Hinduism- the worlds most tolerant religion
Denominations
- Divine Hierarchy- Saivism, shaktism, vaishavism, Smartism
- They have been formed over eons-
Beliefs
- Most hindus believe in a Supreme God who possess many quailites
- They believe in the cycle of rebirth
- There is no single founder of Hinduism
- Brahma- the least worshiped god- has four heads, responsible for creating the univers
- the second Hindu deity, in charge of preservation and restoration of the universe
- Believed to be reincarnated 9 times
- Shiva- third Hindu deity. in charge of destruction of the universe, his relationship with his wife keeps him balanced
Gods
- Brahma- creator
- Vishnu- preserver- worshiped in northern India
- Shiva- the destroyer- worshiped in southern India
Priests
- The Hindu priests controlled the religion and its beliefs
- Invented reincarnation- people being brought back to life after death as a higher or lower status depending on their karma
- As a priest they may read recite
Holy Days
- they had multiple holy holidays
Places of worship
- In a hindu home there is a decorated shrine that serves as an altar for worship
- Temples were made of stone or bricks
- Temples are led by priests
Buddhism
Development
- Siddharta Gautama was the founder of Buddhism
- He looked for wisdom in the forests for 6 years
- Tried to fast ended up meditating for 49 days
- He was then called Buddha
- Four noble truths
- The way to overcome such desire and attain enlightenment is to follow the Eightfold Path, called te Middle Way between desire and self denial
Beliefs
- Believe in Reincarnation
- The world in created and destroyed repeatedly
- Nirvana- release from selfishness and pain
- Monks
- Spread from Asia into India
- Hinduism was more popular
- It affected trade
- Buddhism Has different forms
- Some Buddhists worshiped Buddha as God
Theravada
- Translated to - The teaching of the elders- or the ancient teachings
- IT is the oldest surviving branch of Buddhism.it is also closest to the original Buddhism
- There are about 150 million
Stupas
- temples
- Stupa means heap
- Symbolized elements
- Stupas look like a dome
- contained artifacts about Buddhism like the ashes of dead people
- People meditated in Stupas
- different Stupas contained different things like scriptures
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