Religion Final

moksha

• Hinduism

• literally means release

• spiritual liberation

• goal is to escape the cycle of samsara (birth & rebirth)

vedas

• Hinduism

• sacred texts

• contains all of Hindu sacred scripture, hymns, gods

bhakti yoga

• Hinduism

• more popular

• done more by common people (versus other yogas done by priest and renouncers)

• devotion to one of the gods

• big focus on story telling

• karma

castes

• Hinduism

• division of levels

• people cannot change caste during lifetime

• being in upper/lower determines your job, where to live, and who you marry

• present day = caste system is not followed, but can still have affect

halacha

• Judaism

• Jewish law

• return to God by obeying the law

• includes the:

  • Torah = Jewish bible

  • Mishnah = commentary of Torah

  • Talmud = expansion of Mishnah

orthodox judaism

• Judaism

• extremely obedience/match

• strict on law

• defend Torah & tradition

• only male Rabbi

• service only in Hebrew

• Male & Female separate

keshrut

• Judaism

• laws of what foods Jews can eat and how it is prepared

• No fish that have scales/fins, birds that eat grain, mammals that have split hooves, meat & dairy combined

• animals intended for food need to be killed in human way that drains their blood

• meat & milk cannot be eaten at the same time together

• Rabbi needs to inspect the place where food is made

• no cross contamination

passover

• Judaism

• in the spring time

• reminder that Israelite children saved from death before their escape from Egypt

• first night = special foods

  • matzo (flat bread) to symbolize no time to let bread rise before they had to escape

  • bitter herbs to represent suffering

  • egg for new life

  • fruit/nut mixture for mortar they used to build pyramids

  • wine for joy after escape

impermanence

• Buddhism

• do not believe in permanent, unchanging soul

• everything changes

• truth of change

anatman

• Buddhism

• no soul, no self

• even the self is always changing

mahayana buddhism

• Buddhism

• popular

• Buddha is supernatural

• egalitarian

• bodhisattvas (those who reach enlightenment & help others to achieve nirvana

• devotion

protestant reformation

• Christianity

• from Martin Luther who protested against what he saw as abuses in the Roman Catholic church which led to reformation = protestants

• many different protestant churches

• has own minister

  • man or woman, single or married

• importance of reading & understanding the bible

trinity

• Christianity

• holy trinity

• father, son, and holy spirit with God at the center

• all three represent God, but they are not a representation of each other

• God is the father, son, and holy spirit but:

  • father is not son

  • holy spirit is not father

holy communion

• Christianity

• ritual that remembers the Last Supper disciples had with Jesus

Paul

• Christianity

• most important man after Jesus - was not one of his disciples

• has vision of Jesus and converts to Christianity

• spreads message of Jesus

• converts Romans to Christianity

Sawm

• Islam

• one of five pillars of Islam

• fasting during Ramadan (month which the angel first appeared to Muhammad)

• Muslims do not eat/drink from dawn to dusk each day of the month

Jihad

• Islam

• striving to do things in God’s way

• Muslims may struggle against their own bad thoughts/ways

• teaching that violence should only be used in defense

Muhammad

• Islam

• he started the spread of Islam

• receives a revelation and continues for 23 years which he memorized and did not right down

  • later known as Qur’an

• is not successful in spreading the word in Mecca

• succeeds in spreading the word in Medina

khalsa

• Sikhism

• fellowship ritual

• story where guru Gobind Singh asked followers who would give their heads for their religion

  • 5 volunteers followed inside a tent and public heard slashes and guru Singh coming out with a bloody knife

  • he later revealed that no one died, these were the chosen 5 disciples

• represented a “baptism” to become khalsa

• two main rules:

  • loyal to community/vow/defend

  • obey/wear the 5 K’s of khalsa

kesh

• Sikhism

• one of the 5 K’s of khalsa

• need to have uncut hair/beard

• must keep natural order of hair

• men would wear turbans to keep hair neat

guru Granth Sahib

• Sikhism

• known as the last guru, but is not a person, it is a BOOK

• followers treat it as a human

• eternal guru of Sikh community

• contains hymn/poetry to god

• authored by gurus & others

lotus sutra

• Soka Gakkai

• chanting sacred mantra

• derived from Buddhism by Japanese man Nichoren Shoshu

• personal transformation & human revolution

• practice = peace & success

Mary Baker Eddy

• Christian Science

• established this religious movement after healing experience

• believes anything material is an illusion

• time & reality is spiritual

• prayer is a science

Jehovah’s witness

• Christian/Western

• stick to their own translation of the bible

• Jesus is the creation of God

• there is no holy trinity

• spread faith house to house

• refuse military work, politics, blood transfusion, no observation of Christian holiday

