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Historically, the roots of Buddhism lie in the religious thought of Iron Age India around the middle of the first millennium BCE. [5] This was a period of great intellectual ferment and socio-cultural change known as the Second Urbanisation, marked by the growth of towns and trade, the composition of the Upanishads and the historical emergence of the Śramaṇa traditions.
The Buddhist concept of anattā or anātman is one of the fundamental differences between mainstream Buddhism and mainstream Hinduism, with the latter asserting that ātman ("self") exists. [note 2] In Hinduism, Atman refers to the essence of human beings, the observing pure awareness or witness-consciousness.
Buddhism (/ ˈ b ʊ d ɪ z əm / BUUD-ih-zəm, US also / ˈ b uː d-/ BOOD-), [1] [2] [3] also known as Buddha Dharma, is an Indian religion [a] and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. [7]
Mudgal concludes therefore that "the difference between Śūnyavāda philosophy of Buddhism and Advaita philosophy of Hinduism may be a matter of emphasis, not of kind". [40] [note 6] Similarly, there are many points of contact between the Buddhist Yogācāra school and Śaṅkara's Advaita tradition. [42] According to S. N. Dasgupta,
The śramaṇa period between 800 and 200 BCE marks a "turning point between the Vedic Hinduism and Puranic Hinduism". [11] The Shramana movement, an ancient Indian religious movement parallel to but separate from Vedic tradition, often defied many of the Vedic and Upanishadic concepts of soul (Atman) and the ultimate reality (Brahman).
Hinduism and Jainism have a rather similar view on the topic of asceticism, or, in simpler terms, abstinence. It is thought that their beliefs on the topic come from the early belief that some meditative and monastic practices cleanse the body of impurity. The Hindu theory of Karma gave Jainism a great deal of support to start promoting asceticism.
The historical Vedic religion, also called Vedicism or Vedism, and sometimes ancient Hinduism or Vedic Hinduism, [a] constituted the religious ideas and practices prevalent amongst some of the Indo-Aryan peoples of the northwest Indian subcontinent (Punjab and the western Ganges plain) during the Vedic period (c. 1500–500 BCE).
Buddhism and Hinduism mutually influenced each other and shared many concepts, however it is now difficult to identify and describe these influences. [54] Buddhism rejected the Vedic concepts of Brahman (ultimate reality) and Atman (soul, self) at the foundation of Hindu philosophies. [55] [56] [57] [58]