HONR 101 Final Exam Vocabulary

Sura

Chapter

Aya

Verse, translates as 'sign' of God

Messenger in Islam

A prophet who receives scripture to deliver

Prophet in Islam

Someone who is appointed by God to tell the people to turn back to him, tell of coming judgement, tell of final prophet, and teaching how to be a servant of God

Qur'an

Central religious text of Islam and Arabic for 'Word of God'

Allah

Arabic word for God, considered the ultimate source of guidance

Christianity

Religion of love

Islam

Religion of mercy

Prostrate

Bow down

3 modes of interpretation

Specific, General, and Personal

Specific mode of interpretation

Interpreting in the historical / cultural context the text is addressing

General mode of interpretation

Interpreting the universal meaning of the text

Personal mode of interpretation

Interpreting what God / Allah is saying to you (different for every person)

5 relationships in Islam

Relationship with diving, prophethood, greater population, nature, and self

5 stages of life

Pre-eternity, Enter mothers womb, Worldly life, Condition of death, Afterlife

Free will

You have it in a subjective sense, you have limits

6 dimensions (first 3 individual, last 3 collective)

Heart, Mind, Body, Relationships, Society, and World

Heart (dimension)

Yearning (born pure with yearning to rejoin divine)

Mind (dimension)

Intentions

Body (dimension)

Actions

Muhammed

Prophet / Messenger

Abu Lahab

Father of Flame

Wife of Abu Lahab

Wood carrier

Jinns

Made from fire, creatures in realm of unseen, consciousness, identity, free will, pure emotion

Angels

Made of light, pure rationality, able to manipulate reality

Major Angel Gabriel

Delivers messages

Major Angel Michael

Oversees, cannot disobey God

Humans in Islam

Made of clay and water, seen realm, humans are superior, ability to obey and disobey God

Characteristics of God

Omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, mercy

Sura 1

Opening, Islam as a religion of mercy, gratitude as central theme of the text, prayer for guidance, flashlight to understand the entire text

Sura 111

Prophets vs Messengers, 3 modes of interpretation

Prophets vs. Messengers

All messengers are prophets, but not all prophets are messengers

Sura 2

4 parts of creation story - Announcement, Prostration, Tree, Departure

Announcement (from Islamic creation story)

God announces He is creating a deputy in the world. Angels question it and God says that He knows what the angels do not know. God creates Adam and teaches Adam the names of things but the Angels don't know them yet

Prostration (from Islamic creation story)

God tells the Angels to bow before Adam, but Iblis does not. God asks why and Iblis shows arrogance and hides because he feels betrayed that God chose Adam before him. Iblis asks to wait until the day of judgement to go to Hell, and wants to show God that He is wrong and take humans down with him

Tree (from Islamic creation story)

God tells Adam and Eve that they can go anywhere except near the tree because then they will become oppressors. Iblis tells them that they will become immortal like the angels and so Adam and Eve forgot about the rule and went to the tree. God teaches prayer of forgiveness and introduces Adam and Eve to the concept of free will and forgiveness

Departure / Final Lessons (from Islamic creation story)

God tells Adam and Eve to go to the world and says that if they follow His guidance, they have nothing to fear. Descent of humans, fall of Iblis. Iblis fall is rebellion and separation, Adam and Eve are the mission. God is training humans to seek forgiveness, but Iblis did not ask for forgiveness

The Bhagavad Gita (BG)

A significant Hindu scripture that forms part of the Mahabharata and is often referred to as the "Song of the Lord."

