reading quiz 4/11

Question 1

margas

Answer 1

approaches to liberation, each with its own practices and being suited to personality tratits/life situations

Question 2

karma marga (family and career)

Answer 2

-All Hindus are required to act in conformity with dharma, the duty to live in a manner that upholds cosmic and social order
-Karma marga combines the focus on dharma with an attitude of detachment with regard to acting and to the results of action
-When the self (atman) is devoid of the attachment to the results of action, the problems of egotism and the suffering brought by birth, disease, old age, and death are resolved

Question 3

Bhakti marga (for the vast majority who regularly worship in temples and their homes)

Answer 3

-The path of devotion
-Most widely practiced of the 3 paths to liberation
-In the Bhagavad Gita, the featured deity is Krishna BUT Bhakti can be directed toward whatever deity one chooses
-Functions to eradicate egotism, ignorance, and attachment to objects of desire
-By devoting time/energy to a deity than individualistic yearnings-

Question 4

Jnana marga

Answer 4

o Steepest ascent to liberation
o Requires disciplined study of sacred texts and intensive contemplation, usually via meditation
o Knowledge gained is wisdom or insight of a special kind  lets you become aware that the atman is none other than Brahman

Question 5

all practice a form of ____ marga, and ___ marga is a way to approach life’s everyday tasks

Answer 5

Bhakti
karma

Question 6

o The Bhagavad Gita

Answer 6

composed in the first century of the CE, set forth all 3 margas, explaining them and their compatibility

Question 7

Two most important forms of jnana marga and of Hinduism’s 6 philosophical schools:

Answer 7

Vedanta and Yoga

Question 8

the yoga school

Answer 8

teaches specific physical and mental exercises designed to promote jnana
-Meditative practices often performed in lotus position
-Commonly envisioned by non-Hindus when pondering the spiritual life of India
-The Vedanta school has been even more influential in the history of Hindu thought

Question 9

vedanta is …

Answer 9

the predominant school of Hindu philosophy

Question 10

Vedanta in Sanskrit

Answer 10

the culmination of the Vedas
-teaches that Upanishads reveal the truth about the fundamental questions of existence
-seeks to understand the nature of the relationships between brahman, atman, and the world

Question 11

3 most important Vedanta schools

Answer 11

Advaita, Vishishta-Advaita, and Dvaita

Question 12

Advaita Vedanta

Answer 12

*Uncompromisingly monistic school of philosophy, teaching that the atman is identical to Brahman and denies any distinction between Brahman and everything else
*Grew directly out of Upanishads, but further developed by Shankara: believed that the world is an illusion (maya), which veils the mind and doesn’t discern the true nature of the self (atman)

Question 13

Vishishta-Advaita Vedanta

Answer 13

*Founded by Ramanjura, who declared that all is Brahman and that the material world and individual souls and also real
*The world is NOT an illusion, it is the body of God
*All beings are a part of God, connected to Vishnu but we aren’t the same as him
*Interpreted the ignorance that obscures true knowledge as forgetfulness (of our eternal relationship with Vishnu.
*Marries philosophy to the devotional, sectarian traditions of Vaishnavism

Question 14

Dvaita Vedanta

Answer 14

*Founded by Madhva, advocates a complete distinction between Brahman and Atman
*5 acknowledged aspects of complete separateness or difference: between atman and Brahman, Brahman and matter, between souls, between souls and mater, and between forms of matter.
*Associated with the worship of Vishnu, specifically as his avatar Krishna

Question 15

yoga meaning

Answer 15

uniting the self with God

Question 16

yoga is a form of

Answer 16

Jnana marga, using physical and mental techniques to make liberation from samsara possible

Question 17

steps of yoga

Answer 17

-First two steps = moral preparation
-Next three steps: preparation of body
-Next two steps: prepare mind for liberation
-Eighth step = samadhi, state in which one’s awareness is of the self as Brahman-

Question 18

Varnashrama dharma

Answer 18

religious law regulating caste and stage of life

Question 19

varna

Answer 19

caste system

Question 20

brahmin

Answer 20

priestly class

Question 21

Kshatriyas

Answer 21

warrior/admin class

Question 22

vaishya

Answer 22

producer class

Question 23

shudra

Answer 23

servant class

Question 24

how is the caste system determined

Answer 24

by birth and is propagated through endogamy (marriage within a particular group)

Question 25

origin of the caste system

Answer 25

poem Purusha Sukta -Various parts of cosmic man emerge the components of the universe, then people emery -From his mouth  brahmins, from his arms = kshatriyas, thighs = vaishyas, feet = shudras-

Question 26

fifth group below the shudras was added...

Answer 26

the untouchables -20% of present day India -Ghandi tried to uplift this class -refer to themselves as "Dalit" =oppressed

Question 27

jatis

Answer 27

birth groups -marry within Jati of equal social status

Question 28

ashrama

Answer 28

stage of life

Question 29

4 main stages of life

Answer 29

 The student  The householder  The forest-dwelling hermit  The renouncer, sannyasi

Question 30

the 4 main stages fulfill duties to repay 3 debts of life

Answer 30

 To the ancient seers by studying Vedas  To the gods by making offerings as a householder  To the ancestors