thetan

• scientology

• concept of soul & reincarnate

• founded by Hubbard and he said you need to undergo training to seek release of thetan from blockage (engrams) & restore to clarity

secularism

• New age spiritualism

• idea that religion replaced by secularism

• separation from religion

• separate church and state

chacras

• New age spiritualism

• part of holism of body & spirit

• from Hinduism philosophy

• energy system within body if balanced & open then maintain a good physical/mental well being

nones

• New age spiritualism

• those who do not identify as having any religious affiliation

• are atheist/agnostic, do not consider religion important, are spiritual but not religious

Problem of Hinduism

• samsara - vicious cycle of life, death, and rebirth

• unfinished cycle

• no rest for the soul

Solution to Hinduism

• moksha = release

• spiritual liberation

• goal is to escape samsara by:

  • loving union with personal god

  • merging to personal divinity (Brahman)

  • paradise either at Vishnu/Shiva home

Techniques to Hinduism

• the 3 yogas

• karma - action, perform ritual correctly, duty in society, Hindu priests follow

  • typically practiced by priests

• Jnana - wisdom, study Upanishads, enlightenment, knowledge is greater that ritual

  • typically practiced by renouncers

• bhakti - devotion, devote to one of gods, big focus on stories, karma

  • most popular and practiced by common people

Problem of Judaism

• exile is the worst thing to happen

• leaving their land = distance from God

• EX. Babylonian exile

  • came and destroyed land, take Jews to be slaves

Solution to Judaism

• return

• return to god by obeying the law

  • Torah, Mishnah, Talmud = Halacha (jewish law)

• return to land

  • immigrate back to Israel and rebuild

• return to community

  • keep together with rituals & sense of community

  • no shared belief

Techniques to Judaism

• obey law & keep holiday

Problems of Buddhism

• Dukkha = unsatisfactory

• does not require you to feel bad, but life just has dukkha

• why?

  • because attachment to desires/material change

  • anything you love changes, even the self changes

Solution to Buddhism

• nirvana = blowing out/free from attachment

• extinction from thirst, grasp, crave

• awaken to the world/realization

• ends the cycle of samsara (reincarnation)

• can be achieved in lifetime, do not have to die to achieve

Techniques to Buddhism

• noble 8 fold path

• follow the right view, thought, speech, action, work, effort, mindfulness, and concentration

• mindset is not for stress relief but to awaken the truth of impermanence

Problem of Christianity

• sin

• going against God’s will

• consequences is distance from God, conflict, exclusion from heaven

Solution to Christianity

• salvation through Jesus

• two types:

  • individual = death of Jesus pays the price for forgiveness, resurrection, and heaven

  • cosmic = Jesus saves the world from satan

Techniques to Christianity

• “right belief” tradition, orthodoxy

• catholics = need to do good works & faith in Jesus to be saved

• protestant/evangelist = need to have faith alone to be saved

• achieve salvation through: forgiveness of sins, sacraments, approach to God(holy trinity)

Problem of Islam

• self-sufficient, think you can do all things on your own

• humans born pure/good to God

• humans become evil not because of sin but forgetfulness

• need to remember the key is that you are not self-sufficient, only God is self-sufficient

Solution to Islam

• submission to God by two ways:

  • faith

  • works

Techniques to Islam

• 5 pillars of Islam

  • shahada = faith declaration that God is one and Muhammed is messenger

  • salat (prayer) = 5X prayer

  • hajj (pilgrimage) = need to go to Ka’ba, Mecca at least once in their lifetime

  • zakat (donation) = 2.5% of accumulated asset donated to poor, community support

  • sawm (fasting) = during Ramadan no food from dawn to dusk

Problem of Sikhism

• haumai = ego

• said that people are born looking to God but then into mirror at self

• pride

• causes 5 thieves = lust, anger, greed, attachment, pride

• makes you forget oneness with other humans & God

Solution to Sikhism

• union with God

• release from ego

• remember union with God & divine

Techniques to Sikhism

• kirat karni = work hard

• wand cahkna = service/volunteer

• naam simran = meditation on divine name

  • repeat name 100X and have union with God

• God’s grace = God helps achieve