Exploring Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism

1. World Religions
Part Three:
Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism

2. Hinduism
▪ Origins
– Founder
– Date
– World Area
▪ Texts/ Major Docs.
▪ Major Beliefs
▪ Ceremonies / Rituals
▪ Branches
▪ Indian Sub-continent
– No one person
– Pre-historic times (oldest religion)
– Indian sub-continent
▪ Vedas, Upanishads, The Bhagavad-
Gita
▪ (henotheistic) Brahman= universal soul
(Gods= aspects of Brahman, ex=
Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, Ganesha)
reincarnation, karma, dharma, caste
system, yoga
▪ Center on birth, marriage, death,
pilgrimages to sacred sites (Ganges)
▪ Different “cults” related to specific
deities

3. ▪ Brahma- the Creator
– He has four heads representing the four vedas which are
said to have sprung from his heads.
– In his four arms he holds the vedas, the kamandalam (water
pot), suruva (sacrificial spoon) & a mala (rosary).
▪ Vishnu- the Sustainer/ Preserver
– Usually represented as a beautiful blue adolescent
– 4 hands: carrying a conch, a discus, a mass of arms and a
lotus flower
▪ Siva/ Shiva- the Destroyer
– Portrayed in numerous ways
– Anthropomorphically- 4 arms holding a tambourine and a
trident, and making gestures of giving and reassuring
– Third eye in the center of his forehead
▪ Ganesha- the Remover of Obstacles
– Son of Shiva and Parvathi
– He has an elephant head, with one broken tusk and 4 arms

4. ▪ Dharma
–Duty to Self and Society
▪ Kharma
–Circle of Life
▪ Atman
–eternal part of humans
▪ Multiple Gods
–Over 300 Million
▪ Yoga
–Meditation to achieve oneness

5. ▪Caste System
–Duty to Self and Society
▪Moving Upward Each New Life
–Circle of Life
▪Moksha
–Cycle of Reincarnation
▪Brahman
–Highest Level of Moksha
▪Animal Sacrifice
–eternal part of humans

20. Buddhism
▪ Origins
– Founder
– Date
– World Area
▪ Texts/ Major Docs.
▪ Major Beliefs
▪ Ceremonies / Rituals
▪ Branches
▪ Indian Sub-continent
– Siddhartha Gautama
– 4th or 5th cent. BC
– E. Asia
▪ Tripitaka and Mahāyāna texts
▪ Buddha as deity or teacher, 4 Noble
Truths, Eightfold Path, follow the
Middle Way to achieve nirvana,
reincarnation
▪ Depends upon the branch, New
Year’s, anniversaries from life of
Buddha
▪ Theravada, Mahayana, Zen, Tantric

21. ▪ Siddhartha Gatauma, may have existed
around 500 BC. Earliest records are around
150-300 AD
▪ Four Noble Truths
1. To Live is to Suffer
2. Suffering Comes from Desire
3. Remove Desire, Remove Suffering.
4. the Eight-fold Path is the way to end
Desire
▪ Middle Path 64,000 Ways to the Center
▪ Reincarnation to Nirvhana
▪ Samsara Recycle of Rebirth

22. ▪Mantras-
– Chanted phrases to help one meditate and
contemplate the universe
– Om Mani Padme Hu
▪ ‘Hail to the Jewel of the Lotus'
▪ Om (or Aum) predates Buddhism: the symbolic word
for the infinite, the perfect, the eternal
▪Theravada
▪Mahayana
▪Zen
▪Tantric (Tibetan)

39. Sikhism
▪ Origins
– Founder
– Date
– World Area
▪ Texts/ Major Docs.
▪ Major Beliefs
▪ Ceremonies / Rituals
▪ India
– Guru Nanak
– 1469–1539
– Northwest India
▪ Guru Granth Sahib
▪ Monotheistic,
▪ No Strong Hold on the Truth
▪ Simran (meditation)
▪ Militaristic at times