Hinduism and Buddhism Both Hinduism and Buddhism seek to offer a theory of why people should suffer from temptation, toil, and pain, and about how to achieve enlightenment and self-awakening in order to gain freedom from the tempting and arduous world. Hinduism believes that all beings and the existence of the universe are one, but Buddhism thinks that no body has a self. Buddhism has produced more workable and more just views in terms of metaphysics and institutional requirements for individuals than Hinduism. The fundamental core of Hindu metaphysics is that Atman is Brahman. Atman refers to the conscious core of one's being, as well as that of other sentient beings, and is eternal, pure spirit (Bresnan, p.54). Brahman is “the ultimate inner essence of all things. Both Hinduism and Buddhism are about the suffering of individuals and seek to point out a path to self-awakening for people. Both Hinduism and Buddhism believe in reincarnation, which is a natural part of the world. The final goals, moksha or Nirvana, are similar to each other, that is, to be perfectly peaceful, to understand all things and to be freed from the chain of reincarnations. In Hinduism, common people and individuals born into low-ranking castes would find and obtain moksha much more difficult than higher castes, such as Brahmins, simply because of their basic hierarchy. However, Buddhism rejects the caste system and the privileges of Brahmin priests. “There is no institutional hierarchy for making final decisions about truth, and each person must make such decisions for himself” (Bresnan, p.185). The universal path to awakening, according to Buddhism, does not discriminate according to intrinsic caste, so the path distinguishes individuals by their rigid morality and disciplined orientation. At this point, Buddhism has greater potential for success in terms of ameliorating the suffering of each individual and society as a whole.