Hinduism and Buddhism in Terms of the Self, Karma, and Rebirth

Religion
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Religion
Both Hinduism and Buddhism are among the ancient beliefs in the world. Hinduism existed for more than 3,500 years while Buddhism for about 2,800 years. There are similarities between both religions because they originated from the surroundings of India. The two share roughly a parent-child relationship. Buddhism observed the doctrines of Hinduism and offered critique and a substitute to what some individuals considered as a solution to some injustices done using religion. Both religions have coexisted peacefully, albeit sometimes it was a strained peace. Although both Hinduism and Buddhism share the tenets of the basic religion, there a significant number of striking differences between the two. This paper analyzes the concepts of self/no self and Karma/rebirth to show similarities and differences between Hinduism and Buddhism.
Self/No Self
Asking Individuals who they are may yield different answers. Many might say what they do for work. However, if they changed or lost the job, the identity would disappear. Others may talk about their family and people. However, that is how the individuals relate to others. Others may go further and bring their personality or values. However, these will still be the descriptors of ways they behave or what motivates them. Hence, the idea of who individuals are (self) is different for different people. Hinduism and Buddhism look at the concept of self from different perspectives.
Hinduism teaches the concept of atman which is considered the essential ‘self’ of an individual (Saraswathi, 2005). The word atman technically implies ‘the divinity.’ The term is generally used for God, supreme Divinity. Atman refers to the non-material self which is distinct from both the body and the external body and does not change. The real self-extends beyond the temporary designations which individuals ascribe themselves like gender, nationality, career, and race. Hinduism teaches that each human being has divine character; each has the same indwelling of atman. The individual self is a reflection of the Brahman (the Godhead) embodied in a physical form. The self is the divine God sharing his essential nature with human beings. Since the self is an expression of Brahman, it is indestructible (Kronegger & Tymieniecka, 2012). It has no beginning or end of its being. The relationship between self and Brahman can be demonstrated by looking at a glass of water from the ocean. The glass of water has all the qualities of the ocean, but it is distinct from the ocean in quantity and potentiality.
On the contrary, the Buddha denied the concept that humans have a permanent, autonomous and soul. The Buddha maintained that everything is impermanent and transient, which is the doctrine of anatta (Purser, 2015). Given that everything is impermanent according to the doctrine of anatta, it follows that the atman as a self-subsisting entity does not exist. According to this doctrine, what individuals consider as “self” are temporary creations of a group of aggressions that make up a human being. Anatta does not mean that nothing exists. Instead, Buddha teaches that there is existence, only that people understand it a one...