Buddhism and Hinduism: Compare and Contrast |
Sacred Texts
Buddhism
The Buddhist sacred text is the Tripitaka. The Tripitaka is the earliest collection of Buddhist writing and contains a total of 2184 sacred writings and tales to guide the Buddhist communities. It can be written on large pieces of thick material and stored in large buildings. The collections are divided into Baskets, like how they were stored in early times when written on leaves and plant matter. The first basket is about Discipline; it sets out rules and guidelines on how to live a monastic life. The second basket is the Discourse Basket containing a collection of the Buddha's teachings and sermons. The third basket is claimed as the Special Teachings containing a collection of short pieces of writings about the Buddha.
Image 1: Children's Publishing Blogs - libraries blog posts. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2015, from http://www.jacketflap.com/megablog/index.asp?tag=libraries&tagid=100
Image 2:-Будда - www.budda.mn. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2015, from http://www.budda.mn/content/pid/23/page/7
Image 2:-Будда - www.budda.mn. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2015, from http://www.budda.mn/content/pid/23/page/7
Hinduism
The Hindu sacred text is The Vedas. This is the most ancient religious text. It defines the truth of life for Hindus. The Vedas is made up of four different sections, each section with four different parts. The Vedas is arranged in chronological order of events and time. The four parts are: The Samhitas, which contains hymns of praise; The Brahmanas contains rituals and prayers used by the priests to guide them in their lives; The Aranyakas contain information about worship and meditation and the Upanishads contains the teachings of mystical and philosophical elements of Hinduism.
Picture from: The Vedas | Hindu History - Unfolding the Epic History of the Worlds Most Ancient and Spiritual Civilisation. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2015, from http://www.hinduhistory.info/vedic_dawn_vedic_dawn/the-vedas/
Compare and Contrast
Each of these religious sacred texts are ancient and would have, at one point, been passed down by word of mouth. Each of these writings are divided into different parts based on their contents and subject matters. The Hindu sacred text unlike the Buddhist is arranged in chronological order a lot like the Christian bible but the Hindu text contains a whole section written specifically for the priest of the Hindu religions as a guide for them in their preaching. Each text contains rules and collections of stories about each of these two religions.