Hindu Creation Account Flashcards
What is the Hindu term for soul?
Atman
What is the Hindu term for the cycle of death and rebirth?
Samsara
What do Hindus believe happens to them after they die?
Their atman leaves their body when they die to be reborn into another form?
What are some different beliefs within Hinduism about death and rebirth?
Some believe rebirth happens directly after death, while others believe may exist in other realms for a time.
What two realms may the atman enter before rebirth?
Swarg (heavenly realm)
Narak (hellish realm)
What determines the atmans rebirth?
Good or bad karma. Good or bad actions in life will lead to positive or negative merit, which will determine the form their atman inhabits.
Hindus believe people can be reborn as humans or animals. Only the worst of people are punished through birth as an insect or lower life form. Some believe that humans may only be reborn in animal form if their atman has repeatedly failed to learn lessons in human form.
What are the hindu sacred texts?
Vedas
Where do Hindus worship?
Temples
What is henotheism?
Worship of one god without denying the existence of others.
What is the Hindu creation story?
Vishnu sleeps in the coil of a serpent (Ananta shesh) in a vast ocean, with a lotus growing from his bellybutton.
Brahma is on top of the lotus.
Vishnu encourages Brahma to create the universe with all he has.
After Eons of meditation, Brahma hears a sound, ‘om’. The sound of creation. Sacred ‘om’ spelt Aum.
Splits the lotus into 3, heavens, sky and earth. Fills the earth with living things.
He formed male and female after several years.
List the 3 main Hindu demigods and the supreme Godhead.
Brahma, creator
Vishnu, maintainer
Shiva, destroyer
Everything goes back to Brahman.
Where does living life lead to according to Hinduism?
Moksha
‘The atman becoming absorbed with Brahman, from where each atman is believed to originate’
What is Moksha like?
Atman achieves complete contentment, separating from human desires and ambitions.
This is why death in Hinduism is not seen as something to mourn, but to celebrate!
