Hinduism Unit 1 Flashcards
01-01: How many things do people want according to hinduism?
People want only 4 things in life
01-02: What is the first want?
Pleasure
01-03: What do the terms ascetic and hedonist mean?
Ascetic: pleasure-denying, practice of sever self discipline and abstention from all indulgences
Hedonist: pleasure-seeker, a person who believes in seeking pleasure is the most important thing in life
01-04: What restrictions does Hinduism place upon the first want?
Hinduism says that you must obey the basic rules of mortality when it comes to the “first” want, seek it but be smart about it
01-05: What is the inadequacy of the first want?
Realizes that pleasure is not all that one wants, and it never lasts, it’s short term
01-06: What is the second want? why is it superior to the first?
The second want is worldly success with wealth fame and power. It is superior because its satisfaction lasts longer for success is a social achievement
01-07: What are the limitations of world success?
People think what is he worth, do is it not come down to how much does he got. Judgement from others
01-08: What is the path of desire?
Hindus locate pleasure and success on the path to desire. They use this phrase because the personal desires of the individual have thus far been foremost in charting life’s course
01-09: What greater attraction than the path of desire does life afford?
Path of renunciation
01-10: What are the two faces of renunciation?
Stems from disillusionment and despair or suspicion that life holds more than what one is experiencing
01-11: What is the difference between chronological-time and psychological-time in human growth?
Chronological deals with age and psychological deals with mental state
01-12: With the asking of what question does the birth of religion begin?
Might not becoming part of a larger more significant whole relieve life of its triviality
01-13: What is the renunciation (Path of Renunciation) for?
Path of renunciation is the want of duty, want of liberation, freedom from all things-physical things so you can become other
01-14: What do the terms Vedic and Veda mean?
Veda- Hindu word means knowledge, name given to the Hindu holy books, which there are thousands, holy books scripture, religious books, it’s the source of the knowledge
Vedic- the religions that spin off of the Veda books
02-01: What question divides humankind more than any other? Why? How do hindus answer this question?
“Whether life does or doesn’t hold more to offer?” because pleasure and success lose their charm and people wish they had more to offer; hindus say life holds other possibilities
02-02: What name is given to the fourth want? What prefaces it? What constitutes it?
Liberation, it is prefaced by the wants and is constituted by the limitations.
02-03: What underlies or animates the true self? What do the hindu terms atman, brahman and atman-brahman mean?
Being to be able to look beyond the body and the personality
Atman: Self soul
Brahman: Known as god, a trinity, beyond fear
Atman-brahman: the unity with god
02-04: What is the beyond that lies within?
We must look within our self to find what is beyond.
02-05: What is the goal of life?
to get as far beyond imperfection as possible
02-06: Is it possible to get beyond the strictures that separate us from joy?
Yes, we must pass the three sub groups. Physical pain, frustration with desire and border with life
02-07: What is the limitation to knowledge?
Ignorance and the fact that we cannot know anything
02-08: What is the third limitation? Can it be overcome?
Its restricted being, profitably consider this we have first to ask how the boundary of the self is to be defined.
02-09: What is the object of the question that has become india’s obsession?
What if we could bring it to light and draw from it unceasingly?
02-10: What does the term yoga mean?
A method of training designed to lead to integration or union
02-11: What is the difference between authentic yoga and spiritual yoga?
Authentic- the yoga for the body, also known as Hatha yoga
Spiritual- yoga for the mind, used to get incontrol of mind and body
02-12: How many spiritual yogas are there? Why this number?
There are 4 because in Hinduism things come in 4 and there are 4 different personalities
02-13: Where do all the spiritual yogas begin?
They begin with the morals preliminaries of being a good person by not stealing etc.
02-14: What does the term karma mean?
Karma means action or deed
03-01: What is Jnana Yoga?
Jnana Yoga are trying to get you to the beyond–to your true self, through knowledge and wisdom. It is intended for spiritual aspirants who have a strong reflectent bent, it’s the path to openness with the Godhead through knowledge.
03-02: What are the three steps for an aspirant of Jnana Yoga?
- Learning
- Thinking
- Shift/ change.
