Hinduism is a complex religion and is known as being the oldest religion in the world, dating back to at least the seventeenth century BCE. There is no official founder, Hinduism originated as various cultures and traditions from the Prevedic era in India assimilated into a common culture. Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world and is home to over one billion people, or roughly fifteen percent of the population. Hinduism was founded in India, but has spread all over the world from North America to Australia. What makes Hinduism complex, besides how it was formed, is its belief in a god. With so many different Hindu traditions and cultures, it spans from a monotheistic religion to a polytheistic religion that is dubbed the religion
…show more content…
Buddhists believe in the Four Noble Truths about suffering. These truths state that there is suffering in the world, but that there is a way to end it. “Buddhism has viewed death as the fearful and disastrous culmination of an existence already marred by sorrow and suffering… and death is magnified by the surety of rebirth and the repetition of suffering and death” (Bond 240). The author is saying that death is the pinnacle of the suffering in the world. What makes it worse, though, is the fact that rebirth follows death and whoever is born again is destined to suffer again. Buddhists believe in samsara, that the soul lives through different entities and will move on once a person passes away. “Death, therefore, is merely the ephemeral end of a particular phase within the stream of existence” (Brannigan 332). Despite this dark view of death, Buddhists do have a more pleasant view of death. After death, the body of the deceased decomposes and turns into almost nothing. Buddhists do not believe in this. Rather, instead of becoming nothing, they believe that nothing is created nor destroyed so the body that died is recycled through nature and is used elsewhere. At a baseline level, the two schools of thought believe in similar ideas surrounding death. However, it seems that Buddhists fear death more than Hindu
Buddhists believe in the Four Noble Truths about suffering. These truths state that there is suffering in the world, but that there is a way to end it. “Buddhism has viewed death as the fearful and disastrous culmination of an existence already marred by sorrow and suffering… and death is magnified by the surety of rebirth and the repetition of suffering and death” (Bond 240). The author is saying that death is the pinnacle of the suffering in the world. What makes it worse, though, is the fact that rebirth follows death and whoever is born again is destined to suffer again. Buddhists believe in samsara, that the soul lives through different entities and will move on once a person passes away. “Death, therefore, is merely the ephemeral end of a particular phase within the stream of existence” (Brannigan 332). Despite this dark view of death, Buddhists do have a more pleasant view of death. After death, the body of the deceased decomposes and turns into almost nothing. Buddhists do not believe in this. Rather, instead of becoming nothing, they believe that nothing is created nor destroyed so the body that died is recycled through nature and is used elsewhere. At a baseline level, the two schools of thought believe in similar ideas surrounding death. However, it seems that Buddhists fear death more than Hindu