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Hinduism/Budism
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Brahman | The central divinity of Hinduism, Hindu for a supreme power. |
dharma | Virtue, righteousness, and duty, especially social and caste duty in accord with the cosmic order. |
Hindu | Someone who believes in Hinduism. |
Hinduism | The religion that originated from Aryan practices and beliefs that diffused from Central Asia to South Asia. |
Vedas | A Hindu sacred text. |
Aryans | The group that migrated into northern India in 2000 BCE possibly bringing with them elements of what later will become know as Hinduism. |
Ramayana | One of the two great Sanskrit epics of the Hindus, modeling dharma. |
Sanskrit | an ancient language of India. |
Caste System | A social structure based on birth and connected to the belief in reincarnation and karma. |
polytheism | Many gods in religion. |
reincarnation | A Hindu belief; a cycle of rebirth based on actions (karma) from prior lives that continues until joining with Brahman. |
Barhmins | Society's priests and religious scholars in the Caste System. |
deities | Gods and goddesses worshiped by followers of a particular religion, for example Vishnu, Shiva, Devi in Hinduism. |
epic poems | a long, narrative poem that is usually about heroic deeds and events that are significant to the culture of the poet. |
Ganges River | A sacred river in northern India. |
hymns | a type of song specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities. |
pilgrimages | Holy journeys, Hindus will travel to the Ganges and Saravati Rivers. They will cleanse themselves from sins. |
Karma | A Hindu belief; a result of a person's actions in this life that affects their next reincarnation. |
Moksha | A Hindu belief; end of the cycle of reincarnation when a person joins Brahman. |
Samsara | The cycle of death and rebirth. |
Untouchables | people of the caste system that are at the lowest level considered outside the caste system. |
Siddhartha Guatama | The birth name of the Indian prince who sat beneath a Bodhi tree for 49 days and became the "Enlightened One." |
The Buddha | A Sanskrit word meaning “enlightened”; the name given to the man who founded Buddhism. |
Eightfold Path | Guidelines to living that described how a Buddhist can escape suffering in life. |
Four Noble Truths | One of the first teachings of Buddha that described that life was full of suffering, that suffering was caused by desires, and that the only way to escape suffering was to follow the Eightfold Path. |
nontheism | Rather then the belief in a God or gods, the belief that we are all interconnected to every part of the universe. |
Buddhism | The religion founded by a former prince, which teaches that life brings suffering that one can escape by seeking nirvana through enlightenment. |
Nirvana | Reaching the elimination of the desire of worldly things. |
Enlightenment | Another word for Nirvana: The elimination of the desire for worldly things. |
Historical Origin | Historically how a religion began |
Diffusion | This is how a religion spread around the region and world. |
Central Beliefs | The main belief of a given religion. |
Nepal | The place where Siddhartha Gautama was born and Buddhism originated. |
Indus River Valley | A cultural hearth; the valley in present day Pakistan where the ancient cities Mohenjo-daro and Harappa were located. |
Dalits | In the Hindu caste system, a social class that is "untouchable" and beneath the lowest class. |
Pantheon | All the gods of a people or religion collectively. |
India | The largest nation-state in South Asia, both by land mass and population. |
priests | In the Hindu caste system, brahmins. |