HInudism

• Brahman is the Hindu name for God or Supreme Being.
• Nirguna Brahman is God/the Supreme Being as a spiritual presence only.
• Saguna Brahman is God/the Supreme Being shown in form.
• Yoga is a practice that includes four paths or practices: karma yoga, which is performed through actions; jnana yoga, which is performed through study of scripture; raja yoga, which is performed through meditation; and bhakti yoga, which is performed through devotion to worship.
• Man is one with the ONE.
• When a man knows God, he is free: his sorrows have an end, and birth and death are no more.
• Hindu thinkers debate whether the atman achieves moksha by a person's own efforts, or by the grace, through Brahman or another deity.
• When in inner union he is beyond the world of body, the world of the spirit, is found.
• The Om or Aum is the sound and symbol of Brahman.
• In truth Brahman is all.
• Brahman exists everywhere, as a non-personal God, called Brahman.
• Brahman is within the Heart of everyone, called antaryami, meaning ‘the God within’.
• Brahman is a personal God or Lord, called Bhagavan and approached through many different deities, living in the spiritual worlds called Vaikuntha.
• There are three main aspects of Brahman: Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Preserver; Shiva, the Destroyer.
• Brahma faces north, south, east and west because he is responsible for all of the created world.
• The Vedas are the earliest Hindu scriptures and Brahma is guided by them.
• The spoon in the Trimurti symbol represents a sacrificial ladle used in worship.
• Brahma is responsible for offerings during worship.
• The mala in the Trimurti symbol is a string of beads used during meditation.
• The water pot in the Trimurti symbol represents the water of life, which was responsible for the beginning of creation.
• Brahma is the creator of all, the Guardian of the Universe, and from him comes all life and mind, space and light, air and fire and water, and this Earth that holds us all.
• Brahma is also the creator of the moon, the rain, and all herbs that grow upon earth, oceans and mountains, and all rivers.
• All this universe is in truth Brahman, he is the beginning and end and life of all.
• The Vrindavan Forest Project aims to protect and restore the forest.
• In the unfolding of his own nature, God makes all things blossom into the ONE, the only God who rules the universe.
• Again and again, praise to the Goddess who is in all beings in the form mother.
• Each person has a fourfold dharma, or duty, towards family, society, the world and all living things.
• The bull is the animal on which Shiva rides and is a source of power.
• Dana includes selfless service (sewa) to those in need.
• The Chipko movement was inspired by women who hugged trees in the 1700s to try and stop them being cut down for fuel.
• The Vrindavan Forest is important to Hindus as they believe that Lord Krishna (the avatar of Vishnu) lived in the forest in northern India.
• Even as the radiance of the sun shines everywhere in space, so does the glory of God rule over all his creation.
• Hindus look after cows that are old, in India, there are retirement homes for cows that are old called goshallas, and charities to care for them.
• One of the commonest forms of giving is sharing food with others, known as anna dana.
• Most Hindus are vegetarians because: killing animals for meat causes them to suffer, their breath which is used for uttering Holy scriptures, should not be linked to the killing of animals, animals are part of the life cycle and should not be harmed.
• Industrial development in India meant that the forest was under threat in the 1980s.
• Praises to the Mother, pervading the entire world.
• Caring for the poor is an important part of Hindu dharma.
• In 1974, a group of peasant women in India hugged trees to protest about them being cut down.
• Dana is the duty to give to others, this applies to hospitality and kindness, as well as money.