Hinduism

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Hinduism
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The Origins of Hinduism

• Unlike other religions, Hinduism was not founded
  by a particular individual. It is the product of
  the various peoples that have occupied the region
  of India through time.
• Some have described it as more of a way of life
  than a religion.
• Two groups of people laid the foundation for
  Hinduism, the Indus Valley civilization and the
  Aryans.

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The Arrival Of The Aryans

• Around 1500 BCE, thousands of people, known as
  Aryans, migrated into India from the northwest,
  destroying the Indus Valley civilization.
• They came from central Asia, spoke an early form
  of Sanskrit and settled near the river Sindhu and
  later, the Ganges river.
• Aryan religious thought flourished between 1500
  and 500 BCE. It was contained in a collection of
  hymns, ritual texts and philosophical works
  called Vedas, and are considered Hinduisms
  earliest sacred writings.
• The earliest Veda is Rig-Veda, which constitutes
  the earliest record of sacred knowledge on
  Hinduism.

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• Create a Big Ideas Chart in your notebook.
  Title Hinduism
• For each Big Idea leave room to take notes.
• Your Big Ideas are
• Origin
• Deities
• Beliefs
• Practices/Caste System
• Be thoughtful and detailed when taking notes.
• Ask questions if you are confused or need
  clarification

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Todays Objective

• I can analyze the origin, deities, beliefs,
  practices, and caste system of the Hindu Religion.

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Smart Start

1. What group of people created the religion of
   Hinduism?
2. Why did they do this?
3. How old is the Hindu religion?
4. How big when compared to the other religions in
   the world?

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Language Traditions

• Traditions were passed down verbally for
  centuries because there was no written language
• People sang songs recited epics long poems
  celebrating their heroes
• Texts eventually written down in Sanskrit

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The Vedas

• Priests called Brahmins collected hymns, poems,
  prayers, and rituals into holy books known as
  Vedas
• Brahmins performed rituals and sacrifices, which
  gave them power and wealth

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The Upanishads

• Upanishads religious writings compiled by
  anonymous thinkers
• All humans have a soul The Atman
• All souls are part of 1 eternal universal
  spirit Brahman
• Goal in life union with the Brahman
  liberation or moksha

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Atman

• The human soul or spirit.
• It is the part of ourselves that is identical to
  Brahman, the universal soul.
• A Hindus goal in life is to reunite the atman
  with the Brahman.
• The atman is eternal and immortal! When one dies,
  the atman lives on, shedding one body to enter a
  new one.

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Hindu Gods

• Gods and Goddesses worshiped 330 million
  different gods and goddesses.
• Brahman Hindus believe in one god who takes on
  the personality and manifests into about
• 330 million different gods.
•  

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?

• Is Hinduism monotheistic or polytheistic?
  Explain.

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Holy Trinity

• Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are known as the Holy
  Trinity or most powerful gods.
• The Holy Trinity represents Brahman and
  manifests/changes into different gods and
  goddesses.

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Brahma

• Creator of the universe.
• Has four faces and sits on a lotus.
• He holds a book, beads, and water pot.
• Not as widely worshipped as Shiva and Vishnu.

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Vishnu

• Preserver of the universe, a loving and forgiving
  figure who brings salvation.
• Four arms in which he holds a conch shell, a
  discus, a lotus and a mace. His vehicle is a
  divine eagle.
• Vishnu has many avatars, incarnation or
  manifestation of a deity in human form, and
  appears on earth in the form of an animal or
  human to conquer evil.
• Hindus believe that one of his incarnations was
  of Siddartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism.
• His companion is Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth,
  happiness and good fortune. She is often depicted
  rewarding worshippers with gold.

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Shiva

• He is the destroyer and restorer of the universe
  and is associated with creative energy.
• He is considered a great yogi, a spiritually
  involved individual who practices meditation.
• His vehicle is a bull.
• He is also depicted as Nataraj, the god of dance
  and is shown holding a drum, serpent and sacred
  fire in his hands while performing the dance of
  creation.
• He holds water in his hair from the sacred Ganges
  river.
• Parvati, his wife, is the mother goddess. She is
  worshipped as Shakti or female energy. She is
  portrayed riding a tiger with many weapons in her
  hands.

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Ganesha son of Shiva and Parvati, remover of
all obstacles. Elephant head, human body.
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What about the goddesses?Devi the feminine
divine

• Brahmas female counterpart is Saraswati. She is
  the goddess of learning and the arts, often
  depicted holding a book and a musical instrument
  called a veena. She gets around on a peacock or a
  swan.

