Discuss the Hindu concepts of Atman and Brahman. Explain the notion of Hindu enlightenment (Moksha), and how Atman and Brahman relate to enlightenment.

Journal Assignment 1

Journal Reflection 1 (label a, b, c for each section in your paper)

For this Journal Reflection assignment, you should:

(a) Discuss the Hindu concepts of Atman and Brahman.

(b) Explain the notion of Hindu enlightenment (Moksha), and how Atman and Brahman relate to enlightenment.

(c) Find two different examples from everyday life that help illustrate how an understanding of these three Hindu notions (Atman, Brahman, and Moksha) would change the way people act or behave. These two separate examples must be specific recent events (i.e. from the past six months) from the news (choose a news story from: CBS, ABC, CNN, NBC, FOX, BBC, or NYT only; a link to the story must be included for each). So you might consider, as just one example, a news story directly related to the coronavirus pandemic, such as people who refuse to wear masks, etc. Be sure your examples are not too general, and that you explain the examples before going on to apply the three concepts to each. The idea is, from the lens of Hinduism, how would a devout Hindu (as described in the textbook) approach the specific case that is discussed in the news article (again, with special reference to each of the three Hindu notions of Atman, Brahman, and Moksha). Your personal views are not required (you should just apply Hindu concepts to the examples) and be sure the examples are appropriate and do not directly mention any religion or any religious concepts we are studying.