Key Questions and Concepts to Understand Flashcards
Describe the mechanics of the Vedic Sacrifice, how it is performed, and how it works both ritually and conceptually.
For the Vedic sacrifice to work, there should be no doubt that it works, the man making the sacrifice should have a wife to have offspring with as well as the wealth to perform rituals, and he should recite hymns or mantras perfectly.
In the Vedic sacrifice, a god or gods are invoked by the hymns or mantras. Offerings of food, ghee, or soma are prepared and offered to the fire. Agni the priest of the gods and fire god conveys these to the other gods (hence the smoke that goes upwards).
Describe how modern scholars have reconstructed the culture of the Indus Valley people.
1.) No buildings higher in elevation or extravagant housing meant there was no upper caste or class.
2.) Advanced drainage, and centered bathhouses indicated clean modes of sanitation
3.) Indus Valley seals had animals depicted on them with humans (Pushapati); it is up for debate on what they exactly are for (stamps, ownership, etc), but we can say what animals or livestock they have seen, are keeping, or are important to them (There are no horses on the seals).
4.) There were lots of clay figurines and bangles, indicating that households did hold material things (who knows what they could be for: toys, rituals, etc.)
5.) They were not invaded by the Indo-Aryans; recent DNA samples from modern suggest descent from the same population
Trace the development of sacrificial thinking into Upaniṣadic thinking, and be able to describe the synthesis of karman, ātman, and brahman.
The sacrificial ritual is made so that people would get cattle, good fortune, good things, etc., in return from the gods, and the gods listen to this because the sacrifice is beyond their scope. In fact, gods and humans alike do not know how the world works, so they try to transition into finding out how it does (Upaniṣadic thinking).
The world works through Karma (action, which refers to the conduction of ritual in this case), and neither gods nor humans are invincible to this. This is huge because the gods are not the most important thing in the world; karma is.
Karma is something that can attach itself to the Atman, or the self, that can persist through time after rebirth. This karma follows through in your next life and the life after.
Brahman is the overarching system (matrix that is the structure of reality) and refers to the world soul; the individual wants to reconnect and become the world soul (as demonstrated by the primordial human Purusa), and through sacrifice, the Atman can do this.
Understand the Buddha’s radical reformulation of karman and ātman. How does this tie to the idea of the four noble truths?
Humans feel dukha or suffering because of rebirth, and we want to leave this cycle and achieve freedom. If karma attaches itself to ātman in the next lives, it must the reason for rebirth. A way of achieving karma is by sacrifice because of the desire to have something (causing more dukha), and even if you don’t sacrifice, there is fire everywhere in passion, infatuation, life, death, etc. Therefore, this idea highlights the four noble truths:
1.) Truth of Dukha - Ongoing state of dissatisfaction
2.) Origin of Dukha - Comes from desire and wants
3.) End of Dukha - Nirvana (across the wind)
4.) The Way Out of Dukha - follow the eightfold path
Describe the affective dimensions (both familial and gendered) of teaching in both Upaniṣadic thought and early Buddhism.
Affective meaning how certain relationships work.
It seems that there are student-teacher relationships. The student-teacher relationship is something that should be examined.
Upanishads: Father and son teaching moment, Gargi and Yajnavalka riddle moment which stops; Yajnavalka and wife being arrogant or unaware.
Buddhism: Arrogance of those who are in king positions and who do not give those up, giving up these positions to lead ascetic lives. Once you do find enlightenment, you can teach many about your findings.
