Hinduism

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Hinduism
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Hinduism

• Most ancient religious tradition in Asia (world?)
• Vedas Hindu sacred texts
• Polytheistic - May be viewed as monothestic
• Castes
• Brahman, priestly
• Kshatriya, warrior/ruler
• Vaisya, tradesman and farmer
• Sudra, servant and laborer
• Untouchables (de facto 5th caste)

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• Central belief is in reincarnation
• Transmigration of the soul
• Cycles of creation birth to death to birth
• Role of dharma karma
• Effect on diet

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Characteristics of Hinduism

• No clergy or religious requirements
• No real splintering or sects
• Can be practiced in many ways at many levels so
  there was no need to split off.
• No concept of a personal God
• Each individual is seeking to comprehend the
  ultimate reality while living out his/her dharma
  with the goal of union with Brahman once the
  cycle of reincarnation is ended.

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Monotheism?
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(No Transcript)
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Hindu Landscape
Varanesi, Ganges River
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Ganges River
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Buddhism
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Buddhism

• Siddhartha Gautama Kshatriya Caste
• Buddha Enlightened One
• Four Noble Truths
• Life involves suffering
• Cause of suffering is desire
• Elimination of desire ends suffering
• Right thinking and behavior eliminate desire
• Diffused from India

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Buddhism

• Nirvana
• Buddhism is a way of living that achieves release
  from reincarnation and suffering
• God is not knowable, so is, therefore, not a
  major concern in Buddhism
• Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) rejected the caste
  system

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Buddhism

• Scriptures Vinaya (discipline) expanded later
• Branches
• Theravada (south) monk seeks own deliverance
• Mahayana (north) role of bodhisattvas ritual
• Tibetan Lamaism example of syncretism

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Branches of Buddhism
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The Eight-Fold Path
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Buddhist Landscapes
Thailand Cambodia Tibet
Buddhist Stupas
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Buddhist Stupa, Chiang Mai, Thailand
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Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand
Buddhist Temple, Louang pPhrabang, Laos
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Tibetan Buddhist Prayer Wheels
Tibetan Landscapes
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Grand Palace, Bangkok Thailand
Wat Chedi Luang, Chang Mai Thailand
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Borobodour, Indonesia
Golden Temple, Kyoto Japan
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Buddhist Temple, Kharkorin, Mongolia
Angor Wat, Cambodia
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Other Religions

• Eastern Religions
• Confucianism China
• Taoism China
• Shinto Japan
• Zoroastrianism Iran
• Baha'i Iran
• Animism and Shamanism

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Taoism

• The natural is the essenceof all that must be
  known,and the placewhere all must return

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Confucianism
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Shintoism
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Animism and Shamanism

• Animism
• Belief in influence of spirits or spiritual
  forces in all creation
• Characteristic of many African Native American
  religions
• Shamanism
• the religion of certain peoples, esp. some
  indigenous to N Asia, based on a belief in good
  and evil spirits who can be influenced only by
  the shamans