Hinduism: End of Life

Ashrama- Stage in life.

Atman- The belief in the soul which is part of every living thing.

Cremation- Ceremony where a body is burned after death.

Dharma- Duties .

Funeral- A ceremony where a dead person is buried or cremated.

Ganges- River in India. Hindus believe if the dead are scattered there they will gain good karma.

Immortal- When something cannot end. E.g. the atman.

Pyre- Fire which a body is burned on during a Hindu cremation.

Reincarnation- Being born again in flesh.

Samsara- Continuing cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

Tulsi- Leaf which is placed in a dying Hindu’s mouth to purify them.

Varna- Class a Hindu belongs too.

Yama- God of death.

Karma- The consequences of your actions, good and bad.

Meditation- Hindu practice to connect their body and atman.

Moksha- Escape the cycle of death and reincarnation. Ultimate goal for Hindus.

Morality-Distinction between good and bad behaviour.

Mortal- Something which will eventually die. E.g. our bodies.

Near death experience- Transcendent experience of a person who has died and then resuscitated

Body is the material shell that carries the atman

Body is changeable and imperfect

Body will eventually die, it is mortal

Atman is the spiritual part of us all

Atman is unchangeable and perfect

Atman is immortal, it cannot die it will move from one body to another

Atman has the potential to achieve Moksha and be re-united with Brahman

Varna: social class

Ashrama: stage of life (e.g. child, retired etc)

Dharma: duties This depends on what ashrama and varna you are in.

Therefore for Hindus to achieve Moksha they must complete the dharma that is relevant to them according to their Varna and ashrama

Hindus believe that by behaving morally they will speed up the path to Moksha.

•  Hindu’s believe that the atman collects karma
• In order to achieve Moksha (Hindu goal in life) they need to have no bad karma, in other words have led a good life
• It can take many life-times to achieve this

How does this affect their behaviour?

• A Hindu might be more likely to lead a morally good life, e.g. give to charity and work hard so they can gain good karma and be re-born into a better next life or achieve moksha itself
• Hindu’s might believe that a person lives in poverty because they are being punished due to bad karma collected in a past life