The Hindu/Buddhist Worldview
Ancient India
Hindu Worldview
- Atman - The divine self
- The portion of God that is within each person
- Impersonal and eternal
- Dharma - Sacred duty
- The duty of every being to fulfill their divine purpose
- Dharma is determined by one's place in the caste
- Caste - Strict social division based on birth
- Brahmin - Spiritual and most honorable level
- Kashatriya - Warriors and rulers of society
- Vaishya - Merchants and agricultural members
- Shudra - Common laborers
- Progression from most to least intellectual
- Karma - Deeds and actions
- The dharma of your caste determines one's karma
- It is better to do your dharma poorly than to do another's
well
- Samsara - Cycle of births
and deaths
- The atman is manifest in a continuous cycle of rebirths
- Place in the caste is determined by karma
- Avatar - Human manifestation
of God
- Krishna is one of many avatars of Vishnu
- Vishnu - The Sustainer
The Buddha's Awakening - Siddhartha Gautama 563-483 BC
- The First Sermon - Four Noble Truths
- Dukkha - To be is to
suffer
- Samudaya - Cause of suffering
is desire
- To eliminate suffering you must eliminate desire
- Transcend to the middle where change ceases
- Like the center of a spinning wheel
- To achieve this you must follow the Eightfold Path
- Nirvana - Awakening under
the Bodhi Tree
- Suffering as the unrelenting state of humanity
- Adam and Eve eat of the tree of good and evil
- Christ's crucifixion as reconciling the sin of Adam at
the tree
- The tree that caused man's suffering becomes the
vehicle for redeeming man's sin
Humanities
Resource of Mark Hunter