Hinduism

Hinduism

1. Body and soul

   • soul is the spiritual part of a human
   • car and its driver
     • car-body
     • driver- soul
     • body cannot function without the soul
     • soul can move away without the body
     • the soul's personality affect the driver
     • soul decide some part of the driver's actions
     • some fail to see the body within
     • driver develop attachment towards the car
     • soul can look after itself
   • soul is different form the body
   • it cannot be pierced or burnt
   • unchanging eternal and conscious
   • soul has no awareness without the body
   • jiva is the embodied soul

2. life after death

   • karma
     • your karma depend on what you become in your next life
     • means actions but referred to the reactions of an activity
     • what you did in your life
     • good karma-you elevate
     • vikarma - degrade
     • akarma - stays the same
     • only decide whether to degrade or upgrade in humans because we are the only beings with conscious and the difference between right and wrong
   • samsara
     • atman stays unchanged during life and continues after death
     • the new body depend on
       • state of mind at death
       • karma
       • the person's desires
     • as one dies the soul in our body reincarnate and enters another body
       • the soul goes through samsara
         • it is eternal and never dies and it has to go through the six categories of life form which is considered painful for the eternal soul
           • he soul would like to receive moksha
             • but samsara continues until the soul follows the right dharma
     • soul tranmigrates and enters another body but it is not part of the body therefore cannot be pierced or burnt
     • jive has physical and mental abilities t control the body and this is different in every tranmigration
     • body wears new clothes, soul wears new body
       • we discard clothes when they become old
       • we buy clothes on the besis of what we need and if we can afford them therefore the same way soul get the next body based on its desires and its karma
       • person wear layers of cloths
         • souls wears the subtle body, ghost body-mind and remains with the soul after death
         • external body
   • moksha
     • Knowledge
       • spiritual knowledge, to understand the relationship between the atmans and brahmin. Religious teache
     • devotion
       • devoting your life to worshipping god and making sure everything you do is offering to them
     • meditation
       • concentrate and connect with brahmin, forget about themselves and reach to the self within
     • good work
       • helping others, giving to charity, doing your own religious duty to the best of your ability.
     • the soul if freed from samsara and joins with brahmin
       • advaita- the souls and brahmin become one and have no difference. it has not got a start or an end. one's mistaken sense of individuality is dissolved and merges with god,
         • drop of water into the ocean
       • dvaita - it merges with bramin but it has its own personality. unit through loving service. liberated from samsara entering god's place
         • parrot and the tree. although it is the same colour it has different personality.
   • varnashramadharma
     • dharma
       • each caste and stage of life needs to follow the right conduct in order to have a good karma
       • household life
         • make money according to the right ethics, protect family , marry, give to charity, teach children, observe religious rituals,
       • student life
         • learn rituals, be celibate, develop cleanliness, study vedas, serve gurus
       • retired
         • devote more time to spiritual matters, engage austerity and penance, go on pilgrimage
       • renounced
         • go on pilgirimage, devote life to god, retain from family, move aways from the living world, control body and mind, depend on brahmin and teach and educate others
     • Varna
       • each varna has its own dharma and has to follow them in order to achieve good karma and move up the system so that you can achieve moksha
       • Brahmins
         • preists and teacher who teach others about god and spread the religion to know brahmin, offer guidance
       • kshatriyas
         • warriors and soldier who look after the community and protect the society
       • Vaisays
         • shopkeepers, merchants and farmer who keep the ecomony going and provide. trade ethically, protect animals and enviroment
       • Shudras
         • serve others and provide labour force, support all others sections of the society
       • untouchables are people who do work that pollute their karma. they need to work and move up in the system in their next life
       • someone to do all the jobs
     • duties performed accroding to the caste system and stages f life
     • individuals have different tendencies for work and show a variety of personalities.
     • Ashram
       • a place of spiritual shelter
       • each stage of life is a time in which spirituality can be developed
       • your spirituality needs to be developed throughout your life in order to gain good karma and that it-student life, household life, retired life, renounced life
   • maya
     • that which is not, illusion
     • accepting lasting values and looking for happiness in this wolrd,
     • it wants to enjoy but serves, greed lust and anger
     • falls deeper into illusion
     • cause the soul to have bad karma
     • being in this illusions it stays on this world and cannot move away from it
   • unattached actions and disinterested living
     • actions done by not thinking of the consequence. to live the right way because it is the right thing to do and not because you are expecting something back
     • understanding of maya helps a hindhu to become unattached and have a disinterested living because they understand that happiness in this world is nothing and the real happiness is when you are with brahmin. this helps them to not greed and what because they will help others with a passion.
       • this leads them to moksha and be with brahmin

3. funeral rites

   • people go to funerals to celebrate the life of a deceased. to respect others, and hope that the person gets a good afterlife.
   • hindhus like to die on the bank of a holy river like river ganges and get cremated there. prayers are said and lamps are lit. the corpse is bathed and anointed with sandalwood paste, shaved if male unless you are a guru.
   • garland flowers are placed
     • procession is help lead by the eldest son usually to mark that the eldest son takes the role as the head of the family
       • body is faced -feet facing south, towards god of death
         • the skull is broken before to free the soul from the body so that it can tranmigrates and the body is burnt,
           • family will wash themslves sympolisign purity and to get rid of pollution from death and to make a new beginning
             • e family will mourn for 12 days and perform the sradda rites to enable the soul to be freed from the state of preda to the house of the ancestors.
               • on the tenth day the priests come and he performs rituals which help the bereaved to go back into normal life - sapindikarma
                 • 10 pindas placed to help the deceased acquire a new body for their next life. after one year shradda rites are performed again

4. hindu rites and helping the deceased

   • cremated and water broken to help the soul move on
   • ashes washed away, bathing in holy water to show that god will wash away bad karma
   • brahmin will save the atman from samsara- cremation takes place by river and prayers are said
   • by river ganges to help the deseased recieve moksha

5. rites to help the bereaved

   • eldest son lead processions and lead many parts of the ceremony showing that he is the head of the family
   • pollution of death- families clean themselves and priest cleanses them showing purity- sapandikarana
   • hanking god for the live - offerings made and prayes
   • celebrate life
   • release atman by cracking skull, saying good bye
   • reinforce traditions