Samkyah

Dualistic, concerned with classifying the universe / nature

Yoga

Practiced-oriented, path to equanimity, detachment, mental calmness

Vidahnta

Impersonal God

Moksha

Liberation from samsara / reincarnation

Samsara

Reincarnation / the cycle of life

Caste

Social class system in society

Kashatriya

Warrior class, everyone has a duty to fight

Sudras

Servant class

Shlokas

Verses

Vyasa

Arranger / compiler

Sruti

Authorless (divinely relayed, simply 'heard')

Smrti

remembered text (human created)

Kuladharma

Timeless laws of family

Dharma

Law

Adharma

Lawlessness

Brahman

Universal, infinite, eternal

Atman

Self / Soul, death does not destroy the true self

Brahman vs Atman

Brahman and Atman are one and the same, but Brahman and Atman cannot be separate

Svadharma

Caste duty

Buddhi

Insight

Jnana

knowledge/wisdom

Karma Yoga

Yoga of action / work, performed as dharma, mere "action"

Bhakti yoga

Yoga of devotion

Yajna

To offer up

The Three Gunas in the Bhagavad Gita

Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas

Sattva (Guna)

Lightness, clarity, joy, harmony

Rajas (Guna)

Activity, desire, passion, restlessness

Tamas (Guna)

Darkness, inertia, ignorance, delusion

Pranayama

Breath control

Sanyasin / Yogin

Learned men / practitioners

Maya (Illusion)

The veil that hides this truth

Sannyasi

Renunciate who leaves the world for ascetic life (Jnana Yoga)

Characters in Bhagavad Gita

Arjuna: warrior, Krishna = Brahman, Pandavas: brothers, Kauravas: cousins to Pandavas

Arjuna

The warrior prince in the Bhagavad Gita to whom Krishna explains the nature of being and of God and how humans can come to know God

Krishna

Brahman

The parts of Purusha's body as the Varnas (social classes)

Mouth = Brahmin (priests)

Arms = Kshatriya (warriors)

Thighs = Vaisya (merchants / farmers)

Feet = Sudra (laborers)

Chapter 1: 1-25 of the Bhagavad Gita

Pandavas vs. Kauravas

Chapter 1: 26-47 of the Bhagavad Gita

Arjuna's hesitations

Arjuna's hesitations

1 - Killing kin is wrong

2 - Moral consequentialism (look at morality based on consequences, not intentions)

3 - The killing is motivated by greed

4 - Destroying family corrupts women, destruction of caste / duty system

Chapter 2: 11-25 of the Bhagavad Gita

Why should you fight

4 Arguments of why to fight in the Bhagavad Gita

Self, reincarnation, duty, and equanimity

Chapter 2: 26-30 of the Bhagavad Gita

Idea of reincarnation, not fearing death because there is a cycle of birth and death in which the soul transcends both. "What is born must die, and what dies must be born again. So they are never gone for that long", dying is not a big deal

Chapter 2: 31-33 of the Bhagavad Gita

Caste duty to fight

Chapter 2: 34-37 of the Bhagavad Gita

Dishonor if you back out of fighting

Chapter 2: 38-46 of the Bhagavad Gita

Yoga and theory of practicing

Chapter 2: 47 - end of the Bhagavad Gita

Yoga as equanimity, transition from knowing to doing because philosophy must be lived. "They who abandon all desires and withdraw into Brahman like a turtle into a shell they achieve sublime peace, Brahmanirvana"

Brahmanirvana

Sublime peace

Chapter 3: 33-43 of the Bhagavad Gita

All creatures follow their own nature because of their desires and impulses

Chapter 4 of the Bhagavad Gita

Renunciation of action (right action, wrong action, non-action)

Karman = fruits of action / desire

Action within nonaction = absentmindedly attached to fruits of action / desire

Non-action within action = non-attached to fruits of action

Chapter 5 of the Bhagavad Gita

Yoga of meditation

Chapter 7 of the Bhagavad Gita

Yoga of knowledge and judgement

Pandavas

Brothers, lost a bet and their kingdom to Kauravas

Kauravas

Cousins to Pandavas

Epistemology

Study of knowledge

Metaphysics

Water is most real, what IS

Eidos

Form. Perfect, unchanging essence

Neoteron

New (ti neutron = what's new?)

Elenchus

Back and forth questioning, exposes contradictions and false beliefs

Dialetic

Building new ideas from what remains after old ideas are broken down

Aporia

Silence, gap, complexity, puzzle

Philos

Word for friend

Echthros

Word for enemy