The sixth century B. C. , the Hindu religion and the caste system had become a way of life in India. They believed that the only way to gain salvation was by obeying caste rules and following complex ritual. The people taught these ritual were to strict, and did not meet the needs of the common people. So they started to listen to other religions. Buddhism is a religion founded in India, that share some comparison with Hinduism. Buddhism was founded by an Indian prince born about 563 B. C. His father, a wealthy noble, wanted to protect his son from the harsh realites of the orld.
But his father couldnt protect him forever, and when he was about 29 years old he saw a dying man, a sick man in pain and a religious beggar. After seeing these things the prince worried, why was so much sorrow in the world. Then when he was about 35, Siddhartha Guatama decided to sit under a fig until he found answers. He was there for forty-nine days, and that day he saw the reason for life suffering and a way to overcome them. Gautama started to speak of Four Noble Truths. The first was, sorrow and suffering are part of life.
Second, people suffer because they try to get things they cant have. Next, you had to reach a state of not wanting. The fourth they should have neither too much nor too little pleasure. Both Hinduism and Buddhism shared some of their beliefs. But there are some differences. Buddhism placed most importance on ones life, than one caste and they saw little value in complex rituals. He taught that a person could get enlightenment in one lifetime. As Buddhism spread, disagreements grew up about some of its teachings and beliefs. At first Buddha was saw as a guideline for living.
His followers saw him only as a teacher. Then a philosopher named Menius taught that the welfare of the people were the main concerns of a ruler. And if that wasnt the rulers main affair, he should be overthrown. Confucius a traveling bureaucrat named Kung Fu-tzu, was regarded as Chinas greatest thinker and teacher. He was not really concern with the soul, the afterlife nor the worship of gods. He was more concern with questions of morality. Confucius had five basic relationships.
They are: between ruler and subjects, father and son, husband and wife, older and ounger brothers, and members of a community. One person was viewed as a superior and worthy of respect and obedience. In return, that superior should set a good example. He thought that the superior was responsible for the evil actions of the peoples or person below him.
While Confucian set up strict rules for peoples behavior within society, a different group of thinkers believed in a lesser structure. They developed a philosophy and religion called Taoism. They try to discover the Tao or way of the universe and to live simply and in harmony with nature.
