Comparison of Two Religions (Essay Sample)

Comparison of Two Religions Name: Institution Comparison of Two Religions Religion is an organization of collected beliefs, worldviews, and cultural systems that relates the existence orders of humanity. Each religion has different diversities of believing their origination, cultural practices, myths, and the way of living in the society such as approaching and interacting with other religions (McFaul, 2006). However, this essay compares and contrasts the two religions, which are Hinduism and Jainism in terms of origination, spiritual beliefs, spiritual practices and the way each religion is practiced in the societal world. Most importantly, the paper examines the major differences and similarities between the two religions from a broad point of view. Hinduism is the religion that dominates the Indian land, particularly Nepal and India countries. It consists several and diverse set of traditions with no individual founder. Hinduism is rooted during India’s Iron Age from historical Vedic religion. The religion formed to the current system following the Sanskritization that takes place since Vedic period. The process includes the adaptation of Brahman customs by the people in the Indian society, especially in social life and religious aspects. On the other hand, Jainism is an Indian religion, which is among the oldest religions worldwide. The name Jainism was derived from the Jin, a Sanskrit verb that means to conquer (Owen, 2012). Jainism originated from historical successions for faiths of twenty four propagators called Itorthankara woth the Adinatha as the oldest and Mahavira the latest of the current times. This makes the origin of the religion obscure. There are several similarities and differenecs between Hinduism and Jainnism. Such differences and similarities are notable in terms of the religious beliefs of these religions. On the similarities, both the two religions maintain the centrality of Dharma. It is evident that the followers of these religions practice image worshipping. What is more, they both have beliefs in Karma Maya and Reincarnation (McFaul, 2006). On the differences, the two differ in terms of their religious beliefs, given that they have different concepts. For instance, the Hindu believe in social order and the phases of life people should go through while the Jains think humans should not have connections to earthly materials. Hinduism and Jainism are religions practiced in diverse regions over the world. Jains believe in twenty-four Jinas, also known as tirthankaras, fordmakers, who make the ford from the phenomenal world. Ancient Hindu and Jain scriptures show that the Jain religion began as a spiritual discipline for Samans (McFaul, 2006). The patrons of the Saman tradition modified the philosophical aspects according to their time. The believers have a Saman (monk) who practices nonviolence, Arhat is the one who lives a virtuous life, a destroyer and conqueror who they believe has conquered all their earthly desires. The religion derives inspiration from ancient nature religions of the world. The conquerors, also called the Arhats started practicing spiritual rituals which led to a religion knows as Jainism (Shah, 2004). Noteworthy, the spiritual practices of the Jains include praying, respecting the tirthankaras, and repenting their sins whilst the Hindu goes without pleasurable things and paying honour to their leaders. Jainism is usually practiced through adhering to the five major principles of the religion. These principles take account of non-possesiveness, non-violence, celibacy, non stealing, and speaking the truth. It is worth noting that the aforesaid principles largely define the way throug which the religion is practiced. In contrast, the practising of Hinduism revolves around perfoming ceremonies and rites (Owen, 2012). Such events usually are performed to center the birth of the young ones, marriage of the middle, and finally death. Jaini...