Atman - a Difference Between Buddhism and Hinduism

John He

Dr. Steven Brown

Philosophy 2120

Nov.6th, 2017

Atman --- a difference between Buddhism and Hinduism

The exploration of self is something that intrigues human-beings ever since humans are evolved. Religions and philosophies provide different explanation of self, among which Hinduism and Buddhism had started this odyssey ahead of all the others. Initiated in India, Buddhism is considered as a heresy of Hinduism. However, Buddhism was established under the premise of several Hinduism doctrines and share basic similarities with Hinduism, such as the beliefs of karma and reincarnation. However, the two differ significantly in their acknowledgement of Atman, the self and individuality. In this paper, the difference in the beliefs about the notion of “self” between the two religions is illustrated. Personally, I support the claims of Buddhism.

In Hinduism, Atman is considered to be of very special, almost incomparable importance. Atman is considered, by the majority of Hinduism branches, to be an ever-existing, absolutely eternal mental existence. Generally speaking, Atman is what establishes personal identity and is simple, featureless, and changeless. All living things share the same Atman. Since Atman is essentially pure and flawless, all negative, impure, and malicious thoughts and behaviors are not the result of Atman. Rather, it is Atman’s nature to repel against these thoughts and behaviors to achieve the ultimate goodness and happiness of life.

According to the Upanishads, “Atman is Brahman” is the core idea in Hinduism, which can be interpreted as “Atman is equivalent to and inseparable with Brahman”. Brahman is the unchanging, all-powerful force that defines all things in the universe. From another perspective, Brahman is the “self” of all things, just like Atman is the self of an individual. Equating Atman and Brahman means that there is no difference between us and the ultimate divine reality. Another important aspect of self in Hinduism is that Hinduism values permanence, so that in order be set free from samsara and achieve moksha, a person needs to continuously accumulate good karma and meditates ascetically until the person truly realize that every self belongs to a larger self, and that the larger self is essentially the same with all the others.

Buddhism, on the other hand, is constructed on the premise of anatman, meaning “no self”. Although mental and physical things are causally related, there is no permanent, underlying substance that be called soul for every one of the things. Alternatively, the concept of self is acquired by nurture, through sensations, perception and consciousness. This is fundamentally different from Hinduism, where Atman is among the core beliefs. To illustrate this difference, explanations about Buddhist’s goals is needed.

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