Something many people don't realize is that the Hindu religion teaches if one follows Hindu spiritual laws, such as the ones protecting the highest caste, the Brahmin, they will have good karma and be born into a higher caste "in the next life". If one does not obey these rules, one is born into a lower caste, and if one is on the low end of the scale already, one can be reborn as a cow. Thus reincarnation is a method to keep people in their place by making them obey the rules,
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Yes, this is one of the many elements of classical Hinduism that the Buddha re-interpreted and subverted.
In classical Buddhism (as opposed to the bastard 'chant and grow rich' stupidities seen across the world) re-incarnation is viewed, ultimately, as a problem to be solved, not a reward for following the proper life script.
Cessation and release from the vagaries of life are the goals. Even if you are reborn as a god in the Tusita heaven and enjoy pleasures beyond mortal senses there is still co-dependent origination, decay and eventual death, whether it takes 75 years or 75 million.
This was the Buddha's great innovation in this area, to say: 'you should master yourself, achieve equi-poise and stop following rules to secure a better rebirth.'
Naturally this led to an equally radical re-interpretation of the idea of caste. The true Brahmins were not those who were lucky enough to be born into the right family, but those who have renounced samsara and pursue enlightenment.
There are many sutras detailing conflicts between the Buddha and various Hindu scholars and holy men in which these ideas are debated in great detail.
It can be said that Buddha took Hinduism and created an open-sourced variant that changed the barrier of entry to bliss from caste to state of mind.
The rift between these two faiths is easy to understand when all this is taken into account.
DRM
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