Download Chapter 9 Lesson 2 Religions of Ancient India Outline

Chapter 9 Lesson 2 Religions of Ancient India
A. Origins of Hinduism
1. Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world, and it is the world’s largest polytheistic
religion.
2. Hinduism grew from the faith of the Aryans.
3. Hinduism has no one founder and no one holy book.
a.) Hindus believe in one great spirit called Brahman.
b.) Hindus believe that all living things and even the gods are part of Brahman.
c.) Hindus believe that a person’s soul will eventually join Brahman.
4. However, before a person’s soul can join Brahman, Hindus believe a soul must live many
lives—even some as an animal.
a.) The idea of living many lives in different forms, one after another, is called reincarnation.
b.) According to Hinduism, if people do the duties of their jati, they will get a better next life
when they are reincarnated.
c.) They must follow dharma, or their personal duty.
d.) If a person follows dharma, then they have good karma.
5. Karma is the result of how a person lives and relates to the cause/effect nature of what
happens in life.
a.) If you live a good life and do your duty, you have good karma and eventually, you will
reach Brahman.
b.) If you have bad karma, you will be reborn into a lower jati or as an animal and will remain
in the cycle of reincarnation.
c.) This belief in dharma and karma means that people have to obey the rules of their jati
because that is where they have to stay until their next lifetime.
d.) Reincarnation is the belief in a cycle of life, death, and rebirth that is repeated by the soul
many times until the soul reaches the state of Nirvana (internal bliss) and unites with
Brahman (the universal soul).
e.) The goal of Hindu faith is to eventually merge with the Brahman after a series of
reincarnations. This is called Moksha, or salvation, and can be obtained through works,
knowledge, or devotion.
B. Rise of Buddhism
1. Prince Siddhartha Gautama was born about 563 B.C.
2. Siddhartha was wealthy, married, and had a son.
3. One day he left the palace and was shocked to see that most people were poor, and he
asked himself why people suffered.
4. To search for answers, he left his family and lived alone.
a.) Legend says that Siddhartha meditated under a tree, until he finally understood the
meaning of life. This was called “Enlightenment.”
b.) Siddhartha spent the rest of his life teaching people about his discovery.
c.) People called him the Buddha, which means “Enlightened One.”
5. Buddha’s lessons about life and suffering are called Buddhism.
a.) The Buddha taught that everyone should stop wanting fame, money, and worldly
things. Then they would reach nirvana, or a feeling of perfect peace and happiness.
b.) The Buddha said that the only way to stop desiring things was to follow the
Eightfold Path—the Buddhist rules for right living.
i. Know and understand the Four Noble Truths: suffering exists; suffering arises from
attachment to desires; suffering stops when desires stop; freedom from suffering is
possible by following the Eightfold Path
ii. Give up worldly things and do not harm others.
iii. Tell the truth, do not gossip, and do not speak badly of others.
iv. Do not commit evil acts, such as killing, stealing, or living an unclean life.
v. Do rewarding work.
vi. Work for good and oppose evil.
vii. Make sure your mind keeps your senses under control.
viii. Practice meditation to see the world in a new way.
c.) The Buddha did not agree with the jati system.
d.) He taught that all people could reach nirvana. This made Buddhism very popular
among the lower jati and the Untouchables.
6. Buddha taught his ideas for more than 40 years and when he died, his disciples could not
agree about what his message really meant.
7. They split into two groups.
a.) One was Theravada Buddhism.
i. Theravada means “teachings of the wise men.”
ii. It says that the Buddha was a great teacher, but not a god.
iii. Theravada Buddhism spread south and east and became popular in Indochina.
b.) The other kind of Buddhism is Mahayana Buddhism.
i. It says that the Buddha is a god.
ii. Mahayana Buddhists also honor bodhisattvas, which are enlightened people who
choose not to go to heaven even though they could. Instead, they stay on Earth to
help others reach nirvana.
8. Buddhism does not hold to a belief in a deity, so many believe that it is not a religion but a
philosophy.
9. Buddhism places great emphasis on man’s actions, his ability to think properly, and his coexistence in harmony with the forces of nature.
10. Buddhism is a religion that actively seeks to convert others.
11. In Tibet, Mahayana Buddhism mixed with Hinduism and Tibet’s own religions.
a.) Buddhist leaders called lamas led the government.
b.) Tibetans believed lamas were reincarnations of the Buddha.
12. Today, very few Buddhists live in India, as Buddhism was never widely accepted in India.
13. Buddhism is widely practiced in Southeast Asia and East Asia.
C. Jainism
1. Another religion also came to India at this time called Jainism. The main teacher of Jainism
was named Mahavira.
2. Mahavira’s title was “the Jina,” or “the Conqueror” and his followers are called Jains.
3. Much of Jainism is like Buddhism.
4. Both Jainism and Buddhism taught that people should stop wanting worldly things so that
they could stop the process of being reborn and reach nirvana.
5. Jainism has one main teaching: ahimsa- which means you are to never harm any living
creature, not even insects or worms.
6. Centuries later, in the early 1900s, influenced by the idea of ahimsa, an Indian man named
Mohandas Gandhi led a non-violent movement to free his nation from the rule of the British.
Instead of using weapons, he and his followers used nonviolent ways of protesting to
successfully gain India’s independence.