Hinduism & Buddhism Test Review

Caste system

-Castes are assigned by birth
-Your caste determined your job, who you could marry, who you could eat with
-Cleanliness became the most important aspect of caste

Bhagavad Gita

The most important work of Indian sacred literature, a dialogue between the great warrior Arjuna and the god Krishna on duty and the fate of the spirit. The story is about assigned duty and destiny.

Omm

the sounds of the universe; the essence of all things; the Origins of all things

Moksha

The Hindu concept of the spirit's 'liberation' from the endless cycle of rebirths. Can attain it from:
Way of knowledge (Jnana)
Way of Karma: complete selflessness
Way of devotion & love (Bhakti): experiencing pure love towards the gods
Raja: controlling the mind; meditation, yoga, breathing exercises

Trimurti

Brahma (the creator)
Vishnu (the sustainer)
Shiva (the destroyer)

Vedas

-Earliest sacred texts of Hinduism
-Oral traditions written down
-Compiled assorted texts:
Hymns to various gods
Instructions for sacrifices
Spells for everyday life

Brahman

-The universal soul
-True reality
-The ultimate reality underlying all phenomena
-All things not Brahman are illusions... everything we see is a part of the illusion

Samsara

the cycle of reincarnation

Atman

a little bit of Brahman inside of people; our personal, eternal soul

Intuition

"we can come to know things through intuition, ours and that of wise men before us"

Hindu tolerance and Hindu intolerance

-Hinduism is tolerant of other faiths & accept all religions as true
-They are intolerant to converts (those leaving the Hindu faith)

Fire sacrifice

-earliest characteristic in Hinduism;
-people would have fire rituals for multiple things including warding off evil influences, for good health, to cancel negative energies, for self-confidence, etc.
-the Vedas claimed that this ritual "strengthened the gods" who then "strengthened the world"

Similarities between Hinduism and Christianity

-Moral teachings promote moral lives
-There is life after death
-There is an "eternal individual soul" inside of every human being
-Spiritual devotion, action, and knowledge are all good

Differences between Hinduism and Christianity

-God is not everything; he created everything
-Morality is based on God's righteousness
Hindu morality is almost entirely subjective
-In Christianity, scripture judges our experience
The bible serves as a firm source of truth
In hinduism, experience validates the sacred texts
-Sin and Salvation are real in Christianity
Not just "bad karma" and "moksha"
-Christianity involves God genuinely interacting with time and space
Hinduism rejects time as a substance

Hindu thoughts on evangelism

they are non-evangelistic and encourage people to follow their own religion and not try to convert people from one religion to another

Karmic justice

promises perfect justice and reward for all action

Three (four) yogas

Jhana (knowledge), Karma (obedience), Bhakti (action), Raja (meditation)

Ganges River

the holiest river to Hindus

Gods in Hinduism

"hyper-polytheistic" with over 300,000,000 gods

Namaste

Tradition Hindu greeting which means "the God in me greets and meets the God in you"

Syncretism

the merging of different religions or schools of thought

Hinduism and woman

they see women as lower incarnation state; having children=good karma, but you are mistreated if you are a widow or single

Gandhi

This was a leader of the Indian independence movement in mid-20th century known for his nonviolent protests; he said "God is truth. The way to truth lies through non-violence."

Four Noble Truths

1. life is suffering
2. the cause of suffering is desire
3. the cure for suffering is to remove desire
4. to remove desire, follow the Eightfold path

Concepts shared between Hinduism and Buddhism

reincarnation, karma, escape from reincarnation

Anatman

"no self"; a permanent self does not exist; we are an ever-changing self

Buddhist thoughts on evangelism

Evangelism is a natural and immediate response to the Gospel

Theravada

Individuals must find the way to Nirvana on their own; Theravada Buddhism has been a much smaller movement and is only practiced by intense monks in SE Asia (Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand). "Small raft"

Mahayana

Others -especially the Buddha and bodhisattvas- must help the individual find Nirvana. "Large raft"

Pure Land

Buddhism in China that focuses on being reincarnated in the "pure land"; cooperates well with Daoism and other native relations

Zen

Buddhism in Korea and Japan that focuses on "nothingness" meditation; they sometimes use beatings and riddles to focus the mind

Tibetan

Buddhism in Tibet and Nepal; most political and mystical; the face of this type of Buddhism is the Dalai Lama

Soka Gakkai

-also known as Nichiren Buddhism
-they chant the phrase "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" which answers the questions "Who am I?" & "Where am I?"
-they say that chanting empowers, improves, and focuses their lives

Story of Siddhartha

Sheltered from outside world, went out one day saw an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and an ascetic monk; he could not understand how bad life was, and so he became an ascetic but gave up after many years, he sat under a bodhi tree and meditated but then found enlightenment after finding the middle path.

Buddha's final words

"decay is inherent in all things; work out your salvation with diligence!"

Buddhism and the nature of reality

The Buddha saw the world as it truly was, without ignoring the real pain and suffering of humanity, The World is Real and Rational, Though Buddhism is at its core an atheistic belief system, its view of reality is somewhat pantheistic, We are in a rational - not illusory - world filled with pain which we produce ourselves by bad karma.

Buddhism and what is a human being

The Buddha's Three Marks of Existence:
-Anatman (no Atman) - "no self"; a permanent self does not exist; we are an ever-changing self
-Dukkha: suffering; dissatisfaction
-Impermanence: we are all passing away and changing with the universe

Buddhism and intuition

Buddhism is much more suspicious of the self in comparison to Hinduism; Intuition looks too much like desire

King Ashoka

Built thousands of stone pillars with Buddhist teachings carved into it and sent Buddhist missionaries all over Southeast Asia

Nirvana

The state of englightenment for Buddhists; "extinguished; blown out"

Desire

they believe desire is the cause of suffering

Eight-fold path

1. Right View
2. Right Intention
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Concentration (Meditation)
8. Right Mindfulness

Asceticism

avoiding all forms of comfort and worldly pleasures

Budda and the gods

Budda isn't a god and they don't worship any gods; they are an atheistic religion

Siddhartha's four sights

1. old age
2. sickness
3. death
4. an ascetic monk

The three poisons

greed, hatred, ignorance

Bodhisattvas

"buddha-to-be"; has attained enlightenment but chooses to remain in the world to bring enlightenment to the world

Dukkha

suffering and dissatisfaction

Dalai Lama

The face/leader of Tibetan Buddhism, a lifelong bodhisattva