1. What it means to talk about the individual as a personality – uniqueness as a person.

2. Relationship of individuals to family & community and the importance of family and community to the people of faith.

3. How does religion respond to the question of ‘who am I'?

4. SoulWord referring to that part of the human which is shared with the sacred or no soul? Meaning of this and relationship to an eschatology.

The Taitteriya Upanishad Hindu texts meaning 'if you come close to them they will destroy your delusion' offers the Hindu insight on what constitutes a personality. Each individual has physical, mental, intellectual and spiritualA word with many religious connotations, often used to describe a multiplicity of phenomena that would include inner, reflective or emotional experiences, and those aspects of life that give it meaning and depth or which are profoundly moving or aesthetic. sheaths. The thread that links all these sheaths is the 'ego.' The physical traits plus the impressions stored in the mind (mostly in the subconscious mind) become visible as the individual. The ego that helps coordinate these sheaths inadvertently shields from us our true nature which is spiritual.

Translating religious ideals into practice begins in the home. Householders are not only expected to look after their children, but also parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts. They are expected to contribute towards the society in general. This is how they are expected to put religion into practice.

Hinduism states that our essential nature is not the body nor the mind, although we often mistake them as such. The religion teaches that our essential nature is the spirit that percolates through the body-mind complex. The Sanskrit term for the essential Self is AtmanSelf - Ultimate reality manifesting as the 'I' in the individual. Despite the appearance that we are acting in the world, we are essentially the witness and not part of what is being witnessed. There are certain famous Sanskrit aphorisms that capture the essence of this spiritual teaching like 'Tattvamasi' or 'Thou art That' ('That' referring to the Ultimate Reality or GodWord used to describe a personal transcendent Being).

The essential Self is called Atman. When Atman is embodied or linked with a body and mind it is called Jiv-atman which is equivalent to the concept of Soul in AbrahamicReferring to the three faiths of Islam, Judaism and Christianity religions. The Jiv-atman experiences the cycle of rebirthA new incarnation / embodiment of the person . The soul transmigrates during reincarnation. The process is repeated again and again until the individual gains moksha, literally meaning giving up the delusionIn Buddhism one of the Three Fires, the primary causes of unskilful action of being the body and the mind complex and recognising its nature as the spirit. Hinduism does not have eschatology as it insists that the resolution of the human condition has to happen here and not in the hereafter.

Websites

http://www.hinduism.co.za/rajayoga.htm

http://www.hinduism.co.za/reincarn.htm

http://www.hinduism.co.za/soul&its.htm

http://www.vivekananda.btinternet.co.uk/secondary_images/beliefs.jpg

http://www.vivekananda.btinternet.co.uk/secondary_images/practices.jpg

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