Jainism And Buddhism Compare And Contrast

Contrast the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain beliefs about the soul and God. Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism are often referred to together because they are the three prominent Eastern religions, but what most people don’t know is that while their are some-what alike, they are also distinctively different. While Hinduism believes, “God is everything and everything is God”, Buddhism and Jainism do not directly relate themselves to God. In Buddhism, the idea of a God is rejected, instead they surround themselves with the ideals of the three jewels: The Buddha, The Dhamma, and The Sangha. Along with Buddhism, Jainism also does relate themselves to God, but instead of believing God to be the creator, Jains look at god as “a perfect being.” Going back to Hinduism, Hinduism offers many paths. Hindus practice their religion through the devotion and beliefs in many gods or “deities”, the gods and goddesses of Hinduism (Religions of the World Ch 4- Page 74.). The three main Hindu gods that form the Trimurti, which are all forms of Brahman, are Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver) and Shiva (the destroyer). Although Hinduism has many deities, their supreme spirit will

But, Jains also believe that God is not the almighty center of the universe, rather Jains believe that our soul, Jiva, are the permanent reality and matter, ajiva, is lifeless, material and evil (V, Jayaram). Jains believe that Godliness inherited through “infinite bliss, power, Perfect knowledge and perfect Peace; One who achieves this state by breaking bonds of Karma and liberation from rebirths can be termed God” (Buddhism vs Hinduism). The teachings of Jainism revolve most of their philosophies around Karma; good Karma, which results from good and righteous activities, leads you to higher spirituality and bad Karma, which results from sinful activities, will lead you to declination in