Religious Groups of Southern and Eastern Asia Hinduism Part 1 Buddhism Shinto Confucianism Islam  

Religion Members by Percentage Worldwide Christianity 2.1 billion 33.0% Islam 1.5 billion 22% Hinduism 900 million 14% Buddhism 376 million 6% Sikhism 23 million 0.36% Judaism 14 million 0.22% Bahaism 7 million 0.1% Confucianism 6.3 million 0.1% Jainism 4.2 million 0.1% Shintoism 4 million 0.1% NOTES: As of 2005

Culture and Religion in Southern and Eastern Asia Ethnic Groups Chams from Vietnam Tagalog from the Phillippines Javanese from Indonesia Religious Groups Hindus Muslims Buddhists The countries of Southern and Eastern Asia are home to people from diverse backgrounds and cultures who idenitify themselves with different religious and ethnic groups. Today, Asia’s population is a unique blend of such ethnic groups.

Culture and Religion in Southern and Eastern Asia Religious Group People who have a common belief in a religious claim. Members can have different cultures, languages, and races. Usually widespread over an entire region or many countries. Ethnic Group People who have similar language and culture. Often share common values and religion. Can be made up of members of the same race or people with common ancestors. To better understand the unique culture of Southern and Eastern Asia, it is important to review and understand the differences between a religious group and an ethnic group.

Ethnic or Religious Group? “I am an Hispanic woman who speaks Spanish, is a Catholic, and has a siesta every afternoon.” “I am a Muslim man from New York who reads the Quran and prays five times a day.” “I am a Christian woman from Africa who reads the Bible and believes in Jesus Christ.” Use this as formative assessment

Religious or Ethnic Group? “I am a Jewish boy who speaks Hebrew, has Jewish parents, and celebrates the Passover.” “I am a Cham boy from Vietnam who likes to play soccer.” “I am a teacher at Gardner Newman who goes to church every Wednesday and Sunday, sings in the choir, and celebrates Christmas and Easter.”

Show Me What You “Might” Know On a sheet of paper, write the word “Hinduism” going down as for an acrostic. Ex: H I N D U S M Now for each letter, write the words that you think of when you think of Hinduism and fit them into your acrostic. Oh, did I mention that the words have to start with each letter? Activating strategy for Hinduism

To get us started… 4 minute video on Hinduism

"Truth is one, paths are many" Om / Aum HINDUISM "Truth is one, paths are many"

Hinduism   In short: Hinduism is largely practiced in India where over 80 percent of the Indians claim to be Hindu. Hinduism does not come from the teachings of one man. Hindus believe in many gods and goddess who are images of a single god.

4000-5000 years ago, (around 3000-2000 BC) When founded 4000-5000 years ago, (around 3000-2000 BC) 3000 BC 2010 AD 2000 BC 1000 BC 1000 AD 1 AD

Where founded? India

Holy People No known founder

Sacred Texts There is not one text Hindus consider sacred, rather there are many texts like the Vedas that teach Hindus proper behavior. Shruti (“heard”) – oldest, most authoritative: Four Vedas (“truth”) – myths, rituals, chants Upanishads - metaphysical speculation Smriti (“remembered”) – the Great Indian Epics includes Bhagavadvita

MONO or POLY-THEISTIC Monotheistic (one god) Here is the confusing part! Monotheistic (one god) All parts of life (living & nonliving) are thought to be part of Brahman

Who do Hindus worship? – the major gods Brahman, the creator god

All these gods are but different forms of the Brahman

Quick Check… Thumbs Up or Down? Christianity is older than Hinduism.

Quick Check… Thumbs Up or Down? Hinduism believes in many gods and is polytheistic

Quick Check… Thumbs Up or Down? Brahman is the founder of Hinduism

LINSANITY!!! Jeremy Lin

SPIDERMAN! Peter Parker

Who do Hindus worship? – the major gods of the Hindu Pantheon Vishnu, the preserver god Incarnates as ten avatars (descents) including: Rama (featured in the Ramayana) Krishna (featured in the Mahabharata) (Each shown with his consort, Sita and Radha, respectively)

Who do Hindus worship? – the major gods of the Hindu Pantheon god of destruction (the transformer) Shiva Nataraj lord of the dance of creation… and with his wife, Parvati, and son Ganesha (the elephant headed remover of obstacles)

What about the goddesses? Devi – the feminine divine Saraswati goddess of wisdom, consort of Brahman

What about the goddesses? Devi – the feminine divine Lakshmi, goddess of good fortune, consort of Vishnu

What about the goddesses? Devi – the feminine divine Parvati divine mother, wife of Shiva

What about the goddesses? Devi – the feminine divine Durga, protectress Kali, destroyer of demons Plus about 330 million other deities

What do Hindus believe? Samsara- process of death, life, and rebirth Reincarnation – soul is reborn into another body after death (until the soul lives a life good enough to be united with Brahman) Karma – good and bad actions done during one’s life (affect you life after death)

Birth Life Death samsara Moksha The ultimate goal of Hindus is to achieve Moksha, which is freedom from the cycle of reincarnation Life Death Birth samsara Moksha

What do Hindus believe? CASTE SYSTEM - inherited social classes

Hinduism Hindus live by a caste system that divides people into social classes:   Brahmans (priests) Kashatriyas (soliders) Vaishyas (merchants) Shudras (laborers)

HOLY PLACES: All rivers especially the GANGES river Falling from its source of Vishnu’s feet onto Shiva’s head and out from his hair, the water of the Ganges is sacred enough to purify all sins.

Quick Check… Thumbs Up or Down? Hindus believe in salvation after death.

Quick Check… Thumbs Up or Down? Hindus worship in churches.

Quick Check… Thumbs Up or Down? Hindus believe that you can be anything you want in life if you work hard enough.

Countries where Hinduism is practiced… India Nepal Sri Lanka Bangladesh

Now “tell” me what you know. On a sheet of paper, write the following sentence: What I think I learned about Hinduism is… Make a quick list (10?) of words that you think of when you think of the lesson on Hinduism. Now, use those words to write a paragraph explaining what you learned about Hinduism. Make sure you use the topic sentence above to start your paragraph. Have you included all of the words from your list? Give it to your elbow partner to have them circle the words. Care to share?