Do Now

• Who are the Aryans? Pg 37

Where are the Religions?

Ancient India

Caste System• No mobility until

death (reincarnation)

• Karma determined how you would be reborn

Hinduism

• Symbol• Hindus begin their day or any work

or a journey by uttering Om. Om represents “Brahman”. Their god takes many different forms.

• Mahatma Ghandi (1869-1948) is NOT a Hindu god, but is a famous Hindu. His use of non-violent resistance led to India’s independence from Britain (1942) and inspired Martin Luther King to use the same technique in American Civil Rights movement.

Location Where Began

• Cannot be traced to any one individual. The earliest of the Hindu scriptures – The Vedas – was composed by the Aryan priests The term "Hindu" was introduced by foreigners who referred to people living across the River Indus or Sindhu, in the north of India.

Where are the Religions?

Structure

Monotheistic There are thousands of various forms of a single Supreme Being= Brahman.

Religious Figure• The most fundamental of

Hindu deities is the Trinity.• Hindus also worship spirits,

trees, animals and even planets.

• Cows are a sacred animal, they represent all living creatures. Many Hindus are vegetarians!

Brahma :creator

Vishnu: The Preserver

The Trinity

Brahma :creator

Vishnu: The Preserver

Shiva: The Destroyer

All these deities areforms of the

Brahman

All these deities areforms of the

Brahman

Ganesh: remover of obstacles

Holy Book

• The basic scriptures of Hinduism, are the Vedas (sometimes called the Rig Veda).

• Two types of sacred writings comprise the Hindu scriptures: "Shruti" (heard) and "Smriti" (memorized). They were passed on from generation to generation orally for centuries before they were written down mostly in the Sanskrit language.

Do NowComplete the paragraph assignment for your caste…

The Caste System

Beliefs

• Reincarnation – individual soul is reborn in a different form after death

• Samsara – Repeating cycle of life and death• Karma – right action in life – determines rebirth• The goal is to achieve oneness with god, Brahman – a

union.• atman – the individual self – is the Brahman that is part

of everyone. This is what is united with Brahman through strict practice

Samsara =(rebirth) Reincarnation

Moksha =(liberation from the cycle of Samsara/Reincarnation)