INTRODUCTION TO HINDUISM

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INTRODUCTION TO HINDUISM
Hinduism is a _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ and way of life that
developed over _ _ _ _ years ago in the _ _ _
_ _ river valley in Northern _ _ _ _ _ . Today
there are many _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ of the faith
and two of these, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and _ _ _ _ _ _
_ , have become religions in their own
right. Most Hindus base their lives around
certain _ _ _ _ _ _ _ truths known as _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ . These are explained in _ _ _
_ books called the _ _ _ _ _ . Hinduism is
different from the Middle _ _ _ _ _ _ _
religions such as Islam and _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ . The spiritual force or _ _ _ called _ _ _ _
_ _ _ is held to be ever present in everything
in the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . The eternal truths of
this universe are shown in the different Hindu
gods such as _ _ _ _ _ (the destroyer),
Vishnu (the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ) and _ _
_ _ _ _ (the creator). Another difference
regarding Hinduism is that _ _ _ _ does not
end with death. The soul is released to continue
its journey in another living creature. This _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ends when the soul attains
sufficient _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ quality to break out
of the painful cycle of life and death. The _ _ _
_ _ (soul ) then becomes part of Brahman.

KEY WORDS Eternal, Shiva, Religion, Holy,
India, Life, 5000, Vedas, Universe,
Buddhism, Sanatan Dharma, Preserver, Brahma,
Eastern, Reincarnation, God, Atman, Indus,
Branches, Spiritual,
Christianity, Sikhism, Brahman
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SACRED SITES IN INDIA
SACRED SITES IN INDIA
AMRITSAR
AMRITSAR
VARANASI
VARANASI
BODH GAYA
BODH GAYA
KEYThese places are important to the following
religions VARANASI - BODH GAYA - AMRITSAR -
KEYThese places are important to the following
religions VARANASI - BODH GAYA - AMRITSAR -
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The Caste System
TASK 1. Copy into your books
For thousands of years Indian society has been
divided into five main sections of people - the
four main castes and a group classed as outcasts.
The castes are known as Varnas. EachVarna is
split into Jatis - your jati depends on the job
you do.
TASK 2. Read the following- The Castes are made
up of the following 1. The Brahmins This is
the highest caste and includes the educated
people who have studied the Scriptures and have a
greater understanding of life. Not all the people
who are born into this caste become priests, but
all are expected to live a life of careful
discipline and religious study. Being ritually
pure, they often work in food businesses, perhaps
running restaurants. Those who become priests
take a vow of poverty and are only allowed to own
their own robes and a begging bowl and they
depend on the other castes to feed them. 2.
Kshatriyas These are the leaders of the
country in peace and war and are expected to
maintain the laws of the country and govern the
lower castes. 3. Vaisayas These people are
responsible for trade, industry, agriculture and
often own much of the land.They provide wealth
for the benefit of the whole country. Many shops
are owned by them. 4. Sudras These people
work with their hands and serve the other castes,
perhaps labouring in the fields, carrying water,
pressing oil from vegetables, carpentry and
making pots.
BRAHMINSPriests
WHITE
KSHATRIYASWarriors rulers
RED
VAISYASSkilled traders, merchants, minor
officials
YELLOW
SUDRASUnskilled workers
BLACK
HARIJANSOutcastes, untouchables
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TASK 3. Draw the triangle into your book and
colour the Varna (literally meaning colour) which
is used to describe the four divisions of Hindu
society. Also make sure you label each Varna
correctly.Then create a table to show how you
think the caste system in India compares with the
Class system in England. Make sure you contrast
ALL the Indian Caste levels against what you
think is the English equivalent. I.e.
INDIAN CASTE SYSTEM ENGLISH CLASS
SYSTEM Vaisyas - Skilled traders
Middle Class - Shop Managersmerchants
etc
TASK 4. Read the following- The Myth behind the
caste system The Hindu scriptures contain a story
explaining how Brahman created the castes from
different parts of the body of the first man,
PARUSHA TASK 5. Look again at the information you
read about the Castes and try to work out why
each of the castes was made from its part of the
first mans body. Draw or trace the picture into
your book. Label it and explain why you think
each caste was named from that part of the body.
