An Evaluation of Religious Traditions in both Hinduism and Buddhism

Answer

Hinduism and Buddhism are religious institutions with different teachings and doctrines, even though both religions believe in one supernatural being. Although Hinduism conflicts with Buddhism on the notion of priests, the two religions concur on certain principles such as karma, dharma, moksha, among other things (Bonta, 2020). Historically, Buddhism became prominent in India in 500 BCE but later became distinct after the Gupta era. India was and remains the origin of both religions, explaining why they have several similarities in how they practice their religious doctrines. One reason why Hinduism and Buddhism thrived in India is the significant support they received from the rulers and the royalty (Howard, 2017). Buddhis kings revered the Hindu religion and helped them build several temples across the country where they gathered for prayers. It was due to such support that both religions grew rampantly across the country and won many believers. In light of the above, this analysis critically compares samsara and nirvana on the one hand and karma and rebirth on the other in the practice of Buddhism and Hinduism.

Samsara and Nirvana

Samsara is a principle in Hinduism that speaks about the process of death and rebirth. It is a belief system among the Hindus that all being must go through birth and rebirths. According to the Hindu religious teachings, the process has no clear end or beginning (Ramstedt, 2018). Understandably, actions that accrue from desires compel the spirits to initiate the process of births and rebirths, each time the spirit develops the longing for life. Hindus believe that desire inspires all form of social engagements, which often lead to mutual exchange of both bad and good karma. Among the Buddhists, samsara is a process without a beginning of repeated births and ultimate death (Ardhana & Wijaya, 2017). Like the Hindus, the Buddhists also believe that there is a connection between karma and samsara. However, the Buddhists believe that it is a painful process that originates out of desire and ignorance. 

Besides, unlike the Hindus, Buddhists believe that samsara should end whenever an individual attains nirvana. Furthermore, according to the Buddhists, rebirths occur in six major fronts, three realms that are good and namely human, demi-God and human. On the contrary, the evil realms include animal, ghosts and hellish (Howard, 2017). Buddhists view samsara as a cycle of endless sufferings with no beginning that humans go through due to desires and ignorance. Both religions believe that samsara is anchored on karma, an action and reaction chain of events. According to Hinduism and Buddhists' philosophy, it is possible to liberate a soul from samsara, although they ascribe to different liberation methods (Bonta, 2020). Whereas the Hindus believe that a soul can be liberated from samsara through Moksha, Buddhists, on the other hand, believe that nirvana is the only means by which a soul can survive samsara. Both religions believe in samsara, albeit with some little differences in principle, such as the process of liberation from the same. 

Nirvana is another religious concept that establishes conflict in understanding between Hindus and Buddhists. While Hindus understand nirvana. Overall, both religions conceive nirvana as a state of complete liberation from samsara (Ardhana & Wijaya 2017). It is a state of highest happiness and freedom from any kind of suffering due to samsara. It brings about peace of mind due to such liberation from sufferings. Even though the two religions have a common and basic understanding of the concept of nirvana, they disagree on certain fundamental principles and ideas on the same. In Buddhism, an individual attains nirvana due to a lack of desires, while in Hinduism, it is about having a still mind, not emptiness or inaction (Ardhana & Wijaya, 2017). Also, Hindus use the concept of atman while explaining nirvana, which implies the soul, which they believe exists in a human being. On the other hand, Buddhists oppose the idea of the existence of the human soul through the notion of atman. 

They believe that nirvana is a form of obtaining emptiness among the Buddhists, what they call sunyata. Sunyata implies a situation where humans no longer see the essence or importance of anything (Bonta, 2020). Things begin to lose meaning under such a state of affairs, and the mind becomes so peaceful because it doesn't worry much about most things that take place around. On the other hand, Hindus use the idea of moksha to define and understand nirvana. Hindus believe that moksha is the highest state of human life that they should strive to achieve, while Buddhism believes in nirvana (Bonta, 2020). The main difference between how Buddhists and Hindus view nirvana lies in the ultimate goal of the concept. While Hindus believe it is the freedom from rebirths and reincarnation, Buddhists see nirvana as a state of ultimate human satisfaction that eliminates desires and sufferings from individuals.  

