Upanishads

Brahman (2 meanings) 1- A concept found in the Vedas and Upanishads. A Sanskrit word for the ultimate reality/principle in the universe. 2- Top of a caste system which include priests. Bhagavad Gītā- A Hindu scripture written in Sanskrit. It is a part of the Mahabharata. The Bhagavad Gita is a story of Arjuna and the difficult decisions he has to make. Thus he is guided through them by Krishna. Buddha (word meaning and historical figure) The meaning of buddha is one who has been awakened…

Like the sun, the transcendental Reality is experienced by the mystics of all ages as life-giving and radiant. It is life itself. As one Upanishad sage put it long ago that it is by the power of that Reality that the sun and all myriad other stars do their work. Silence is not merely a discipline, rather, it is a primarily a state of being. It is in through and as silence that we discover…

The Gupta Dynasty had an advanced empire that was based on Hinduism. Hinduism is a religion that has no specified founder and the people who practice the religion believe it has always existed. Hinduism is polytheistic, meaning they worship more than one god. Three gods that Hindus worship are Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva. These gods are responsible for the creation, sustenance, and destruction of the world. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is in charge of the preservation, Shiva is the destructor of…

instead. He believed that if you focused on his teachings a supreme being was irrelevant and didn’t matter. Moreover, Buddhism and Hinduism had different things they were trying to achieve. The Buddha’s teaching helped people attain Nirvana. Whereas, upanishads in Hinduism helped people attain Moksha. This contrast is due to the fact that the Buddha didn’t believe that a person's soul would be reincarnated infinitely, instead he thought that the soul would reach a state of…

RE Essay – Ani Gemmill Hinduism and Catholicism couldn’t be more different however when it comes to the belief in life after death many similarities occur. In both religions the concept of life after death is based on a higher being or God in which they aim on returning to. (e.g. Brahman for Hindus and God for Catholics.) When Hindus die they believe in the concept of samsara meaning death and rebirth. They live their next life through karma. Catholics believe when they die they will go to…

Around 700 BC the Upanishads along with the development of the Vedanta developed a more philosophical focus. After this near 500 BC, several new beliefs rose from Hinduism with Buddhism and Jainism as the most significant. The Upanishads are a gathering of stories similar in many ways to the Jewish Talmud. One story that is often told is about the father who had a conversation…

A. Geography and the environment greatly impacted influenced Indian civilization. But if India’s location, it was closer and was more easily accessed by the Western civilizations. This caused the development of a lot of trade and a merging of Western and Indian culture. India was an agricultural civilization, so it was dependent on the climate to grow food. Monsoons are common in India’s climate; therefor it had a huge impact on the amount of crops they could produce. Also, because of India’s…

present in Buddhism as both strategies envision humans as having a soul. Therefore as a whole the quest that was religious Hindus is to start the search for the soul and Brahman. Close to Buddhism, although perhaps not emphasized as strongly, as the Upanishad provides Hindus with meditational ways…

The Bhagavad Gita is a summary of the Upanishad, which in turn is a summary of the 4 Vedas. From the Bhagavad Gita we learn that our goal as a human being is to connect to god and merge with him once we die, because out of the 8.4 million species, we are the only ones that can reach him. Lord Krishna tells us that to reach him we need to perform do our duty for the greater good and dedicate our work to him. We also have to meditate and make sure all our actions are Satwic. Your actions should be…

there was? … But where was this self, this inmost essence within everyone, this ultimate principle” (6)? During this part of Siddhartha’s life, he already has the knowledge to understand that there is more to life than what is said in the vedas and upanishads; the people who said or wrote these had experienced more. These questions inspire Siddhartha to become a Shramana. After practicing this lifestyle for three years, he see Gotama, and affirms to the fact that knowledge and wisdom are…