Hinduism

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Aryan Invasion

Aryans

• Tall• Light skinned

• Warriors

• Herders

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The Vedas

• Oldest known literature

• In Sanskrit• Were oral traditions

that were eventually written down

• Resulted from a combination of Aryan and Dravidian beliefs

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Brahman & the Hindu Trinity

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Brahma

• The creator

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Vishnu

• The preserver• The source of love

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Shiva

• The destroyer of ignornace

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Other Hindu Gods

Parvati• Is married to Shiva• Had a child, Ganesh

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Other Hindu Gods

Ganesh

* The remover of all obstacles

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Hindu Cosmology

• Everything in the universe is a manifestation of Brahman

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Maya

• Illusion• Delusion• To think of oneself as

separate from all things

• To lose sight of the fact that one is a manifestation of Brahman, of God

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Atman

• The “soul”• Is eternal and

unchanging• It is Brahman• It is what is

reincarnated• It seeks self-

realization

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Salvation - Moksha

• One is no longer reborn – to be released from the cycle of death and rebirth

• Consciousness reunites with Brahman

• The Hindu concept of Heaven

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Law of Dharma

• The rules and guidelines one must follow in their current incarnation

• Was determined by one’s karma in their previous life

• It is better to do one’s dharma badly than to do another’s well

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Samsara - Reincarnation

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