Hinduism beliefs

• Nirguna brahman


  The idea of divine consciousness that is beyond human understanding, limitless and everywhere, present in all beings
• Saguna brahman


  The idea that God takes form to help humans understand an aspect of God, these manifestations are endless and represented by many different gods and goddesses
• Three key features of God


  • Exists everywhere as a non-personal God
  • God within the heart (antaryami)
  • God is beyond, personal and loving
• The Upanishads represent the idea of the endless, limitless nature of God
• Trimurti


  The three main aspects of Brahman: Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, Shiva the Destroyer
• Avatars of Vishnu


  • Appear on earth to restore Dharma and justice when there is too much evil in the world, the final avatar is believed to be Kalki who will destroy all evil
• Krishna


  An avatar of Vishnu, a role model for Hindus representing duty and heroism
• Rama


  An avatar of Vishnu, a role model for Hindus representing bravery, virtue and strength, central to the Diwali celebrations
• Four key male and female deities


  • Ganesh (remover of obstacles)
  • Hanuman (strength and devotion)
  • Lakshmi (learning and music)
  • Saraswati (wealth and beauty)
• Time


  Cyclical, the universe is repeatedly created and destroyed
• The universe is one of many 'bubbles' floating in space, there are many different universes being created and destroyed
• There are many different creation stories and understandings of the features of the universe within Hinduism
• Time


  Cyclical, without a starting or ending point
• The universe is repeatedly created and destroyed
• Universe


  One of many bubbles floating in space
• Components that things are made of


  • Spirit
  • Matter
• Cosmology


  The idea of how the universe began and the nature of the universe
• There are many universes, each created differently
• Structure of the universe


  • Mount Meru at the center, with heavens above and hells below, and 14 worlds making up a multiverse
• The universes contain diverse inhabitants, not just humans
• There are many different creation stories in Hinduism
• Rig Veda: 'Who really knows, who will here proclaim it, whence was it produced, whence this creation? The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe. You there knows whence it has arisen?'
• The nature and specifics of how the world was created is unimportant, as no one knows exactly how it happened
• Yugas


  The four ages of time in Hinduism, each shorter and more corrupt than the last
• We are currently in the most corrupt of the Yugas, and at the end Vishnu will appear as the avatar Kalki to remove evil and start a new golden age
• Matter and Spirit


  Everything in the world is made up of either matter or spirit, with spirit being considered more important
• Atman


  The spiritual part of the self, more important than the physical body
• Tri-guna


  The three qualities that shape matter
• Maya


  The illusion that makes us believe the material world is real
• Moksha


  The goal for Hindus, to be reconnected with Brahman by escaping the tri-guna and realizing the truth
• The aim is to overcome the tri-guna, realize the material world is an illusion, and focus on the spiritual
• Tri-murtis


  The three stages of matter: creation, maintenance, and destruction
• The tri-guna tie us to the material world and make us believe it is real, but this is an illusion