Hinduism: one god, Shiva, with many personalities...correct?!

[ampere]

DS, year 7, has put this in his RE homework- is it correct to say this?

Brahman = one divine entity many personalities. Like facets on a diamond. Or salt in water, you can't see it but is present everywhere.

Hope that helps, Shiva is the Lord of the Dance

So the OP statement is incorrect? It should say 'Brahman'?

Ta!

As FFF says: Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu are the trimurti: the three faces of God, or rather aspects of.

Brahman is indescribable: an absolute, but all tings are aspects of him / her / it.

However that's proper Brahamnistic faith- there is also village faith, a more pared down version (very patronising names I know but they were used by the Oxford Uni bloke lecturing my Uni lecturer so don;t feel quite qualified to change them)- and in village faith many see the gods as entirties as theya re. Village faith also develops new Gods- eg Santosi Ma, whom a stroy about was amde into a film in IIRC the 1960's, and then the Goddess evolved.

So that is the proper answer- depends on who is doing the believing. Oh adn whether the RE Teacher is up on fairly modern theories LOL as my world faith degree is 2008.

Its actually very common for religions to exist in two modes:-

The pattern of belief, which may be philosophically very sophisticated, and the pattern of belief of an ordinory devotee, without the sophistication.

It certainly happens in Christianity. And it is a well established feature of Hinduism.

You get it in Buddhism as well.

Not so sure how it works in Islam.