Religious Studies 1023E Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Lux, Four Noble Truths, Dukkha
15 Oct 2014
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Beliefs of shramanas (1) the world is eternal and uncreated, and thus there is no such thing as a creator god (as hindus believed). (2) the hindu vedas were not divinely revealed" but rather written by ordinary men. (3) vedic sacrifices are useless for attaining salvation (while gods did exist, they were incapable of helping us achieve spiritual liberation). (4) animal sacrifices in particular, and for that matter all violence against living beings, was an abomination and contrary to spiritual advancement. (5) the class/caste system was merely man made, and had no religious or cosmic justification (this proposition mainly manifested as an anti brahmin sentiment). (6) world renunciation should be undertaken whenever a person is so inclined one should not wait for old age, as the laws of manu suggested. (7) daily ablutions, i. e. bathing in tanks, pools, or rivers, did not wash away sins (as.
