Hinduism
- A diverse body of religion, philosophy and cultural practice
- Native to India
- Belief in reincarnations and a supreme being of many forms and natures
- Brahma - creator god - senior member of the triad of great gods - he felt alone and separated from the world - split himself and created the god Shatapura
- Vishnu - preserver god - god of preservation and protector of creation - often represented resting on the coiled serpent Shesha - never sleeps - when the forces of good and evil are not balanced, Vishnu will incarnate himself as a human to set the forces equal
- Shiva - destroyer god - destroyer of the world (so that it can be re-created) - also called Lord of the dance - Shiva often has a third eye, cobra necklace, vibhuti (3 horizontal lines on forehead made from white ash), and a trident - sometimes represented as half man and half woman - is known to have a wild passion, which causes extreme behavior and his relationship with his wife - Paryati bring him balance
Maurya Empire
- Founded after the death of Alexander the Great
- The first three emperors were Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusara Maurya, and Ashoka Maurya
- All the emperors were able to gain land
- 9,000 elephants
- 8,000 chariots
- 30,000 calvary
Gupta Empire
- Chandragupta was dying and he told his son to rule the world
- His son went on an extreme military campaign
- He conquered Bengal, Nepal, Assam, Malava and eventually Ujjayini
- 500,000 infantry
- 50,000 calvary
- 20,000 charioteers
- 10,000 elephants
- Navy with more than 1,200 ships
- At its height, they had more than 3/4 million soldiers
Buddhism
- Stupas - mound-like structures - typically the ashes of the deceased - used by Buddhists as a place of meditation - five types
- Relic - remains of Buddhist leaders
- Object - objects that belonged to Buddhist leaders
- Commemorative - commemorative events in life of Buddha and his disciples
- Symbolic - symbolizes aspects of Buddhist theology
- Votive - constructed to commemorate visits or to gain spiritual benefits
- Theravada - is the oldest surviving Buddhist branch - the more conservative of the two major traditions of Buddhism - practices mainly in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos
- Historians estimate that the founder of Buddhism is Siddhartha Gautama commonly known as Buddha
- It's a religion home to the Indian subcontinent that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs, and practices largely based on teachings where the people worshiped Buddha
- Buddha is recognized as being an awakening and enlightening teacher
- Thought of more as a 'way of life' than religion
- Practice meditation
- The Four Noble Truths: the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering
- Believe in karma - which in turn determines reincarnation (believe after death that they will be reborn again)
- There are six planes in which they can be reborn - into the three fortunate realms and the three unfortunate realms
- Three fortunate realms - the realm of demigods, the realm of gods, and the realm of men
- Three unfortunate realms - of animals, ghosts and hell - suffer untold suffering, the suffering of the realm of main is far less
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