Buddhism and Hinduism share many of the same roots. At the same time, Buddhism challenges some of Hinduism’s essential beliefs and traditions. In the Pali Canon, Buddha’s response to his arguing students reveals some of these similarities and differences. For example, in Hinduism, one achieves Moksha, liberation, through accumulating good Karma and fulfilling one’s Dharma, duty, which is based on Varna, caste. However, in Buddhism everyone strives to reach Nirvana, enlightenment, and the path to enlightenment is not based on lineage or occupation, but on the actions of every individual and the detachment from worldly desires. The only thing of true importance is the ability to differentiate between “the path and the not-path.” Buddha summarizes …show more content…
For Buddhists, everyone shares a common dharma, and this way of living is called the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path teaches its followers to be wise, mindful, and kind. Buddha points out that the caste system is animalistic, and in humans, “no differences of birth make a distinctive mark in them.” Since the Path does not vary based on family, gender, or wealth, anyone can achieve Nirvana, even people in the “backward castes” or women. The Eightfold Path is meant to take the soul, atman, on a journey to enlightenment, no matter which body it was born into. The Path does not depend on a celestial being or deity to guide mankind, but it stresses that order in the universe will stem from the elimination of human suffering. And while nirvana may take place in the course of one lifetime, it often takes many lifetimes to achieve. The concept of samsara, reincarnation is shared by both religions; “Both Hindus and Buddhists … believed in … a cycle of rebirth.” This cycle is broken after nirvana. Also, the atman, in both Hinduism and Buddhism, is misled by the senses and desires of this