Buddhism and Hinduism
Some people think that Buddhism and Hinduism are the same religions and Buddha was one of the several incarnations of God accepted by all Hindus. Among the main writers on the subject, Radhakrishnan (1954, 29) argues that Buddha’s teaching is derived from Upanishads.
The position of Radhakrishnan can also be supported. The fifth verse of the first chapter of Shwetashwataropanishad equates the world with a river. It talks about five sufferings in the world – mother’s womb, birth, old age, illness and death – caused by desire and ignorance. Ishavasyopanishad contains verses showing the middle path between Vidya (knowledge of the phenomenon world) and Avidya (knowledge of truth), Asambhutim (that appears and disappears) and Sambhutim (that is beyond the appearance and disappearance). The first verse of the fifth chapter of Shwetashwataropanishad clarifies that Avidya refers to knowledge of the conditioned (characterized by emergence, growth, decay and death) and Vidya to the knowledge of the Unconditioned. Yet, there is a difference between Buddha and the Upanishadic thought. While the later is positive about the existence of Brahma or Ishwar which can be known through Yoga practices and concentration, the former prefers silence on the matter of the Unconditioned.
Several Buddhists contest any similarity between Buddhism and Upanishadic ideas vehemently. For them, Buddha rejected Hindu beliefs and practices. In fact whether Buddhism can be seen as Hinduism or not depends on what one considers to the core of Hinduism. Buddha was certainly opposed to polytheism and idol worship, varna system, ideas of heaven and hell, and the idea that Vedas are divine. He accepted into his fold, the Sangh, people from all castes and social order. Though initially with some hesitation, he also allowed women to join the Sangh. Those who got converted to Bhikhu included pariahs, rulers, priests, saints, rennouncers, traders and farmers. In Vasalasutta Bhagavat says (Max Muller, 1965b, 23):
Not by birth does one become an outcast, not by birth does one become a Brahmana; by deeds one becomes an outcast, by deeds one becomes a Brahmana. |
Buddha was against mere philosophizing in which Hindu scholars often involved themselves. Buddha did not encourage certain types of questions such as whether Buddha exists after death or not, or what is the difference between Jiv and Atma. He said that answers to certain intellectual questions are not possible, nor are they needed to live a harmonious and peaceful life. For solving the fundamental problems of living, answers to what is right idea is not so important as the answer to what is right action. To quote Buddha (Davids and Oldenberg, 1965, 78):
When the real nature of things becomes clear to the ardent, meditating Brahmana, then all his doubts fade away, since he realises what is that nature and what its cause. |
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