religion exam 3

what are the chinese religious concepts that chinese religions (both daoism and confucianism) incorporate

1. animism: everything has an essence/life

2. yin/yang: yin (darkness, shadow, feminine), yang (light, male, positive, yin is always becoming yang, yang is always becoming yin, always changing/flowing, no either/or only both/and

3. filial piety/ ancestor veneration: reverence paid to deceased ancestors, respect for ancestors (both dead and dying), respect for your siblings and family

4. divination: predicting the future (EX: get IChing book (book of changes), shake bag of bones, throw bones on floor, compare pattern to book)

daoism text

tao te ching

text of 5,000 characters that discuss the undiscussable

what is the Tao

giverning principle, indescribable

the way the universe proceeds is based on the changeability of the dao

cannot understand it (if you think you do, you don’t)

IF ASKED TO DEFINE ON TEST, LEAVE IT BLANK

theme of daoism

all human achivement is falley (stupid), especially government

the universe will go the way it wants to go regardless of what the givernment says, so go with the flow

little government allows the universe to live/flow

daoism founder

Lao-Tzu (“old boy”)

during chou dynasty was an archivist (record keeper) in china for the dynasty

decided he was done and left china

went west (to central asia)

approached the border and got stopped by guard who said he couldn’t leave chine until he wrote down his wisdom

he wrote the tao te ching

themes in tao te ching (early daoism)

1. unity in the universe: the Tao exists to keep us rotating around the sun

2. life is your greatest posession: everything you achieve is false, all other posessions are doomed to decay, best to enrich your personal being

3. live your life as simply as you can: be content with the flow, don’t overdo it, govern like you would cook a small fish (don’t mess with it = little government)

4. the pomp and glory are to be despised: shouldn’t be prideful, be humble, don’t desire anything that makes you stand out

later daoism

early: no dieties

Later: emphasis on the idea that life is your greatest posession, created kitchen dieties to help them achieve immortality

daoism immortality

seeked through alchemy

created elixrs that they drank

elixrs made through heating/melting and asking kitchen dieties to grant them immortality (EX: mercury ingested)

seeked through just breathing air

no food/water, just air

seeked through males not ejaculating

seeked through liquid diet

founder of confucianism

kung fu-tzu (confucius)

contemporary of lao-tzu

Confucianism is not…

1. higher beings/dieties

2. sacred writings

3. priests/monastics

4. celibates

5. after life

Confucius life story

only child of a widow

raised to be a teacher

struggled with what good government was

became a tutor and prime minister to put in practice his teachings to create good government

confucianism text

analects

500 sayings from confucius

not scared

5 relationships in confucianism

1. father to son

2. elder brother to younger brother

3. any elder to any junior

4. husband to wife

5. subject to ruler

good relationship: superior is obeyed, but there must be a reciprocal relationship cultivated

Li/Jen/Shu

Li: the owtward proprietor (how the world sees it), ruler is obeyed

Jen: genuine good relationship, inwardly projecting their outward show

WANT LI AND JEN TO MATCH

Shu: reciprocity in relationships, when someone shows li and jen

goal of confucianism

be the superior man

shu

rules for women in confucianism

1. know her proper place in the home

2. don’t speak unless spoken to

3. must be well-kept (pretty)

4. able to fulfil traditional female tasks (sewing, cleaning, cooking, etc)

women are only superior to daughters

who was Mencius

orthodox champion of confucius

set groundwork for education becoming confucianism (which would lead to stable government)

thought humans are good and given the proper environment, all men can become superiot

who was Hsun-tzu

thought all people are bad

need stricter laws and relationships to limit badness

education is about beating the good into people

shintoism

the indigenous religion of japan

shen-tao

the way of the dieties

kami-no-michi

way of the kami

kami

anything with power (everything), personification of natural phenomenon

shintoism is not…

buddhism

confucianism

taoism

amaterasu

the sun kami

most important

ruler of Japan

from Yamato clan (creators of shinto)

what is japan known as

land of the rising sun

what occurred on January 1, 1946

japan unconditionally surrendered to allied forces

end of shintoism as a state religion

shintoism creation/origin myth

2 gods (male: izanage, femals: izanami) (dieties of invitation)

male thrust spear into the ocean to create the japanese islands

their union (sex) created kamis

what do the japanese think of their emperor

the emperor is divine

shinto beliefs

1. everything is a part of shinto (your religious leader is your political leader and diety) (no distinction between religious and political spheres)

2. retiual is more important than substance (doing good)

3. the goodness of nature (nature is infused with the divine and good to people)

4. we all have an obligation to each other

state shinto

1868: emperor Meiji allows 3 religions (shinto, buddhism, christianity) to trade, but if you weren’t shinto, you had to pay a tax to shinto shrine

