Buddha and Hinduism....

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

Buddha did not accept the authority of the vedas and

was hence considered a nastika. However there were

many groups who did not accept the authority of the

vedas but still followed the Sanataana dharma.

 

We must remember that the concept of hinduism as one

religion did not exist at that time. Hinduism is a

name given by the muslims much later (around 1000 CE)

to refer to all persons living beyond the Indus river.

 

 

Buddha was very much a part of the Sanataana dharma

tradition and believed in all the contemporary

concepts such as reincarnation , karma, different

spiritual worlds etc. Many of his ideas are not

different from the Upanishadic & Samkhyan concepts

that he probably learnt at Benaras before his

enlightenment.

 

It was only the ritualistic 'samhitas' part of the

vedas that he rejected. These parts were already

rejected, much earlier, by the Upanishads. The

darshanas (around 600 BCE) also rejected these

ritualistic aspects.

 

There was really nothing new that Buddha said in

metaphysical terms. His uniqueness was his emphasis

on ethics and discipline rather than on rituals ,

philophical speculation and devotion. His primary

emphasis was on monastic life.

 

How correct this is, considering the various types

(levels) of persons in this world, is a separate

discussion altogether.

 

Regarding his being considered an avatar of Vishnu.

It must be noted that, in south India, Buddha is not

considered an avatar of Vishnu at all. After Rama as

the seventh, Balarama is considered the eighth avatar

(albeit a minor one - there is a story as to why

Balarama is given the status of an avatar) and Krishna

is the ninth with the tenth, yet to come. You will

find this to be so in all depictions of the

dasavatars, in temples and in homes in south India.

 

In north India because of the greater influence of

Buddhism after Ashoka, people got insecure and quickly

included Buddha as the ninth avatar pushing Krishna to

the eighth and removing Balarama altogether. What a

powerful king cannot do? Remember Constantine?

 

Otherwise, Buddha was considered only one other sage

along with so many others. Having divergent views was

never a major problem in India. Almost everyone had

one.

 

Thanks & regards.

 

Sriram

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

A series of postings on influence of Vedanta on Buddhism

appeared at:

 

advaitin/message/9614 and following-

 

This was a series of lectures by Prof. Das Gupta given at the

Institute of Culture in Calcutta. Sw. Vivekananda's assessment of

Buddha forms part of it.

 

Regards,

 

Sunder

 

Ramakrishna, " Vivekananda Centre " <vivekananda@b...>

wrote:

> Hi,

>

> Buddha did not accept the authority of the vedas and

> was hence considered a nastika. However there were

> many groups who did not accept the authority of the

> vedas but still followed the Sanataana dharma.

>

 

>

> Thanks & regards.

>

> Sriram