Download Hinduism + Buddhism = Eastern Religions

Buddhism
Sikhism
Daoism
* Yin-Yang
* Cosmogony
* Eight Fold Path
WORLD RELIGIONS
Confucianism
RELIGION
• set of beliefs for a group of people
• Soul or spirit; a deity or higher being; life after death
Shintoism
Hinduism
EASTERN RELIGIONS
• South
&
East Asia
Classifications of Religions
•Monotheistic religions
– Belief in ONE God
•Polytheistic religions
– Belief in MORE THAN ONE god, even thousands
• Universalizing religions
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Appeals to people living in a variety of locations
Religions that actively seek converts – why?
DO NOT WORRY ABOUT AN AGRICULTURAL CALENDAR
Buddhism; Sikhism; Bahá’í
• Ethnic religions
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Found in a particular culture  Do not seek outside converts
Spatially concentrated
Religions whose adherents are born into the faith
Hinduism; Confucianism; Daoism/Taoism; Shintoism; African religions
• Distribution
HINDUISM
– Largest ethnic religion
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3rd largest religion
Indus River Valley over 4000 years ago
Probably  World’s oldest religion
India – 97%
Nepal
• Basic Information
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Polytheism
Reincarnation – The rebirth of souls after death
Karma – The moral consequences of a person’s actions
No central authority / no founder
NO HOLY BOOK
Sacred text: Vedas
Diffusion: through South Asia and into Southeast Asia
Hinduism: Beliefs
• Respect for all life
• BRAHMAN, the underlying universal life force that
encompasses and embodies existence.
– According to Hindu scriptures, one's ignorance of the true nature of
the self (atman) as one with Brahman is what traps one in the cycle
of endless death and reincarnation (samsara).
• Goal of life: is liberation (moksha)
– union with Brahman
– release from the cycle of death and rebirth
HINDUISM
• Caste System
– Class system where everyone was
assigned a distinct class @ birth
– Division of society based on occupation and family lineage
– Moral duty specific to that caste.
– Limit a person’s ability to move up in life
• British encouraged the abolishment of the
caste system when they left their colony
(India gained independence)
Priests and scholars
Brahmans
Rulers and warriors
Kshatriyas
Vaisyas
Farmers and
merchants
Artisans and
laborers
Shudras
* the above castes were subdivided
- The outcasts
Untouchables
HINDUISM
• Places of Worship
– Worship @ Home
– Sacred sites: Ganges River
– Temple – used as shrine for particular gods rather
than congregational worship
– Temple contains a dimly lit interior room where a
symbolic artifact or some other image of the god
rests
HINDUS WORSHIP
@ Home
Different Temples
HINDUS worship @ HOME
- Idols at the Itasca Temple
* Swaminarayan
Sacred Landscapes of Hinduism
Hinduism – pilgrimages follow prescribed
routes, and rituals are followed by millions.
Varanasi, India
on the
Ganges River
where Hindus
perform
morning rituals.
Hindu pilgrims achieve purification by bathing in the Ganges.
Hierarchy of Hindu holy places: Some sites
are holy to Hindus throughout
India; others have a regional or
sectarian importance, or are
important only locally.
Hindu Temple –
Angkor Wat, Cambodia. This temple suffers from neglect and destruction
now, as Buddhism has supplanted Hinduism in most of Cambodia.
HINDUISM
• Disposing of the Dead
• Cremation
– Body is washed with water from Ganges River & burned with a slow fire on a funeral
pyre
– Considered act of purification
– FREE THE SOUL from body for departure to the afterworld & provide warmth & comfort
for the soul as embarked on journey to afterworld
• REINCARNATION
• Distribution
BUDDHISM
– 400 million adherents
– Concentrated in China, Japan, Tibet & Southeast Asia
BUDDHISM
• Basic Information & Diffusion
– Splintered from Hinduism 2500 years ago
– Originated in a region from Nepal south to the Ganges River area.
• Universalizing Religion
• Concentrated in 1 region of the world
– Anyone can achieve salvation, anyone can reach enlightenment
– Can follow another faith
- Can be a Buddhist & a believer in another Eastern religion simultaneously
Buddhism diffused
gradually from its origin in
northeastern India to Sri
Lanka, southeast Asia,
China, and Japan.
** NOTICE: Buddhism
remained
concentrated
in one region!
Buddhism – Basic Information
• Buddha is a man who had gained supreme enlightenment
• Central figure
– Siddhartha Gautama/ Buddha “awakened or enlightened one”
• Main day of worship
– Practiced individual prayer or meditation
– Followers free to practice the teachings as best they can.
– No official day of worship
• Holy Book
– Tripitaka
• Clergy
– Monks
– The Dalai Lama
• Beliefs
BUDDHISM
– Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha)
• Son of a lord, faced no hardships
• Age 29, left his palace & traveled
Started to struggle with scenes of pain & suffering (old man; disease-ridden man; corpse; monk)
• Monk – taught him about withdrawal from the world
• Lived in forest for next 6 years, thinking & meditating
– Emerged as BUDDHA,
“awakened or enlightened one”
• Spent next 45 years preaching across India
• FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS:
– 1. All living beings suffer
– 2. Suffering leads to reincarnation
– 3. Goal is to escape suffering into
NIRVANA achieved through mental &
moral self-purification
– 4. Nirvana = attained through Eightfold Path
3 Branches of Buddhism
– Disagree on interpretation of Siddhartha Gautama
• Mahayana- 56% practiced in China, Japan & Korea
– Emphasize Buddha’s compassion
– Reflect on Buddha’s later teachings & helping others
• Theravada- 38%- practiced in Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand
– Believe Buddha’s original approach, self-help, become a monk, &
remove worldly possessions
• Tantrayana- 6% Practiced in Tibet and Mongolia
– Dalai Lama
BUDDHISM: Holy Places/Sacred Places
• House of Worship
– Shrines (holy sites of worship)
– Pagodas- houses holy relics (of Buddha’s)
– Temple = main place of worship
• Also, one’s home- individual prayer or meditation
– 8 sacred sites
JAPANESE PAGODA
– common Buddhist architecture
 5 stories!
Holy Sites in Buddhism
Most holy sites in Buddhism are locations of important events in Buddha’s life and are
clustered in northeastern India and southern Nepal.
Swedogon Pagodo in Yangon,
Myanmar
Eight hairs of the Buddha are
preserved under the dome
Buddhist Temple
Bodh Gaya, India
Buddhist Stupas 72 stupas, each containing a sculpture of the Buddha in meditation
were built around 800 CE and still stand in Borobudur, Indonesia.
Kotokun Temple – “Great Buddha”
* 2nd Largest Buddha in Kamakura, Japan