The Buddha, A Hindu! What A Big Joke!

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 10 October 2023 Buddha Not Only Relinquished All Vedic Traditions, He Rejected the Very Idea Of God, Heaven, Hell And All That Utter Rubbish. He Went Beyond Theism And Atheism And Was World's First APATHEIST - Iish-Parangmukh, Coined By Ashvaghosh Of Saaketa In His Epic Poem Buddhacharita ------- "Sri Buddha is a Hindu but He is a spiritual Guide to the people of China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia> Mongolia etc." A very strange statement made by Mr Anburaj who tends to see everything through the prism of his Hinduism. It is true that the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, was born into a royal family that practised and studied the Vedic tradition (Hindu is a modern term). This is no different than the fact that Jesus was raised in the Jewish faith. Upon his enlightenment, like founders of other religions, the Buddha began teaching something radically new that had not yet been codified as a new religion. The Buddha rejected features of the Vedic tradition, including the priestly system and the caste system. The Buddha has been a formative force in the origins of Hinduism. Regional Hindu texts over the centuries have presented a spectrum of views on Buddhism, possibly reflecting the competition between Buddhism and the Brahmanical traditions. In contemporary Hinduism, the Buddha is revered by Hindus who usually consider "Buddhism to be another form of Hinduism". Other Hindus reject the identification of Gautama Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu, referring to the texts of the Puranas and identifying the two as different individuals. Mr Anburaj must understand this fact that taking birth into a particular religion is an inescapable and inexorable fate of an individual, but the rejection of the parental faith is his/her volition. The moment you turn your back on a religion, you sever all ties with that faith. Associating you with your earlier rejected faith is an error of perception made by the people, not by you. I was born into a family in which my father was a Hindu and my mother had no religion and no faith in god (an extremely rare thing, that too on the part of a woman). As I grew up, I left Hinduism and all man-made faiths along with their respective gods, revered figures and scriptures. But rank STUPID people still erroneously think that I'm a Hindu as my name and surname suggest! It's their headache, not mine. Let's come back to the Buddha. He not only relinquished all Vedic traditions, he rejected the very idea of god, heaven, hell and all that utter rubbish. He went beyond theism and atheism and was world's first APATHEIST - Iish-Parangmukh, coined by Ashvaghosh of Saaketa in his epic poem Buddhacharita, composed in the early second century CE. So, please don't call him (the Buddha) a Hindu. Mr Anburaj may be aware that a reprehensible character called Dr Zakir Naik says that all humans are actually born as Muslims but their parents thrust other faiths upon them! You're also suggesting the same that the Buddha and all prophets were Hindus but 'accidentally' propounded some other faiths and doctrines. Grow up and be a human. ------ A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/buddha-hindu-budhism/d/130865 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism