Why Do Hindus Want to Be Good? Ahimsa Respect for All Living Things and Avoidance of Violence Towards Others

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Key Vocabulary: Key Question: Why do Hindus want to be good? Ahimsa Respect for all living things and avoidance of violence towards others. Artha The pursuit of wealth or material advantage; providing for family and society by honest means. What should I already know? Ashramas Any of the four stages of life through which a Hindu ideally will pass. - Hindus is a very diverse religion Atman Inner soul or self. - Most Hindus believe in reincarnation (when the soul Brahman Hindu God, the ultimate being. Hindus believe that there is a part of Brahman returns to the physical realm after a person dies) in everything. - Hindus believe in a complete way of life known as Dharma A Hindu’s religious and moral duty. ‘Sanatan Dharma’ Karma The result of a person's actions as well as the actions themselves. - Hindu families in Britain will often have a shrine at home, with murtis Mahabharata The story of Mahabharata (The man in the Well) warns Hindus that they should pay attention to finding the way to escape the cycle of birth, death and - Hindus have daily worship called ‘puja’ rebirth. Moksha The release from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Punusharthas Four aims of life that Hindus believe in Reincarnation The rebirth of a soul in another body. Samsara The cycle of birth, death and rebirth that Hindus believe in. Satya The Sanskrit word meaning ‘truth’ Mahatma Ghandi – a respected political and spiritual leader of the 1900s. Dharma means truth, the right way of living, and human behaviors Why do Hindus want to be good? considered necessary for the order of things in the world. There is no single- word translation for dharma in Western languages. The Purusharthas are the inherent values of the Universe. They include Artha (economic values), Kama (pleasure), Dharma (righteousness), and Moksha (liberation). They help Hindus to create a satisfyingly balanced, meaningful life. Karma is what happens to a person, happens because they caused it with their actions. Karma is about all that a person has done, is doing and will do. Karma is not about punishment or reward. It makes a person responsible for their own life, and how they treat other people. Karma symbols such as the endless knots (shown above) symbolize interlinking of cause and effect. Moksha is the ultimate goal of personal spiritual development for some Artha is the security of having the material comfort you need to live in the world with ease. While some schools of Hinduism. In the Sanskrit language, "moksha" means freedom. it people think that to be spiritual means to be poor, Artha is not about rejecting the world, but being content is as a state of eternal bliss and emptiness. It is the goal of Hindu with the things you own. It’s to live skillfully in a world of material objects that exist for your benefit. practitioners to achieve Moksha..

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