TASK 6. Read the following- The OUTCASTES are
completely outside the caste system. People
became outcast by being born to outcast parents
or by marrying someone outside their own caste.
In earlier times outcastes became known as
UNTOUCHABLES because members of castes were
forbidden to have any physical contact with them.
Outcastes have always done the lowest jobs,
working as street cleaners, disposing of dead
animals etc. They have often been provided with
only enough food to keep themselves alive and
have sometimes been mistreated by other castes.
Some temples (mandirs) still do not allow
outcastes in to worship, sometimes hairdressers
will not cut their hair and at village meetings
they often have to sit on the floor when everyone
else has chairs. TASK 7. Write in your triangle
in your book in the space for Harijans, how
outcastes were treated in India. TASK 8. Is our
treatment of the Homeless in Britain similar to
that of the outcastes in Indian? Write in your
book what you feel about this and give
examples. TASK 9. Copy into your book Hindus
believe it is possible for someone to enter into
a higher caste by the process of KARMA. This
means if they do good things in this life they
will be reborn in a higher caste and if they do
bad things they will be reborn as something
lower. Eventually they hope to achieve MOKSHA and
go to NIRVANA where the soul (atman) will be
reunited with God (Brahman) and there is bliss
unspeakable.
In 1950 the idea of untouchables/outcastes was
abolished by law and they then had the same
rights as everyone else - but even today in India
the caste system is still working to separate
people, people born into a caste stay in that
caste!
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The Turin Shroud
F A C T O R F I C T I O N ?

• Heading in your books THE TURIN SHROUD - Fact
  of Fiction?Think of the different aspects which
  came up in the video
• CARBON DATINGThis is an accurate way of dating
  anything which was once alive (plants, animals
  etc). It works for a piece of cloth made from
  plant materials, like the shroud. Carbon dating
  places the Shroud in the Middle Ages and not at
  the time of Jesus.
• Yet scientists have since shown that the carbon
  dating of the shroud may not be accurate due to
  the micro organisms which are alive on the shroud
  and may have invalidated the carbon dating.
• COULD IT HAVE BEEN FORGED?Could some one have
  painted the shroud?
• SOME DIFFICULT ASPECTS TO EXPLAINIf it was
  forged a medieval forger wouldnt have known the
  following
• The nails are in the wrists - though nobody
  knew until about 1968 that people who were
  crucified had nails put through their wrists and
  not their hands.
• The forehead seems to have a damaged Jewish
  prayer box (tefillin) on it - but a forger in the
  Middle Ages probably wouldnt know that Jesus
  wore tefillin.
• One scientist says that there are coins over
  the eyes of the face on the Shroud, coins with
  Pontius Pilate 29AD on them - but a forger in
  the Middle Ages wouldnt be likely to have a coin
  like that to copy.

PICTURES OF JESUS SUDDENLY STARTED TO LOOK LIKE
THE SHROUD IN THE 6th CENTURY Until the 6th
century CE pictures of Jesus were painted in one
kind of style - after that time they began to
look like the face on the Shroud. How could this
have happened if the Shroud wasnt made until the
Middle Ages? BUT perhaps the Shroud was copied
from the pictures? INJURIES TO THE MAN ON THE
SHROUD COINCIDE WITH JESUS WOUNDS? The mans
wounds match the wounds/injuries which Jesus
suffered before and during the crucifixion - does
this prove it is Jesus?
TASKLook at the evidence on the worksheet and
take into account what you saw in the video and
comment on the following title - The Shroud is a
medieval fake - its just a piece of cloth. Look
from both points of view (i.e that its fake and
that its real) and then give your personal
opinion.