03-03: What three apologies or metaphors are used to describe the mindset of the Jnana aspirant?
- Rider and the chariot (metaphor for life)
- “I am the witness” formed in the third person
- The third is Sybil seated in the dentist
03-04: What is the goal of Jnana Yoga?
The shortest path to divine realization. Get you beyond yourself
03-05: What is Bhakti Yoga?
To direct toward god the love that lies at the base of every heart.
03-06: What contrasts are presented with respect to Bhakti Yoga?
Bhakti yoga has countless followers,being indeed the most popular yoga.
03-07: How is Bhakti Yoga’s love endangered?
Things of this world clamor for our affection so instantly that it may be marveled that a Being who can neither be seen nor heard can ever become their rival.
03-08: What is Japam?
It is the practice of repeating gods name
03-09: What is “Ringing the Changes”?
Love assumes different nuances according to the relationship involved
03-10: What is “Form of Ones Choice”?
For Hindus god has been represented in many forms. Each form is a symbol that points to something beyond
03-11: What point is made with the Buddhist story of the turtle and the fish?
It is impossible to explain the “next world” (heaven)
03-12: What general contrast is present in today’s Sketch with respect to Eastern and Western religions?
Western religions tend to picture the next world in terms of this world. Where as eastern religions cants picture the next world only as some thing beyond expression
03-13: What are some of the traces of Gods existence as presented in today’s sketch?
Some of the traces of gods extends as presented in today’s sketch are thought the doorway of contemplation by which god is sensed by the inner self. Second through the universality of moral law.
04-01: What is karma yoga?
The path to god through work. Its the third path to god, for active bent people
04-02: What is the goal of karma yoga?
To get to god through work
04-03: What is the relation of karma to Jnana and bhakti?
In the language of the four Yoga’s, karma yoga can be practiced in either mode: Jnana(knowledge) or Bhakti(devoted service)
04-04: According to Hinduism, what is the result of every action?
According to Hindu doctrine everything action preformed upon the external world reacts on the doer.
04-05: What is the best way for a person of Bhakti inclinations to work?
The best way for the emotionally inclined to render work selfless is to bring their ardent and affectionate natures into play and work for gods sake instead of their own.
04-06: What is the best way for a person of Jnana inclinations to work?
Working detached from the Puritan self. Shrink the ego.
04-07: What is the common pursuit of both approaches to karma yoga?
Starve the finite ego by developing it of consequences by which It needs
04-08: What do all three Vedic faiths agree upon according to today’s sketch?
They all see the universe as without a beginning or an end, they view life as cynical
04-09: What is the meaning of suchness as presented in today’s sketch?
It means the “One” or the unity with god in the Buddhist religion.
05-01: What is the royal road and whom is it designed for?
The royal road is raja yoga, it’s designed for the elite who are scientific bent
05-02: How is raja yoga like and unlike western science?
Like: believes in experimenting
Unlike: western science doesn’t believe in experimenting on people just nature, raja does on ppl not nature..
05-03: Upon what does the raja yogi experiment?
Upon the human self/ body and mind
05-04: What are the four layers of the self as seen by the raja yogi?
Body, conscience, unsconscience, Atman/Soul
05-05: What is the purpose of Raja yoga?
Demonstrate the validity of this fourfold estimate of the human self by leading the inquirer to the direct personal experience of the beyond that is within
05-06: What is the first of the eight steps along that path of raja yoga?
Abstentions-what you don’t do, Steal Lie Kill Greed Sensuality: Pleasure
05-07: What is the second of the eight steps along the path of raja yoga?
Observations-what you do/observe, Cleanliness Contemplation Content Study
05-08: What is the third of the eight steps along the path of raja yoga?
Keeping the body from distracting the mind
Posture
05-09: What is the forth of the eight steps along the path of raja yoga?
Mastering meditative breathing
Breathing
05-10: What is the fifth of the eight steps along the path of raja yoga?
Being able to not let the outside distractions bother you
Sense imput
05-11: What is the sixth of the eight steps along the path of raja yoga?
Being able to clear the mind of everything.
Mind imput
05-12: What is the seventh of the eight steps along the path of raja yoga?
A deeper state of meditation is reached and the subject and the object are merged in your subconscious. Self dropped out of sight Completly
You and atman
05-13: What is the eighth of the eight steps along the path of raja yoga?
Final step, finally totally one with god, Samadhi
05-14: What are the Vedic views of the soul?
Sanskrit: soul is breath of life and it is eternal
Hindus: soul goes through all reincarnations and is eventually reunited in heaven
Buddhist: soul is imperment
06-01: “If we ask, therefore, how should we live?” How does Hinduism answer this question?
Hinduism answers, that depends not only on what kind of person you are but also on the stage of life you are in.
06-02: What is the First stage of life?
The first stage India marked off as that of the student
06-03: What is the second stage of life?
The second stage, beginning with marriage, was that of the house holder
06-04: What is the third stage of life?
The third stage is that of retirement
06-05: What is the fourth stage of life?
The final stage wherein the goal is actually reached is the state of the sannyasin defined by the Bhagavd-Gita as “one who neither hates nor loves.”
06-06: (sketch 07) How did the term Hinduism come into use? What is the scope of its meaning?
The term Hindu was given to the people living east of the river Indus. The term Hinduism is the term that was used to describe their religion.
06-07: Contrast the African and Taoist’s periscopes.
The African periscope says that god was in the beginning he is today and tomorrow no one can make an image of him because he has no body the Taoist periscopes says that he is formless body-less and formless.
07-01: What is a “Station?” What is another name for a “Station?” How many are there?
A position an individual should occupy in the social order, cast system, 4
07-02: What are the five perversions of the cast system?
#1 outcasts/untouchables #2 deterioration lay in the proliferation of casts into sub casts, of which there are today over 3,000 #3 proscriptions against intermarriage and interdining came to complicate social intercourse enormously #4 privileges entered the cast system with higher casts betary nefiting the expenses if the lower #5 hereditary
07-03: What are the names and identifying characteristics of the 4 casts?
#1 Brahmins: keen intuitive insight on important things in life, intellectual and spiritual leaders #2 Kshatriyas: born administrators, genius for orchestrating ppl & projects makes the most of human talent #3 Vaishyas: artisans farmers etc. #4 Shudras: servants, followers, unskilled people
07-04: What do Hindus see as the value of the cast system?
To keep people separate into the cast which they were incarnated into.
07-05: What is the basic problem of using this human mind as an instrument for seeking god?
Our minds aren’t bright enough
07-06: Should concepts of God be used?
Being the only equipment at our minds disposal, any conscience progress toward god must be made with their aid. It can’t carry our minds to the destination but can point it in the right direction
07-07: What is the basic Hindu view of God?
Utter reality, uninterrupted consciousness, and utterly beyond all possibility of frustration.
07-08: In approaching the difficult task of thinking about god, what advice does Hinduism give to “most people?”
Think of god as the archetypal of the noblest reality they encounter in the natural world.
07-09: What do the terms Saguna and Nirguana mean?
Saguna: with attributes
Nirguana: without attributes
07-10: What three forms has Saguna Brahman taken?
Creator- brahma
Preserve-Vishnu
Destroyer-shiva
07-11: How does today’s sketch describe the Hindu image of god?
Ultimate reality and happiness.
07-12: What does the word “transience” mean?
Lasting only for a short time
08-01: What is the Jivas? How does the “boiling teakettle” metaphor illustrate its growth or change?
Jivas: individual souls
As you make your way through the “water” universe you change depending on your life. And once you break free into the air you are liberated.
08-02: What is samsara? What are its two basic stages?
A word that signifies endless passage through cycles of life, death, and rebirth.
Human
Subhuman
08-03: What is the law of Karma?
The moral law of cause and effect
08-04: What two psychological corollaries flow from the law of Karma?
#1 commits the Hindu who understands it to complete personal responsibilities #2 closes the door on chance or accident
08-05: Relate the laws of Karma to the wants of Hinduism?
When a person goes through the wants of Hinduism they get nothing in return, when you cause yourself to create a wrongful cause, it effects the outcome to something not so good
08-06: What line of progression does the soul follow on its journey?
The soul fumbles and zigzags its way up toward what it really needs
08-07: Are individuals jivas alone on their journey toward liberation or brahman?
No, from start to finish it is accompanied by atman exerting pressure to out.
08-08: How is the final union with brahman envisioned by Hinduism?
The soul passes into complete identification with god and loses every trace of its former separateness.
08-09: What is a samskaras? Examples
These are rituals tht begin before a child is born and end at death with cremation. Examples are reciting hindu scriptures while pregnant, making offerings of rice before birth, and what days to have sex
08-10: What is the message of Islam in today’s periscopes?
God is laying out two paths. We can be good and god promises rewards or choose not to follow god and go astray.
08-11: What are the rites of birth passage in today’s sketch?
Naming ceremony, First outing, first solid food, shaving head
09-01: What picture of reality does Hindu cosmology present to us?
There will be innumerable galaxies comparable to our own in each world that wends its way to god
09-02: What do Hindus think of “social progress” as a cure for the woes of this world?
Misjudges the real world, All dreams of utopia-are not just doomed to disappoint they misjudge the worlds purpose which is not to rival paradise but is to provide a training ground for the human spirit
09-03: What is the difference between “dualism” and “non-dualism” within Hindu thought?
Dualist: the natural world is as real as god is
Nondualist: distinguish 3 modes of conscienceless under which the world can appear, hallucinations, the word appears normal, to yogis world risen to a state of super-conscience
09-04: What is maya?
Its an illusion with qualifying reality, The world that normally appears to us is maya
The world is maya, non dual Hinduism is saying there is something tricky bout it
09-05: What is Lila?
Gods play
09-06: How does Hinduism answer the question, what kind of world do we have?
A multiple world that includes innumerable galaxies horizontally, innumerable tiers vertically, and innumerable cycles temporally
A moral world in which the law of karma is never suspended
A middling word that will never replace paradise as the spirits destination
A world that is maya,
A training ground in which people can develop their highest capacities
A wold that is Lila
09-07: What is the golden thread ritual?
It is the boys ritual passing from boyhood to adulthood
09-08: What is the difference between the Christian and the Islamic versions of the golden rule?
Islamic: you are not a believer until you love your brother as yourself
Christian: you must love god with your whole self, as well as your brother.
10-01. What idea does Hinduism express more clearly than the other major world religions?
The various major religions are alternate paths to the same goal.
10-02. What is the metaphor of the summit? Explain.
Each religion starts on a different side of the mountain and eventually gets to the top and attains God.
10-03. Who was Ramakrishna? What did he teach?
A 19th century Hindu saint who taught to seek god through the practices of the worlds great religions.
10-04. What do the terms “Sikh” and “guru” mean?
Sikh: Disciple
Guru: Dispeller of ignorance and bringer of enlightenment
10-05. Who was Guru Nanak?
He was a kshatriya during the Islamic rule and founded Sikh
10-06. What did Nanak teach?
He taught people to follow god’s path. Tried to mesh Islam and Hindu
10-07. How many Sikh gurus have there been? How does this relate to Sikhist scripture?
- The scripture takes the place of the human gurus
10-08. What is the Pure Order (Khalsa) and the Five Ks?
When the religion was under heavy assault, 10th guru called for those who were prepared to commit their lives unreservedly to the faith to step forward, only 5 did they became the Khalsa
- Uncut hair
- Comb
- Sword/dagger
- Braclet
- Shorts
10-09. What tradition parts of religion are not accepted by the Sikhs?
Sikhs have no tradition of renunciation asceticism, celibacy, or mendicancy.
10-10. Describe the “death ritual” as presented in today’s sketch.
Before death a few drops of Ganges water, tulasi leaves, and a piece of gold are put in the dying persons mouth. They die. The body is bathed dressed wrapped in a cloth and put on a stretcher. Oldest son puts kindling in dead dudes mouth, chant: “blah blah blah liberation blah bondage” then cremated and sprinkled on the Ganges
10-11. How does the Hindu periscope describe Joy and Happiness?
When free from outer contacts & fully trained in gods discipline man finds happiness and bliss
