Lecture part 2 Flashcards

1
Q

Hinduism: Karma

A

“action” - Specifically ritual action, ritual sacrifice

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2
Q

Hinduism: Dharma (2)

A
  1. Moral duty - what is expected of you in society based on age and gender
  2. Cosmic order - world functioning according to natural law
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3
Q

Hinduism: Darma and how it related to both human morality and balance in the cosmos is similar to what other principal in which religion?

A

Ma’at in ancient Egypt

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4
Q

Hinduism: Astika

A

Those who believed in the Vedas (a sacred text)

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5
Q

Hinduism: Nastika

A

Those who did NOT believe in the Vedas (aka, other religions)

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6
Q

Hinduism: 3 things known that the Vedic religions did

A
  1. Worship of goddesses
  2. Practice of meditation
  3. Sacrifice
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7
Q

Hinduism: the Aryan society was a caste system broken up into 4 levels. What are they

A

Brahmins (priests/ritualists)
Kshatriyas (warriors/administrators)
Vaishyas (merchants/artisans)
Shudras (servants/slaves/manual labourers)

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8
Q

Hinduism: Sruti, term to describe the Vedas literally means, what does it imply

A

“that which was heard”

Implied that it was a revealed knowledge

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9
Q

Hinduism: Agni god

A

God of fire
God of brahmins and Brahmin of the gods
> the deity that carries religious sacrifices up to the gods

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10
Q

Hinduism: Indra god

A

God of storms, lightning and warriors

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11
Q

Hinduism: Yama god

A

God of death

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12
Q

Hinduism: sacrifice is a common theme in this religion, therefore it is not surprising that their creation story centres around what

A

Sacrifice and from that all the world and the Veda were created

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13
Q

Pantheism

A

the divine is present in everything that exists in the world but does not extend outside the world

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14
Q

Panentheism

A

the divine is present in everything that exists in the world but also exists outside of the world

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15
Q

Hinduism: what is the justification for the caste system (Vedas)

A

It was thought that the god who sacrificed himself divided himself into parts and these parts became the 4 levels of the caste

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16
Q

Hinduism: becoming an ancestor - reaching the “World of Fathers” (Vedas)

A

People could commission brahmans to make sacrifices on their behalf to open up passage to the heavenly realm when they die

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17
Q

Hinduism: Pitra

A

the ancestral soul

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18
Q

Hinduism: Petra

A

A hungry ghost - because the living do not provide food for it

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19
Q

Hinduism: Commensal community

A

The living are responsible for feeding the dead

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20
Q

Hinduism: Upanishads

A

“secret teachings” Texts that are also seen as Vedas

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21
Q

Hinduism: Sannyasa

A

“purification of everything” at a certain point in a person’s life, they can renounce their obligations and relationships, and instead spend all of their time seeking religious truth

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22
Q

Hinduism: in the upanishadic tradition, the Divine is Brahman. Meaning?

A

“the Undivided, Uncreated Absolute” rather than god being an easily characterizable essence (like an element), there is one, all encompassing god that permeates everything that exists

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23
Q

Hinduism: 3 terms used to define the Upanishadic God

A

“Being, Awareness, and Bliss)

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24
Q

Hinduism: Samsara (upanishadic)

A

Cyclical time and reincarnation

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25
Q

Hinduism: Samsara lead to a new meaning of karma

A

All human actions are karma (not just rituals) and the consequences of actions are not felt in this life, but rather influence the person’s rebirth

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26
Q

Hinduism: Atman

A

Human self

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27
Q

Hinduism: Relationship between atman and Brahman

A

The atman (human self) is at a fundamental level, one with Brahman

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28
Q

Hinduism: What is the purpose of meditation in Upanishadic Hinduism?

A

There are illusions that keep us from realizing our one-ness with Brahman, and meditation will allow us to break through the illusion and tap into the part of ourselves that knows this connection

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29
Q

Hinduism: can the atman be separated from the Brahman?

A

No

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30
Q

Hinduism: Moksha

A

“liberation”
The goal of Hinduism is to reach liberation by experiencing the oneness with Brahman
(Realizing that all pain and suffering is just an illusion)

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31
Q

Hinduism: Jnana

A

The path of knowledge t0 moksha (wisdom, need to experience it)

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32
Q

Hinduism: The Upanishadic perspective of death and the afterlife summarized from story

A

Every human has an inner self. This is what transits from life to life in the cycle of samsara. It is not created, it exists eternally because it is one with Brahman, and the goal of this process is to realize that identity

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33
Q

Hinduism: is the Upanishadic religion pantheistic or panentheistic?

A

There are schools of thought for both

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34
Q

Hinduism: The Upanishadic teachings later morphed into what?

A

Hindu Devotionalism

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35
Q

Hinduism: Is there a “better” path to liberation according to Bhagavad Gita?