Maiji believed he was a diety and japanese people were the superior race so japan should rule the world

abolished in 1946: secretarian and domestic shinto arise

domestic shinto

kamidand: shinto altar in the home (“god shelf”)

shimenawa: twisted straw and hanging garland in alters and shrines

shrine shinto

in villages

rituals occur at shrines (structured by season)

movement toward cities has decreased ties to shrines

hatsumode

new years festival

miyamairi

blessings of newborns

shichigosan

festival for blessing girls (age 7 and 3) and boys (age 5)

yutate

ritual preformed at certain festivals

“immersion in hot water”

obon

festival for remembering dead

what is sikhism

syncretism (merge) of devotional Hinduism and mystical islam (muslim)

sikh means followers

devotional hinduism

path of duty to cease reincarnation

brought into sikhism

important aspects of islam (diety, prophet, text, gathering spot, prayer, hadith, holy land, sects, holy land)

diety: Allah

prophet: Muhammad (descendent of Allah) (the chosen one) (the last prophet)

religious text: Qur’an

congregational gathering spot: Mosque

prayer: 5x per day, Friday prayer

Hadith: stories about Muhammad

Holy Land: Mecca (Kaba: center of Mecca, where Muslims pray toward)

Haj: pilgrimage to Mecca

sects: Sunni (muhammas was succeeded by his daughters husband (Ali)), Shi’a (Muhammad successor was first in charge general (Abu Bakr), Sufi (mystical relationship with Allah)

mystical islam

sufi: trying to have an experimental relationship with allah (whirling dervishes (natural dizzyness)), have a mystical relationship with allah, closest sect to sikhism

believe people can have a personal relationship with Allah

sikhs assume if you have a relationship with Sat Nam and devote yourself to Sat Nam you can achieve moksha

sikhism founder

Guru Nanak

founder story

born as a Hindu in Punjab (where Sikhs reside, not an official country)

chose path of duty and his educator was muslim

abandoned bath of duty

disappeared in a river for 3 days and claimed he had a mystical vision of 1 true diety who told him there is no such thing as a hindu or muslim (only 1 god)

his role was to unite these religions

collected followers

sikhism diety

Sat Nam

“true name”

origin of sikhism

Punjab

founder death story

siks born Hindu wanted his body creamated

sikhs born muslim wanted his body buried

Nanak said to place flowers on each side of him and whoevers flowers were still fresh could decide what to do with his body

he put a sheet over himself and died

the next day, his body was gone and only the flowers remained

story knocks down barriers between the 2 religions

sikhism teachings

1. diety is one (Sat Nam) (diety created the universe)

2. humans are the supreme creation (can eat anything, essences only transfer between humans)

3. there is samsara/moksha/karma (achieved through devotion to Sat Nam, karma affects samsara, Sat Nam can help erase bad karma)

4. no rituals (allows for more unity)

5. pacifism (anti-violence, but known for being the fiercest warriors in India)

monism

we are one

diversity is an illusion

you might be subject to another deity, but it is truly Sat Nam

guru definition

leader (military leader)

sikhism text

Adi Granth

human gurus

10 gurus (9 succeeded nanak)

1. guru nanak

2. guru angad (tasked with creating sayings/stories in a text, muslim mongol told him he needed to remove everything that wasn’t in the Qur’an, he refused and was executed)

3. guru gobind singh (last human guru, warrior, armed the sikhs, constructed sikhs into a defense system, created sterotypical sikh image, said when he sied the Adi Granth is the guru)

what are sikhs fighting for

fighting for Punjab

who are the founders of Baha’ism

The Bab: means gate

said his name was Ali Muhammas and was a sh’ia muslim

believed he was the 12th imam (muslim religious leader) and was the gate/pathway to Allah

he was assassinated for believing this

he said someone would follow him who was even more important

Baha’u’llah: means glor of Allah

gathered followers

believed with the ideas of the Bab, sh’ia islam would become a major political force

he wanted to articulate the central message (reach out across distances and unite all people and bring world peace)

he was exiled out of Persia and went to Aku Palestine

Baha’i central message

the oneness of god and the unity of humanity

where did The Bab originate from

Iran

Baha’is manifestations of god

buddha, zoroaster, jesus, moses, muhammad, etc are all manufestations of god

sunni and sh’ia muslims do not agree muhammad as a manifestation of god

this is where Baha’ism strays from an islam sect

Baha’i teachings

1. humanity is 1 family under God/Allah

2. truth is one (not relative, if you don’t believe in the oneness of god, you don’t believe in Baha’i)

3. the message of all religions is the same (this is the truth, peace and goodwill)

4. religion and science (science helps you understand the world, science overrules religion)

5. gender identity equality (all are equal and have the same rights)

6. prejudice should be abolished (all prejudice)

7. peace should be established worldwide (through 1 governemnt)

8. 1 world education system

9. 1 world economy

10. 1 world language

11. designated list of human rights

8-11 are ways to achieve worldwide peace

baha’i temples

7 + 1

one in each continent (then built an 8th)

9 sided dome that symbolizes the 9 word central message

baha’i

all texts (every religion)