65 Cards in this Set
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Emile Durkheim
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French scholar, founder of modern sociology
-said religion is a unified system of practices and beliefs.
-Focus: social effects
-religion is a universal phenomenon
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Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition
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45000-35 BP
- Tools: Manufacture and use
-Materials: variety and application
- Increased social organization
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Homo Neanderthalensis
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pre homo sapiens species
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Clifford Geertz
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-anthropologist, said relgion is a system of symbols
-Cultural symbolism
-Diversity of religious systems
-Religion is culturally specific and can stand outside a particular system, within some system.
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Smart's six dimensions of religion
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1. experiential
2. mythological
3. ethical
4. ritual
5. doctrinal
6. social
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1. Experiential
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Experience that adherents have of contact with a transcendent realm (moses at burning bush, something that cannot be explained)
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2. ritual
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actions and ceremonies
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3. social
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the concrete community of believers and the social vision of the adherents as a whole
-Religions are inevitably social
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4. mythological
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stories of the sacred: narratives that connect human events and experiences to a transcendent world.
-myth is not always a false story, so it can be a historical fact
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5. doctrinal
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official, systematic teachings of religious groups
-governing beliefs
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6. ethical
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regulation of behavior of adherents in a faith community
- morals
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Hinduism Characteristics
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oldest living religion
no historical founder
no common creed
330 milllion gods/goddesses
practice more important than beliefs
Hinduism as religion and way of life
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H-Five Central Elements
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doctrine
practice
society
narrative
Bhakti
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H- Sacred cow
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iconic symbol of Hindu tradition
5 products of cow
God Shiva's vehicle is a bull
Krishna is a cowherd
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H-Puja
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everyday worship
- prasad is a blessed offering
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H-Main Gods and Goddesses
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Vishnu
Shiva
Brahma
Worshipped in anthropomorphic
form as a statue or in aniconic
forms of nature (tree, rock, river,
etc.)
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H-Sacred River
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purifying power of water
rivers embodiment of divine goddesses
goddess Ganga Ma= Ganges River
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Asceticism
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severe self-discipline and avoidance of self indulgence
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H-moksha
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liberation from wheel of birth and rebirth
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4 stages of life
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1. student
2. householder
3. semi-retired/hermit
4. renouncer
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4 classes
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brahmin (priests and scholars)
Kshyatriya (warriors, kings, royals)
Vaishya (merchants, peasants, artisans)
shudra (servants)
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H- Vedas
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Doctrine texts/hyms- almost all hindus accept their authority
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H- Bhakti
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devotionalism (loving devotion to a personal god or a woman to her husband)
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H-Vedas
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earliest surviving Indo-European texts
- revered by almost all Hindus as authority
-Brahmans knew them best
-oral tradition
- primary function and focus is ritual
- source of dharma
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Shruti
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"that which was heard"-vedic scripture
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H- Rig Veda
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earliest part of vedas
most stories and myths
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H- Upanishad
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Newest vedas
-explain philisophical ideas
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Vedic Religion
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rites of sacrifice, hyms, fire, soma
pleasing gods in return for material goods and enhancing social standing
maintaing cosmic order
required only priests
portable religion
pouring soma onto fire as offering to gods
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Devas
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Vedic gods
main gods:
Agni (mediator btwn human and gods)
Soma (mediator btwn human and gods)
Indra- King of the gods
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purusha sukta
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hymn to the supreme person
-origin of the 4 classes of society
-creation myth
-sacrifice of a primordial, cosmic man
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Hinduism Dharma
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duty that must be fulfilled
all are born with it
the power that upholds and orders society and the cosmos
one's duty- social class and stage of life
ONE OF THE 4 AIMS OF LIFE
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H- Karma
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action, esp. ritual action
- cause and effect
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H- samsara
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a continuing cycle of death and rebirth (reincarnation)
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H- moksha
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spiritual liberation from cycle of samsara and personal salvation
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H- Atman
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human soul- essence of an individual
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H- Brahman
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Supreme being, ultimate reality
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Purushartha
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4 aims of life
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Purushartha (4 aims of life)
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dharma (duty)
artha (material gain; wealth, power)
kama (sensual & sexual pleasure, love)
moksha (devotion; liberation from cycle of death and rebirth)
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H- smrti
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epics
puranas (ancient stories)
Dharmashastras (code of law and ethics)
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H- puranas
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ancient stories
-essential source for understanding goddesses
-source of modern devotional Hinduism
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H- Dharmashastras
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treatises on the nature of righteousness, moral duty, and law
- foundation for later hindu law
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H- laws of manu
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explains dharma/duty for classes
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H- Mahabharata
(Bhadavad-gita)
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100,000 verses
tale of dharma
war between cousins
Arjun has crisis and Krishna teaches him to follow his dharma as a warrior- kill his cousin because it is just his atman which is eternal and indestructable. goal of life is to identify oneself with Brahman
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H- Bhadavad-gita cont.
