Hinduism, Buddhism and Shinto, although vast in differences, there is also much to learn about the similarities of these three religions. Some Hinduism facts and stories include the fact that Hinduism (being the oldest of the three) dates back to prehistoric times before 10,000 BC and is even believed to predate the Valley of God civilization. the Indus! 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: 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 attain Moksha (3), when the soul can finally reunite with Brahma after its final life. Hinduism is also the only religion you CANNOT convert to. This is why Hinduism believes in the cycle of reincarnation as a belief beyond life. Buddhism developed much later is strongly influenced by Hinduism. The story of how Buddha became enlightened tells that Buddha was actually a Hindu prince named Siddhartha. Unlike Hinduism, ANYONE can become enlightened and attain Nirvana in Buddhism, whereas in Hinduism, only those from the Brahmanical group could attain moksha. Furthermore, in Buddhism there is no true god. Originally, Buddha is a state of enlightenment. Anyone can become the 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 kind of daily guide to achieving enlightenment called the eight-fold path ... middle of paper ...... look at death and move on to the next life. I believe we should not fear death but accept it as a closing of a chapter and the beginning of a new phase. Works Cited 1.) "Facts about Hinduism | Facts about the Hindu religion". Facts about Hinduism Facts about Hindu religion. Np, and Web. April 14, 2014. http://hinduismfacts.org/hindu-religion/ 2.) “Buddhist view on death and rebirth.” Buddhist view of death and rebirth. Np, and Web. April 14, 2014. http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma5/viewdeath.html 3.) Bernard, Rosemarie. “Shintoism and ecology: practice and orientations towards nature.” Shinto. Earth Ethics 10, No.1 (Fall 1998), 2004. Web. April 16, 2014 http://fore.research.yale.edu/religion/shinto/4.) “Life After Death: Shintoism.” Life after death Christianity Islam Buddhism Philosophy Science RSS. Np, and Web. April 16, 2014.http://lifeafterdeath.com/life-after-death-shinto/