Compare and Contrast Primal religions, Eastern religions (Hinduism, Buddism, Jainism, Daoism), and the Western religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam).

Eastern Religion

Hinduism

Hinduism is a religious tradition of Indian origin , comprising the beliefs and practices of Hindus . It mainly encourages Hindus to seek spiritual and moral truth wherever it might be found , while acknowledging that no creed can contain such truth in its fullness and that each individual must realize this truth through his or her systematic effort . In many religions , truth is delivered or revealed from a divine source and enters the world through a single agent but in Hindu tradition , by contrast , there is no single revelation or

orthodoxy by which people may achieve knowledge of the divine or a lead life back by religious law . The Hindu tradition may seek and experience religious understanding and direction . It also claims the every individual has the potential to achieve enlightenment . A Hindu scripture , based on the insights of Hindu sages and seers , serves primarily as a guidebook . But ultimately truth comes to us through direct consciousness of the divine or ultimate reality . In other religions this ultimate reality is known as God . Hindus refer to it by many names , but the most common name is Brahman ( Microsoft (R ) Encarta (R ) Premium Suite 2005 (c ) 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation . All rights reserved

Buddhism

Buddhism , a major world religion , founded in north-eastern India and based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama , who is known as the Buddha , or Enlightened One . Originating as a monastic movement within the dominant Brahman tradition of the day , Buddhism quickly developed in a distinctive direction

The Buddha was an oral teacher he left no written body of thought . His teachings were transmitted as an oral tradition for several centuries and were subsequently systematized and interpreted by various individuals and schools within India and elsewhere . At the core of the Buddha 's enlightenment was the realization of the Four Noble Truths (1 Life is suffering . This is more than a mere recognition of the presence of suffering in existence . It is a statement that , in its very nature existence is essentially painful from the moment of birth to the moment of death . Even death brings no relief , for the Buddha accepted the prevailing Indian idea of life as cyclical , with death leading to further rebirth (2 ) All suffering is caused by ignorance of the nature of reality and the craving , attachment , and grasping that arise from such ignorance (3 ) Suffering can be ended by overcoming ignorance and attachment (4 ) The path to the suppression of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path , which consists of right views , right intention , right speech , right action , right livelihood , right effort , right-mindedness and right contemplation . These eight are usually divided into three categories that form the cornerstone of Buddhist faith : morality meditation , and wisdom

The ultimate goal of the Buddhist path is release from the round of phenomenal existence with its inherent suffering . To achieve this goal is to attain nirvana , an enlightened state in which the fires of greed hatred , and ignorance have been quenched . For those unable to pursue the...