Is there a connection between Lord Buddha & Hinduism? I am new to Buddhism &amp; exploring it. Recently I came across this video which made me ask few questions &amp; they are:
1)They have shown image of Lord Shiva at 13:50 above the baby(Lord Buddha). Even in Hinduism Buddha is considered one the avatars of Lord Vishnu. So is there a connection between Buddha,Shiva &amp; Vishnu.
2)Lastly in this video they said child's(Buddha) parents are Brahmins. So was Buddha a 'Hindu Brahmin' before he attained enlightenment?
Prior to the Buddha (born 563 or 480 BCE), was the historical Vedic religion (1750 - 500 BCE), followed by the shramanic movement (500 - 200 BCE), and the beginnings of the Upanishadic movement within Hinduism (500 - 200 BCE). Buddhism is also considered to be part of the shramanic movement. Vedanta came later as part of Classical Hinduism (200 BCE - 1100 CE). You can find this information here.
Prince Gautama (therefore a kshatriya, not brahmin), after leaving home, followed the shramanic traditions which were based on asceticism. Jainism was one of the major shramanic traditions at the time. The Pali Canon (DN2) has descriptions of various shramanic teachings at the time (Pūraṇa Kassapa, Makkhali Gosāla, Ajita Kesakambalī, Pakudha Kaccāyana, Sanjaya Belatthiputta and Mahavira). These teachings may or may not be compatible with Hinduism at the time.
Gautama tried to follow the different teachings at the time (Hindu and shramanic teachings) and found that it did not lead to the goal that he sought. And you know the rest of the story of how he found enlightenment and started teaching.
The Buddha did not accept the authority of the Vedas, preached that a Supreme Creator God did not exist and also taught anatta, which implied that there is no permanent absolute self (atman). All these contradicted the teachings of Hinduism at his time. The teaching of anatta and the Buddhist version of karma also contradicted Jain teachings.
According to the Krsna Consciousness (ISKCON) movement on this page, the Buddha, the Avatar of Vishnu, gave false atheistic teachings to the hedonistic nihilistic atheists who were living a sinful lifestyle, so that they can practise virtues, while remaining atheists, because God was kind to them and knew that they would never accept God and the &quot;true&quot; teachings which has both virtues and devotion to God. He also preached against the sacrifice of animals which was an abuse of Vedic sacrificial rites. The Krsna devotees therefore respect the Buddha but reject his teachings.
The idea that the Buddha is an Avatar of Vishnu comes from the Hindu text Bhagavata Purana, which was written around 500 - 1000 CE. It is possible that this was one way to bring Buddhist converts back to Hinduism, while reconciling the Buddha's position.
Did the Buddha say that he was an Avatar of Vishnu? No. According to the Buddhavamsa, he was the Bodhisattva Śvetaketu who resided in the Tushita heavans, before being born as the human Prince Gautama. Please see this answer.
The Hindu text Brahma Sutras, written around 200 BCE, has some criticism of Buddhism as found in this question.
Later on, Buddhist teachings was found to influence Hindu philosophy, to give rise to Advaita Vedanta. Even the Indian Mahayana schools of Madhyamaka and Yogacara predate the Advaita Vedanta school and Adi Shankara by centuries. Please see this answer for details. This meeting point of Advaita and Mahayana, now has the highest level of philosophical compatibility between the two religions. In fact, Advaita philosophers were accused of being Buddhists in disguise. However, anatta still keeps the two religions apart, philosophically.
The Hindu philosopher and scholar Adi Shankara who expanded Advaita, was also responsible in reviving Hinduism once again in India, and may have caused the decline of Buddhism and Jainism in India. However, Buddhism spread outside India.