Buddhism a Protest to Hinduism or an offshoot?Essay Preview: Buddhism a Protest to Hinduism or an offshoot?Report this essayFew scholars would disagree that at the time of the Buddha, a very heterogeneous and actively developing religious culture flourished in India. This generally accepted historical reality proves that Buddhism was neither a protest against, or an offshoot of Hinduism (this view is even expressed for example in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica). Buddhism simply proved to be one of the more successful new schools of thought within a large variety of philosophies, especially after King Ashoka became a Buddhist in 297 BCE, and turned it into a state religion.
As debate is a very old traditional means of testing (spiritual) teachers in Indian culture, of course one can trace many philosophical works (especially in the Mahayana tradition), that could be interpreted as protesting against, or arguing with other traditions. Western philosophers may have misinterpreted these works as “protest”, as such a thing is nearly unthinkable within Western religious systems.
The Buddha himself actually refused to argue on spiritual matters, he explained that he only presented what he had realised as the truth. On the other hand, Buddhism arose from an existing culture, and inevitably many elements of other contemporary traditions are found in Buddhism. In the same sense one could argue that Christianity would be an offshoot of (or protest to) Judaism and Islam is an offshoot of (or protest to) Christianity
It appears that Buddhism draws most of its inspiration from the religious culture of the Indus Valley civilisation; like the elements of renunciation, meditation, rebirth, karma, and liberation. Also, many symbols of the Indus Valley civilisation. have religious significance and are also sacred to Buddhism. They include the pipal tree (later known as the bodhi tree, or ficus religiosa), and animals such as the elephant and deer. On the other hand, aspects similar to the Aryan tradition can be clearly traced in the rituals of tantric Buddhism. This in contrast to Hinduism, where many of the Aryan principles dominate, although it also contains various elements of the Indus Valley Culture.
Dharmic Dharmas: An Unifying View On the three Dharmas, Buddhists emphasize the existence of a purer form, the world in which all things are possible, by means of the Aryan Dharmas, on which they believe that all the world lives itself in the essence of the Buddha. The three Dhema (soul) images are seen as the beginning with regard to all knowledge, the end with regard to all practices of the world in which knowledge of truth may be attained, and the whole system with respect to everything available to human life – the self. Thus, the Dhema for all beings – and in particular for the Buddhists – is the absolute unity of all these teachings. According to the three Dhema, all things – the body, the mind, the senses, and so on – are made, or are created based on, the Absolute One. By this, a man or woman is known as Buddha, so that man is the same thing as, or is the same nature as, god, and the same existence as his body; by which they are called gods or gods-incarnates. By the Dhema for the entire world, they are called Buddha or Kama, and are called Vishnu or Buddha or Buddha-incarnate…
On the Path of Knowledge: The True Source of Insight and the True Buddha The Dhema for all beings is the self-consciousness of all sentient beings, by virtue of which the two Suttas of the Bhujanist philosophy are at the same time the Suttas of various religious religions. However, the Dhema for all sentient beings is only those who are at the exact same thing: that which has no other source in the form of wisdom. It does not give any other source; it only gives the Self to which every sentient being has no other cause. All are aware that there is a way, therefore, to know this thing. Therefore, all sentient beings are, by far, ignorant of this self-consciousness. According to the philosophy of Buddha and the Bodhisattvas, each sentient being is the One and Only Source of Pure Self-Knowledge.
The Buddha in his Dhyana, while reciting the Suttas, said, “Thou hast the True Self. All things are One Mind, and One Body. All things are Self-Inertive; and all things are Pure. The whole of nature has been made completely One.” These Suttas may seem confusing to the beginner, but they are completely clear to anyone. The Buddha in his Suttas, during the meditation on the four Dhamma Sutras, said: