Monotheism
Polytheism
Hinduism and Buddhism
-What is Hinduism?
Hinduism is the oldest and 3rd most largest religion in the world. The Aryans started the religion in 1500BCE, and the Aryans believed in many gods who controlled the forces of nature. Over the centuries Aryan religion has changed, they borrowed some religious ideas from the people Aryans conquered in India. This mix of beliefs eventually became Hinduism. -What did the early Hindus believe? Hindus believe in thousands of gods. They tend to think that all gods were different parts of one universal spirit called Brahmin. The Upanishad writing stated that all living beings have a soul that wants to be reunited with Brahmin. They described how they reunite as a lump of salt put into water, the lump of salt in the water is dissolved, but the water still tastes salty, the salt has become part of the water. -What is karma? Hindus believed that when they die their soul isn't joined with Brahmin until they've done good in their life. If they did bad they would reincarnate into a lower caste and move up a class when they do better, until they did good enough to be one with Brahmin. Darma is a persons duty in life and karma is the consequences of your bad doing. -Why was Buddhism created? Buddhism was created when Hindus began to question Hindu ideas, some Hindus wanted a simpler, more spiritual religion, so they created Buddhism. -Who is Buddha? Prince Siddhartha Gautama is Buddha. -What is Buddhism? They believed everything was an illusion. They believed to rid your life of all suffering, you give up all of your desires. If you did so you would reach Nirvana. Nirvana isn't a place, but a state of mind. The Buddha did believe in reincarnation but you had a choice, you could stop being reborn if you wanted to, but they would have to follow the 8-fold path. -Why did Buddhism spread? Over 40 years Buddha preached and his ideas spread all over Asia. As more people practiced Buddhism, disagreement arose about his ideas. Eventually Buddhists split into 2 groups. The first group is Theravada, which means "teachings of the elders" and they saw Buddha as a teacher and not a god. The other Buddhist was called Mahayana and they believe that Buddha is a god who came to save people. They believed that following the Eightfold Path was too hard for most people, so they believed that instead you could worship Buddha and go to heaven after you die. |
Hindus
Buddha
-How is Hinduism and Buddhism Different? |