Dear Sir,
"never has any of them been able to pinpoint an event in the Buddha's
life which constituted a break-away from Hinduism."
Read below
Gautama first went to study with famous (Hindu) religious teachers of
the day, and mastered the meditative attainments they taught. But he
found that they did not provide a permanent end to suffering, so he
continued his quest.
He next attempted an extreme asceticism, which was a religious pursuit
common among the Shramanas, a religious culture distinct from the
Vedic one (They were individual, experiential and free-form
traditions, independent of society; and in religious competition with
Brahmin priests, who as opposed to Shramanas, stressed mastery of
texts and performing rituals ).
Gautama underwent prolonged fasting, breath-holding, and exposure to
pain. He almost starved himself to death in the process. He realized
that he had taken this kind of practice to its limit, and had not put
an end to suffering.
(This is the turning point in Buddha life to revolt from Hindu way of practice)
So in a pivotal moment he accepted milk and rice from a village girl
and changed his approach. He devoted himself to anapanasati
meditation, through which he discovered what Buddhists call the Middle
Way (madhyamā-pratipad): a path of moderation between the extremes of
self-indulgence and self-mortification.
Gautama was now determined to complete his spiritual quest. At the age
of 35, he famously sat in meditation under a sacred fig tree — known
as the Bodhi tree — in the town of Bodh Gaya, India, and vowed not to
rise before achieving enlightenment. After many days, he finally
destroyed the fetters of his mind, thereby liberating himself from the
cycle of suffering and rebirth, and arose as a fully enlightened being
The main difference of Buddhism and Hinduism are
In Buddhism, karma specifically refers to those actions of body,
speech or mind that spring from mental intent ("cetana"),and bring
about a consequence or fruit, (phala) or result (vipāka).
In Theravada Buddhism there can be no divine salvation or forgiveness
for one's karma, since it is a purely impersonal process that is a
part of the makeup of the universe.
In Hinduism we have pariharams (remedies) for bad karma and god forgives
Buddhism rejects the concepts of a permanent self or an unchanging,
eternal soul, as it is called in Hinduism.
The Buddha rejected both of the metaphysical assertions "I have a
Self" and "I have no Self" as ontological views that bind one to
suffering.
But self is for Hinduism.
When Buddha had totally opposite view on Hindu philosophy, how he can
be said as "every inch a Hindu."
Hindus wanted to envelope his kingdom also when he is not there Now.
But what was the state when he was alive and there after.
Two Pallava rulers, Simhavarma and Trilochana, are known to have
destroyed Buddhist stupas and have had Hindu temples built over them.
Buddhist scriptures state that the Hindu priests, the Brahmins, were
strongly opposed to the Buddha. This is because he criticized the
Hindu caste system and the practice of animal sacrifice, he denied the
existence of a supreme god and he rejected the authority of the Hindu
scriptures.
So Gauthama Siddhartha by birth he is a Hindu, but he died as Buddha
as an enlightened being (first of it kind known to human being)
best wishes
Suresh
On Sat, Jul 20, 2013 at 9:57 PM, Koenraad Elst <[email protected]> wrote:
Xavier,
please tell us: when did the Buddha break with Dharma? When did he
revolt against it? Very many Indians including serious intellectuals
like yourself repeat this story, but so far, never has any of them
been able to pinpoint an event in the Buddha's life which constituted
a break-away from Hinduism. At the fag end of his long life, he
described the seven principles by which a society does not perish, and
among them are included: repecting and maintaining the existing
festivals, pilgrimages and rituals; and revering its holimen. Far from
being a revolutionary, the Buddha emphatically outed himself as a
conservative. When he died, the elites of eight cities made a
successful bid for his ashes on the plea: "We are kshatriyas, he was a
kshatriya, therefore we have a right to his ashes" -- after almost
half a century, his disciples still observed caste is a par excellence
Buddhist context. When Buddhism spread to China and Japan, Buddhist
monks took the Vedic gods with them and built temples for them. The
Buddha was every inch a Hindu.
Kind regards,
KE
--
Thanks and best regards
J.Suresh
New No.3, Old No.7,
Chamiers road - 1st Lane,
Alwarpet,
Chennai - 600018
Ph: 044 42030947
Mobile: 91 9884071738
--
Thanks and best regards
J.Suresh
New No.3, Old No.7,
Chamiers road - 1st Lane,
Alwarpet,
Chennai - 600018
Ph: 044 42030947
Mobile: 91 9884071738
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