Eastern Religions

Question 1

Asceticism

Answer 1

Jain Philosophy- The answer is to be released from the cycle of rebirth by abstaining from sin and punishing ourselves by self-mortification and _________, or strict discipline.

Question 2

Agamas

Answer 2

The scriptures of Jainism. Contains Mahavira’s teachings which were written 1,000 years after his death. They were written in the 500’s AD.

Question 3

Ayrans

Answer 3

Light skinned Indo-pean nomads from Russia invaded India around 1500 B.C. The
religion of these ______ invaders was related to Greek polytheism.

Question 4

Avatar

Answer 4

Bodily manifestations of Vishnu. Nine ______ have come and one is yet to come.
Buddha was the ninth _____. Rama was the seventh and Krishna was the eighth. Kalki will be the 10th _______

Question 5

Bhagavad-Gita

Answer 5

Is the most read of all Hindu Scriptures. It is about the reluctance of Arjuna, a military general, to kill his fellow Hindus in battle. The god Krishna appears to Arjuna and tells him it is his dharma to fight since he is
in the warrior caste. Krishna also tells him that he may obtain salvation through devotion (bhakti) to him

Question 6

Bodhisattvas

Answer 6

People who have postponed nirvana to help others. They are worshiped like gods
because man is designed to worship a higher power

Question 7

Bushido

Answer 7

The swordsman’s code which elevated honor for self and others

Question 8

Brahma

Answer 8

The creator god who evolved the world from an egg. He is rarely worshiped.

Question 9

Shiva

Answer 9

The god of death, disease, and destruction. The most popular god in Hinduism. Also known as the “Lord of the Dance.” His consort is Kali.

Question 10

Vishnu

Answer 10

The preserver or sustainer, is the god of love and forgiveness. His consort is Lakshmi, goddess of beauty and good fortune. Has appeared on earth 9 times as avatars

Question 11

Brahman

Answer 11

The one being of reality is ______. _____ is the only being that exists. All is ______

Question 12

Chi

Answer 12

Energy that flows through nature. Harmony and prosperity comes if ___ flows smoothly. Obstructing ____ creates negative energy

Question 13

Communism

Answer 13

All religion in China has been suppressed since China became _____ in 1949. Religion was illegal from
1966-1977 but is currently legal again and monitored by the government.

Question 14

Confucius

Answer 14

a teacher of moral philosophy, politics, and history at a university in ancient China. His students became government leaders and implemented his teachings after his death. ______ was later elevated to
a sage, which is a human with divine wisdom that can answer your prayers. _____ was not a religious teacher.
However, he taught to venerate ancestors and use divination to learn the future. He also taught that there was a moral law called Li that must be obeyed for society to operate correctly.

Question 15

Dalai Lama

Answer 15

A reincarnated Bodhisattva who must be found again every time he dies. ______ have led Tibetan Buddhism since the 1300s A.D. To find the next ______ the monks perform divination to find his location. They find male toddlers born after his death and present items to him, some of which were possessions of the previous ______. If the boy chooses the former possessions, this is the sign that he is the
reincarnated ________

Question 16

Feng Shui

Answer 16

Means “wind water” and is a Chinese philosophy of nature related to Taoism. It teaches that energy called Chi
flows through nature.

Question 17

I Ching

Answer 17

The Confucian book of divination. ____ means “book of changes.”

Question 18

Kali/Durga

Answer 18

The goddess of death, disease, and destruction. She is worshipped
by temple prostitution and with human
sacrifices by the Thugi cult. She is the consort of Shiva.

Question 19

Kami

Answer 19

Spirit/divine. Gods, humans, and some natural objects have a Kami

Question 20

Kamikaze

Answer 20

Means divine wind

Question 21

Lao Tzu

Answer 21

Was the keeper of the royal archives in China and left civilization to live in nature never to be seen again.

Question 22

Mahavira

Answer 22

Was born into the ruler caste in India. He left his wife and daughter to seek religious truth when he was 30 years old. He believed he could reach moksha by stopping the in-flow of karmic merit and by atoning for current karmic merit. So, he neglected all possessions (even clothes), ate only discarded vegetables, didn’t talk for 12 years, and walked with a broom to sweep away bugs to prevent killing them, he constantly beat himself with a whip, he pulled the hair out of his beard and head, and he laid out in the sun and slept in the cold. After 12 years, he claimed to reach moksha and then he taught others how to reach moksha for the next 30 years. When he was 72 years old he starved himself to death.

