Hinduism

• Video- Intro to Hinduism (From Discovery Ed)• Discover Education– Section 6.3– Explore Tab– Page 1– Top Right-Hand Corner

Hinduism

• The 3rd largest religion in the world– 14% of the world’s population– Approximately 1 billion people are Hindu

• 6,000 years old– The oldest “living” religion in the world

Hinduism in the world

• Practiced mostly in South Asia:– India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

The largest Hindu temple in the world, located in Delhi, India

Hinduism• Hinduism does not have one single founder

– It is a combination of Dravidian (People from India) beliefs and Aryan beliefs that merged together over time

• The Aryans brought several fundamental beliefs to India:– The belief in many gods and that these gods

lived in nature– The Vedas are sacred texts (similar to the Bible)

• The Vedas is the holy book of Hinduism– Written in Sanskrit

Hinduism• Brahman- Spiritual power that created and

controls the universe• Monotheistic and Polytheistic beliefs– Believe in one “Universal Spirit”– Believe that spirit is made up of many parts (many

different gods) – Hindus believe all life is connected and should be

respected

Polytheistic• There are millions of Hindu Gods and Goddesses

• Brahma- The Creator of All• Shiva- creates and destroys the world• Vishnu- The preserver of the universe. Guides and

protects humans

Brahma Vishnu Shiva

Dietary Hinduism

• Vegetarianism- Hindus typically do not eat meat– This is not mandatory, but widely practiced– Why do you think most Hindus do not eat meat?

Words to Watch

• Reincarnation – the belief that the soul passes from one body to the next (based on karma)

• Dharma- religious and moral duties of an individual. Hindus believe in nonviolence and believe family is important

• Karma - Law of action and reaction– If you do good, expect good things to happen– If you do bad, expect bad things to happen

Baby with eight limbs is thought to be Vishnu reincarnated

Vishnu is known as the preserver of the universe

Lakshmi- The name is derived from the wife of Vishnu She had an operation at 2

years old and is now in good health

Reincarnation

• If you could be reincarnated as any person, animal, or plant, what would you choose and why?– If you died and could come back to earth as anything– Answer and illustrate

I would choose to be a kangaroo because I love to jump around

Karma

• Can you think of a time where you’ve seen karma in action or personally experienced karma?

– Take 5 minutes to discuss with your group– Each group will share one story

Example- Once when I was as the at the grocery store I saw a woman drop $5 on the ground. I picked it up to give it back to her, but she told me to keep it since I was honest