Within the dharmic philosophies none is as interesting a relationship as is between bhakti and Buddhism. These are the two extremities of dharmic traditions which highlight their richness in and of themselves and are good examples of the diversity of paths.
Swami Vivekananda thought that Buddha was “the greatest combination of heart and brain that ever existed.” Just as Buddha taught, the Theravada Buddhism was a strict atheist tradition. Mahayana Buddhism emerged over the following few centuries and directed its tradition towards Hinduism. It adopted Sanskrit as its language, rather than Thervada’s Pali, and spread to China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Reverence for Buddha in these far distant places also led to Buddha being deified with his statues in temples, worshipped just as it’d have been in the vedic tradition. (It is important to note that no where in the early Buddhist texts, there is a proscription against making buddha statues.)
Temple worship and Buddha’s statues may overshadow a big difference; dharma, karma and reincarnation are the core tenets of Buddhism, but atman/Brahman/Ishvara are not. The ultimate goal of a Buddhist is the void – Nirvana, the nothingness – it has no quality, attribute, intent, etc. Nirvana is a lot like the vedantic Brahman. But it is not exactly that, as per some schools of Buddhism.
In Bhakti, there is no dearth of emotions and no reason not to love Ishvara (God). But for a Buddhist, there is no God. A bhakt’s connection is with his/her God. Buddhists have no devotion, but only meditation. A Buddhist attempts to connect with the self – the person – not the Self which the Buddhists do not recognize.
Hindus accept Buddha as a deity (avatar of Vishnu), his sermons as dharmic teachings, and Buddhist meditation techniques such as Zen and Vipassana as valid tools of sadhana.
Despite the differences, the two traditions aim for enlightenment. One is an approach of meditating on the world, the other doesn’t care of the world. While ignorance is the problem for a Buddhist, love and devotion makes ignorance a non-issue for a bhakt. A buddhist has no family. In contrast, a bhakt strikes a relationship – neutrality, servitude, friendship, parental, and lover – to the divine.
The power of thought in both Bhakti and Buddhism is the same. It is the emotion of thought that is worlds apart. Does that explain to you why you haven’t ever seen a teary-eyed Buddhist?
धार्मिक छवियाँ 