Question 23

Mahayana Buddhism

Answer 23

This is the syncretized form of Buddhism, which is the most popular. It is found
in central and east Asia. Local gods became manifestations of past Buddhas

Question 24

The Maitreya Buddha

Answer 24

Siddhartha was the seventh Buddha to come. The eighth one to come is the Maitreya, or the laughing Buddha, who will usher in peace and prosperity. This doctrine
was invented to make Buddhism look ancient

Question 25

Moksha

Answer 25

To be liberated from the cycle of rebirth

Question 26

Monism

Answer 26

The belief that there is only one being that exists. Everything is of the same one substance or being. There is only one being, reality, and existence. Plurality is an illusion

Question 27

Moral Law

Answer 27

Every moral law has a moral law giver. There is a universal moral law (right and wrong exist). It is evident we know it by our reactions rather than by our actions. Morality is oughtness. It’s self-defeating to believe “we ought not believe in oughtness.” Therefore, there must be a Moral Law Giver.

Question 28

Nirvana

Answer 28

Means “to blow out,” or extinguish. A state of “passionless peace” that is achieved when you return to Brahman. Brahman is in this state. In Buddhism, you keep your identity and experience _______ as you, but in Hinduism you lose your identity

Question 29

Pantheism

Answer 29

All is God. We are all an aspect of the one divine being that exists

Question 30

Pluralism

Answer 30

The belief that all religions are true and lead to God. Hindus are pluralists. Relativism (the belief that truth is neither universal nor objectively known) applied to religion is pluralism. Pluralism is self-defeating and entails believing that contradictory beliefs are “true.”

Question 31

Samurai

Answer 31

Zen Buddhist knights that enforced order in Japan. They lived by the code of Bushido, which elevated honor for self and others

Question 32

Siddhartha Gautama

Answer 32

Was born into the ruler caste in India. One day, he saw the “Four Passing Signs”: an old man, a sick man, a dead man, and an ascetic monk, which made him contemplate the meaning of life. When he was 29 years old he left his wife and son to seek religious truth as an ascetic monk. He earned from Hindu gurus and then gained 5 of his own disciples. He starved himself until the hair fell off his body. He became so weak that he fell into a river one day and he could not save himself. His disciples had to rescue him. He decided that self-mortification was not the route to moksha

Question 33

The Sixth Century Revolt

Answer 33

As people doubted their native religions, several new religions developed in the sixth century B.C. including: Jainism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Confucianism, and Taoism. Hinduism became pantheistic and the Greeks elevated philosophy over their traditional polytheistic religion

Question 34

The Tao

Answer 34

Means the way, as in the way of nature. An indefinable force/substance that underlies everything. All life has evolved from this (even the gods). Is like water, powerful, yet moldable and controls your fate

Question 35

The Tao Te Ching

Answer 35

The holy book of Taoism and is the second most translated book in the world (second to the Bible)

Question 36

Theravada Buddhism

Answer 36

The true form of Buddhism, which follows the earliest teachings of Siddhartha. It is mainly found in Southeast Asia. They follow the Buddha’s teachings in the Tripitaka, which was written down 400 years after his death

Question 37

24 Thirthankaras

Answer 37

These are saints in Jainism that help you reach moksha. Twenty-three ______ preceded Mahavira, who is the 24th _____. This doctrine was later invented to make Jainism seem more ancient, and because man is designed to worship or rely on a higher power

Question 38

Upanishad period (600AD-Present)

Answer 38

India/ Hinduism became panthestic, 6th century revolt, braham, etc.

Question 39

Upanishads

Answer 39

Scriptures written between 600BC-200BC that reinterpret the Vedas through pantheistic philosophy

Question 40

Vedas

Answer 40

The Vedic period is named after the _____, which were the religious writings of the Aryan invaders. “Veda” means knowledge. The ____ contain hymns to their gods and proper instructions for religious rituals. The _____ are similar to the books of Psalms and Leviticus

Question 41

Vedic Period (1500BC-600BC)

Answer 41

Light skinned Indo-pean nomads from Russia invaded India around 1500 B.C. The religion of these Aryan invaders was related to Greek polytheism. The religion of the invaders and that of the natives will syncretize.

Question 42

Yin/Yang

Answer 42

Nature is composed of one substance that manifests in two opposing concepts

Question 43

Yin

Answer 43

Female, evil, passive, dark, cold

Question 44

Yang

Answer 44

Male, good, active, light, hot

Question 45

Zen Buddhism

Answer 45

Enlightenment comes from sudden bursts of insight like Siddhartha’s experience when he discovered the Four Noble Truths. Zen means “meditation that leads to insight.” Zen masters give their students riddles to solve, which help them reach enlightenment