A

No, they are all equally good

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36
Q

Hinduism: Path of action (Bhagavad Gita)

A

Giving the fruits of your actions to the divine

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37
Q

Hinduism: Path of Knowledge (Bhagavad Gita)

A

Knowledge from direct, personal experience with the divine. Knowing your purpose in life is one with the divine

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38
Q

Hinduism: Path of Devotional Love (Bhagavad Gita)

A

Focus on a personal relationship between the individual and the divine.
> The most accessible of the three

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39
Q

Hinduism: Bhakti

A

Devotional love of the divine

> Individuals and families having personal relationships with the gods and making personal sacrifices

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40
Q

Hinduism: All of the devotional traditions are unified by one factor

A

they are all focused on bhakti

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41
Q

Hinduism: What is the goal of devotional Hinduism

A

To be unified with the god at the centre at your chosen devotion after death

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42
Q

Hinduism: Naraka

A

The hells

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43
Q

Hinduism: What is the fear of devotional Hinduism

A

Naraka: hell

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44
Q

Hinduism: Is Karma only actions?

A

No, it is also the mindset you have when you perform the action

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45
Q

Hinduism: Antyesti

A

“final sacrifice”, a funeral

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46
Q

Hinduism: Steps in a Hindu funeral

A
  • Cleansing the body (those who did the cleansing are impure)
  • Transportation of family to burial ground
  • Cremation –> releasing the spirit (note: the importance of fire in ritual/sacrifice)
  • the ashes are collected and disposed of in sacred waters
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47
Q

Hinduism: Shraddha

A

Memorial rites - the goal of the rites is to construct a body for the soul of a deceased loved one in order for it to become an ancestor (pitra)

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48
Q

Hinduism: Rite of Renunciation

A

Being symbolically cremated to have their body “die” to be reborn

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49
Q

Jainism: Mahavira

A

The twenty-fourth tirthankara who founded Jainism, rejected the caste system

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50
Q

Asceticism

A

“striving/effort” severe self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons.

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51
Q

Jainism: Jina

A

“conqueror”

Conquerors of human nature, pleasures of the self, material life

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52
Q

Jainism is a ____________ religion

A

renunciant

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53
Q

Jainism: tithankara

A

“ford maker” a person who makes a path for people to cross a body of water (samsara). He is showing you WHERE to cross, but does not help you/carry you across. It is up to the individual to carry themselves across

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54
Q

Jainism: 5 vows

A
non-violence (ahimsa)
non-attachment
sexual continence
honesty
avoidance of theft
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55
Q

Jainism view of the cosmos:
The world is _______.
View the cosmos in the shape of a ___________:
Living world in the ______/______ area. Hells are ________ the living world and get _____________ worse. Heavens are _______ the living world and get ____________ better: the top level being the abode of ___________ _______.

A
uncreated
person
middle/navel
below.... progressively
above... progressively
liberated beings
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56
Q

Jainism: Karma as a material substance means/implication

A

your karma can physically weigh you down and drag you to a lower level of hell.

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57
Q

Jainism: You are reincarnated when?

A

Immediately after death.

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58
Q

Jainism: belief of souls/ “jiva”

A

All living things that have a sense can feel pain and therefore have a soul. This is why you are not allowed to harm living beings

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59
Q

Jainism: Goal as renunciants

A

Goal is to separate the body from the jiva as much as possible so that there is no karma holding it down at death.

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60
Q

Jainism: “Sallekhana“

A

“The good death” in Jainism. Die while reciting a prayer
Voluntarily decide to take in less and less nourishment until you die.
It is also having the right attitude towards the process

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61
Q

Jainism: Punya

A

“virtue”. The influx of karmic matter due to good activities of the mind, body, and speech with the potential of producing pleasant sensations.

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62
Q

Jainism: what is a key thing that distinguishes Jainism from Hinduism

A

Jainism’s rejection of Vedic sacrifice

Also change in funerary practices

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63
Q

Is Jainism monistic or dualistic?

A

Dualistic - all things are made up of souls and matter

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64
Q

Jainism: Is there a commensal community ritual for a person after they have died (food offerings)?

A

No, because a person is reborn right away so they do not need to be nourished by their ancestors in the afterlife

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65
Q

Early Buddhism: Buddha

A

“enlightened/awakened” The Awakened One

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66
Q

Early Buddhism: does early Buddhism deny the presence of the spirits from Hinduism?

