Context Flashcards
what development in the brain allowed for ecstatic experiences
neocortex
archeology
paintings and pictographs beginning ~35 000 years ago in France
ethnobotany
scientific study of traditional knowledge of how to use plants
what did archaic people know about plants
what to eat, what could heal, what had psychoactive properties
5 possible early origins of meditation
- hunting
- sex
- fighting
- trauma
- fire
when was fire domesticated
~800 000 BCE
2 examples of cultures with ecstatic rituals
- Eleusis
2. !Kung San
what was Eleusis
small town in Ancient Greece
what occured in Eleusis
an agricultural festival
what went down at said agricultural festivals
secret rites, dances, hallucinogens
what were Greeks considered to be if they did not attend the festival
“walking corpses”
why “walking corpses”
because the festival opened your eyes to the experience of life
what is !Kung San
group from the Kalahari desert in Africa
do they still exist today?
yes
why do they perform their ceremony
to experience !kia (ecstasy)
what do they do at the ceremony
dance
what arises from the dance
power called n/um
what do people gain from this ceremony
healing powers
what happens to their ability to enter !kia after the ceremony
they can enter it deliberately and repeatedly
shamanistic culture
a culture with a ceremony to enter ecstasy, leading to healing powers
earliest written records of meditation are from where
India
early name for meditation in India
yoga
when did the word “yoga” originate
in the Vedic age when Indo-Aryans came from Khyber into north-western India
what did “yoga” originally mean
Indo-Aryans yoked their horses to chariots and chariots were very difficult to ride.
skill required was knowns as “yuj”
yuj
an achieved skill mastered by going on an adventure
what year did yoga refer to priests harnessing their minds in?
400 BCE
when did records of meditation in China first appear?
300 BCE
first meditation book from China
“Basic Writings” by Chuang Tzu (“Zhuangzi”)
how did Zhuangzi describe meditation
a skill you are cultivating to complete a difficult task
5 cicadas metaphor
represents keeping 5 senses focused on one task
earliest meditation records?
500 BCE from India and 300 BCE from China
who started an organization with growing interest in the East
Madame Blavatsky
who did Madame Blavatsky meet while traveling
Henry Olcott
what organization did Blavatsky and Olcott start?
Theosophical Society
break down the word theosophical
“theos” = god + “sophos” = wise
3 goals of theosophical society
- interfaith dialogue
- encourage the study of science
- investigate the unknown
date of first world parliament of religions meeting
Sept. 11, 1893
location of first world parliament of religions meeting
Chicago
purpose of world parliament of religions
have interfaith dialogue
significance of California gold rush
Chinese immigrants bring religion and traditions to the West coast
time period of the beat poets
1950s
beat poets
early hippies interested in esoteric things like meditation
other significant event in 1950s
China invades Tibet leaving Tibetans looking for places to live and people to teach
hippies
people in 1960s who travelled to India looking about meditation
3 scientific periods of meditation
- naive enthusiasm
- disillusionment
- cautious interest
naive enthusiasm
people hear crazy stories about meditation and begin uncontrolled and ineffective studies
disillusionment
due to ineffective studies of 1970s people become sceptical of meditation
cautious interest
good experimental designs to study meditation
Judaism origin date
over 3000 years ago
percent of the world that is Jewish
~2%
when were Jewish people called Jews
6th century
difference when Judaism first came around
initially polytheistic
is being Jewish just a religion?
no, it is ethnicity, culture, peoplehood, and religion
Judaism holy book
Torah
how is the Torah related to meditation
chanting the Torah is a form of meditation
Kabbalah
mystical interpretation of the Torah
how does Hebrew contribute to Kabbalah
in Hebrew every letter is a number and every word has numerical value
tree of life
tree with 10 spheres of energy in Kabbalah
Hitbodedut
“self-seclusion”
living life in joy and ecstasy
how does one perform hitbodedut
go to an empty field and speak to god by pouring out thoughts
what can hitbodedut lead to
nullification in which everything other than focus of god melts away
what percentage of the world is Christian
~33%
what does meditation focus on in Christianity
connection between oneself and God/Jesus
contemplative vs petitionary prayer
contemplative = thinking and contemplating petitionary = asking for something
examples of contemplative prayer
saying “hail Mary” over and over or contemplating the crucifixion
gnosticism
in order to raise consciousness up, you must reject the world and live in poverty
“gnosis”
to know
Desert fathers of the 3rd century
Christian hermits that moved to desert and focused intently on God’s presence
Taize meditative singing
sing short song with simple and repetitive melodies
where and when was Taize meditative singing invented
1940s in France
3 focuses for meditative singing
- breath
- words
- meaning
quaker service
2 or more people sitting in silence for ~1 hour and at some point feeling compelled to say something
giving voice to ministery
during a quaker service when an individual is compelled to say something
what percent of the world is Islamic?
~20%
when was Islam founded and by whom
7th century by the prophet Mohammed
what does Islam mean
“surrender” or “submission”
5 pillars of Islam
- confession (recognize one god Allah)
- prayer (5 times per day)
- giving
- fasting
- pilgrimage (travel to Mecca once in lifetime)
sufism
lose sense of self to achieve union with Allah
“fana”
turning away from the world and towards God (part of sufism)
dervish
group of Sufis that have taken vows of poverty
what do the dervishes do?
spinning in a circle
what percent of the world is Hindu
~14% of the world
is it relatively new or old
oldest of the big 5
is Hinuism one religion
no, it’s a mixture of many religions, cultures, and philosophies
what does “Hindus” mean
“everybody over there”
Bhakti
devotion to a divine being or love towards a God
Ishta
a devotional object
last 4 steps of yoga in hinduism
- pratyahara
- dharana
- dhyana
- samadhi
pratyhara
withdrawing attention away from senses and focusing on the inner world
dharana
concentration
dhyana
keeping the mind still
samadhi
subject and object merges and there is no difference between you and ishta
is buddhism a religion
no, there are no gods or dogmas
dogma
one right way to do things
“budh”
“aware,” “know”
is Buddha a person?
no, Buddha is a title (like president)
what does Buddhism say about suffering
suffering and emptiness can be cured through meditation and kindness
what does emptiness become through kindness and meditation
interconnectedness
shamatha
focused meditation
vipassana
mindfulness or insight
metta
loving kindness
dao
“the way”
what is dao
balance between opposite energies
“chi”
life force, energy
tai chi
moving form of meditation to make chi
qigong
focuses on recognizing and harnessing chi
martial arts from China
wu shu and gong fu
“wu”
stop using this weapon
wu shu
stop using weapons against others and yourself
gong fu
work and effort
budo
book about being civil and a decent human being
“way of war”
kyudo
way of the bow
laido
way of the sword
aikido
way of unifying with life energy
purpose of budo
find harmony inside oneself and within one’s environment
is dancing exclusive to humans?
no, also bees, cranes, and chimps
where were footprints found indicating dancing
paleolithic cave in Tuc d’Audoubert
why did the footprints indicate dancing
in a circle with a heel to toe pattern
other types of dance
powwow dance and Haitian voudou dance
transpersonal psychology
experiences extending beyond the individual
who studied transpersonal psychology
Maslow and Frankl
phenomenology
study of subjective experience
who described 4 qualities of mystical experiences and what was the book called, and when?
William James
The Varieties of Religious Experience
1902
4 qualities of mystical experience
- ineffability
- noetic quality
- transiency
- passivity
ineffability
can’t be described
noetic quality
noetic = knowing, states of insight
transiency
can’t be maintained for long
passivity
feeling that something else is in control
