Draw your idea of what God looks like.

BRAHMANAllah God

All your pictures look very different, but most of you are probably thinking about the same God.How could that explain why Hindus have many gods ?

One God or Many ?To describe Hindu beliefs

about BrahmanTo explain why Hindus

have many gods. To reflect about whether God in Hinduism is one or

many.

Brahman: the pure eternal spirit, who is present in everything. “It” has no

emotions. It just is.

How is this different from the Christian God?

BrahmanBrahman

BRAHMAN, the eternal spiritis in everything =This belief is called pantheism

1. Explain who Brahman is and how “it” is different from the Christian God.

2. Explain what Pantheism is. Pantheism is the belief that…

3. Draw 4 things that Hindus believe Brahman is present in and label them to show Brahman is in them

* What difference does it make to how Hindus live if Brahman is in everything?

Brahman

Brahman

1. Explain in your own words how the world was made.**How is the story of creation similar or different in Christianity?

Look at this diagram. See if you can work out from it how Brahman creates Brahman

spokeThe first Life-giving vibrations in the universe.

These 3 gods create, keep alive, and & destroy

everything in the world

“Om” creates the Hindu Trinity of gods: •Brahma – the creator•Vishnu – the sustainer•Shiva – the destroyer Each male god has a female partner.

“Om” creates atman: the soul, present in every living creature. The soul is part of Brahman.

Who..

• Is Brahman?• Is Brahma?• Made the OM vibrations?• Made atman, the soul?• Is Shiva? (creator, sustainer or destroyer?)

Meet Barbara. She has many roles: wife, mother, engineer, businesswoman, student, cave explorer. This photo shows her different roles.

Are there 5 Barbaras, or just one ?

One God, Brahman.Many roles

ONE PERSON, MANY ROLES

1. Draw someone you know. Label all the different roles they do. 2. Write out and complete this sentence: “There are many g___ in Hinduism, but Hindus only believe in ONE God, B________. All the other gods are roles of Brahman. For example, I only have one mother but….**Why do you think it helps Hindus to “break down” Brahman into different roles?

Think about your mother. How many “roles” does she play in her life ?

You alone are our mother and father

You alone are our sibling and friend

You alone are our knowledge and well-

being

You alone are everything to us

My Lord, my lord.

Whatever god Hindus are worshipping, they will always finish with this prayer:

This suggests that they were, after all, praying to One and the only God.

Family Tree

Use the picture and information on the sheet to construct your own family tree of the Hindu Gods.

Try and answer the question: why do you think Hindus like to show their gods with superhuman qualities eg 4 heads or many arms ?