Brahminism, Hinduism, Jainism,
& Buddhism
Brahminism
• The Aryan religion was called Brahminism
because their priests were called Brahmins.
• The Vedas were their religious books and
writings
– There were 4 Vedas…two of them were the
Rigveda & the Upanishads
Hinduism
• Hinduism was a blend of Brahminism and other
ideas from other parts of Asia
• Hinduism is the largest religion in India today
• Hindus believe in many gods, BUT they believe
that all of these gods are part of one single god
called Brahman
• 3 main gods that the Hindus believed in:
– Brahma-the “creator” aspect of Brahman
– Siva-the “destroyer” aspect of Brahman
– Vishnu-the “preserver” aspect of Brahman
• This is kind of like the Holy Trinity for Christians
Hindu Beliefs
• The ultimate goal of Hindus is to reunite
their soul with Brahman
– They believed this may take several lifetimes
before a person could finally reunite with
Brahman, that’s why they believed in something
called reincarnation
• Reincarnation is the process of rebirth into a
different body
Reincarnation
• Hindus believed that when a person died,
their soul would be reborn into a new body
• The body they came back in depended on
their actions during their former life…this is
called karma-the effects that good or bad
actions have on a person’s soul
– This is the idea that if you do good, good will
happen to you and vice versa
– If you do evil, you will build bad karma
Reincarnation
• A person with bad karma would be reborn
into a lower caste or as a lower creature (like
a pig or roach, if they were really evil)
• A person with good karma would be reborn
into a higher caste in their next life
• Over time, good karma would lead to
salvation, when a person’s soul could be
reunited with Brahman and would be free
from the cycle of reincarnation
Hindu Beliefs
• Hindus believed that each person had to
accept their position in life without
complaining…
– That’s why they didn’t complain about what
caste they were in
• Accepting your position would build good
karma, which could allow you to be reborn
into a higher caste in your next life
– Even the Untouchables could be reborn into a
higher caste if they had good karma
Jainism
• Jains did not agree with Hinduism
• Jainism was based on the teachings of a man
named Mahavira.
– Mahavira was a member of Kshatriya caste who
though the Brahmins had too much control over
religion
– He became a monk and started the religion
called Jainism
Beliefs of Jainism
• Jains live by four basic principles (rules):
– Injure no life (not even animals, bugs, or plants)
• They are vegetarians, they don’t eat any food that
comes from animals
– Tell the truth
– Do not steal
– Own no property
• Jains lived by the rule of nonviolenceavoiding any violent actions
Buddhism: How did it start?
• A Hindu named Siddhartha Guatama disagreed
with Hindu beliefs
• He left home to search for “the true meaning of
life” and why there was so much pain and suffering
in the world
• Siddhartha wanted to clear his mind from daily
concerns so he fasted (went without food) and
meditated (focused his mind on spiritual ideas)
• He wandered around India searching for the
answers he was looking for….
– What’s the meaning of life?
– Why is there pain and suffering in the world?
Buddhism: How did it start?
• He wandered around India for about SIX years
and finally stopped under a tree near the Ganges
River
• He meditated under the tree for SEVEN weeks
and suddenly had all of the answers he had been
looking for
• He realized that human suffering comes from three
things:
– Wanting what we like but do not have
– Wanting to keep what we like and already have
– Not wanting what we dislike but have
Buddha
• After meditating under that tree for SEVEN
more weeks, Siddhartha finally had all of the
answers he had been looking for about life
• After that point, he was called “Buddha”, which
means “The Enlightened One”, by the people who
followed his ideas
• Buddha spent the rest of his life teaching his ideas
to people across India
• Buddha’s teachings became known as Buddhism
What did the Buddhists believe?
•
The Four Noble Truths (the four main beliefs of
Buddhism):
1. Suffering and unhappiness are a part of human life.
No one can escape sorrow.
2. Suffering comes from our desires for pleasure and
stuff. People cause their own unhappiness because
they want things they can not have.
3. People can overcome desire and reach nirvana, perfect
peace. If you reach nirvana, you are freeing your soul
from suffering and don’t have to be reincarnated again.
4. People can overcome desire by following an eight fold
path that leads to wisdom, enlightenment, and salvation.
What did the Buddhists believe?
The Eightfold Path
1. Right Thought-Believe in the Four Noble Truths
2. Right Intent-Always try to do what is good and kind
3. Right Speech-Avoid lies and gossip
4. Right Action-Don’t steal from or harm others
5. Right Livelihood-Don’t do anything that will hurt others
6. Right Effort-Prevent evil and do good
7. Right Mindfulness-Control your feelings and thoughts
8. Right Concentration-Practice proper meditation
What did the Buddha believe?
• Buddha believed that priests were not
needed for salvation. He taught that each
person was in charge of their own salvation,
and they didn’t need to have a priest to be in
charge of religion.
• Buddha did not agree with the caste system.
He said it shouldn’t matter what class you
were in, as long as you lived a good life.
– Who do you think started to follow Buddha???
How did Buddhism spread?
• After Buddha’s death, 500 of his followers had a
meeting to make sure that his teaching were
remembered and shared with others
• Buddha’s ideas spread through India quickly
because they were popular and easy to understand
• One of the India kings, Asoka, was Buddhist. He
built Buddhist temples and schools throughout
India
• Missionaries were sent to other parts of Asia to
spread Buddhism