names(Paths) are two the essence is one. The priciples of life in Hinduism is diverse and Buddism is a case study of Hinduism.
Hope I have given u some info which is helpful to u.

Answer 6

There are some facts in Buddisam and Hinduism common to philosophy.But same time they have some characters as in a religion.I think Hinduism is more close to a religion. Buddisam is more close to a philosophy

Answer 7

What actually is a religion???

It is something that helps you to know the relation between you and God...

It cannot be achieved by just one fine day getting converted to some other religion...

It should be a process that happens from birth...
and something that you constantly follow every day, minute and every second

So Hinduism is a way of life...which teaches you to follow the vedic life and the different forms of God helps you in knowing the fianl reality or truth, Yoga, meditation and many such thing hinduism offers, helps you in knowing this ultimate truth.

By following this way you come to know the truth about yourself and your relationship with God

Answer 8

Buddhism is a philosophy.It is a path to achieve ultimate freedom.
Hinduism is more a religion than a philosophy.

Answer 9

*Buddhism can be called a religion since it had a prophet or ''founder'' ... Buddha. whereas hinduism was / is just a way of life ...[philosophy] for the people living in the Indus valley [india].
Many religions cropped up later, e.g. islam,jainism,zorashtiran,sikhism, christianity etc. & people converted themselves to these religions and the remainder of those who did not ''convert'' to the abv religions were termed as ''hindus'' & hence ''hinduism'' was born,
But it is Not a religion, as no one actually ''founded'' it.

Answer 10

i agree with immeandnobodyelse's answer....also,Buddhism should NOT be considered as part of hinduism because it has one fundamental difference.as HANS says,"Hinduism is a religion because it is a pathway to god."

there lies the difference.the Buddha has specifically taught that there's no supreme being that one must be "lead to".your salvation is "cessation of all desires"=nirvana.this does not equal heaven.

althought there may have been mention of deities,they are not considered "supreme" or worthy of worship because they themselves are trapped in the samsara.

this is a difference which cannot be overlooked so,no,Buddhism is definitely not a part of hinduism


i know you weren't asking about the differences,i just wanted to clear up what HANS said.as for the answer to your Q,i said i agree with immeandnobodyelse.she has put it very clearly
hinduism=religion
buddhism=philosophy
except that usually buddhists who follow the teachings and ONLY buddhist teachings regard it as their religion,whereas a person of another relifion,who's following the teachings alongside to his/her religion would consider it a philosophy.


i have no idea why some hindus are so intent on claiming buddhism to be a part of hinduism.....don't get me wrong,i'm not a buddhist,so i'm not getting all personally defensive over this,but i DO have an academic interest.in fact i asked a Q on thishttp://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AoG3wTbuWtIykTbieES7Vm_sy6IX?qid=20070531052422AAP2GOt
and the hindus agreed that Buddhism was completely different