Hinduism, Buddhism and Shintoism, despite the great differences, there is also a lot to learn about the similarities of these three religions. Some facts and history of Hinduism include that Hinduism (being the oldest of the three) dates back to prehistory before 10,000 BC, even believed to predate the Indus River Valley Civilization! The Vedas (the sacred text of Hinduism) form the foundation of Indian culture and also the basic belief system of Hinduism. The basic belief structure of Hinduism is as follows, the three doctrines; Samsara (1) which means "successive rebirths" indicating the belief in reincarnation initiated by ATMA or the spark of life given by the god Brahma. This cycle continues until the soul collects enough good Karma (2) to break the cycle of samsara and achieve Moksha (3), which is when the soul can finally reunite with Brahma after its final life. Hinduism is also the only religion you CANNOT convert to. Therefore Hinduism believes in the cycle of reincarnation as a belief in the afterlife. Buddhism developed much later is heavily influenced by Hinduism. The story of how Buddha achieved enlightenment tells that Buddha was actually a Hindu prince named Siddhartha. Unlike Hinduism, in Buddhism ANYONE can become enlightened and achieve Nirvana, whereas in Hinduism traditionally only those of the Brahman caste can achieve moksha. Even in Buddhism there is no true god, originally the Buddha is a state of enlightenment in which anyone can become Buddha. Only later did Buddhism split into Mahayana Buddhism (which made Buddha a deity) and Hinayana Buddhism (which holds to the traditional belief that Buddha was not divine but simply a teacher). Buddhism has a type of daily guide to achieving enlightenment called the 8-step path, this… middle of paper… looks at death and the transition to the next life. I believe we should not fear death but embrace it as the closing of a chapter and the beginning of a new phase. Works Cited 1.) "Facts about Hinduism | Facts about Hindu Religion". Facts about Hinduism Facts about Hindu religion. Np, nd Web. April 14, 2014. http://hinduismfacts.org/hindu-religion/ 2.) “Buddhist Views on Death and Rebirth.” Buddhist view on death and rebirth. Np, nd Web. 14 April 2014. http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma5/viewdeath.html 3.) Bernard, Rosemarie. "Shintoism and ecology: practice and orientations towards nature". Shintoist. Earth Ethics 10, No.1 (Fall 1998), 2004. Web. April 16, 2014 http://fore.research.yale.edu/religion/shinto/4.) “Life After Death: Shinto.” Life after death Christianity Islam Buddhism Philosophy Science RSS. Np, nd Web. April 16, 2014. http://lifeafterdeath.com/life-after-death-shinto/