A

No, it accommodates them into their beliefs, but believes that they are also susceptible to the cycle of samsara

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67
Q

Early Buddhism: the 4 sights that the Buddha sees that makes him renounce his position as a prince and become the buddha

A

An old man (aging)
A funeral (death)
A sick man (disease)
An ascetic (someone who sees the suffering and believes anyway)

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68
Q

Early Buddhism: Bodhisattva

A

A being whose essence is enlightened but hasn’t truely achieved being a Buddha yet

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69
Q

Early Buddhism: the middle way

A

Regular life is too distracting to seek religious truth
Extreme asceticism is also too much, it clouds the mind and they can’t meditate properly
There is a path between those two that leads to true enlightenment

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70
Q

Early Buddhism: achieving liberation is something you do through _______

A

experiential effort, like meditation

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71
Q

Early Buddhism: Nirvana

A

“extinguishing or blown out”
getting out of the cycle of samsara
When you reach nirvana you are no longer generating karma, however you are still continuing on in your current human life

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72
Q

Early Buddhism: Sangha

A

The community of monks and nuns established by the Buddha

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73
Q

Early Buddhism: parinirvana

A

Final or ultimate nirvana

When a being who has achieved nirvana dies. The are fully and completely outside the cycle of nirvana

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74
Q

Early Buddhism: 4 places of pilgrimage

A
  1. Where the Buddha was born
  2. Where the Buddha became enlightened
  3. Where the first preaching of dharma took place
  4. Where the Buddha died
75
Q

Early Buddhism: 3 marks of existence

A
  1. Impermanence
  2. Suffering/unsatisfaction) (dukha)
  3. No immortal souls (anatman)
76
Q

Early Buddhism: Anatman

A

No soul exists

77
Q

Early Buddhism: Why is there thought to be no permanent soul?

A

Because having a permanent soul would make people attached to a thing, and attachments only bring suffering. So for there not to be suffering there needs to be no permanent soul

78
Q

Early Buddhism: skandhas

A

The “self” is made up of 5 aggregates:

One physical and four mental

79
Q

Early Buddhism: Transfer of karma between rebirths + candle analogy

A

Like a candle being lit by another candle’s flame, there is a direct link of cause and effect, but each flame is new
It depends more on a pattern rather than the transfer of a thing like a soul

80
Q

Early Buddhism: Dependent origination

A

Everything that exists is enmeshed in a net of causality
Our ability to see the world is tied up with our craving for that world. That craving leads to the next link in the chain (samsara)
Issue is that most stages in the chain is outside of our control. The only thing that is under our control is craving

81
Q

Early Buddhism: 6 Realms of Rebirth

A

The 6 realms someone can be born into based on their karma
Upper/Good rebirth: human, god, demi-gods
Lower/Bad rebirth: hungry ghosts, animal, hell realms

82
Q

Early Buddhism: Four Noble Truths

A
  1. Life is Unsatisfactory (suffering)
  2. Suffering is caused by craving (attachment to impermanent things)
  3. Craving can cease
  4. Cessation of craving through the Eightfold Path
83
Q

Early Buddhism: what makes a hungry ghost hungry?

A

Based on your karma

not tied to ritual anymore like in Hinduism, but rather based on your own actions

84
Q

Early Buddhism: what is the purpose of hell

A

To expiate your bad karma

It is temporary, not forever

85
Q

Early Buddhism: 3 poisons

A

Negative emotional states that cause you to go through the cycle of life, death and rebirth
Pig = ignorance
Snake = anger
Rooster = desire/greed

86
Q

Early Buddhism: The state of mind at the moment of death

A

this heavily influences your karma on top of your accumulated karma.
Example: a monk who is very angry at the moment of death is reborn as a snake

87
Q

Early Buddhism: The Eightfold Path (3 categories)

A
  1. Morality - behaving properly
  2. Insight - through meditation
  3. Wisdom
88
Q

Early Buddhism: how to practice Buddhism (ideal)

A
  1. Join sangha (Buddhist monks and nuns)
  2. Follow the Eightfold Path
  3. Become arhat –> achieve nirvana

> this was an elite path and was not thought to be easy to do
- it was only though good karma that you could achieve a life to be able to pursue this path

89
Q

Early Buddhism: Arhat

A

“worthy one” or “perfected one”

This is usually accomplished over many lives learning how to perfect oneself

90
Q

Early Buddhism: How often were there Buddhas?

A

Very rarely

91
Q

Early Buddhism: Jataka

A

“Birth story”
Explain how the Buddha became the Buddha. Tells the stories of the previous births of the Buddha before he was the Buddha
Can take almost any moral story and explain what role the bodhisattva played to teach a lesson and show how the bodhisattva gradually perfected himself

92
Q

Early Buddhism: how to practice Buddhism for the lay person

A
  • Vow to be moral
  • Undergo acts that generate merit (punya)
  • Goal: a better rebirth
93
Q

Early Buddhism: How to generate merit (punya)

A
  • Do acts that benefit the sangha

- Veneration of relics and participation in the stupa cults (places that where the Buddha’s body were buried)

94
Q

Early Buddhism: Stupa

A

“mound” a place where a relic of the Buddha is housed. Going to a stupa is equivalent to seeing the Buddha himself and generates merit