Wife of Brahma
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What about the goddesses?Devi the feminine
divine
Lakshmi, goddess of good fortune, wifeof Vishnu
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What about the goddesses?Devi the feminine
divine
Parvati, divine mother, wife of Shiva
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What about the goddesses?Devi the feminine
divine
Durga, protectress
Kali, destroyer of demons
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Cycle of Rebirth

• Believed in samsara reincarnation/rebirth of
  the soul
• Soul passes through many lifetimes and continues
  until spiritual liberation moksha
• Karma how a person lives in this life
  determines what form the person will take in the
  next life
• Liberation achieved through a life of prayer,
  strict self-denial, and rejection of all worldly
  possessions

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Reincarnation

• Hindus believe that the soul does not die with
  the body but enters another body to carry on its
  existence.
• This endless cycle of rebirth is called samsara.
• Maya is a word used to describe the temporary and
  imperfect nature of the physical world. Hindus
  believe that all life is caught in this cycle of
  birth, death and rebirth.
• The goal of Hindus is to achieve moksha,
  liberation of the soul from the endless cycle of
  rebirths into this world , by uniting the atman
  with the Brahman.

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Karma

• Karma is the totality of ones actions in life,
  and it determines the form the individual will
  take when he or she is reborn.
• Bad Karma will result in rebirth at a lower
  station in life or as a lower form of life, such
  as an animal.
• Good Karma will result in rebirth at a higher
  station in life, which is closer to attaining
  salvation.
• Therefore, in order to achieve salvation, Hindus
  must work their way up the ladder of existence,
  by trying to secure rebirth at a higher level.
  This is what led to the caste system.

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The Caste System

• Divides humanity into four classes or varnas,
  which people are born into according to the Karma
  they have accumulated in previous lives.
• Brahmins priests, religious teachers. Goals are
  knowledge and education. Have duties such as
  performance of rituals and sacrifices, pursuit of
  the arts, sciences, ethics and religious study
  and research and training. Must have highly
  developed intellect and discipline.

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What caste is this? Why?
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• Kshatriya warriors and rulers. Their goal is
  political power and diplomacy. They work in
  government, law and order and protection from
  foreign invaders. They should possess physical
  strength and courage, as well as governing
  skills.
• Vaishya merchants and farmers. Their goal is
  wealth and commerce. They should manage wealth
  and trade with other societies. They should
  possess management and entrpreneurial skills.
• Sudra servants and laborers. They have manual
  skills, provide service to other castes and have
  the ability to acquire particular skills.

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What caste does this picture represent? Why?
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What caste is this?
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What caste is this?
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The Untouchables

• A fifth group, outside of the four varnas, are
  called the untouchables.
• They engage in what is considered unclean
  practices such as tanning leather, removing dead
  animals or washing toilets. They were degraded by
  the nature of their work and lived separately
  from those in the other castes.
• Today, Indias charter of rights and freedoms
  bans discrimination based on caste. President
  K.R. Narayanan is a member of this fifth caste,
  popularly known as dalits.

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• For some Indians, untouchables are less than
  human.
• Recently, five dalits were lynched near New Delhi
  after a rumour spread that they had killed and
  skinned a cow, revered as sacred in India.
• An autopsy was conducted on the cow - none were
  done for the the dalits - which confirmed the
  story their friends told - the cow had died of
  other causes and they were skinning it legally.

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Dharma

• This is how Hindus refer to their religion. It
  means a code of moral and religious duty.
• The concept of Dharma is related to the duties
  and obligations of the individual and is
  considered essential to the welfare of the
  individual, family and society.
• There are two kinds of Dharma
• Sanatana dharma, eternal religion, refers to
  universal values and principles that apply to all
  people, regardless of religion, nationality, age,
  sex or profession. Varnashrama dharma, which
  concerns the specific duties of each individual
  with respect to age, sex and status in society.

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• With your group of three, create a web
  highlighting the key components of Hinduism.
• Write Hinduism in the middle of your web with a
  picture.
• Use your organizer that you filled out while
  taking notes to complete your web.
• Connecting to the word Hinduism should be the
  concepts Deities, Beliefs, Origins, and
  Practices/Caste System.
• Connecting to every concept should be an example
  of the concept and an explanation as to what it
  is and why it is important to Hinduism.

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Web
Beliefs
Deities
Hinduism
Hinduism
Practices/ Caste System
Origins
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Todays Objective

• I can analyze the origin, deities, beliefs,
  practices, and caste system of the Hindu
  Religion.
• 3 Three facts you learned
• 2 Two facts that surprised you.
• 1 One question you have.

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Hindu Women

• According to The Laws of Manu written 2000
  years ago, women are to be honored and provided
  for, while at the same time subordinate and
  dependant on men.
• Divorce is not encouraged but allowed.
• More and more Hindu women are working outside the
  home, changing tradtional gender roles.
• Indira Ghandi was prime minister of India from
  1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until her death
  in 1984.
• Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit became the first woman
  president of the United Nations in 1953.

