Expert: Alex Wilding - 8/29/2008

Question
I know that Hinduism and Buddhism started around the same time. Are there any similarities between the two religions?

Answer
Hi Ian,
Yes, though I'm not completely sure about your comment that they started around the same time. India has a very, very rich spiritual and cultural history; Buddhism was one of the wide variety of traditions, views, practical systems and so on that flourished in India, many of them entirely incompatible with one another. Partly because of it's spread to other civilizations, Buddhism's identity became relatively sharply defined many centuries ago. The idea, on the other hand, that, leaving aside the materialists and other entirely incompatible views, some of the systems known in India could be grouped together and called "Hinduism" is relatively new, possibly even a Western invention.
Culturally and iconographically Buddhism shows very strong connections to it's roots in India. Some Hindus say that Buddhism is just a part of Hinduism, but Buddhists disagree, and say that it is quite distinct. Buddhism tends to be much more sceptical about what words like the "self" and "god" might actually refer to.
Hope it helps.