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Buddhism is a part of Hinduism in the sense that Christianity is a part of Judaism. "Buddha", or, Prince Siddhartha Gauthama was of the Sakya clan, a Hindu clan in present day Nepal. He was raised an orthodox Hindu and eventually went off to pursue enlightenment which was not an unusual option of that era for a man of his station and religion. One of the problems that Buddha had with Hinduism was the Caste System and later when he was teaching he stressed the equality of human beings from a spiritual or karmic perspective. Buddha was a Hindu reformer and taught essentially Hindu teachings and practices. Much of what is called Buddhist practice is common to Hinduism.

In this way Hinduism and Buddhism are related in much the same way that Judaism and Christianity are related, Christ being a Jew reformer.

But no, to specifically answer the question: Buddhism is not formally a "part" of Hinduism. Then again, there is no such thing as "Buddhism" outside of the west any more than there is a such thing as Christism. In "Buddhist" countries the practice is referred to as "Dharma".

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15y ago

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