Buddhism through Hinduism

The ideas of Castes, Samsara, and Asceticism help us understand the outline of Hinduism and for that matter, Buddhism. A caste is a class system that starts from the bottom and eventually ends at the top. In Hinduism, Shudras were the bottom class known as the laborers, followed by the artisans (Vaishyas), military or political class (Kshatriyas), and the top class known as the Brahmins, the priestly caste. In order to avoid Samsara, the constant cycle of birth, life, and death, the Brahmins had to reach Moksha, or liberation from Samsara. Unfortunately for the rest of the caste system, the Brahmins were the only ones that had a chance to reach Moksha. Some believed it was necessary to follow ascetic lives in order to become more self disciplined and eventually reach this liberation. Asceticism is a way of obedience and or training one puts themselves through. Fasting was a popular way of obedience in Hindu religion, but Asceticism can range from self inflicting pain, to abstinence in many forms.

There are some similarities and differences between Hinduism and Buddhism. Buddhism has taken beliefs from Hinduism and reformed them so all people may have a chance to attain Nirvana. For example, the Caste system. Brahmins were the only class that were able to gain the knowledge for liberation. Buddha made it possible for everyone, no matter what class, to attain Nirvana (Nirvana is the equivalent of Moksha). There were Hindu's that lived ascetic lives, but Buddha believed inward calm was needed for success; "inward calm cannot be maintained unless physical strength is constantly and intelligently replenished".

Though these two religions have subtle differences I believe they are closer to the same. The overall message of becoming one with the universe and yourself in order to break the cycle of Samsara is virtually the same. I feel that Buddha was more for the people in the sense that his purpose was to teach everyone the path to enlightenment, one could reach Nirvana if they were a laborer or priest, everyone was equal. Hinduism I feel, like most religions, has a certain spin to it in the fact that the Brahmins are favored to reach Moksha, and as it turns out, the Priestly caste were the ones who wrote the Upanishads. To parallel this concept, in the Christian Religion Eve is the one who took the apple from the tree. One could say that women are the reason why the world broke into sin; however men were the ones who wrote and edited the Bible. I wonder if this story would have been the same if the priests were female? This is not to say that Buddha did not write the Dhamma or at least, influence it to it's full potential, Buddha just had a better way of understanding people without prejudice.