Religions of the World: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Atheism

The Axial Age

transformative movement from preliterate narrative to literate theorizing

Aryan Culture

Nomads (moved around) where they travelled light around 1500 BCE.

Harrapan Culture

They were not nomads. They built cities and permanent settlements, which is why they were invaded by the Aryan Culture.

Sanskrit

language considered to be the root language of Europe. Indo-European language (for example: English)

forms of Hinduism

• Vedic Hinduism

• Upanishadic Hinduism

• Devotional Hinduism

3 Seprate Sacred Tests

• The Vedas

• The Upanishads

• The Bhagavad-Gita

  All were written in Sanskrit

Moksha

Liberation from samsara (to stop suffering)

Samsara

The wheel of death and re-birth (reincarnation)

• reincarnation is a bad thing in Hinduism because it is believed that in Hindu culture live is suffering

Maya

Illusion

• We live our lives in illusion, so that is why we are stuck in samsara. If we live in illusion we will reincarnate.

Yoga

Helps to maintain Moksha. The point of yoga is to enable physical postures to meditate. Through meditation, we can dispel illusions.

Atman

Soul

Karma

The weight of all of our past actions, good and bad, in any given incarnation. The state of our karma determines how we will be reincarnated

• have children increases good karma

Mohandas Gandhi

• assassinated at the age of 80, and when he died his last words were “Rama,” which is the God he was devoted to

• was referred to as the Mahatma, which is “Great Soul”

• He achieved Darshan (liberation)

• when he died, he was placed on a bed of flowers and was processed down to the Ganges River, surrounded by millions of Hindus

• it was a blessing to be in his presence because he achieved liberation.

Ganges River

• The most sacred river in Hinduism because it is where the ashes of those who have been cremated are thrown.

• Goddess Ganga

Agni

• means Ignite

• the most important of the gods; it is the god of fire

Brahman

Ultimate Reality

• When you give up living in Maya and obtain Moksha, you will experience Brahman (achieve ultimate reality) if you practice Upanishadic.

Shruti

The Vedas written by the Gods

Smurti

The Vedas written by Humans

The Vedas

• The Vedas (means knowledge): knowledge of the Gods and Goddesses; are a vast collection of stories, poetry, hymns, and legends.

• a product of Aryan Culture

Avatar

• Original Hindu term: refers to the various forms a God or Goddess can take

• appearance

Vinshnu

• A God that takes 10 different Avatars

• One of the most popular/famous is Krishna

The Rig Veda

• the oldest and largest of the Vedas

• Contains directions for priests for their various rituals

• specific set of rituals for Agni (God of fire)

• Aryan Culture acknowledged priesthood as their leader.

The Caste System

1. Brahmin: Priesthood

2. Warrior

3. Merchant

4. Peasant Cast

   • Each cast is called a Varna

Untouchables

• not part of the caste system

• the result of having very bad karma

• Go by the name “The Dalit”

• belief is that you get what you deserve

What determines the Caste System?

• the Karma determines what you are born into

Philosophical Hinduism (The Upanishads)

• Stop living in Illusion.

• The Upanishads: secret teaching.

• Brahman: Impersonal cosmic energy of the universe

• Core belief: Atman=Brahman

• Our soul participates fully in Brahman.

• More karma is living in more illusion

Conceptual Knowledge

rational everyday knowing

Correspondence theory of truth

thoughts correspond with reality

coherence theory of truth

thoughts are logically consistent

conceptual confusion

basic confusion

• taking a multiple choice exam and getting the answer wrong or being stuck between two answers

conceptual ignorance

i dont know

perceptual knowledge

Reality is unconditional by conceptual knowledge

perceptual confusion

project your version of reality on others inappropriately

• when you mistake your thoughts about reality for Reality

pereptual ignorance

we simply just do not know

Guru

to give guidance in achieving Moksha

Hinduism enlightenment

Moksha

Devotional Hinduism (Bhakti)

• Devotion to a specific God or Goddess is compatible with a busy lifestyle because Devotional Hinduism is focused on Bhakti. If you practice Bhakti, it is a way to achieve Moksha. You don’t need to practice years of Yoga/meditation. 

• Does not require lots of time or money.

Bhagavad Gita

Story about a warrior by the name is Arjuna who belongs to the warrior caste.

• One day he is told he must fight some of his relatives and that he does not want to do.

• Arjuna has a companion who drives his charioteer, who is the God Krishna, but Arjuna does not know this.

• Arjuna goes to Krishna with his problem about fighting his relatives. And Krishna provides him with the answer.

