Rooted in "Hinduism"

Buddhism and the wider spiritual/social/religious context the Buddha emerged out of -- loosely spoken of today as "Hinduism" -- are best seen together. The Buddha was the most significant catalyst in the Hindu tradition. He reignited interest, probing, and understanding into many teachings that had grown stagnant and arcane.

For example, the understanding of karma, rebirth, the nature of heavenly worlds, and the most minute aspects of cognitive experience were revealed and explained by the Buddha. These explanations went largely to brahmin scholars. Nuns and monks were taught the practice so they themselves could see the truth directly.

Debaters and philosophers, announcing their own views or claiming none, sparked many interesting discourses on questions of cosmology, theology, and existential matters. Religious discourse was vibrant. Therefore, to understand Buddhism deeply one may either practice it or study it in its original context. Buddhism, Jainism, and no longer extant Eastern philosophical traditions provide that context. To understand another's tradition is to understand one's own much more deeply.