MMW 11 FINAL (Ancient India)

Key Names and Terms

Indus and Vedic Culture

Indus Valley

• Harappan civilization

• massive, homogenous civilization shrouded in mystery

• largest of the ancient river civilizations

• same time period as rise of Egypt

• reliance on archaeological remains, rather than written works

• writing system similar to cuneiform undecipher

  • importance of textual evidence

Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

• similar size

• identical city layout, yet distanced from each other (hundreds of smaller cities between)

• had walled citadels (fortified high tower) for security and to overlook lower cities

• shared standardized weights and measures for trade

• standardized size of bricks of building

• shared stamp seals

Stamped seals

• used for long distance trade

Indus Yogi/”Lord of Creatures”

• symbols of male virility

• evokes sense of order, stability, strength

Symbolism of the bull

• exaggeration of phallic symbols

• portray sense of order, stability, strength

• along w/ common images of male animals

Lingams*

The Great Bath

• Great Bath rather than temples of tombs

• emphasis on personal hygiene within spirituality

• Relationship between ritual and bating

• !Bathing = purification

• !Representative of well-developed system for drainage

• evidence of surplus and affluence

• sophisticated sewage system

Aryan influx

• pastoralists/cow-herders known for domesticating horses and chariots

• called themselves “Aryo” to distinguish themselves from “lower” people (darker-skinned, diff. languages, non-local)

• marked by war-chariots

• cattle-herders —> cattle-raiders (# of cattle defined wealth/status)

Ashvamedha*

Dravidians

• looked down upon by Ayrans

• became the lowest caste

• indigenous/common culture

• combination of selective adoption and lingering influences

  • Aryans pick and chose which parts of their culture to incorporate with the Dravidians b/c they felt superior

Dyaus Pitar

• celestial god of the sky

• worshipped by the Aryans

• sky was common amongst all since they were pastoralists/on the move

  • god of the sky always w/ them rather than a terrestrial, agricultural god

• stood for peace and stability

Varuna

• celestial god

• remote, transcendental god of order of the world

  • quick to punish those who upset the balance of nature

• god of water

• preserved rita (“the natural and proper order of things”)

Rita or “natural order of things”

• portrayed by celestial gods, Dyaus Pitar, Varuna, Mitra

• ruled by “detached cosmic sovereignty”

Rig Vedas

• oldest and most important of all Vedas

• collection of 1028 hymns transmitted orally over 1000 years

  • focused on how to perform certain rituals

  • “body of knowledge”

• !privileged literacy and rituals of priesthood

Indra vs. Vritra

• Indra: god of thunder and war

  • culture hero of the Aryans

  • celebrated for destruction of serpent “Vritra”

• Vritra: serpent, metaphor for obstacles in life that prevent free-flower

• Indra defeats Vritra by releasing flowing water

Soma

• mushroom hallucinogen associated w/ purification and trance

• gave sense of invincibility

• gained divine status

• ritual drink

Agni

• god of fire

• gained greater prominence in ritual

• fire associated w/ purity

Myth of Purusha*

• Purusha’s self-sacrifice similar to myth of Pengu

• metaphor used to rationalize caste system

Varna system

• social stratification of all Aryans

• Brahmins: priests, mouth of Purusha

• Kshatriyas: warriors, hands of Purusha

• Vaishyas: landowning farmers/merchants/artisans, thighs of Purusha

• Shudras: servants, feet of Purusha

Jatis

• varna is a predecessor of this caste system

• status divided by profession

• people of different jatis cannot intermarry

• !STRICT guilds

Overelaboration of ritual

• sacrifices to gods became more lavish, extravagant

• wealthy were outperforming others in ritual

• enhanced the role of priests

• ritual as spectacle rather than sacred

Upanishads

• The Birth of the Indian Axial Age

• !challenged emphasis on rituals as means to end samsara (endless cycle of rebirth) and achieve moksha (release from cycle, end goal of ritual)

• !shift tor inward-turning spirtuality

Brahman vs. Atman

• Concepts of cosmic, universal “Principle of Reality”

• Brahman: universal soul

  • exists in all things, underlying reality infused in everything

• Atman: individual soul

  • singular

• Achieve moksha by identifying and combining Brahman and Atman

  • ability for individual soul to find place in universal

Sannayasin

• new group of ascetic renouncers

• non-conformist yogis

• spiritual seekers

• renounce household life (career, loved ones, material)

Birth of Buddhism

Siddhartha Gautama

• “Historical” Buddha

• not a deity or god

• choice of becoming a monarch or a Buddha

• raised under monarchy

Bodhisattva

• enlightened being that has not yet attained full enlightenment, but is on the path towards it

