Siddhartha Gautama's Distrust For The Orthodox Indian Religion?

Throughout his childhood in India, there was a strong distrust for the orthodox Indian religion, Hinduism. “By the time Siddhartha Gautama was born, the intellectual decay of the old Brahmanic orthodoxy had begotten a strong skepticism and moral vacuum which was filled by new religious and philosophical views.” (Violatti, 2013) New religions, such as the Vedic religion, which relied on the sacrifice of living beings, developed from the religious anarchy that ensued and were incompatible with Buddha’s strongly held personal feelings and beliefs. A void was thus created for the ensuing spread of his teachings. The message of equality and easing suffering obviously resounded with others as they began listening to the teachings of the Buddha. This increased following set the stage for widespread interest and the right combination to begin a charismatic leadership relationship. Just as Jesus Christ and Muhammed had disciples, the Buddha had followers who spread his message throughout the world as they knew it.

Some of his followers, known as Buddhists, took it upon themselves to elevate the Buddha to the status of a god. However, his mortality overcame such a label. “It seems ironic that a man whose career was largely based on believing and teaching the oneness of mankind and the equality among people, ended up being worshipped (sic) and elevated to the status of a god by some of his followers.” (Violatti, 2013) The charisma of the Buddha appears to have stemmed from his disciples need for a leader, despite his emphatic assertion that he was not, in fact a religious leader, nor prophet. Neither were his teachings intended to be a religion, rather a