Good Essay About Civilization

Buddhism as a religion has greatly borrowed from the Vedic philosophy. Much of the Buddhist knowledge, as it is known today, was part of Vedic teachings. The Vedic traditions first found their way to India in the 1500BC in an invasion by Aryans. This is clearly documented in the Vedic hymns. The Vedic teachings are also said to have predicted the birth of Buddha who would be incarnate of the Supreme Personality Godhead in Gaya. Hundred years later Buddha or Siddhartha Gautama achieved spiritual enlightenment as he mediated in Gaya. This led to his spiritual birth that led to the fulfillment of the prophecy.
Buddhism further not only did it borrow from the Vedic philosophies but also came to challenge it. Buddhism challenged Vedic priests that deviated from the teachings that had become preoccupied with rituals. It dismisses the aspects of ritual killings of animals and other acts of himsa or violence. Buddhism can be said to have greatly challenged the decay in the Vedic teachings that was being propagated by the corrupt Vedic priests. It also allowed room for conversation regarding religious philosophies. The Vedic teachings were mainly based on instruction rather than through mediation that would enable one achieve spiritual enlightenment. This comes from Buddha’s own experience with nibbana (meditation) that allowed him to understand Vedic philosophies fully in depth. This is in line with Mitri Upanishad’s assertion that “when the mind seeks after truth it comes to realize that sense objects, in the power of desire, are false” (Eknath and Nagler pg 31). Buddhism managed also to challenge classism that had been perpetuated by Brahmanism in the Vedic teachings. Buddha cited everyone was equal. The Buddha teachings dispute the existence of Brahman, which consolidates various qualities to make it absolute reality. Buddha instead teaches on the interdependence of all things in the world as a means of understanding absolute reality.

Works Cited

Eknath, Easwaran, and Michael N. Nagler. The Upanishads. Tomales: Nilgiri Press, 2007. Print.
Mu, Soeng. Diamond Sutra: Transforming the Way We Perceive the World. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2000. Print.
Müller, F M, and Hermann Oldenberg. Vedic Hymns. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1964. Print.