The History of Buddhist Thought c10.13

c10.13

But from the first it never was such a simple agnostic system of quietism. It inherited and took for granted many of the current Hindu dogmas, the belief in rebirth, karma, and cosmological theories. It had to defend itself against rival systems that taught their own methods of salvation, and it had to justify itself against the sacrificial system of the current Hinduism. There were other reformers, especially the Jains, following similar practices, but often with very different presuppositions underlying them. Later it had to meet the metaphysical arguments of the orthodox philosophical schools, and was compelled to find arguments in self-defence. It ended by becoming one—or rather more than one—of the most developed philosophical systems of Indian thought, and it has left its mark on the still existing philosophies of India.