India Lesson 2

 Identify basic Hindu beliefs.  Explain relationship between Hinduism and the caste system in India.  Describe religions that arose in protest of Hindu practices.

 Do you believe in karma? Why or why not?

 Hinduism (701 m)  Islam (93m)  Christianity (25m)  Sikhism (17m) Sikhism (17m)  Buddhism (8m)  Why are conflicts over religion more heated than those over mere differences of opinion?

 No founder, formal church.  Sacred Texts  Vedas – eternal truths  Upanishads – explains  Epic Poems  Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita  Brahman - supreme universal soul  Assumes 3 forms  Brahma – creator  Vishnu – preserver  Shiva – destroyer  Goal = Moksha. Union with spirit through pure soul.

 The Trimurti

 Reincarnation - Rebirth of soul.  Karma – Every action rewarded/punished  Dharma – duties & obligations  Moksha  Nirvana

 Diwali – Festival of Lights…arrival of winter, New Year  Holi – purify fields for good crop yield

 3,000 + yrs old  Aryans (invaded India) took desirable work, left less desirable to original peoples.  Divided population into varnas –social groups  Born into, stay  Segregation of castes  Restricted  Brahmins – scholars & priests  Kashatriya – rulers & soldiers  Vaishya – merchants & landowners  Sudras – laborers & artisans  Untouchables – menial jobs, outcasts  (Gandhi called “harijan”)

 Indian Constitution outlawed concept of “untouchability”  Problem for modernization  Rural – Very much alive  Urban – Mix castes, may even reject system. Vestiges seen in slums.

 Student- celibacy & preparation for life “student” does not necessarily mean literally in school  Householder- (marriage. Family) can buy things  Hermit (retirement & meditation) Gives up worldly posessions  Wanderer (Complete renunciation of material world. Including all possessions  Elderly

BUDDHISMJAINISM & SIKHISM  Siddhartha Gautama  Left privileged life to find cause human misery  Achieved enlightenment became Buddha  4 Noble Truths  Noble Eightfold Path  3 Baskets of Wisdom  Jainism – emphasize ahimsa (nonviolence).  Sikhism – blend Hinduism & Islam

 Film and Guided Questions

 How does the film expose the look of the caste system?