Bellringer
• Complete the word search on your desk. You
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Hinduism or Buddhism
Hinduism
History of Hinduism
• Hinduism cannot be traced to one founder
with a single idea, unlike most religions.
• It was created in India
• The exact beginnings of Hinduism are
impossible to determine, since they evolved
as time and culture impacted the religious
ideas of early India.
Hindu Beliefs
• Truth is eternal
– Hindus pursue knowledge and understanding of
the Truth
• Brahman is truth and reality
– Brahman as the one true God who is formless,
limitless, all-inclusive, and eternal. Brahman is not
an abstract concept; it is a real entity that
encompasses everything (seen and unseen) in the
universe.
Hindu Beliefs
• The Vedas are the ultimate authority
– Ancient scriptures; have no beginning and no end
– They will remain even after the universe is
destroyed
• Everyone should strive to achieve dharma
– Dharma can be described as right conduct,
righteousness, moral law, and duty. Anyone who
makes dharma central to one’s life strives to do
the right thing, according to one’s duty and
abilities, at all times.
Hindu Beliefs
• Individual souls (atmans) are immortal
– Reincarnation
• People try to achieve understanding and release from life in
this world. Can’t be achieved in one lifetime.
• Rebirth – a soul is born again and again until understanding
is reached
• The goal of the individual soul is moksha
– Moksha is liberation: the soul’s release from the cycle
of death and rebirth. It occurs when the soul unites
with Brahman by realizing its true nature. Several
paths can lead to this realization and unity: the path
of duty, the path of knowledge, and the path of
devotion (unconditional surrender to God).
Beliefs
• Karma (good and bad deeds) follow a soul
through reincarnations.
• There is one supreme god, Brahman, and all of
the other deities are its forms and expansions.
• Shiva – the creator and destroyer
• Vishnu – the preserver
• Devi – the Protecting Mother
Upanishads
• collection of Vedic texts which contain the
earliest emergence of some of the central
religious concepts of Hinduism, Buddhism and
Jainism
Caste System
• A person’s caste is determined by birth
• Karma is believed to influence your new incarnation by
which caste you are born into
– Brahmin
• the seers, the reflective ones, the priests.
– Kshatriyas
• the born administrators (formerly nobles, rajahs, and warriors).
– Vaisyas
• the producers, the craftsmen, artisans, farmers.
– Shudras
• the unskilled laborers or laboring class
– Untouchables
• Outside the caste system
"Om," in Hindu thought this image
represents a sacred sound.
Buddhism
History of Buddhism
• Founded in the late 6th century B.C.E in India
• The founder of the religion is Siddhartha
Gautama (the "Buddha")
• Around the time that the Hindu belief in
reincarnation became widespread and when
the Upanishads were written.
Siddhartha Gautama
Buddhist Beliefs
• Four Noble Truths
– Dukkha: Suffering exists: (Suffering is real and almost
universal. Suffering has many causes: loss, sickness, pain,
failure, the impermanence of pleasure.)
– Samudaya: There is a cause for suffering. (It is the desire
to have and control things. It can take many forms: craving
of sensual pleasures; the desire for fame; the desire to
avoid unpleasant sensations, like fear, anger or jealousy.)
– Nirodha: There is an end to suffering. (Suffering ceases
with the final liberation of Nirvana (a.k.a. Nibbana). The
mind experiences complete freedom, liberation and nonattachment. It lets go of any desire or craving.)
– Magga: In order to end suffering, you must follow the
Eightfold Path.
Beliefs
• Nirvana
– Goal of the Buddhist path
• The Eightfold Path
– the path to nirvana, comprising eight aspects in
which an aspirant must become practiced: right
views, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort,
mindfulness, and concentration.
The Eight-Spoked Dharma Wheel or
'Dharmachakra' symbolises the Buddha's
turning the Wheel of Truth or Law