1. Hinduism

3. Caste
Social and/or economic divisions of
people in a society.

4. Reincarnation
The belief that after death, we are
reborn in another form to live again.

5. Hinduism
 No single founder.
 No single sacred text (like the bible for
Christians)
 May have begun in the Aryan civilization.
 Thousands of gods.

6. Basic Beliefs
 There is an all-powerful spiritual force
called “brahman”.
 “god is one, but wise people know it by
many names”
 Their many gods give concrete form to
brahman.

7. Top Hindu gods
(Each god may take many forms,
human or animal.)

8. Brahma – The creator

9. Vishnu – The preserver

10. Shiva – The destroyer

11. Sacred texts/writings
 Vedas
 Collection of hymns, chants, ritual instructions, and
other religious teachings from the Aryan Indus
Valley civilization.
 Mahabarata
 India’s greatest “epic”. Tells of warfare and religion.
 Bhagavad Gita – Part of Mahabarata, tells of the
importance of performing your duty.
 Ramayana
 Story of hero Rama and beautiful bride Sita.

12. Moksha – union with
brahman.
 Achieving Moksha is the goal of life.
 Every person has an essential self, called atman, a
form of brahman.
 Moksha is achieved when one brings themselves into
union with brahman, the all-powerful spiritual force.
 To do this, individuals must separate themselves from
worldly/selfish desires and simply do their duty.
 Most people cannot achieve this in one lifetime, so
Hindus believe in reincarnation, which they believe
gives them more time to achieve Moksha.

13. OM or AUM

14. Karma
 The effects of a person’s actions in life, on their
next reincarnated life.
 Virtuous people earn good karma and are reborn
into higher levels of existence. (People, animals,
plants)
 Those who do evil earn bad karma and are reborn
into suffering in lower levels of existence. (rocks,
water, etc.)
 Cycle of reincarnation is pictured as a wheel in
Hindu art.

16. Dharma
 Religious and moral duties of an
individual, which help them escape the
wheel of fate and reincarnation.

17. Ahimsa
 Principle of nonviolence.
 Jainism is an extreme form of ahimsa
adherence.

18. The Caste System
 Social and economic divisions in
Indian/Hindu society.
 People are born into these groups and can face
severe consequences for moving, or acting, out
of their class.
 Highest class people are the Brahmin priests.
 Lowest class people are the dalits, or “untouchables”
 Caste system connects with karma, to create
social order. “If I fulfill my role faithfully, I will be
reborn higher.”

24. Buddhism

25. Buddhism
Founded in the foothills of the
Himalayas by Siddhartha Gautama.

26. Gautama = Buddha
 Born a prince around 563 B.C..
 Enjoyed all the pleasures of life during his
early age.
 His parents sheltered him to prevent him
becoming a holy man.
 At age 29, he ventured out of the palace for
the 1st time and saw an old man, then a sick
person, and a dead body.
 This was his first awareness of suffering.

28. His Journey
 Witnessing suffering for the first time sets Gautama
out on a journey to find a realm where there is
neither suffering or death.
 Was not satisfied by Hindu explanations of life, so
he sat under a tree and was determined to stay
there until he had his answers.
 By morning he believed he had his answers, he felt
he understood the cause of and cure for suffering
and sorrow.
 He was no longer Gautama, now he had become
Buddha, “Enlightened one”.

30. 4 Noble truths of Buddhism.
1. All life is full of suffering, pain, and sorrow.
2. The cause of suffering is non-virtue, or
negative deeds and mindsets such as hatred
and desire.
3. The only cure for suffering is to overcome
non-virtue or desires.
4. The way to overcome non-virtue is to follow
the eightfold path.

32. The Eightfold Path
1. Right views (beliefs)
2. Right aspirations (goals)
3. Right speech
4. Right Conduct
5. Right livelihood
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right contemplation (thoughts)

34. Nirvana
 Union with the universe and release from
the cycle of rebirth.
 The end goal for Buddhist.

36. Hinduism vs. Buddhism
Compare and Contrast
 Both believe in karma, dharma,
reincarnation, and non-violence.
 Buddha promoted meditation over
priests, gods, and rituals.
 Buddha also rejected the caste system.
He believed that anyone could achieve
nirvana.

39. Dalai Lama