In order to understand the religious background at the time of the Buddha one must consider the mainstay religion of the time which was Hinduism. However Hinduism is a very broad term in itself meant to simply describe the religious traditions of the Indus Valley, so more specifically Brahminism;Brahminism was the religion which being the product of a wealthy family the Buddha would have been most familiar with at the time of his upbringing. Brahmanism is a religion which is based of a series of texts known as the Vedas, these text would be provide instructions for priests (otherwise known as Brahmin) to conducts rituals mostly animal sacrifices (also known as Vedic sacrifices). it was believed that the prayers offered during the sacrifice would satisfy the gods and help retain order in the Universe. This would be because Brahmanism states that they are 3 levels of existence in the universe The Phonic, the Spiritual, and the Physical and so chanting catered to the Phonic, while the prayers were aimed in appeasing the Spiritual, and the sacrifice were for the physical. This sacrifices were held because central to Brahminism is the goal of liberating one’s atman from Samsara so as to rejoin the Brahman(the universal spirit. The way one did so was by achieving good karma(through sacrifices) and one would then advance through Samsara through reincarnation until reaching the last stage, that of a Brahmin where one would then die and finally be liberated from the cycle of Samsara.
However many historians believe that at the time of the Buddha, Brahmanism underwent so kind of “Ascetic Reform” and that people due to increase in leisure time as result of economic prosperity undertook further investigation of religious ideas and began to question the ancient vedas. This led to the formation of Samana Movements which were groups wandering ascetics known as Sadus who would break off all ties with their families and seek out extreme methods in order to gain religious insight. the most prominent of those groups would be the Jains who didn’t believe in the caste system or Vedic sacrifices and instead replace the idea of Atman with the idea of Jiva(life essence). They believed that the Jiva would achieve liberation from Samsara through two ways 1) by living a very discipline lifestyle which involved extreme methods of meditation and yoga or 2) through a policy of non-action which included the principle of ahimsa(non-harming) in order to wipe out any existing karma. other groups included the Materialist who were empirical in nature and chose to celebrate life through following a moral and noble path, the Ajivikas who were similar to jains except that they reject Karma and believed that every atman had it’s niyati(destiny) which had already been decided and could not be altered, and finally the Sceptics whose role was to play devil’s advocate at all times.
The time of the Buddha was a very interesting and exciting time, in terms of religious thought. It is without a doubt that Brahmanism along with contemporary religious ferment influenced. Siddhartha Gautama.
The Buddha, or otherwise known as Siddhartha Gautama was born in the Northern India approximately 500 BCE, the society in which he was born in was a very stratified society which was dominated by Brahmanism. Brahmanism is an ancient Hindu religion which advocated the idea of a caste system which dominated all aspects of society. The caste system was hierarchy which put everyone into categories at the bottom of the spectrum were the untouchables who were the pariahs then they were the artisans, the various tradesmen, than they were the Kshatriyas(the ruling warrior class), and at the top were the Brahmins( the priestly class). The idea behind the caste system was that one would be reborn in a different caste depending the individuals Kamma and that eventually their atman(soul) would achieve moksha and rejoin the Brahman. Buddha was born a Kshatriya who the ruling warrior class that were responsible for maintaining peace and order in society by sponsoring the Brahmins to hold vedic sacrifices which were believed to maintain order in the universe.
However the time of the Buddha was also a time of great change, there was increasing urbanisation which led to challenges towards the caste system as societal relations were changing as people were living in close proximity to each other. People were starting to challenge the Brahmanist notion that people were automatically born into categories of society and couldn’t change their circumstances. Urbanisation however led to the loss of tribal leaderships and the development of monarchies which naturally lead the Kshatriyas becoming ever more powerful.
It was also said to be a time of economic prosperity, which in turn led to an increase in leisure time. This increase in leisure time led to people other than the Brahmins taking on religious pursuits and was even starting to become somewhat of a hobby. The development of monarchies coupled with the increase in religious pursuits lead to the Kshatriyas starting to challenge the ideas of the Brahmins creating a conflict between the two which would have reached it’s peak at the time of the Buddha; there were even accounts of kings and monarchs teaching new religious ideas to the priestly class .In summary the sociological and economic background at the time of the Buddha was one of great change.
