Teaching Hinduism
• Teaching: fears, hopes, questions
• Beliefs
• Practices
• Diversity
Teaching Hinduism
• Subject knowledge
• Ideas for the classroom
• 1 lesson or a term?
• Year group?
WAYS IN….
India
Holy Sacred
rivers stories
Pilgrimage Festivals
Reincarnation
Funerals
Karma
WAYS IN….
Festival of Holi
Sacred
stories
Caste/Varna
Worship of
deities
WAYS IN….
Primary
school
knowledge
Cosmology
Aspects of religious life: ritual and study; devotion and duty; reincarnation
Brahman
Shiva
=
Brahma
=
Vishnu
=
Saraswati
Lakshmi (Sita)
Durga
Parvati
Durga, Kali
Narada
Matsya
Varaha
Kurma
Vamana
Narashimha
Ganesha
Rama
Parashurama
Kartick
The Buddha
Krishna
Kalkin
TRIMURTI and their consorts (wives)
Power of creation
Power of preservation
Power of destruction
Brahman and Atman
The Hindu Sacred Texts
1. Examples of sacred texts, holy scriptures
2. What makes books sacred?
•
Eg authors – human/divine, periods in history
3. Examples of the contents of sacred texts
•
Types/styles of writing, stories, teachings
4. How/where are sacred texts used today?
5. Why are sacred texts not relevant today?
6. Why are they still relevant today?
HINDU SACRED TEXTS
Shruti (heard)
Smriti (remembered)
God’s words heard
by the sages
Sacred histories of India’s
noble families and gods
200BCE-200CE
1200-1000BCE
The Vedas
* The words of
Laws of
Lord Krishna
therefore
300BCE-300CE
shruti status
Manu
Mahabharata (includes
400-200BCE
Upanishads
*Bhagavad Gita)
100BCE-100CE
Ramayana
*Bhagavad Gita
500-1500CE
Puranas
The Vedas
A message from God heard
by holy men in meditation.
A guide for priests in
conducting religious
rituals.
Contain creation stories.
Most Vedic deities no
longer worshipped
Purusha – the Cosmic Man
How humans and the Varna
system are born
“When they divided Puruṣa
how many portions did they
make?
What do they call his
mouth, his arms? What do
they call his thighs and
feet?
The priest was his mouth,
both his arms made the
princes.
His thighs became the
merchants, from his feet
the servants were
produced.”
Rig Veda X 11-12
Duties are written down
later in the Laws of Manu
The Upanishads
“Sitting near”
•They explain the
Vedas.
•This is where we
read about Brahman,
atman, karma,
reincarnation and
samsara, moksha for
the first time.
Mahabharata
Written by Ganesh. It describes the
history of the first great families of India.
Contained within
the Mahabharata.
The words of
Lord Krishna as
he teaches Arjuna
how to fulfil his
dharma .
Arjuna is called to fight.
Krishna is his charioteer.
The Gita is spoken on the battlefield
Krishna
explains the
different paths
to liberation
(moksha):
- Action
according to
varna
- Wisdom
- Devotion
KARMA – selfless action according to varna
JNANA - wisdom
BHAKTI
- devotion
BHAKTI
- devotion
Krishna reveals
himself as the one
true deity
Arjuna goes into battle
Ramayana
•Rama rescues Sita
•Dharma
•Good wins over evil
•Festival of Diwali
Thinking about dvaita and advaita:
“There is nothing to be gained if I imagine God as the
same as me.”
• List reasons to agree with this statement.
• List reasons to disagree with this statement
How does this belief in the self and the divine affect:
• Worship
• View of the self
• View of others
• View of the world
Ashramas – stages of life
•
•
•
•
Brahmacharya – student stage
Grihasta – householder
Vanaprastha – retirement stage
Sannyasin – renunciation stage