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Hindu Practices, Rituals Symbols and Festivals

• Practices and Rituals
• Hindus usually practice their religion at home,
  first purifying themselves with water, usually by
  taking a bath.
• The syllable OM, which represents the supremacy
  of Brahman, is chanted at the beginning and end
  of prayers and scripture readings. Called Japa,
  worshippers chant the names of deities as well as
  sacred phrases called mantras. This is a mantra
  that Hindus chant to greet the sun..
• I meditate on the brilliance of the sun may it
  illumine my intellect.

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• Worship at home involves a shrine that serves as
  an altar for worship. Called puja, it is a form
  of thanksgiving in which offerings are made to
  deities. It has 16 steps and ends with a lamp
  called an arati waved around the altar while
  prayers and hymns are recited. You can eat the
  offering, called prasad, as it is considered a
  gift from the deity. Sometimes, on special
  occasions, a priest, usually from the Brahmin
  caste, performs a ceremony called Homa, which
  involves burning the offering in a fire.
• Worship in a temple is not a requirement nor is
  it necessity. Usually they are for festivals and
  special functions. Arati and prasad are shared
  and they treat images of deities with baths,
  adornments and processions. Temples also teach
  children classes on Hindu prayers and hymns,
  called bhajans.

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• The Sacred Cow
• Holy cow is an expression that refers to
  Hinduisms reverence of cows. They see the cow as
  an manifestation of all that is good and
  precious.
• They see the docile way of a cow as the result of
  its being a vegetarian. They aspire to the same
  lifestyle.
• Yoga and Mediation
• Yoga in the strict Hindu sense means yoke, or the
  atman at union with the Brahman.
• To achieve this union with God, meditation is
  necessary. You control your breathing,
  concentrate on a single object, sound or idea,
  until you are in a deep meditative state and are
  experiencing the divine presence.
• The real experts are the swamis, or holy men of
  India, who have dedicated their lives to
  meditation

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• Pilgrimages or journeys to holy places are
  important to Hinduism.
• Hindus strive to visit, at least once in a
  lifetime, the holy city of Varanasi.
• It is believed that the holy Ganges River fell
  from heaven to give life to people and provide
  food. Varanasi is located along the west bank of
  the river and the first thing pilgrims do is
  bathe in the river to cleanse themselves of sin.
• One of the holiest cities in the world, it is
  also sacred because it is the birthplace of
  Tirthankara Parsvanatha, a spiritual teacher of
  Jainism and Buddha gave his first sermon their
  and started the sangha or community of monks

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• Some of the many symbols in Hinduism include the
  swastika, which represents good luck and well
  being, the lord of the dance which we have
  already seen and forehead marks called tilak
  which represent the third eye of wisdom.
• Women wear red dots on their foreheads called
  bindi, which shows they are married and should be
  treated as such.
• Festivals include
• Diwali, the festival of lights, from the end of
  October to early November.
• Holi, a spring festival celebrated in March.
• Mahashivaratri, day before the new moon in
  February.
• Navaratri, spring and autumn.

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Sacred Writings

• Hindus have over 200 books that are considered
  sacred texts. They were written between 15000BCE
  and 1500CE.
• Scriptures are classified as either shruti or
  smriti.
• Shruti is knowledge that is revealed or
  discovered by the seers of Hinduism. This wisdom
  is contained in the Vedas.
• Smriti is human made literature or knowledge that
  is remembered.

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• The four Vedas are considered the oldest and most
  authoritative Hindu scriptures
• Rig-Veda comprises 1028 hymns contained in ten
  books, that praise the ancient deities.
• Yajur-Veda a priests handbook for the
  performance of fire sacrifices.
• Sama-Veda melodies, chants and tunes for the
  singing of hymns.
• Atharva-Veda magical formulas, chants, spells
  and charms.

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• Each Veda contains..
• Mantras, psalms of praise.
• Brahmanas, prose manual for priests on prayer and
  ritual.
• Aranyakas, forest books for saints and hermits.
• Upanishads, philosophical commentaries that
  appear at the end of each Veda.

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Ramayana

• Written in Sanskrit about 200 BCE, there are
  about 26 different versions, and 24,000 verses.
• It is the story of prince Rama, who is worshipped
  as the seventh avatar or incarnation of the god
  Vishnu.
• Rama was exiled to the forest for 14 years so
  that his brother, Bharata, could be king. His
  wife, Sita, and his other half-brother,
  Lakshmana, followed the prince into exile.
• Sita was kidnapped by the evil Ravana. A battle
  ensued where Rama, assisted by Hanuman, king of
  the monkeys, defeated Ravana, rescued his wife
  and returned triumphantly to his kingdom.
• The story represents the constant struggle
  between good and evil, where good eventually wins.

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Hinduism in Canada

• There are approx. 300,000 Hindus in Canada. Most
  live in the greater Toronto area.
• Came to Canada from India, Sri Lanka, Guyana,
  Trinidad and England.
• Most Hindu priests in Canada are from Guyana.
• Sermons, lectures and other discourses are
  delivered in the language particular to each
  group.