To this day there remains much debate as whether the Buddha’s teachings are directly influenced by Hinduism (meaning Brahminism and contemporary religions ferment) or are they a rejection of Hinduism completely. It seems pretty obvious that they are not a complete rejection because the Buddha incorporated many ideas from Hinduism and Buddhism such as the idea of Samsara, he also acknowledged the existence of deities and the use of meditation as method of achieving freedom from Samsara. However he also modified certain beliefs such as Karma which had become not only susceptible to action but also to thoughts as well, he didn’t believe in the caste system and instead believe that freedom from Samsara would be a result of achieving enlightenment by following the middle path and he also modified the idea of reincarnation as leaned more towards rebirth which instead of suggesting the idea of a permanent entity(atman) going through samsara it was more passing on of energies from one life to the next. However the Buddha did flat out reject the idea of Atman(the soul) and believed in the principle of Anatta (non-self) meaning that there was no permanent entity within us. Although Buddha rejected some Hindu beliefs he also was influenced by many Hindu belief so in conclusion the extent to which Buddha rejected Hinduism go so far as he modified many already existing beliefs so as fit his world view and philosophy.
When the Buddha was born, the sage Asita predicted that he would grow up to be either a great religious leader, or a great warrior. As chief of the Sakya tribe his Father was keen on the idea of his son following his footsteps and becoming a great warrior. He therefore wanted to reduce the chances of his son becoming a religious teacher and as such gave him a very sheltered upbringing inside the palace with very limited interaction with the outside world so that he wouldn’t be tempted to seek fulfilment elsewhere. It is for this reason that Siddhartha was so shocked when he left the palace and witnessed old age, sickness, and death for the first time in his life, and this is one reason why it had such a big impact upon him.
The first three sights; sickness, old age and death had a profound impact on the Buddha because it meant him coming face to face with the suffering that his Father had worked so hard to keep him protected from. This realisation later led to him concluding the first of his Four Noble Truths; that all life is suffering. The Buddha realised that human beings are trapped in the cycle of samsara and are destined to suffer over and over again through countless rebirths.
Finally, the fourth sight; the holy man, inspired the Buddha to embark upon his quest for enlightenment. The Buddha found it hard to believe that anyone could look so peaceful when in the full knowledge of the suffering that is an inevitable part of human life. This acted as a catalyst to the Buddha to leave his comfortable life in the palace and search for a way that he too could find that kind of peace and happiness in life.
The Buddha was born Siddhartha Gautama at some time between the 6th and 4th century BCE in Lumbini, India (modern day Nepal). There are many myths and supernatural stories associated with the birth of the Buddha, such as that his Mother Queen Maya dreaming that she conceived her son through a white elephant entering her side, and that immediately upon birth the Buddha stood up and took 4 steps in the direction of each of the four points of the compass. From this we can see that the Buddha was destined to be special. A sage predicted that Siddhartha would grow up to be either a great ruler or a great religious teacher which again hints at his future accomplishments.
The Buddha’s Father kept him sheltered in the palace away from all suffering in order that he would grow up to be a great ruler like himself. But as a young man Siddhartha slipped out of the palace and witnessed 4 sights which would ultimately lead to his awakening: sickness, old age, death, and a holy man. Siddhartha was profoundly affected by the suffering present in the first three sights, and was intrigued as to how the holy man could look so content when there was so much suffering in the world. This ultimately led him to leave the palace and set off on his journey of enlightenment.
Having abandoned his life of luxury the Buddha began to live the life of a poor ascetic, shunning all luxury and living a life of poverty and meditation. But this still did not make him happy. Eventually he abandoned this extreme way of life and determined to live according to the principle of the Middle Way, a life lived between the two extremes of wealth and poverty. This allowed him to move closer to his goal of enlightenment.