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"In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true."
- The Buddha

Many of the central tenets of Buddhism and Hinduism seem totally irreconcilable at first glance. The Buddha taught that all things were impermanent, where as traditional Indian belief is that beneath the impermanent world lies an eternal reality. Most Hindus believe in God in some form, whereas the Buddha was decidedly agnostic. However when one begins a practice of meditation in either tradition, one begins to go beyond the limiting mind which generates these contradictions and see that there is in fact a deep oneness of purpose between the two traditions, and that they are two paths which lead the same destination.

All things impermanent?

"Decay is inherent in all component things", declared the Buddha. Yet most branches of Hinduism hold that beyond the veil of worldly illusion, or maya, there is an eternal reality.

However, both traditions stress the truly important thing - that outer pleasures can only give us a temporary happiness, and we must search within and discover the essence of our being to find true fulfillment and happiness in life. Once we go deep within, our limited mind which places both views at loggerheads disappears. With an awakened understanding we see how both these apparently contradictory statements can be true at the same time, that indeed they are both facets of the same truth. We see how the truth can hold all manner of such apparently contradictory statements, as this verse from the Upanishads describes, India's ancient scriptures puts it:

"That moves and that moves not.
That is far and the same is near.
That is within and at the same time, without."

The reality that can be reached during meditation is one so vast that the word 'thing' can hardly be ascribed to it, and yet one so close to the core of our being that many spiritual seekers have a personal relationship with it. But what are the characteristics of one who has reached that reality?

'He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.' - the Buddha

This is something that both traditions would certainly agree with.

The eternal soul?

Budhhists prefer not to use the term 'soul' or 'self' as this implies something which lasts forever. However the ancient Upanishads of India speak of the Atman, the eternal divine spark inside each of us. Therefore, whilst both Buddhists and Hindus believe that we are are born and die again many times on this earth before we finally attain liberation, Buddhists prefer to call it rebirth rather than reincarnation, as 'incarnation' implies some kind of fixed 'self' to come back again.

Many metaphors have been used for both reincarnation and rebirth. The Bhagavad Gita, arguably India's version of the Bible, states eloquently "As a man casts off his worn-out garments and puts on new ones, so also the embodied soul casts off the worn-out body and enters into a new form". Buddhists cite the example of a candle being lit by another candle - the two flames are different, yet there is a common undefinable essence. Again, after one has progressed a little on the road of self-discovery through meditation, one cannot help but be aware that these positions again express different aspects of the same truth. All these problems and misunderstandings arise solely because this truth cannot be expressed adequately by the mind.

Belief in God?

Similarly, Buddhists do not use the term 'God', although many branches of Buddhism have deity figures that reprasent different aspects of the formless Reality. The Buddha was teaching at a time when there was a lot of concepts used to talk about God but very little practical effort to find out what God was or to discover themselves. Rather than talk about God, he therefore preferred to direct his attention to the important task of self-discovery and its potential for relieving human misery. "I teach one thing and one only: that is, suffering and the end of suffering", he used to say. This philosophy is summed up in the famous arrow parable:

A man approached the Buddha and wanted to have all his philosophical questions answered before he would practice. In response, the Buddha said, "If a man were shot by a poisoned arrow, would you tell the doctor: I will not allow you to remove this arrow until I have learned the caste, the age, the occupation, the birthplace, and the motivation of the person who wounded me.? Or would you just tell him to remove the arrow?

On the other hand, many Hindus would say 'Atman is Brahman' - namely that the human soul is a part of God and embodies God. Hence the process of self-discovery and God-discovery are one and the same.

However, as meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy describes in his play 'Siddhartha Becomes the Buddha', the Buddha in his teaching was merely describing the same truths in different terms:

(the scene describes a meeting between King Prasenjit and Kshema, a devout student of the Buddha)
KING: Why has Buddha not spoken about the soul? We Hindus all believe in the existence of the soul. Nothing can be done without the soul.
KSHEMA: True, he has not spoken about the soul, but he has spoken about the inner Light. What is that inner Light if not the soul? He has not used the term soul, but what he speaks of as the inner Light is nothing but the soul.
KING: He has not used the term God. We Hindus believe in God.
KSHEMA: True, he has not used the term God. But he has used the term Truth. What is Truth? Truth is God. God is Truth. The moment you realise the Highest Truth, you will realise God the infinite.

It is interesting to note that despite the Buddha's non-use of any term for God, many Hindus regard the Buddha as an incarnation of God. This shows that it does not matter what terms he used, people still revered him for his wise and loving acts.

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