World Religions Exam 1

Religare

to bind

Paul Tillich

Religion as ultimate concern, believed that religion is an aspect of the human spirit, but when it makes claims of its own it is silenced or thrown out

Karl Marx

Religion is an opiate for the masses

Sigmund Freud

Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires

Shamans

intermediaries between humans and the spirit world, called by their people for psychic abilities in visions

Axis Mundi

refers to a symbolic “center of the world” where heaven, earth, and the sacred intersect, grounding a community’s sense of cosmic order and spiritual connection

Avatar

Coming down to earth

Archetypal Avatar Story

birth in rustic setting, surrounded by miracles, wise person predicts greatness, evil king tries to kill baby, works miracles as adult, has child before embarking on mission, dies and returns to heaven

Asian Sages

Wise person who speaks eternal wisdom, authority lies in inherit wisdom rather than god’s word, Buddha, Mahavira, Confucius, Laozi

Middle eastern prophets

Prophet speaks on behalf of deity, person who foresees the future, Muhamad

The first principle

Energy, does not create in the fashion of gods or direct history, or fate

The vedas

oldest sacred hindu text, knowledge

What are the four sections of the vedas?

Rig, yajur, sama, atharva

Rig Veda

songs on truth, reality, and cosmos

Yajur Veda

Rituals and Sacrificial Rites

Sama Veda

Songs dedicated to praising gods

Atharva veda

curses and charms

Rishis

saw mantras and transmitted them to their disciples as oral tradition

Dharma

righteousness, justice, faith, duty

Vishnu

One of the three forms, has 10 avatars including rama and krishna

Ramayana

popular Hindu epic that narrates examples of fulfilling one’s dharma

Hanumen

Flying monkey (rama’s friend)

Rama

Prince, avatar of vishnu

Sita

wife of rama who is kidnapped

Bhakti

Devotion

Upanishads

foundation texts of hinduism

Karma

Action, must do karma that fits our dharma

Samsara

Cycle of life and death

Moksha

Freedom

Atman

soul

Brahman

the only reality, ultimate god, atman

Trimurti

trinity, three forms of one god, suggest creation preservation and destruction

What are the three forms of Trimurti

Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the preserver, shiva the destroyer

Vishnu

one of the trimurti, 10 incarnations, 7th incarnation was Rama

Shiva

does NOT have any avatars, creator and destroyer, creative energy

The Mahabharata

Hindu epic, depiction of the kurukshetra war

The Bhagavad Gita

tells the story of War between pandavas and kauravas, told as a conversation between prince arjuna and krishna

Three ways of liberation

Action (karma), knowledge (jnana), Devotion (Bhakti)

Brahmins (priestly varna)

exclusively teach the vedas

Ashrama

for the males from the three highest classes in society

What is the first stage of ashrama

student hood, concentrate on learning

What is the second stage of ashrama

Householders, young man repays debts to society, supports family

What is the third stage of ashrama

forest dweller, life of retirement

What is the fourth stage of ashrama

Ascetic, owns nothing, relies on others, seeks spiritual enlightenment

Swami Vivekananda

believed that western science could help india in their material progress and that Indian spirituality could lead the west to enlightenment

What was the first sight

suffering old man, reveals impermanence over time

What was the second sight

A sick man, vulnerability is a present reality for all

What was the third sight

A dead man

What was the fourth sight

An ascetic monk, monks isn’t owned by suffering

Dukkha

suffering, unsatisfaction or unease, no one escapes it

The eightfold path

the fourth noble truth, Right: understanding, thought, speech, conduct, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, meditation

The great departure

siddhartha flees with five students as wandering ascetics

Nirvana

freedom from craving, no rebirth

Three characteristics of existence

Suffering, anatman, impermanence

Anatman

without atman, without eternal and unchanging self

Dependent Origination

the truth of cause and effect, movement from past to present and future life

The tripitaka

three baskets

First basket of tripitaka

Sutra Pitaka, or “discourse basket,” contains talks on dharma from Shakyamuni or his early disciples

Second basket of tripitaka

the Vinaya (“discipline”) Pitaka: rules of monastic discipline & stories on how Shakyamuni instituted each rule

Third basket of tripitaka

Abhidharma (“further discourses”): Pitaka contains 7 books by unnamed Buddhists who analyze every aspect of reality.

Bhikshus / Bhikshunis