Exam 1 Flashcards

1
Q

Mircea Eliade

A
  • Rumanian scholar of compartive religion
  • Profane versus Sacred
  • The profane is unimportant, the sacred is significant
  • Divine models contained in cosmogonic myths show how life ought to be lived
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2
Q

Myth

A
  • symbolic or foundational stories about the origins and destiny of human beings and their world
  • creates basic patterns of origin
  • they express the religious beliefs of a group
  • not historically untrue
  • they answer important questions
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3
Q

What is the myth for Judaism and Christianity?

A

First chapters of the book of Genesis

-constitues a myth of origins (cosmogonic myth)

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4
Q

What do Eschatological myths deal with?

A

The end of time

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5
Q

What do cosmogonic myths deal with?

A

Myths of origins

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6
Q

What are the problems with Mircea Eliade?

A
  • Tended to present religious beliefs, myths, and symbols as timeless
  • More contextual and historical perspective needed
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7
Q

How do religions from the Middle East differ from the religions of South Asia and East Asia?

A
  • south asia and east asia life is seen through the metaphors of natural cycles and rhythms of nature
  • the middle east: history comprises the realm of human experience. The metaphors for religious experience are drawn from history
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8
Q

Religion in Latin comes from what?

A

to tie back or to tie again

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9
Q

what is animism?

A
  • from the latin word anima: meaning spirit, soul, life force
  • a worldview common among oral religions (without scriptures) that sees all elements of nature as being filled with spirit or spirits
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10
Q

what is monotheism?

A

The belief in one god

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11
Q

what is polytheism?

A

The belief in many gods

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12
Q

Ashima

A
  • nonharm

- nonviolence

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13
Q

Ashram

A

a spiritual community

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14
Q

avatar

A

the spiritual essence of all individual human beings

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15
Q

Bhagavad Gita

A

A religious literary work about Krishna

song of god

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16
Q

Bhakti

A

devotion to a deity or guru

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17
Q

Bhakti Yoga

A

the spiritual discipline of devotion to a deity or guru

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18
Q

Brahma

A

god of creation

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19
Q

brahman

A

the spiritual essence of the universe

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20
Q

brahmin

A

member of the priestly caste

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21
Q

caste

A

a major social class sanctioned by Hinduism

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22
Q

Devi

A

Goddess- the divine feminine

also called the great mother

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23
Q

dhyana

A

meditation

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24
Q

durga

A

awe-inspiring
distant
a mother goddess
form of a Devi

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25
Q

guru

A

a spiritual teacher

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26
Q

hatha yoga

A

the spiritual discipline of postures and bodily exercises

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27
Q

jnana yoga

A

the spiritual discipline of knowledge and insight

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28
Q

Kali

A

dark
a form of devi
a goddess associated with destruction and rebirth

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29
Q

Karma

A

the moral law of cause and effect that determines the direction of rebirth

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30
Q

karma yoga

A

the spiritual discipline of selfless action

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31
Q

krishna

A

a god associated with divine playfulness; a form of Vishnu

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32
Q

mantra

A

a short sacred phrase, often chanted or used in meditation

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33
Q

maya

A

-“illusion”

what keeps us from seeing reality correctly; the world, viewed inadequately

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34
Q

moksha

A
liberation from personal limitation, egotism, and rebirth
3 ways to moksha
action (karma)
Knowledge (jhana)
Devotion (bhakti)
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35
Q

monism

A

the philosophical position that all apparently separate realities are ultimately one
the belief that God and the Universe are the same, that the universe is divine

36
Q

puja

A

offerings and ritual in honor of a deity

37
Q

raja yoga

A

the royal discipline of meditation

38
Q

rama

A

a god and mythical king

a form of Vishnu

39
Q

samadhi

A

a state complete inner peace resulting from meditation

highest state of meditation

40
Q

sannyasin

A

a wandering holy man

41
Q

shiva

A

a god associated with destruction and rebirth
show dancing - do not be afraid of death
male and female

42
Q

trimurti

A
three forms of the divine
the three god
-Brahma
-Vishnu
-Shiva
43
Q

origins of the term Hinduism

A
  • come from Sindhu

Sindhu= great Indus River in Sanskrit

44
Q

Dharma

A

in sanskrit

  • duty
  • the ways thins are intended to be
  • law
  • way of life and thought
45
Q

Geography of Hinduism

A
-mainly on the South Asian subcontinent
Nepal
India
Pakistan and Bangladesh
Buddhist Sri Lanka
Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, Fiji and the Caribbean
46
Q

Demography

A

about 800 million Hindus in the world
over 1 million in north america
Hare Krshna movement- euro american converts

47
Q

Indo Aryans

A

(Indo Europeans)
nomatic people
language- sanskrit
invaded india and pushed the dravidians south

48
Q

what does aryan mean in sanskrit

A

noble

49
Q

what are the scared writings of the Aryans ?

