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Yes. Buddha himself was pretty much a Hindu. Most of his teachings perfectly consistent with the previous Vedic thought and where he differed again, it was perf
by rhuru 3y ago
Yes. Buddha himself was pretty much a Hindu. Most of his teachings perfectly consistent with the previous Vedic thought and where he differed again, it was perfectly within the framework where all other Munis or rishis would disagree with the established beliefs. Buddha's "dhamma" is basically just a different pronunciation of "Dharma". Buddha's primary teachings was around "nirvana" a concept which existed long before Buddha in the form of "Kaivalya", "Moksha" or "Apagraha". Hinduism itself does not have the concept of "other", it has wide body of work and it is also tolerant to a wide array of ideas under its umbrella and Buddha was pretty much under that Umbrella.
Hindus for example believe Buddha to be the 9th Avatar of Lord Vishnu. Their homes are full of Buddhist insignia and they name their children after Buddha. There is a parity in praxis.
"Pure Buddhism" is mostly a political issue and a much later addition to the discourse. One of the reason it happened is because a prominent caste based politician Ambedkar publicly declared that he is going to quit Hinduism because it did not treat his caste well. While Islamists and Christian missionaries rejoiced at the idea and try to court him he declared both the religions to be of foreign origin and harmful for India. He decided to become a Buddhist. This is the first time someone prominent tried and succeeded in drawing a clear line between Buddhism and Hinduism which since has become a bit thicker. The new converts however get called "neo buddhists" and aren't really seen as authentic buddhists by both non buddhists and original buddhists.
- laxmin 3y ago> Buddha's "dhamma" is basically just a different pronunciation of "Dharma" Dharma is Sanskrit, Dhamma is Pali. There is not difference otherwise. Otherwise, agree completely. Nicely put.
- iamshs 3y ago"Hindus for example believe Buddha to be the 9th Avatar of Lord Vishnu. " So as to deny Buddhism is a separate religion, and co-opt Buddha among various Hindu avatars. This is how Buddhism was decimated by Brahminism in India, co-opting Budhha as their own.
- eklavya 3y agoOr a less inflammatory take, Hinduism absorbing stuff and evolving like it has for thousands of years.
- iamshs 3y agoWhat has evolved when it cannot evolve beyond caste system? What has been done to Buddhism in India is inflammatory, not my take. The story of extinction of Buddhism is told proudly by Hindu seers too. So "absorbing stuff" is weird way to put it.
- rhuru 3y agoLet us see what Amebedkar says about anhilation of Buddhism from India. > Such was the slaughter of the Buddhist priesthood perpetrated by the Islamic invaders. The axe was struck at the very root. For by killing the Buddhist priesthood Islam killed Buddhism. This was the greatest disaster that befell the religion of Buddha in India. Religion like any other ideololgy can be attained only by propaganda. If propoganda fails, religion must disappear. The priestly class, however detestable it may be, is necessary to the sustenance of religion. For it is by its propoganda that religion is kept up. Without the priestly class religion must disappear. The sword of Islam fell heavily upon the priestly class. It perished or it fled outside India. Nobody remained to keep the flame of Buddhism burning.
- iamshs 3y agoVery brave to selectively quote Ambedkar, especially on Buddhism and Hinduism. Let me enlighten you with his own quotes: "History of India before the Muslim invasions is the history of a mortal conflict between Brahmanism and Buddhism" "No wonder if Pushyamitra who as a Samvedi Brahmin was the first to conceive the passion to end the degradation of the Brahmin by destroying the Buddhist state..." "By this proclamation Pushyamitra set a price of 100 gold pieces on the head of every Buddhist monk"
- 3y ago
- fuzztester 3y ago>nirvana It is nibbana in Pali, nirvana is in Sanskrit. The same is the case for many other words related to Buddhism and its scriptures. E.g.: Sanskrit, Pali: Sutra, sutta bhikshu, bhikkhu maitri, metta ausadha, osadha smrti, sati trsna, tanha drsti, ditthi (I removed the dots and other stuff below the letters, because I was not sure they would render correctly here in HN.) Edit: See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pali https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pali in the section "Conversion between Sanskrit and Pali forms". And: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_Buddhism https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_Buddhism
- rhuru 3y agoWhen Siddhartha becomes Buddha under the tree, he is in the state of bliss, nirvana and he has absolutely no need to go back, go back to the human world. But it was Brahma and Indra who request him to do so as per Buddha's own account.
- fuzztester 3y agoInteresting. I had read something a bit different, or maybe there is some overlap: After nirvana, he felt compassion for all the countless beings who were not there yet, so he resolved to stay until everyone got it. And that is supposed to be the difference between an arhat and a bodhisattva. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arhat https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arhat https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva https://www.google.com/search?q=arhat+vs+bodhisattva https://www.google.com/search?q=arhat+vs+bodhisattva
- rhuru 3y agoI learned about when I came across this art. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/142512/buddha-worshipped-by-the-gods-indra-and-brahma https://www.artic.edu/artworks/142512/buddha-worshipped-by-t...
- amriksohata 3y agoexactly this, same thing watered down