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attachment to the results of karma is what binds us to the cycle of death & rebirth
better to act in order to fulfill one's own dharma
better to do your own dharm imperfectly, than to do someone else's perfectly
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3 types of yoga
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karma- doing the right action without desire for reward of that action
jnana- knowledge of true nature of brahman, atman, dharma, karma
bhakti- devotion to a personal god that connects you to all gods
THESE ARE THE 3 PATHS TO MOKSHA
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H- Ramayana
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Epic of Rama- (rama is ideal king and person, sita is ideal wife) Rama is banished to forest where wife, Sita is kidnapped. He slays evil king ravana in order to save her. Rama exiles Sita b/c she lived with a man too long (she proved chastity but still had to leave) to fulfil his dharma …
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H- Maya
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illusion that material world is truly real- attachment to material world hinders perception of the true nature of atman
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H- Darshan
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"seeing"...and "being seen"
an aim of going to holy sites: Darshan is to see with piety and be seen by deity
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H- Murti
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-image or statue
- Forms of the Divine
-man made
-sculptured images are anthropomorphic (giving human characteristics to a god)
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H- The Triad (gods)
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brahma
vishnu
shiva
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H- Brahma
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-The Creator
-least commonly worshipped
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H- Vishnu
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The preserver
-preservation of cosmos and proper order
-10 avatars (Rama and Krishna being two of them)
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H- Shiva
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-The destoyer
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H- 3 prominent devotional sects
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Vaishnavism- devotees of Vishnu and his avatars
Shaivism- devotees of Shiva
Shaktism- devotees of the Great Goddess
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H- Mahadevi
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-Great Goddess
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H- Shakti
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-an energizing principle, power of deities, without which they cannot funciton
-male gods need to get shakti in order to act
-Goddesses who keep their shakti are dangerous
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God vs. Goddesses
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- Gods are linked to celestial space and goddesses are linked with this world (earth as soil and territory)
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Buddhism
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4th largest religious tradition
approx 400 million practicing buddhist in the world today
originated in India- no longer a significant presence there
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B- The Vehicles
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Theravada (the way of the elders) -earliest form of Buddhis, Doninant in South and Southeast Asia, Pali language
Mahayana (the great vehicle)- 1st century BCE, Chinese language, Dom in China, Korea, Japan
Vajrayana (the diamond vehicle)
7th century CE, dom in Tibet, mongolia, manchuria…
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B- Three Jewels
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Buddha
-Dharma
-Sangha
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Buddha
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-"Awakened One"
-Model of the Awakening of Consciousness to what truly is real
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B- Dharma
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teachings of Buddha over 45 years after his "awakening"
It is sutra (discourse), vinaya (rules) and abhidama (doctrines)
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B- Sangha
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-community of laity and monastics
-critical to the spread of dharma
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Know the story of Siddhartha (Buddha)
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-used to model the path that all follow to enlightenment
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B- bodhisattva
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one who takes a vow to achieve enlightenment and teach others
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Phil 110: Islam