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 In your opinion what is the purpose of religion?
 What the benefits to belonging to a religion?
 What are some aspects that all religions share and have in
common?
THE LIFE OF BUDDHA
• Much of what is known about
life of the Buddha from
accounts in Buddhist literature
• Gautama born 500s BC
• Prince of small kingdom in
what is now Nepal
– Led sheltered life
– Unaware of hardship
– Life changed when learned
people got old, sick, died
BUDDHA’S ENLIGHTENMENT
•Gautama resolved to
find way to overcome
age, sickness, keep
people from suffering
•Gave up possessions,
left palace
•Sought enlightenment,
spiritual understanding
for six years
•Studied with gurus,
monks but decided they
could not teach way to
enlightenment
Sat under tree, no teachers,
no companions, determined
not to arise until he found
way
 Stories say he meditated all
night
 Resolve tested by violent
storms, earthly temptations
 At daybreak, had been
transformed, found
enlightenment, became the
Buddha, Enlightened One
 Temple built where he
meditated, Bodh Gaya, one of
Buddhism’s most sacred
places
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
 There is suffering in
the world
 The cause of self
suffering is self
centered desire
 The solution is to
eliminate desire and
attachments
 To reach nirvana you
must follow the
Eightfold Path
BELIEFS OF BUDDHISM
A major change in Gautama’s thinking was when he decided to
stop looking outwardly to understand the cause of suf fering.
Instead, he decided to look within his own mind.
Instead of worshipping gods or a god, Buddha taught his
followers that the answer to human suf fering was in right
thinking and self-denial.
A big dif ference between Buddhism and other major religions is
that in Buddhism you do not worship many gods or even one
god.
GIVING UP DESIRES
 According to Buddha, human suffering happens because of our
selfish desires for things like power, wealth, and pleasure. The
way to be happy was to give up those selfish desires.
 He called this path to happiness the Middle Way = MODERATION
 In Buddhism, people are to act unselfishly, treat people fairly,
tell the truth all the time, avoid violence and the killing of any
living thing
 When people learned to follow this Buddhist Middle Path, they
would find lasting peace, called nir vana. Once a person reached
this point, that person would no longer need to go through
reincarnation
THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
ORIGINS OF HINDUISM
 Ar yans brought their religious beliefs with them. Their early
religious books- the Vedas- tell about their many nature gods
As they conquered dif ferent people, they included conquered
religious beliefs with their old beliefs.

This is why Hinduism is so different from the other major
world religions.
Hinduism is the only major world religion that does not
have a starting point. It just developed out of ancient
polytheism, combining many belief systems as time
went on.
With this background, Hindus have many dif ferent
beliefs and many dif ferent religious practices. (There is
not one way to “be Hindu.”
“GOD IN HINDUISM”
Hindus worship many gods and goddesses, but they
believe all the gods and goddesses are part of the single
all-powerful force (God) called Brahman.
Brahman is a spirit and is too complicated for humans
to understand.
The many gods and goddesses help us understand
things about Brahman (God).
MAIN GODS/GODDESSES
Brahma
Vishnu
Shiva
BRAHMA
Brahma- the Creator
Vishnu- Preserver- a kind
god who cares about people. He
sometimes visits Earth in different
forms to help humans.
SHIVA
Shiva- Destroyer doesn’t care
about people. Sometimes
destroys, but creates again.
REINCARNATION
 Samsara is the wheel of
rebir th which means the soul
is reborn from one life form to
another.
 People may be reincarnated at
a higher or lower level of
existence depending on their
karma from their present life.
 People may be reborn as
plants or animals or they may
be elevated to a higher caste
as a human.
 Death is not final for Hindus
as they expect to be reborn
many times
KARMA & DHARMA
Karma: “action” or “deeds”
 Every action produces a Justified effect based on its moral
worthiness.
Karma determines all the particular circumstances and Situations
of one’s life.
Dharma: ethical duty based on the divine order of reality. The
word is the closest equivalent to “religion.”
FOUR STAGES OF LIFE
Stage One: Student stage
Stage Two: Householder
Stage Three: Forest-dweller --after the birth of
first grandchild
Stage Four: Sannyasin - wondering ascetic
What do the Mouth,
Arms, Thighs, and
Feet Represent?
Brahmins
Priests
Kshatriyas
Warriors
Vaishyas
Herders, Farmers, Artisans,
Merchants
Sudras
(Non-Aryan)
Farm Workers, Servants, Laborers