The Shramana movement (A Shramana was a type of wandering freelance mendicant philosopher who taught alternative beliefs to those taught by Brahmin priests) culminated out of this unrest and is probably the group that the Buddha has most in common with. Different groups of Shramanism taught different beliefs and the Buddha was to have differing opinions with all of them; they were the Materialists, Sceptics, Jainists, Ajivikas, Hindus, Vedic Hindus and Classical Hindus. He shared some of their ideas of rebirth, the quest for peace, karma, meditation, detachment and self discipline but was critical of other beliefs that the various groups practiced. The movement also came from a fairly high social class as did the Buddha do himself.
The Materialists believed that there is no life after death and that you only have one chance, so you have to enjoy it because once you’re gone you’re gone. The Buddha disagreed with this and believed in rebirth.
He had no time for the Sceptics who spent all of their time thinking about the negatives and little about the positives. He regarded them as a simple waste of time.
Although the Buddha had practiced extreme asceticism in order to reach enlightenment, he felt that the Jains overdid this practice and that their view on the soul was wrong with regards to it being independent of the body.
He also disagreed with the Ajivakas in that their belief is everything is determined by fate and that you can’t change your destiny. He felt their teachings led to immorality and this denied human responsibility. Also the fact that rebirths are determined by fate and not karma was an issue for him.
The caste system of the Vedic Hindus was something the Buddha disagreed with; he felt that your behaviour was more likely to affect your Karma rather than the caste system. Also that their religious rituals were a waste of time and that the Brahmin priests were superior in authority of their teachings.
As far as the Classical Hindus were concerned, he agreed with their search for the truth for themselves, but didn’t agree with their asceticism or their concern that the gods may be worried about what they may be thinking.
There are many cases for the fact that the Buddha was a Shramana because he had agreements with most of them, but he also had his disagreements. Perhaps he wasn’t a Shramana or in fact a member of any religious group except for his own.
Time has proven that the Buddha was the pioneer of Buddhism itself and clearly he had his own ideas that many people were to believe in and practice, both during and after his life. I believe that the Buddha had Shraman tendencies that through his own experiences, he adapted and evolved into what we now know as Buddhism. It could be said that Buddhism is not a religion but perhaps more of a philosophy because one of the unique aspects is that you don’t have to believe in a God or Gods to practice Buddhism.
The local folk traditions
