Here's the link to the
Shared Hindu Principles Presentation.
Each of you will teach the class about the relevance of the principle or concept to modern Hinduism. Some of the ideas are relics of the past, some are easy to attribute to modern Hindu ways of life.
You must address certain ideas in your work:
1. What strategies can you use to determine the relevance of the information you have gathered? For example, if two information sources contradict each other, how might you determine which is more reliable?
2. Name and explain at least two points of view that you should be considering in your work.
3. In what ways does globalization increase the need for us to learn about the belief traditions of Hindus in Canada today?
4. How does your principle of Hinduism depict the life journey of a Hindu?
5. How do the older beliefs conflict with the pressures of modern life?
6. How would your principle affect the conduct and behaviour of Hindus?
(Carissa) - Atman - the human soul,
inseparable from the universe, in fact part of the universe. Christians,
Jews and Muslims believe that the soul will enter Heaven (or Hell) after death,
while Hindus believe that the soul will live on as part of creation.
___________________________
(Alanna) - Reincarnation - Hindus believe
that the soul does not cease to exist after death. Rather it lives on in
another life form after death.
___________________________
(Blair) - Samsara - Hindu belief
that reincarnation happens over and over again - this endless cycle is called
Samsara
___________________________
(Zoe, Celine) - Maya - the temporary
and imperfect nature of the physical world. Because matter in the
universe is constantly recycling through different forms, all life is caught in
this endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth . . .
___________________________
(Katie, Landry) - Moksha - liberation from
the endless cycle of birth, death, rebirth (Samsara) and to reunite Atman with
Brahman. This is the ultimate goal of Hindus.
___________________________
(Sarah S., Meghan) Karma - balance between
good and evil in one's life. A person's actions on earth will affect the
reincarnation of a person - a person who lives a good life (on balance) will be
reincarnated in a "higher" life form, and vise versa.
___________________________
(Jaz, Sasha, Oriana, Sarah F.) - Paths to
Salvation - the way to "salvation" - how one attains
Moksha - is to follow at least one of these paths. These ways of life all
contain good deeds, meditation, understanding holy scriptures, etc.
These are the
FOUR paths to Salvation
Bhakti Yoga - path of
DEVOTION. A simpler path, it involves showing love towards personal
deities, providing a lifetime of opportunity to worship Bramah in a concrete
way. This is not an abstract way of life lived in one's mind, but a way of life
involving regular worship of deities as a way towards Brahman.
Karma Yoga - path of
ACTION.lifestyle of good deeds and good thoughts should lead to good Karma.
Jnana Yoga - path
of WISDOM. This is a challenging path requiring a guru to guide.
The nature of Braham and the nature of the Universe are what followers
will gain. This understanding should lead to the insight needed to
achieve salvation.
Raja Yoga - path of
MEDITATION. Hindus can achieve salvation by thinking deeply about
Brahman, particularly if you are able to reach a trance-like state - it
requires years of training and discipline to achieve.
___________________________
(Hannah, Tahira) - Dharma - code of moral
duty. The idea of living a "good life" towards other people, in
two ways:
Two types - Sanatana Dharma -
eternal religion, applies to all people on earth regardless of group that they
may be a part of.
Varnashrana Dharma - applies
to people specific to their status in society or specific to the group to which
they belong.
___________________________
(Karoline, Curtis, Kiera) - Caste System - how
Indian society has organized itself into several classes (castes). Once
born into a caste one cannot move up or down to a higher or lower caste.
Brahmin - the highest
class containing priests, religious elders, teachers of rituals and
spirituality. Goals are knowledge and education. Elites in society
are often Brahmin.
Kshatriya - Warrior and
Ruling class. Often run society, maintaining and leading society.
Known as physically courageous and showing traits of leadership.
Vaishya - Merchant class,
including farmers, focussing on wealth creation and business. Often
thought of as entrepreneurs.
Sudra - lowest class,
servants class, farm workers, basic tradespeople, working class.
Untouchables - outlawed in
modern society so there is no longer an "untouchable" caste, they
were considered the lowest of the low classes doing jobs of butchery, cleaning,
jobs that no-one else would consider. Because they were committed to a
lifetime of poverty it was considered too unfair to keep untouchables in that
caste so it was outlawed.
__________________________
(Samantha S., Stephen) - Caste System Today - there are
legal bans on discrimination based on caste, class, religion, gender, etc. in
the modern India of today, so the Caste system has fallen out of practice and
favour.
__________________________
(Andrew, Samantha H.) - Four Stages of Life -
represents the social aspect of Karma, in a general sense. These cover
actions and responsibilities of living a good life.
Stages are:
Student - learn
discipline and knowledge and respect
Householder - to
marry and have a family and to provide for them
Forest Dweller -
give up duties to the rest of the family and participate in
religious pilgrimages
Ascetic - to give
up worldly, material life and to live a life of meditation consuming only a
bare minimum
__________________________
(Breanna, Scott, Mackenzie, Lindsay) - Four Aims or Goals of
Life - as way of life, Hindus follow a personal value system
to meet their spiritual and material needs.
Dharma - conducting
one's life with the absence of greed, compassion towards all living things.
People are supposed to act with humility in all of their actions.
Artha - earning money
honestly to provide for one's family. To acquire wealth and power is fine
but it must be done honestly and without harming others.
Kama - pursuing love and physical pleasure, meeting basic
human needs.
Moksha - leading a life
towards salvation through honesty and morality.
__________________________
