Buddhism, which began as a reform movement within Hinduism, shares the Hindu Belief in Karma and reincarnation, the endless cycle of death and rebirth from which the only escape is through enlightenment or self realisation. The ultimate aim is the total absorption of the individual within the universal consciousness from which it came.
Buddhism is rooted in the teachings of one man, Its founder Gautama Buddha (meaning awakened one). Nevertheless the various schools of Buddhism are committed to honouring their own interpretation of their founders insights into the nature of existence and offer differing methods for attaining nirvana (bliss)
Curiously, Buddhists do not beleive that each individual possesses a soul in the Judaeo Christian sense, but that it is instead comprised of five elements a physical body, emotions, the senses, will power and conciousness. Together these elemnts consititute the personality which dissolves upon death leaving only pure conciousness (Rupa) to inhabit a new body or ascend to a higher states of being. From here it can guide the lives of those on Earth in the form of a Boddhisattava (one who aspires to be a Buddha)
Entrance to Paradise is dependent upon the accumulation of a persons Karma and when the credit is spent the soul must return to Earth to take possession of a new body. The main theme of the Buddhist Belief system is transience. Everything even the peace of paradise, is temporary. the only hope of release from the cycle of suffering (death and rebirth) is the complete surrender of the self in order to become one with the source.