Karma and Rebirths

Karma is a belief system among the Hindus and Buddhists about the cause-and-effect theory. Karma is a religious philosophy that implies that whatever happens to an individual happens because of certain actions that make such things turn out the way they do (Ramstedt, 2018). In Hinduism and Buddhism, nothing happens without a cause, and they explain everything concerning the idea of cause and effect. Several differences and similarities exist between Hindus and Buddhists regarding their exposition of the principle of karma (Ramstedt, 2018). One of the key differences between the two religions is that whereas Hindus believe karma is a ritual in the form of puja and darshan, the Buddhists understand karma as an ethical action. Buddhis gave a rational understanding of actions by looking at the doer's intention regardless of whether the results are bad or good. Another striking difference in understanding the concept between the two religions is the fact that Hindus derive the concept from the scriptures, while in Buddhism, the Buddha developed the idea of karma from his experience. The Buddha argued that he witnessed karma one day while sitting under a tree during a state of Jhanas. 

In Hinduism, Karma is only limited to mortal beings, while Buddhism believes that even gods are subjects of karma and that they can fall to the ground when they run out of good karma. The differences notwithstanding, both Hindus and Buddhis opine that karma is responsible for rebirths and sufferings (Ardhana & Wijaya, 2017). The two religions believe that those who do good during their lifetime are likely to go to the brighter world, while those who spend their lifetime sinning find themselves in the darker world when they die. Furthermore, the two religions believe that karma can lead to liberation. Also, Hinduism and Buddhism teach that past actions and impression do not go about but remain in the bodies that caused them and become part of the being's consciousness (Bonta, 2020). Some quarters in Hinduism and Buddhism believe that individuals can transfer good karma to others for treatments and remove sufferings. They consider it to be the greatest act of selflessness and sacrifice from which the giver as well as the receiver benefits.

The concept of rebirth is also a principle for which both religions have a similar and different conception. Accordingly, Buddhism and Hinduism believe that it is the process through which an individual reincarnates or gets to be born again (Howard, 2017). They opine that life is a cycle that moves from one form into another until it reaches the end of the cycles (Bonta, 2020). Life doesn't end with the death of an individual, but people get born again when they die in a different form. The two religions contend that people who do good or who practice good karma are likely to find themselves in a bright world, while those who sin or harm others are likely to be reborn in a dark world full of tribulations and sufferings.

However, the concept of self has drawn a stark difference in understanding the concept of rebirth in the two religions. Among the Hindus, they refer to self as Purusha, and they believe it is permanent and immutable regardless of how one dies (Howard, 2017). Hinduism argues that the world comprises only two things, which are matter and consciousness. According to that theory, Hindus contend that their consciousness is separated from their body. They believe that their bodies only act as containers of their souls and that when the physical body dies, the soul moves into another body (Howard, 2017). On the contrary, the Buddhists do not believe in the doctrine of self. Buddhism teaches that rebirth does not imply the transmigration of consciousness from one body to another. According to Buddhist teaching, the concept of rebirth means an occurrence for a repeated time or number of times (Bonta, 2020). Hindus also teach that the soul continues to exist in the process of rebirth and that it inherits karma. Buddhist contend that rebirth is just a process of one body igniting another body or life but not the transfer of the soul from one body to another as the Hindus believe and teach.

Conclusion

Hinduism and Buddhism are two religious institutions that both believe in the existence of one supernatural being but have several other differences in their practice. The concepts of samsara and nirvana, together with karma and rebirth, are some of the religious doctrines for which the two religions have differences and similarities. Whereas samsara implies the process of rebirths, nirvana is a state of ultimate human satisfaction. On the other hand, karma denotes the idea of cause and effects, a belief system among Buddhists and Hindus that everything that happens in human life is a result of their actions. Rebirth means the state of being born again or coming into existence after death. Whereas Hindus believe in the idea of self, Buddhist do not. Impliedly, among the Hindus, the body only acts as a container that carries the soul and that the soul moves from one individual to another upon their death