A diverse family of traditions linked by certain shared religious beliefs and practice.
T/F Its the newest religion
False; oldest religion
Ranking in size
Third largest
Founder
None
Suffering
Hinduis are one of the poorest countries, many times they just bare to stay alive
Text
Vedas- four collections of hymns used for religious rites; oldest and most sacred text
Sanskrit- The sacred language of hinduism; no one speaks it
upanishads- 123 philosophical works on the nature of reality and religious truth
Puranas- 18 works containing popular legends about gods, heros, and ancient indian history
2 parts of the puranas
-Ramayana- "Story of Rama" epic tale of the earthly life of the god Rama
-Mahabharata-"Great Story of the Bharates"legendary history of ancient India
BhagavadGita
Part of Mahabharata in the Puranas its known as the song of the Lord its the dialogue and religious instruction from the god Krishna
Dharma
"truth" about the nature of reality and the set of social and ethical "duties" done to correctly align oneself with the truth.
Caste
The division of indian society into four hierarchical social classes with interpersonal and religious significance
Levels of caste
-Brahmin (Priests)
-Kshatriya (Warrior/rulers)
-Vaishya (Merchants)
-Shudra (Servents)
-Dalit (Untouchables)
Jati
(Birth group) there are thousands of smaller caste distinctions and they all are linked; this includes marriage, type of employment and rights.
Purity and pollutioin
People are categories by their caste making them polluted or pure. This is like holy and not holy. People are separated are treated if them themselves are dirty or polluted. This restricts peoples diet and hygiene.
God
Brahman
Brahman
The absolute; the ultimate reality; the universal essence that is present in everything and in everyone
Polytheistic; Monotheistic
Monism; Brahman is the ultimate god he is in everyone; although there are 330 millions gods, they are all Brahman; (such as the father, son and holy spirit) Brahman is not a person its a just a thing. People don't worship or honor him.
Immanence
Divinity manifests itself within the physical wold
Hindu Gods/ Goddesses
They are powerful, personal and accessible they take multiple forms, names and have different meanings. They all have certain powers and spheres of life
Samsara
the endless cycle of life, death, and rebirth
-Matter-the casmas is continually created, destroyed and recreated
-Time- Is continues it is repetitive and endless
Rebirth
People are continually reborn into something else, its in endless cycle of being reborn
the 6 things to be reborn into:
-Plants
-animals
-human
-hell
-heavens
-ghosts
Best thing to be reborn into; why
Human; because it is the only form that you can end samsara in
Karma
The natural principle that actions have corresponding effects
Solution to Samsara
Liberation- the ultimate goal is to free oneself from the bonds of samsara
-Avidya- "ignorance" failure to grasp the true nature of reality
-Maya- "illusion" the misapprehension that samsara is the whole of reality.
Two levels of Reality
-Conventional (Appearance) the relative nature of things as they appear to unenlightened minds
-Absolute (Real) the absolute nature of things as apprehended by enlightened minds
Brahman
the absolute; ultimate reality; the universal unchanging essence present in all things
Atman
The individual "self" or "soul" is of the same essence as Brahman
"You are that"
Atmah is Brahman
Yoga
"to yoke" a religious discipline used to attain spiritual liberation
Sadhu
"holyman" a person who renounces worldly life to pursue spiritual liberation
Types of Yoga
-Karma- Path of action selflessly fulfilling and personal, social and religious duties
-Jhana- Path of knowledge; the pursuit of wisdom through sacred texts and teachings
-hatha- Path of srength the spiritual use of physical postures and exercise
-Raja- Path of thought meditation practice that brings self-realization
-Bhakti- Path of devotion;loving devotion to god leads to liberation
Bhakti
"to share" giving oneself to god
Mandir
A hindu temple, the central place for religious worship
Murti
an image or icon of deity
Representation of god
Hindus think of Murti as god, or an embodiment of god. They become holy by touching and leaving sacrifices to the murti.
Puja
The worship of god, in front of a murti or embodiment of god.
Dorshan
Seeing and being sen by god during worship, their eyes are seen as the gateway to god.
Prasada
"grace of god" ritual offerings given back to worship
Divisions
-Vaishnavities-Hindus who regard and worship the god Vishnuas the highest, supreme being
-Shaivites- hindus who regard and worship the god Shiva
-Saktas- Hindus who worship some form of the goddess (devi).