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C H R I S T I A N C H U R C H E S
The main three are THE ORTHODOX CHURCH THE
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH THE PROTESTANT
CHURCH They all believe that Jesus was the Son of
God and died for our sins but they worship in
slightly different ways.
Orthodox
The two largest
branches of the Orthodox Church are
the Russian Orthodox and the
Greek Orthodox.
They use a different calendar and celebrate
Easter Christmas at different
times of the year. The Russian Orthodox
Church for instance celebrate Jesus
birthday on the 6th January. Orthodox means
right teaching and they believe they have kept
the most faithful to the early teachings of the
apostles.
SERVICES - Are lead by a priest but there are no
seats and people stand throughout the service.
The altar is hidden by a screen in front of it.
In the centre of the screen there is a pair of
doors but only the priest goes through these
doors. During the service they are left open -
showing that through Jesus it is possible to
reach God.
An important part of worship in the Orthodox
church is the use of ICONS. It is a picture of
Jesus, Mary or one of the saints. They believe
that looking at the Icons helps them in their
worship. The EUCHARIST (Holy Communion/Mass) is
the most important part of the service when the
invisible visible worlds come together (heaven
earth) and the worshippers experience the union
and enter the communion of saints. There are
approximately 213 million followers throughout
the world.
AN ICON OF JESUS
Roman Catholic
According to tradition Saint Peter founded the
church in Rome and the Bishop of Rome became the
figurehead of Christianity.
The Bishop became known as the
Pope ( Latin Papa - father) and was the vicar of
Christ on Earth. Jesus said of Peter - You are
a rock and on this rock I will
build my foundation. The Pope has control over
the Roman Catholic Church. The priests are
celibate - they dont get married. They
administer mass in the church and also have the
authority to hear confession (a catholic should
go at least once a year). The priest is the link
between the people God. There are 500,000
priests throughout the world - a priest can not
be female.
Catholics give a special place to the Virgin Mary
in their worship. They do not worship her but
they often pray to her, calling her Our Lady.
They also pray to saints as they believe that it
makes it more likely for their prayers to be
heard by God. There are normally statues in Roman
Catholic Churches - they dont worship them but
it helps them concentrate when praying. Rosary
beads are also used to help people pray. A rosary
is a special group of prayers. Each bead on the
string of beads is a reminder of one of these
prayers. The Roman Catholic Church has 980
million followers.
A ROSARY
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Protestant
The Protestant Churches are Churches in the West
which are not Roman Catholic. Protestant comes
from the 16th C and means to protest. They were
protested about things which they felt were wrong
with the Roman Catholic Church.
There are many different groups within the
Protestant group of Churches such as The
Anglican church (UK), Free Churches(Methodists,
United Reformed, Baptists, The Church of
Scotland), The Society of Friends, The Salvation
Army and The Pentecostal Churches.
Originally they wanted freedom from the power of
Rome, they wanted to celebrate the services in
other languages than Latin and they wanted to
stop the corruption which was growing within the
western churches. They all placed great emphasis
on the Bible as the controlling authority for
belief and practice, NOT Rome. They wanted the
Scriptures to be readily available for all to
read. There are approximately 350 million
followers through out the world.
SIZE OF THE DIFFERENT CHRISTIAN CHURCHES 1996
Independent/ Pentecostal 500-600m
Roman Catholics 980m
Orthodox213m
Others50m
Protestants350m
United83m
Methodist 34m
Lutheran56m
Baptist59m
Reformed51m
Put the title in your book - The Christian
Churches Answer the following questions 1. Why
were the first Protestants given this name?2.
What is the date of Jesus birthday in the
Orthodox faith?3. What do Orthodox Christians
believe happens when they take the Eucharist?4.
Who is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church,
what is his name what does it mean?5. What do
Roman Catholics Orthodox Christians use to help
them worship?6. Why did the Protestants split
from the authority of the Roman Church?7. Draw
in your book the diagram showing the different
sizes of the Church.