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 a mix of Aryan and
Indus Valley beliefs
– no single founder encourages truth, respect for all life, and detachment from the material world
People who seek material riches and personal pleasure achieve only pain, suffering and the separation of their soul from the universal soul .

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Brahman - the single supreme force that unites everything in the universe.
One god who assumes many forms.
The many gods of
Hinduism each symbolize a different aspect of Brahman.
Ancient proverb: “God is one, but wise people know it by many names.”

 Brahma - the
Creator
 Vishnu - the
Preserver
 Shiva - the
Destroyer
 Shakti - wife of
Shiva: both kind and cruel; a creator and destroyer.

 Sacred Text ~ Vedas
& Upanishads

 An offshoot of
Hinduism founded by Mahavira around 500 BCE. It emphasizes ahimsa, meditation, and self-denial.

 Siddhartha Gautama
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 born about 566 BCE to a life
of luxury - a high-ranking family of the Kshatriya caste led a sheltered life of luxury in his father’s palace to prevent him from fulfilling the prophecy that he would become a wandering holy man married and had a son discovered human suffering beyond the palace
walls: a sick person, and old person, and a dead body

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 age 29, he left the palace and wandered for years
seeking wisdom to discover “the realm of life where there is neither suffering nor death” wandered for years seeking answers from
Hindu scholars and holy men fasted until he became ill while meditating under a sacred tree he attained enlightenment

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People must follow a middle way between a life devoted to pleasure and one based on harsh self-denial.
He set out to reform
Hinduism, not to create a new religion.
He rejected the priests, formal rituals, caste system, and many gods of Hinduism.
He encouraged enlightenment through meditation.
He forbid followers to worship him.

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After Buddha’s death, his teachings spread throughout India and into Asia.
Theravada - spread to
Sri Lanka and
Southeast Asia
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 closely followed
Buddha’s teachings required a life devoted to spiritual work
Mahayana - spread to
China, Tibet, Korea, and Japan
 worshipped Buddha as a god

 In India, Buddhism was eventually absorbed into
Hinduism.
 Buddha became another Hindu god.
 Sacred Text ~
Tripitaka (Three
Baskets of
Wisdom)

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 moksha - union with brahman in
Hinduism.
reincarnation rebirth of the soul in another bodily form.
This is necessary because most people cannot achieve moksha in one lifetime. With reincarnation you can work toward moksha over many lifetimes.

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 karma - the actions of a person’s life that affect his or her fate in the next
life. The endless cycle of life and rebirth is symbolized by the wheel in
Indian art.
dharma - the religious and moral duties of a person.
Just as the god Krishna told
Arjuna in the Bhagavad-
Gita
, “For their is more joy in doing one’s duty badly than in doing another man’s duty well.” The concepts of karma and dharma have supported the caste system.

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 ahimsa - nonviolence.
nirvana - union with the universe and release from the cycle of rebirth in Buddhist. stupa - large domeshaped shrines that housed the sacred remains of the Buddha of other holy people.
They are usually ringed with enclosed walkways where Buddhist monks could walk slowly and chant their prayers.

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1. All life is suffering, pain, and sorrow.
2. The cause of suffering is the desire for things that are really illusions, such as riches, power, and long life.
3. The only cure for suffering is to overcome desire.
4. The way to overcome desire is to follow the Eightfold
Path.