Humanities Flashcards
Karma
Karma is the universal principle of cause and effect. Hindus believe that actions, both good and bad, come back to us in the future, helping to learn from life’s lessons and become better people. (Hinduism Today)
Dharma
Dharma is the role you should play based on the given reality and the life you are in. In Hinduism, dharma means “duty,” “morality,” and “virtue.” This refers to the power that upholds the universe. Your obligations to dharma depend on your age, social position, and gender, Therefore, each person has their own dharma called “sva-dharma”. Once you achieve your dharma, you achieve the ultimate goal in Hinduism: Moksha.
Moksha
Moksha is the liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth known as samara. It is the ultimate goal of Hindu religious practice. (Georgetown University, Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs)
Brahman
Brahman is a power that supports everything in life and is the supreme truth and being. According to the BBC, “Brahman is a Sanskrit word which refers to a transcendent power beyond the universe.” (BBC) Some translate Brahman to ‘god,’ but there is a difference between the two. Nobody worships Brahman, but some worship deities that are manifestations of him.
Atman
Atman means ‘internal self’. You have a core part of yourself called Atman, and it doesn’t disappear when you die. It goes into a different reality and another life/identity. There are many different views and ideas of Atman. Still, the main theme is that it is the spiritual part of someone’s self and core and after moksha your atman’s will all fuse, your atman may be one lake flowing into the oceans so even you are the south lake and someone elses atman is the east you will all be in the same ocean and won’t be able tot ell where you came from. .
Samsara Reincarnation
Hindus believe that the soul is immoral and takes birth time and time again. Through this process, the soul has experiences, it learns lessons, and evolves spiritually. Finally, the soul graduates from physical birth. (Hinduism Today)
Henotheism vs. Polytheism vs. Monotheism- what is the best description of Hinduism? Why?
Monotheistic - belief in one god
Henotheistic - Believes in one god but acknowledges other gods as well.
Polytheistic - Belief in many different gods
The best description of Hinduism is Henotheistic. Brahman is the supreme truth, but hindus acknowledge the deities and gods in other religions that have attributes of Brahman.
How do Gods/Goddess connect to the concept of Brahman?
Brahman is known as the one supreme being and is the universal and supreme truth. The connection between the two is that Brahman created everything, and the gods are more of a form of Brahaman. For example, if Brahman is everything and is the supreme truth, Ganesh is more of one of its attributes of Brahman.
Why are there three gods highlighted below? What do they represent?
The three gods represent the cycle of life; this is called Trimurti. For example, life starts with creation (Brahma), then when you live your life, it is preserved for a certain amount of time (Vishnu), and lastly, When you die, your life is destroyed because it no longer exists (Shiva).
Brahma
Brahma created the world and everything in it. In statues, Brahma has 4 heads and arms.
Vishnu
Vishnu protects and preserves the earth, and many think he comes to Earth at the most troubling times. Vishnu is often shown as a human body with blue skin and four arms; some branches of Hinduism worship Vishnu as the supreme god or the only god.
Rama (an Avatar of Vishnu)
An avatar of Vishnu and the protagonist of the Hindu poem Ramayana. Rama is revered as a paragon of virtue and morality.
Krishna (an Avatar of Vishnu)
An incarnation of Vishnu one of the most popular Hindu deities and the main character of the Bhagavad Gita, and is the god of love. He is usually portrayed as a child and is known as a prankster.
Shiva
Shiva’s role is to destroy the universe so Brahma can recreate it, this is to get rid of the imperfections in this world.
Ganesh
Elephant-headed god, who is known as the remover of obstacles. There is a holiday celebrating his birthday.
Durga
Durga is the god of victory. She has ten arms to allow her to hold many weapons and she rides on a tiger.
Hanuman
A monkey-type god known for assisting Rama in the book Ramayana.
Agni
The name Angi means fire, and Lord Angi is the Vedic fire deity of Hinduism.
Surya
The god of the sun and is pulled on a chariot by horses.
Holi
Holi is the festival of colors and love and is celebrated with colorful powder often thrown on clothes. It celebrates a good harvest and happens in spring. Gujiya and Bhang are two foods often eaten at the celebration.
Ugadi
Celebration of the Hindu lunar new year and lord Brahma created the universe on this day. It is celebrated in the month of Chaitra which is around March or April. It is believed that if you are happy on Ugadi, the rest of your year will be happy.
Onam
Onam is a harvest festival that is celebrated between early August and late September, but many celebrate the return of King Mahabali, the demon king. This celebration is very rich in culture and is a big holiday for the state of Kerala. It is a ten-day long holiday with many different games, like a boat race, and many different decorations like a pookalam which is made out of flowers and has many designs.
Pitru Paksha
Pitru Paksha is a holiday about your ancestors. Pitru Paksha is celebrated according to the lunar calendar, so the length of Pitru Paksha and how long it lasts changes. There are stories about this place called Pitru Lok. A place where ancestors and whispers of the ones that have passed lay troubled. On Pitru Paksha, it is the people’s responsibility to release the ancestors from despair by offering various things. There are rules on Pitru Paksha such as, you can’t use iron, you shouldn’t try new things -marriage, a new house or a new car, you should help and feed other animals, you should follow the satvik diet- (similar to veganism), certain food that is in the diet should still be avoided.
Makar Sankranti
Makar Sankranti is a four-day-long celebration commemorating the sun god Surya and is known as the celebration of the harvest. This holiday honors the end of winter and the beginning of spring. A lot of Hindu people like to bathe themselves in what’s considered holy water to wash away all their bad deeds.
