date:10/20 Today

1
date10/20 Todays aim is How was Buddhism a
reaction to Hinduism?Topic Buddhism

• Please take notes on Hinduism under yesterdays
  aim if you have no notes there due to the
  worksheet.
• When we get to the slide on Buddhism you can take
  notes under this aim if you wish.

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What is Hinduism?

• Many deities- but a single Ultimate Reality
• No particular founder
• Aryans enter India
• Vedic Tradition
• rituals and many gods (polytheism)
• One of sacred texts (Vedas)- myths,chants,prayers
• social stratification (caste system- still used
  today- however discrimination is illegal)
• Ramayana
• Mahabharata (includes Bhagavad-Gita)

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What do Hindus believe?

• One impersonal Ultimate Reality Brahman
• Manifest as many personal deities
• True essence of life Atman, the soul, is
  Brahman trapped in matter (That art thou)
• Reincarnation atman is continually born into
  this world lifetime after lifetime (Samsara)
• Karma spiritual impurity due to actions keeps
  us bound to this world (good and bad)
• Ultimate goal of life to release Atman and
  reunite with the divine, becoming as one with
  Brahman (Moksha)

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How do Hindus worship?

• In the home (household shrines)
• In the Temples (priests officiate)
• Puja making offerings to and decorating the
  deity images

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Who do Hindus worship? the major gods of the
Hindu Pantheon
Brahma, the creator god
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Who do Hindus worship? the major gods of the
Hindu Pantheon
Vishnu, the preserver god
Incarnates as ten avatars including
Rama (featured in the Ramayana)
Krishna (featured in the Mahabharata)
(Each shown with his consort, Sita and Radha,
respectively)
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Who do Hindus worship? the major gods of the
Hindu Pantheon
Shiva, god of constructive destruction(the
transformer)
Appears as Shiva Nataraj,lord of the dance of
creation
and with his wife, Parvati, and son Ganesha(the
elephant headed remover of obstacles)
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What about the goddesses?Devi the feminine
divine
Saraswati, goddess of wisdom, consort ofBrahma
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What about the goddesses?Devi the feminine
divine
Lakshmi, goddess of good fortune, consortof
Vishnu
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What about the goddesses?Devi the feminine
divine
Parvati, divine mother, wife ofShiva
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What about the goddesses?Devi the feminine
divine
Durga, protectress
Kali, destroyer of demons
Plus millions of other deities
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All these deities are but forms of the Brahman
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Aim

• How was Buddhism a reaction to Hinduism?
• Side note - Some of us are aware that Jesus was
  born into Judaism, but how many know that the
  founder of Buddhism was a Hindu?

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Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 BCE)

• Born in NE India (Nepal).
• Raised in great luxuryto be a king.
• At 29 he rejectedhis luxurious life toseek
  enlightenmentand the source ofsuffering.
• Lived a strict,ascetic life for 6 yrs.
• Rejecting this extreme, sat in meditation, and
  found nirvanaenlightenment.
• Became The Enlightened One.