Buddhism and jainism - Essay Example

Buddhism is one of the indigenous religions in India, which came into existence around 2500 years ago. It is presumably the fourth largest religion in the world after the likes of Islam, Christianity and Hinduism (Doniger, 2010). The Buddhist followers around the world are approximately 390 million as of the statistics conducted in 2012. In India, Buddhism is very dominant in the East that is presumed to be the origin of the region. However over the years the region has influenced the west by constantly attracting new followers (Kelsang, 2011).

Over the years since its origin, this religion has metamorphosed into a variety of sub-religions all which share common beliefs and faith. Despite the variety of religions that exist under the parent Buddhism the religion has grown into a form that emphasize on religious rituals and also strict emphasis on the worship of deities. However, Buddhism is primarily founded on the pretext that its followers are supposed to maintain pure mediation with the divinity and in this case Buddhist (Kelsang, 2011).

The followers of this religion have the obligation to respect the teachings of Buddhism, which is the fundamental objective of this religion. Worship in Buddhism is conducted in a temple that is considered a sacred/holy place of worship where the followers are supposed to maintain purity as they are not supposed to enter the temple with shoes (Doniger, 2010). Buddha the divine element in this religion is regarded as a teacher who directs them on how they are supposed to lead their social life in order to receive favour from him.

Worship in Buddhism is conducted in the Vihara but is not scheduled on a specific day or time to conduct the process; the followers are free to conduct worship sessions at any time of the day without any particular followed schedule or proceeding timetable (Kelsang, 2011). During worship food and flowers are placed at the Buddha statue in the