• Krishna says, “you have to fight you are a warrior, but you do so with no concern about the outcome.” He is saying to remain neutral to the outcome of the fight.

• Arjuna agrees to do so, and Krishna reveals his identity.

• The message of the Bhagavad Gita: “we do our duty to the god that we are devoted to.”

The 4 legitimate life goals

Student: learning and pleasure

Householder: establish a household and accumulate wealth ad power (marry and have a family)

Hermit: to assume one’s duty to reflect on the nature of reality (Practice of Bhakti do the duty of the god of whom I’m devoted- devotional or if reflect on the nature of reality- philosophical)

Life of the merchant/beggar(always an elderly person and always naked): The man leaves his family and renounces all his wealth and possessions to pursue enlightenment/moksha. Giving the beggar food, water, and shelter is very good karma.

Siddhartha

Hindu prince who created Buddhism

Origin of Siddhartha

• One day, while Siddhartha is still small, a man shows up at his father’s door and tells him a prophecy saying, “Your son will either be a great ruler or a great holy man.”

• The king shields Siddhartha from any other religious temptation and lives in luxury.

• At 29, Siddhartha has a beautiful wife and small child.

• He starts to think that if he were to become king, he should tour his kingdom.

• Siddhartha goes out with a companion, and he see things he’s never seen before. Poverty, illness, aging, and death. Siddhartha was never exposed to the reality of suffering.

Siddhartha’s Change

• Siddhartha sees a Sannyasin = Holy man

• He renounces his duties as prince and leaves his family to become a holy man. His life goal is to find an answer to the question of suffering.

• To become a holy man, one needs to live in moderation. In Hinduism, one doesn’t have to live the extreme life of the beggar.

• One day, he decided to sit under a tree called a Bodhi Tree and waited for 49 days to find the answer to the question of suffering. On the 50^th day, he found the answer.

• In finding the answer, he became enlightened —> Nirvana

The answer to suffering

• we suffer because we desire what we cannot have

The Buddha

not a god and will not become divine. always proclaimed himself to be the person who found the answer to suffering (very modest).

Sangha

the Buddhist community

The Four Noble Truths

1. All of life is suffering

2. The cause of suffering is desire

3. To stop suffering stop desiring

4. To stop desiring, follow the 8-fold path

The 8-fold Path

1. Right view: to live by the 4 noble truths

2. Right Intention: live with an optimistic mindset

3. Right Speech: don’t speak in ways that are violent, gossip, slander, and lying

4. Right action: make sure our actions are non-violent

5. Right livelihood: choose and exercise a profession that is non-violent

6. Right effort: do our best

7. Right mindfulness

8. Right concentration

mindfulness in Buddhism

mental discipline: to stay focused on the present moment. To keep our focus on the here and now. Live in the present

Worrying

• When one worries, they are not being present. It allows us to transport into the future.

• Worrying about the past it can’t be changed and it takes away from being present.

Karuna

• loving and kindness

• to be mindful is to be in the present. And to be present, you need to be loving and kind

Sangha

• the Buddhism community

• the Buddha is not God or Devine

• When the Buddha died at 80, left behind the community, it spread worldwide

• Originated in India and spread to other countries in Asia, People’s Republic of China, Japan, and the US.

Bodhisattva

• Someone who is enlightened and has achieved nirvana but keeps coming back in excessive reincarnations. They make the decision to undergo successful reincarnations to help others be in nirvana.

• Characterized by their compassion.

• Most famous Bodhisattva: Dalai Lama (13^th Dalai Lama: 13^th reincarnation)

Anatman

• no soul/no-self

• the idea of self is a lie

• no permanent anything; the only thing there is, is change

Enlightenment in Buddhism

Nirvana

four different types of reincarnation

1. realm of punishment

2. “hungry ghost” comes back as a pure spirit wandering around the world

3. animal

4. human: the best way to come back

Dalai Lama

• Bodhisattva

• current leader of Tibetan Buddhism

sins of commission

committing an act that commit harm

sins of omission

using free will to decide not to intervene when should’ve

natural evil

• any form of evil that free will is not apart of

  • animal behavior

  • natural disasters

  • illness

atheism

denial of god’s existence

agnosticism

someone who is not sure whether god exists

theodicy

any argument that seeks to absolute God from responsibilities for evil

Nietzsche

The Death of God

• if god is dead, then everything is permitted

• no ethical and moral boundaries die

useless suffering

developed by Emmanuel Levinas

• thinks theodicy is bankrupt and pointless