• goal is to become a Buddha

Tushita Heaven

• heaven reached through meditation

• where bodhisattvas dwell

• “the great university in the sky”

Kapilavatsu

• ancient city where Siddhartha Gautama was raised and renounced worldly life

Four Encounters

• aging, sickness, death, a mendicant (monk(

• contrasts his view of the “veil of beauty and pleasure”

• first lessons in impermanence

• basically a rude awakening

Symbolic role of Mara

• Mara: “demon” that tempted Buddha during his lowest moments to try and get him to quit his quest to end suffering

  • symbolizes human vices that can inhibit enlightenment

The Middle Path

• moderation that is compatible with human nature in order to reach enlightenment

• do not go to excess, either in extreme ascetism or indulgence of pleasures

• allegory of the over-tight string

  • too tight — strings will break

  • too loose — no music

The “rose-apple tree” recollection

• memory of Siddhartha’s father and priests doing a harvest ritual

• Siddhartha overcome by sympathy towards insects that were hurt during the ritual

• !people all born with compassion and empathy

Law of Dependent Origination

• suffering is dependent on origin, cause, condition

• condition of old age, sickness, dying is REBIRTH

  • continues cycle of suffering

  • need to get out of rebirth cycle to end suffering

• where suffering comes from

Four Noble Truths

1. everyone suffers, inescapable

2. cause of suffering is DESIRE

3. suffering can end by eliminating desire

4. end suffering by following Eightfold Noble Path

Eightfold Noble Path

• path that leads to happiness and freedom of suffering

• having the right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness

• heart of the practice of Buddhism

Dharma (Buddhist meaning)

• Buddha’s teachings

• seeking to decrease suffering

• focuses on the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Noble Path

Sangha

• group of monks that live and practice Buddhism

Angulimala

• “the finger necklace bandit”

• cut off the finger of everyone he robbed and hung the finger on a necklace

• converted to Dharma after a verse that the Buddha gave him

• !example of the redemptive power of Buddha’s teaching and the universal human potential for spiritual progress, regardless of background

Challenge to caste system

• Buddha’s acceptance of Sunita the Untouchable into the sangha

• Sunita in charge of cleaning up filth/night soil of families late at night

• !everyone is the same and accepted in Buddhism

Devadatta’s challenge

• Buddhist monk and cousin of Siddhartha Gautama

• became conceited with worldly gain and fame

• attempts to kill the Buddha 3 times

• tried to gain his own group of followers and to betray Buddha

• created his own faction with stricter rules that prompted higher levels of self-denial in order to compete with sangha

Accepting Chunda’s meal offering

• makes Siddhartha Gautama so sick that he dies

• meal offered out of sincerity

• !consistency of his actions with his teachings

The Perfection of Wisdom

Heart Sutra

• wisdom is the 3rd essential element of Buddhist practice in the Noble Eightfold Path

• Acknowledging the emptiness of 5 conditions leads to freedom from pain

• first preached on vulture peak

• !most familiar of all teachings of Buddha

• !profound and brief

• contains one of the most celebrated paradoxes: “form is emptiness, emptiness is form”

Sunyata (Emptiness)

• “form is precisely emptiness, emptiness precisely form”

• metaphor of flowing river

  • changes from moment to moment, never the same

• external causes, impermanent form

• empty of permanent form and separate self

Five Skandhas

• emptiness of

  • form

  • feelings

  • perception

  • mental construction

  • consciousness

• all are the basis of clinging to existence, which is the cause of suffering

• all contribute to overall conception of “self”

• coexist

“The second arrow”

• 1st arrow: life, state of being hurt

• 2nd arrow: revenge and damage to ourselves or others

• !1st arrow is unavoidable, Buddhism strives to teach people how to avoid the plight of the second arrow

Nirvana (total annihilation of self)

• peak of enlightenment for Buddhists

• blissful nothingness

The story of Patacara

• story reminiscent of Job’s experience

  • lost her husband, children, family

• Buddha’s reminder: “Sister, regain awareness, acquire mindfulness”

• dealt with repeated blows of fate, close to going insane when she comes across the Buddha

Ananda’s important role

• helps Mahaprajapati convince the Buddha to accept women into the Sangha by rephrasing the way they asked him

• Siddhartha’s cousin who attained the first level of realization

• later appointed by Buddha as his permanent personal attendant

Maha Prajapati and nuns

• Mahaprajapati’s request along with 500 noble-women

• Fear that women’s inclusion would lead to defilement

  • could to women distracting men, vice versa

• Decide to follow Buddha and see if he will accept them

• Buddha reluctantly agrees women to practice in order to keep integrity of teachings

  • egalitarian aspect of Buddhism

Eight Precepts for nuns*