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Religious Traditions: Hinduism & Buddhism

Religious Traditions: Hinduism & Buddhism. Basic Hindu Beliefs. Hinduism is the chief religion of India. Hinduism: no founder or formal church Its roots lie in ancient Aryan beliefs and practices.

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Religious Traditions: Hinduism & Buddhism

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  1. Religious Traditions: Hinduism & Buddhism

  2. Basic Hindu Beliefs • Hinduism is the chief religion of India. • Hinduism: no founder or formal church • Its roots lie in ancient Aryan beliefs and practices. • Sacred texts: the Vedas (eternal truths revealed to wise men) and the Upanishads (help explain ideas in Vedas) • The Ramayana and the Mahabharata

  3. Brahman • Polytheistic • Each god is part of a single supreme force called brahman. (nameless, formless, and unlimited) • Many gods of Hinduism give brahman a concrete form that is more understandable to the average person. • Three main gods of Hinduism: Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva • Brahma: the creator, Vishnu: the preserver, and Siva, the destroyer • Throughout India, different sects, or religious groups, worship one or another of these gods or their many wives and children.

  4. Hindu Beliefs • Unity of all life • Every person has an essential self, or atman. This self is part of a universal soul, also called atman. To Hindus, atman and brahman are the same thing. • All things in nature are part of the same universal soul • Nonviolence; Respect nature and not struggle against it • Reincarnation: Rebirth of the soul in various forms ranging from a god to a flower or a snake (temporary) • Moksha –the true goal of life; freeing of the sould from the body so that the sould can unite with brahman

  5. Karma means “to do” in Sanskrit • Hindus—cycle of death and rebirth continues until the individual soul achieves union with brahman • Law of karma—every deed—mental or physical—in this life affects a person’s fate in a future life. • A person’s present situation is the result of his or her deeds in a past existence. • Good—happiness and evil—sorrow

  6. Dharma • Most Hindus believe that a person’s caste is the result of karma. • Each caste has its own dharma: duties and obligations. Some examples: obedience to caste rules and moral laws • Guide to conduct • Offers Hindus hope for a better life in the future

  7. Buddhism • 600 B.C. the Brahman caste had become very powerful • Some Hindu reformers tried to limit the priests’ power; Siddhartha Gautama • He left his family and his life of wealth to find the cause of human misery (meditated and became enlightened) • Buddha “Enlightened One” • Spent life teaching others what he learned under that sacred tree: the Four Noble Truths

  8. The Four Noble Truths • 1.Universal suffering • 2. The cause of suffering is desire. • 3. The only way to end suffering is to crush desire. • 4. The way to end desire is to follow the Noble Eightfold Path. (guide to right conduct) • Buddha believed that salvation was achieved (like Hindus) when the individual escaped the body; reincarnation, karma • Buddha denied the existence of any gods; priests were not necessary; people were to seek nirvana on their own; also rejected the caste system Sources: World Cultures: A Global Mosaic Prentice Hall 1993.

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