A

The Vedas- written in Sanskrit

50
Q

Dravidians

A

aboriginal people of India

51
Q

Vedas

A

means knowledge in Sanskrit

most venerated writings in Hinduism

52
Q

Axis Age Date

A

6th century BCE

53
Q

axis age

A
great changes occurred
older aryan religion
was polytheistic 
performed sacrifices 
new thinkers
single divine reality 
reject religious rituals
abandoned lives to live in forest
new meditation techniques 
buddhism and jainism came to be
54
Q

Mohandas Gandhi

A
  • challenged british rule through a campaign of non-violent resistance
  • was a mediator between Hindus and muslims
  • demanded civil behavior from high castes towards the lower ones
55
Q

Rig Veda

A

hymn knowledge
oldest of the 4
over 1000 hymns addressed to Aryan Deities
probably for the elite

56
Q

Vedic Religion Sacrifices

A

gods had to be kept happy
priests -chanted vedic hymns
-offered grain, animal flesh and meted butter into the fire
each priest had a special function
alter builder, liberation pourer and invoker of the gods, fire kindler

57
Q

Polytheism

A

nature and liturgical deities

58
Q

Indra

A

a warrior atmospheric god

storm god

59
Q

Varuna

A

sky god

sustainer of the cosmic order

60
Q

Rudra-Shiva

A

the dread mountain god
destroyer or healer???
worships asked him to be auspicious (shiva)
significance: early form of Hinduism’s great god shiva, the destroyer and reviver

61
Q

Agni

A
fire god
cleansed
removed sin and guilt
drove away demons 
protected homes
62
Q

Soma

A

god of the plants
a hallucinogen used in many vedic rituals
the divine presence in the juice of the soma plant
produced insight and immortality
milk of cows associated with soma

63
Q

Purusha

A
primeval man
his mouth became the priests
his arms the warriors 
his thighs the producers
his feet the workers
first allusion to the 4 fold class system
64
Q

Brahman

A

holy power of prayer in Vedic literature
ultimate reality of the world in the Upanishads
usually pictured as impersonal reality
can only be known through meditation through atman

65
Q

Brahmin

A

preist

brahmins recited the brahman

66
Q

the Ascetic Revolt

A

6th century BCE

67
Q

atman

A

true self- inner being
transcendental Self of a person
unseen

68
Q

karma

A

actions and consequences of an action in Sanskrit

69
Q

moksha

A

the goal is to escape from samsara
is not creation of good lives by good deeds
seek true knowledge through self discipline and meditation

70
Q

meaning of Upanishads

A

to sit near by

71
Q

upanishads

A

single reality through meditation

72
Q

jiva

A

NOT THE SAME AS ATMAN
physical self
memory
perception of self

73
Q

Varna Caste System

A

Brahmins (priests)
Kshatriyas (warriors)
The people (workers and merchants)
Servants and Slaves

74
Q

Bhagavad Gita

A

conversation between Krishna and Arjuna.

telling arjuna to fight because it is his social duty

75
Q

Ganesha

A

elephant headed god

76
Q

Vishnu

A

the preserver

and his consort Laskhmi, goddess of fortune

77
Q

Hindu Female Deities

A
Devi
Kali
Sarasvati
Lakshmi
Parvati
78
Q

shiva

A

the destroyer

his consorts Kali and Parvati

79
Q

Brahma

A

the creator

his consort Sarasvati goddess of learning and music

80
Q

Varanasi

A

city devoted to the god shiva

place of Pilgrimage

81
Q

Vishnu and his avatars

A

Krishna and Rama

82
Q

4 stages of life

A
  1. student
  2. householder
  3. hermit/ forest dweller
  4. sannyasin ( ascetic/ renunciant)
83
Q

2 epics

A

Mahabharata and Ramayana

84
Q

Puranas

A

stories about the exploits the Trimuti

85
Q

untouchables were renamed what?

A

the children of god by Gandhi