NAME: ______DATE: ______PER: ______#: ______
THE ROOTS OF HINDUISM ACTIVITY SHEET
***Remember the following essential question as you complete the different activities (hint hint)*** EQ- How does religion shape our beliefs and attitudes?
Each reading will help complete certain tasks and questions. The tasks are contained in your packet and the same title that appears below will also appear on the worksheet you will fill in.
VOCABULARY – Complete Vocabulary Sheet (In Your Vocabulary Section) BENCHMARK LESSON – How do we use religion? Why does it exist? Lesson will be given Thursday – Readings will be Available to Complete Activity BACKGROUND HISTORY Read EITHER reading NOT BOTH: Aryan Civilization - has a sun in the top right corner means the reading is above grade-level and a little more challenging. Conquest by the Aryans - has a star in the top right corner means that the reading it is at your grade-level.
SOCIAL HIERARCHY & RELGION - Reincarnation and Treatment of Others Hinduism 101 “Dharma, Karma, and Moksha: This Life and the Next” The Complex Caste System India’s Untouchables
CULTURE & RELIGION - Practices “The Hindu Home” “Shedding some Light on Diwali”
RELIGION - Gods & Goddesses Hinduism 101 HINDUISM- VOCABULARY
DIRECTIONS: Complete this vocabulary sheet. All of the words can be found in the readings as you complete activities.
Vedas A collection of Aryan prayers, hymns, and other religious readings
Sanskrit Ancient written language of India
Aryan Means “noble” or “highborn” Also- Indo-European nomadic herders caste Social class in India polytheistic Believing in or worshiping MORE THAN ONE god or goddess monotheistic Believing in or worshiping more only ONE god or goddess avatar The representation of a Hindu god or goddess in human or animal form
Upanishads Means “sitting near a teacher” The Upanishads are a Hindu religious sacred text reincarnation Rebirth of the soul Dying and being born again in a different life-form dharma The religious and moral duties of each person according to their caste, age or gender ahimsa To practice nonviolence, because to Hindus, all things are part of brahman and therefore should be treated with respect karma A collection of good and bad deeds a person performs in a lifetime moksha When the soul is free from the cycle of death and rebirth and is then one with the brahman brahman A single, all-powerful force, one Supreme God, and is present in all things and comes down to earth in the human form of an avatar Benchmark Lesson: RELIGION AND CREATION MYTHS In the absence of modern science, religion helped ancient people to explain the unexplainable things in life and in the world.
List some things that these creation myths (or stories) have in common:
Water is mentioned
Land is created after water
The phrase “in the beginning” is used in several of the myths
The things in the universe all come from a god and are part of him
The god/creator is perfect
“nothingness” or “emptiness” was mentioned in all
What are the ways that modern science explains the events that happened in these creation myths? Example: Modern science tells us that the sun is the center of the universe and does not move, but that the earth spins and moves which creates day and night for us and gives the impression that the sun is going up and down. In mythology, the sun going up and down is explained by a god pulling it with his chariot.
Example: Modern science has a theory that single-celled organisms were the first forms of life on earth and formed in the oceans. Then through evolution we have all the plants and animals that exist on our planet today. In mythology, a god created the animals and plants and water and moon and stars almost as if it were magic. Civilization Wheel Part: SOCIAL HIERARCHY & RELIGION – Reincarnation and the Treatment of Others
DIRECTIONS: In the space below, create a social pyramid with the 5 castes with their Sanskrit names and some examples of the jobs performed by each group.
HELPFUL READINGS: Hinduism 101 “Dharma, Karma, and Moksha: This Life and the Next” The Complex Caste System India’s Untouchables
BRAHMIN- Priests & Teachers of religious traditions
KSHATRIYA- Warriors Defenders of the kingdom
VAISHYA- Herders, farmers, artisans, merchants
SUDRA- Manual laborers & servants
UNTOUCHABLES- “impure” jobs- digging graves, cleaning streets, tanning hides into leather Civilization Wheel Part: SOCIAL HIERARCHY & RELIGION – Reincarnation and the Treatment of Others
DIRECTIONS: Answer the following questions in Complete Sentences.
