Religion+India

Classical India Religion
 * Buddhism:
 * Developed In the millennium after the Aryan migrations into India.
 * 4 noble truths: all life=suffering, attachment=suffering, getting rid of attachment= end of suffering, follow the eightfold to nirvana.
 * Dharma: life path.
 * Karma: fruits of one's behavior and actions in previous lives. Led to the caste that the soul would be born into the next reincarnation.
 * Faithful disciples became monks and spent their lives achieving nirvana.
 * Accepted women and untouchables as followers and taught that they were capable of nirvana.
 * Rejected life styles of both the Brahmans and the Brahman ascetics who practiced extreme body mortification.
 * “He favored introspection and self-mastery over ritual” (Stearns 132)
 * Didn’t approve of the caste system
 * Believed that everyone was equal
 * Hinduism
 * Followed the Vedas
 * HIndu scripts
 * 4 stages of Hindu life: student, house holder, world renounce, holy man.
 * Moksha!
 * Getting rid of all duty and responsibility
 * Release of everything
 * Rules:
 * Stick to the caste system
 * Brahmans->warriors/governments officials -> merchants-> peasants->untouchables
 * Can't move up or down caste.
 * Dharma: life path determined by a person's birth
 * those who did not accept their caste positions became outcast
 * Kharma: merits earned in previous lives
 * The Son does dad's job.
 * Eat and marry with class.
 * You were never allowed to leave your family's caste
 * Women of all caste were treated worse than men
 * Family Fortunes were only passed down from father to son. So women couldn't inherit property.