Hindu Beliefs

About The World

We will know definitions for: Brahman, karma, reincarnation, atman and ahimsa

We will have thought about how Hindus see the world and how they show respect for it

What is respect?Who or what do you respect?

How would you show someone or something that you respect them?

Karma is the law of cause and effect. Hindus believe that good actions lead to good karma and bad actions lead to bad karma. The kind of karma a person has will affect what they become in their next life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQusBiTmZ8c

Can you think of some examples of good and bad karma?

Hindus believe that every being is reborn many times. When the body dies, the soul is born again in a new body.The soul is called the ATMAN.If you have lived a good life you will be reincarnated as something better, like a soldier or a priest.If you have lived a bad life you will be reincarnated as something worse, like a servant or even an animal.

Hindus have great respect for all living things because everything has an atman (a soul). Hindus believe it is wrong to harm living creatures because this is BAD KARMA and disrespectful to the creature’s soul.

Ahimsa means non-violence. Hindus try to practice ahimsa in their lives and believe that it is wrong to show violence towards other living creatures. Many Hindus are vegetarians because they believe it is wrong to killand eat animals.

Cwk December 2008

Hindus believe in one ______who has many different forms. __________ is the name for God. Hindus believe that each person has many________ and that when they die, they are __________. Even though the body dies, the_______ or soul is eternal and lives on. A person’s next life depends on whether they have good or bad ________ from their previous life. Hindus also believe that __________ towards other living creatures is unacceptable because all _________ have souls. Non-violence is called ________.

atman ahimsa karma God creatures Brahman lives reincarnated violence

Hindus believe that all animals have a soul (atman) just like

humans. In fact, all humans have probably been animals at some

point because everyone is reincarnated many times. Hindus therefore have great respect for

animals and practice ahimsa (non-violence) towards them.

*Hindus generally believe in ahimsa, which means non-violence.

*However, if a person is born as a warrior, Hindus believe it is their duty to fight.

*There is a famous Hindu story about this. Arjuna, a warrior, does not want to fight in case he kills his friends and brothers, but he is persuaded to do his duty by Krishna, who is God in a human form.

1) Hindus believe that how you behave matters because…

2) Hindus believe that death is not the end because…

3) Many Hindus are vegetarians because…4) Hindus might be opposed to animal

testing because…5) Hindus would usually oppose war

because…6) However, Hindus believe that if you are

born as a soldier…

We will know definitions for: Brahman, karma, reincarnation, atman and ahimsa

We will have thought about how Hindus see the world and how they show respect for it