HELPFUL READINGS: Hinduism 101 “Dharma, Karma, and Moksha: This Life and the Next” The Complex Caste System India’s Untouchables
1. How does having such a strict class system affect the relationships people have with one another? Answers might look something like: Strict class systems affect relationships because they tell people who they are allowed to talk to or associate with and who they are NOT allowed to talk to or associate with. They also tell you who you are allowed to marry and what job you are allowed to do.
2. How does having such a strict class system affect the daily life of the people in Ancient India? Answers might look something like: The people of India have interaction with the same class of people everyday. They are trained from childhood to perform the job that is assigned to their caste and to perform their dharma. They learn not to talk to people “below” them and to be happy with the life that they were born into because they are there for a reason.
3. How does “dharma” justify, or make the caste system fair? Answers might look something like: Dharma is the religious and moral duties one is supposed to perform while they are alive and it depends on the social class that they are in. Dharma tells people in a particular caste how to treat others in other castes which makes people accept how they, themselves, are treated so it seems fair.
4. Describe the Hindu belief of reincarnation. How might this belief justify treatment of the lower castes? Answers might look something like: Reincarnation is the rebirth of the soul; a cycle of death followed by rebirth. Hindus believe that every living thing has a soul and that when a person dies, the soul is reborn in the body of another living thing. The caste you are born into is the result of how good or bad you were in your previous life. Therefore, it justifies the treatment of lower castes because Hindus believe that you must deserve to be in that lower caste because of something wrong you did in your past life and you deserve to be treated poorly now.
5. Do we have an “unofficial” caste system in the US? How? Answers might look something like: We do have an “unofficial” caste system in the United States because using the word “caste” implies that there is no movement between social classes, either up or down. In the US we like to think that people have the ability to move up in social class (to go from a poor family to grow up to be the President or to be someone like Bill Gates) however, most people stay in the same social class that they are born in and rarely have a better life than the one provided for them by their parents. There are exceptions, certainly some people are able to do much better than their parents, but it is unusual. Civilization Wheel Part: RELIGION - Gods and Goddesses
DIRECTIONS: Fill in the graphic organizer below with the names of the 3 most important Hindu gods and some information about what each one does/is. Also Answer the question below?
HELPFUL READINGS: Hinduism 101
brahman-- the all powerful Shiva- Brahma: force The creator- The destroyer He created earth (sometimes also and everything on creates after it. destroying)
Vishnu: The preserver- kindly and concerned- protects humans from disaster
Is Hinduism monotheistic, polytheistic or both? Explain your answer. Answers might look something like: Many people think that Hinduism is polytheistic because there are many gods, but it is NOT. Hinduism is monotheistic because there is only one god, “brahman”, which is the all powerful spirit which lives in everything, including the gods that come down to earth in human form (avatars). Those millions of gods that exist in Hinduism are really all brahman.
(This is similar to the monotheistic Christian believe that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are not separate, but are all just “God.”) Civilization Wheel Part: CULTURE & RELIGION- Practices
DIRECTIONS: The Hindu religion shapes the daily lives of its followers. Using “The Hindu Home” describe three daily activities that are affected by being Hindu and explain how each activity is related to the beliefs of the religion. Then use “Shedding Some Light on Diwali” to answer the questions below.
HELPFUL READINGS: “The Hindu Home” “Shedding some Light on Diwali”
ACTIVITY #1- Each Hindu home has an altar where family worship called puja is performed in which the family worships the god of their choice who is represented on the altar by a small idol, a picture, or an object such as a stone taken from a sacred river. ACTIVITY #2- A mother and father wake up early and wash themselves. This is related to the belief that water purifies a person and readies them to prepare the sacred altar and the food, flowers, incense, and fire to be offered to the god during the day. ACTIVITY #3- A father’s puja worship takes different forms depending on his caste, his wealth, his special god, or the region where his lives. He has five daily obligations: to make offerings to the gods, saints, ancestors, spirits, and guests.
1. What can the festival of Diwali tell us about Hinduism (even if you didn’t know anything about this religion at all)? ______2. What is the purpose of Diwali? Diwali is celebrated for anew beginning and Hindus worship the goddess Lakshmito bring them prosperity (good fortune and wealth) in the new year. The main religious significance of Diwali is to forgive and forget, to clear the mind of evil and reflect over the past year's events. 3. If you are Hindu, explain how your family celebrates Diwali. If you are not Hindu, do you celebrate any holidays like this one? EXPLAIN. ______