Download Religions of South Asia

Religions of South Asia
What is religion?
• Belief system designed to give answers to
life’s unknown questions
– Existentialism
• Who am I?
• Why am I here?
• Etc…
The Religions of South Asia
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Sikhism
• Jainism
Hinduism
• Originated in India
• Third largest world religion
• Currently 920 million Hindus in the world
– 890 million live in India
• Hindu
– Originated from the Sanskrit word meaning people of
the Indus River Valley
Writings of Hinduism
• The Vedas and
Upanishads
– Vedas
• Contains eternal truths
revealed to wise men
– Upanishads
• Helps explain the ideas
of the Vedas
Beliefs of Hinduism
• Worship thousands of gods
• Brahman
– Single supreme force that each god is part of
• The Three Main Gods
– Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva
Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesha
Siva
More Beliefs of Hinduism
• Reincarnation
– Rebirth of the soul
• Moksha
– Freeing the soul to unite with brahman
• Takes many lifetimes to achieve
• Karma
– Every deed affects a person’s fate
The Caste System
• Based on Reincarnation and Karma
• Strict social and religious order
• Dharma
– Duties and obligations of the caste system
• Past lives affect a persons caste
Buddhism
• Reform Movement from Hinduism
– 600 B.C.
– Started by Siddhartha Guatama
• Seeks to understand the cause of human
misery
Siddhartha Guatama
The Teachings of Buddha
• Buddha
– Means Enlightened One
• Honorary name for Siddhartha Guatama
• Four Truths
– Suffering is universal
– Cause of suffering is desire
– To end suffering one must crush desire
– Follow the Eightfold Path to end desire
The Eightfold Path
• Practical Guide to Right of Conduct
• Achieve Nirvana
– The condition of wanting nothing
• Buddha’s ideas compiled into the Three
Baskets of Wisdom
Jainism
• One of the worlds oldest religions
• Currently 4.2 million in the world
• Believe in the immediate consequences of
ones actions
• Closely connected to Buddhism
Jainism
• Mahavira is the founder of Jainism
• Emphasize ahimsa
– Non-violence
Birth of Mahavira
Sikhism
• So who are the Sikh's?
– Founded 500 years ago
– Followed by about 20 million people
– 5th largest religion in the world
• Monotheistic
• Main belief is to break the cycle of life and
death to merge with God.
– Can be followed by listening to the Guru
• Religious teacher
A Look at the Sikhs
Homework
Study 