Asian Religious Traditions

1. Asian Religious
Traditions:
Hinduism, Buddhism,
Confucianism, and Daoism

2. Aryan Migration
• Indo-European
pastoral nomads
• crossed Hindu
Kush into India
c. 1500 BCE

3. c. 1500-500 BCE = Vedic Age
• Vedas = songs, hymns, and prayers honoring Aryan gods
• Rig Veda = passed orally, then written in Sanskrit c. 600
BCE

4. Sacred texts:
• Upanishads
• Mahabharata
(includes
Bhagavad Gita)
• Kamasutra

5. Basic beliefs
• Brahman = the eternal
essence of reality and the
source of the universe,
beyond the reach of
human perception and
thought
• reincarnation of atman
(the inner soul)
• karma: impersonal
cosmic force; sum good
or bad of a person's
actions determines next
rebirth

6. Goals:
• dharma: rightful living in
accordance with religious
and moral laws
• artha: honest acquisition of
wealth to provide for family
and society
• kama: pleasure in social,
physical, and sexual activities
• moksha: salvation of the soul;
union with Brahman breaking
cycle of reincarnation

7. Polytheistic or Monotheistic?
Main “trinity” = aspects of Brahman:
• Brahma, the creator
• Vishnu, the protector
• Shiva, the destroyer

8. Polytheistic or Monotheistic?
Avatars of Vishnu:
• Krishna, god of compassion, tenderness and love
• Rama, warrior-king; symbolizes ideal person

9. • jati = caste system hierarchy
• based on skin color from light-skinned Aryans to dark-
skinned Dravidian natives
• strict rules re: interaction and intermarriage = limited
social mobility
• varnas (social classes):
1. Brahmins (priests)
2. Kshatriyas (rulers, aristocrats, warriors)
3. Vaishyas (landowners, artisans, and traders)
4. Shudras (landless peasants)
5. Dalits aka Untouchables (unpleasant labor
ex: butchering animals, handling corpses)

10. Patriarchy
• purdah = female seclusion
• sati = widow’s self-immolation on husband's funeral pyre

11. Key figures
• gurus = spiritual teachers
• Adi Shankara = consolidated and clarified main beliefs of
Hinduism
• Ramanuja = believed emotional devotion with a deity was
more important than an intellectual understanding of
Brahman
• bhakti cults = emotional devotion to god/goddess
• Mira Bai = religious poet; reflected openness of bhaktic
cults to women

12. om: "the sound of the universe" repeated as a mantra in
meditation
yoga: exercises designed to achieve a liberated, content
state of being through a physical, mental, and spiritual
balance

13. Sacred places
• Ganges River
• Benares, the city of Shiva = 2000+ temples, 500,000+ idols

15. c. 500 BCE: Siddhartha Gautama achieved nirvana
became Buddha, the Enlightened One

16. Four Noble Truths:
1. Life is suffering.
2. Suffering is caused
by desires.
3. The way to end
suffering is to end
desires.
4. The way to end
desires is to follow
the Eightfold Path.

17. The Eightfold Path:
1. Right Views
2. Right Resolve
3. Right Speech
4. Right Conduct
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

18. Sacred texts:
• Tripitaka/Pali Canon
• Sutras
• Tibetan Book of the Dead

19. Key Figures
• sangha =
Buddhist
community
• bodhisattvas =
Buddhist saints
• Dalai Lama
• monks and nuns
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama, 1940-present

20. Sacred places
• stupas = shrines containing relics of the Buddha
• Buddha’s birthplace at Kapilavastu
• tree near Gaya where Buddha was enlightened
• site of Buddha’s first sermon near Varanasi

21. Symbols
• wheel of dharma
• lotus flower
• mandalas

22. Branches:
• Theravada
• Mahayana
• Tibetan
• Pure Land
(China)
• Chan (China)/
Zen (Japan)
Leshan Giant Buddha, China

26. Period of the
Warring
States:
475-221 B.C.

29. wu wei = actionless action

30. Assignment:
1. Create a graphic organizer mapping the
relationships between Brahma, Brahman,
Krishna, Rama, Shiva, and Vishnu
2. Create a graphic organizer mapping the
relationships between Brahmins, Dalits,
Kshatriyas, Shudras, and Vaishyas
3. Identify which lands Hinduism spread to.
4. Identify which lands Buddhism spread to.