Hinduism and Buddism

         Hinduism and Buddhism are two of the world's largest and oldest religions.  They are very good examples of how two religions that come from the same part of the world can develop differently.  They also show that one religion stemming from another can turn out to be quite unlike its original.  Although they both started in India and believed in nonviolence and reincarnation, Buddhism did not have polytheism or a caste system and was also more successful in spreading to other parts of Asia.
         Both religions came from parts of India.  Hinduism is actually a combination of many local religions beliefs and traditions that the Aryan civilization absorbed from other parts of India.  Buddhism, on the other hand, began when Siddhartha Gautama learned how to prevent human suffering and started preaching his beliefs to others.  Also, both religions did not believe in violent practices, and so all of their missions were nonviolent.  The religions were mainly spread through traders traveling the trade routes and Silk Roads in particular.  They both had sacred writings, such as the Vedas, Brahamanas and Upanishads for Hinduism and the Tripitaka, the Mahayanas and the Four Noble Truths for Buddhism.  Finally, both Hindus and Buddhists believed in the cycle of life, release and rebirth.  Buddhism had a concept similar to the Hindu moksha, release from the earth and unification with the supreme spirit, the Brahman.
         Hinduism had a very strict caste system that extended from religion into the government.  A person was born into a caste, and different castes did everything separately.  Only the upper castes were allowed education, and they even ate different diets. Hinduism has four goals in life: kama, artha, dharma, and finally the ultimate goal of moksha at death.  Also, the religion has a large number of gods.  Many of them were local, tribal gods that were incorporated into the national religion when an empire was ruling.  In addition, Hinduism is a religion that did not find much success in spreading outside of India.  It moved to Southeast Asia through trade for a short time period, but then eventually died out as Buddhism thrived in that area.
         On the contrary to Hinduism, Buddhism did not separate people into separate social classes as it was not important; everybody was equal.  Also, Buddhism had no gods.  The Buddha felt that everything in the universe is the same and there is no immortal being or god.  Although Buddhism has a concept similar to moksha, the main goal of life is to achieve nirvana, which is the unification of the person and the universe. Another major difference between Hinduism and Buddhism is that the latter spread all over Southeast and East Asia and then eventually died out in India.  Traders brought Buddhism to China along the Silk Roads.  After the Han Dynasty fell in China, Daoist and Confucianist beliefs complimented and validated Buddhist beliefs and Buddhism flourished in China.  Eventually it spread to Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other areas as well.  However, in India, the government supported Hinduism because the people were closer to the gods and temples.
         Because Hinduism and Buddhism both found its roots in India and because the Buddha was born into a Hindu family, it would be sensible for these two religions to be very similar.  However, while a few beliefs are the same, such as nonviolence and the cycle of life, these religions are quite different.  In particular, Hinduism's polytheism and caste system, which are absent in Buddhism, stand out.  Also, the fact that Hinduism flourished in India whereas Buddhism found more success in Southeast and East Asia demonstrates how different areas of the world and different cultures accept different religious beliefs and philosophies.  Hinduism and Buddhism are both over two thousand years old and are still among the top five religions in the world.  They have developed differently but have both managed to spread and remain strong in their own way.