These are the questions that needed to be answered:
Further reflection questions:
What are some examples you think of that show how it is difficult to separate religion from other aspects of society and culture?
Elevator speeches. Try to come up with ” elevator speeches” ( 1-2 sentence descriptions) for: Shinto , Hinduism
Nationalism. Reflect on what you think this term means, and examples of nationalism you may be familiar with, Hint: Some types of nationalism exist in the U.S. If you are not familiar with nationalism, spend a few minutes doing research into the topic. Reflect on how it relates to what we are learning in class.
These are notes I wrote:
Pre-Aryas
Ingenious, Indus Valley civilization
-Southern Indians and Tamils may be partially descended from this civilization.
-Likely spoke a pre-Dravidian language
-Religion in the Indus Valley Civilization.
With an undeciphered language, we know little their religious practices.
Archeological sites are ambiguous and open to dispute.
There are no significant temple sites or monuments.
Worship may have been confines to the home.
-`but some modern Hindu groups claim a lineage to this civilization,
Proto- Hinduism
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-There is some speculation that this deity figure represents the God, Siva.
Lotus posture.
Trident representation.
Identification ratio with animals.
Aryas invasion
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Tribes from Central Asia and Eastern Europe.
Developed what would become the caste system (related to the four Venas)
(Ancestor language of most Indian, Persian and European languages including: Hindi, Urdu, Farsi, Greek, Latin and German, English.
Spoke a language referred to as Proto Indo- European.
religion based on sacrifices and ancestor worship.
Would develop the Vedas around 1200BCE.
Problems with the hypothesis
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Without deciphering the language, no way to verify.
Similarities could be coincidental as most Aryas reference to Siva date to the Vedas at least 1000 years later.
There is political controversy behind the claim.
The four Varnas were representative of the sacred order:
From the body of Purusha (cosmic being) would emerge the four classes of traditional Indian Society.
From his mouth, the Priests.
From his arms, the warriors and administrators.
From his thighs, the merchants.
From his feet, the laborers and servants.
Some terms:
Samsara- The ceaselessly turning wheel of the cosmos; birth, life, death, and rebirth.
Dharma- the duties one has in their life in maintenance of Samsara.
Karma- the effect, good or bad, depending on one’s performances of their dharma, Karma can also be seen as divine or cosmic action.
Moksha- liberation from Samsara.
Yoga- A discipline in obtaining both maintenance and liberation. There are different kinds of yoga.
Avatar- incarnation of a deity on Earth.
Maintenance through rituals:
Fire sacrifice- food offered up in rituals we though to sustain the gods, who in turn maintained the cosmos. Sacrifice thus, maintained the cosmos.
The Upanishads:
While individual lives may change, the self or atm is eternal END.
Basic Principles:
Karma, which was once only about ritual, was applied to all action.
Birth, death and rebirth set a pattern for all cosmos
Basic principle:
Samsara is now a bad thing.
Continual rebirth and necessarily death is seen as a prison.
Liberation is possible
It is achieved through the self-realization and knowledge that Atman is Brahman.
Atman- Brahman:
The essence of the Yama parable is the scriptable establishment of the non-duality of the self (atman) and the cosmos (Brahman).
The realization that the self is the same as all creation is the obtainment of Moksha and liberation from Samsara.
Realization ensures that reincarnation ceases by dispelling the illusion (Maya) of an autonomous self. The self is Brahman and Brahman is the self.
Thursday’s work
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The Upanishads
While individual lives may change, the self or atman is eternal and never changing.
Vedantic thought shifted the view of death as a gateway to the afterlife and instead saw it as a natural part of an eternal cycle.
The ideal of Moksha becomes the liberation of the self from death to rebirth.
The parable of Yama and Nachiketas details this.
Basic Principles:
Karma, which was once only about ritual, was applied to all action.
Birth, death and rebirth set a pattern for all the cosmos.
All lives are a series of death.
Even places od heavenly reward or punishment were temporary.
Good action, the following of ones dharma and ethical decisions affected the position of one’s re-birth, or liberation.
The Bhagavad Gita:
Part of an epic called the Mahabharata ( 3rd – 4th century BCE)
4 Yogas/Paths:
Karma Yoga – Action/service
Jnana Yoga – knowledge
Bhakti Yoga – worship/devotion
Raja Yoga – meditation
Shakti: Goddess Worship:
Devi
Kali
Key terms cont.
Trimurti – Hindu “trinity” (Euro-Christian influence here?)
Brahma (creator)
Shiva (the destroyer)
Vishnu (preservation)
2. Monism – the cosmos is one essence; everything is Brahma
Some Hindus might be considered is Brahma
Others might be polytheist
Others might be henotheists, etc.
3. Hindu and other types of nationalism:
Evidence of other types of nationalism
Nationalism cannot be neatly described as:
Political, religious, racial, etc.
This shows us how much social/cultural overlap there are between these categories, and how religious literacy is essential to understanding the world around us.