95
Q

Theravada Buddhism: Corpse meditation

A

A way of operationalizing the realization of impermanence by looking at a corpse (which were seen as disgusting)

96
Q

Theravada Buddhism: Funerary practices

A

After a loved one has died, to sponsor a monk to perform merit generating rituals on your loved one’s behalf. Goal is to offset negative karma the person did in their past life

97
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: Mahayana meaning

A

“Great(er) vehicle”

Considered itself to be the greatest text

98
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: soteriology (salvation) and universal salvation –> the bodhisattva ideal

A

An individual who wants to save all living beings

99
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: new meaning of bodhisattva & vows and precepts

A

Not just the Buddha is past life but any being how wants to save lives

Vow: I will stay in the cycle of samsara until all sentient beings achieve liberation
Precepts: rules to live by

100
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: Bodhisattva superhuman beings

A

a new class of beings in this religion

101
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: Avalokitesvara (Guanyin/Kannon)

A

“sound hearer” A super human being with many arms who is always listening to the world and will lend a helping hand to anyone to asks for it

102
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: Kshitigrbha (Dizang / Jizo)

A

“earth storer” or “earth womb” A celestial bodhisattva

Can descend into the hell realms and help the people stuck in hell

103
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: who becomes a Buddha

A

Anyone can become a Buddha with practice

> no longer thought to be reserved for only the elite who were perfected over many lives

104
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: The Three Bodies doctrine of the Buddhas

A

The earthly Buddha was a projection of the heavenly Buddha. The heavenly Buddhas in turn are a projection of a transcendent, all encompassing Buddha (the body of the teaching of the Buddha that is universal and omnipresent)

105
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: Emptiness and the new understanding of samsara and nirvana

A

If everything that exists in the universe is empty, then, logically, there cannot be a distinction between samsara and nirvana.

Nirvana is just our misunderstanding of existence. It is through combating that ignorance that we become liberated.

Samsara = Nirvana

106
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: How did they justify the differences in their understanding of samsara and nirvana than the early Buddhists?

A

They said that the Buddha preached based on the audience’s capacity to understand. Thus the early Buddhists had a different teaching because thats all they were able to understand

107
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: Parable of the burning house

A

There is a terrible house. In the house, a man lives with his children. He goes to the store and on his way home he sees smoke rising from the terrible house with his children still inside. He yells to his children to get out but they refuse. He realizes he needs to tell them something (a lie) to convince them to come out of the house. He appeals to each child’s preferences and entices them all to come outside

Explanation: In the story the terrible house is the world/samsara and we are the children. Buddha is arguing that he didn’t lie when preaching a different story to appeal to the audience. It was necessary for them to think that to be able to be liberated.

108
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: the Ghost Festival

A

On a specific day, the ghosts can wander the earth, and it is the responsibility of the living to take care of the dead.
You support all of the dead, not just your ancestors.

109
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: greater filial piety in the Ghost Festival ritual

A

You can no longer give merit to your dead family on your own. Now you must go through monks and nuns through making donations who will then give merit to your dead relatives

110
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: The Scripture on the Ten Kings redefinition of Buddhist cosmology

A

A redefinition of Buddhist cosmology in light of Chinese social teachings where instead of being reborn immediately after death, there is a “purgatory” where the dead person’s karma can be purged before their next brith

The dead person passes through the courts of the ten kings to face judgement

111
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: textual practices creating merit

A

Behaviours around the texts (Mahayana Surta or Scripture on the Ten Kings) could give you merit towards your karma

  • Copying the texts
  • Reciting the texts
112
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: rituals that the family performs for their dead loved ones

A

Once a week for seven weeks, then 100 days, then 1 year, then 3 years after the loved one’s death, the family pays a monk to recite scripture to transfer merit to their dead relative in the hopes of reducing the sentence they are given by the kings of the underworld.
Do it a total of 10 times for each of the 10 courts

113
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: Pure Lands is not the same as Heaven

A

Pure land is not part of the cycle of samsara. Once a person is born in the pure land they never again face an unpleasant rebirth. You stay there until you have used up all your karma, at which point you achieve total enlightenment and have achieved Buddha-hood

114
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: The Buddha of Infinite Life (Amitabha/ Emituo/ Amida)

A

The Buddha that oversees the Pure Lands

115
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: How does a person get to be reborn in the Pure Land?

A

Chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha

Purposely made it simple so even regular people can make it there

116
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: The decline of dharma and the Pure Lands

A

There was the belief that the age of the decline or end of dharma had been reached and Buddhism could no longer be properly practised. Thus getting into the Pure Lands was interpreted to be a simple and accessable devotional practice: chanting the name of the Amitabha Budda

117
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: what were miracle stories used for?

A

To stress the accessibility of the Pure Land

118
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: dunka

A

“partitioners”

Each family was associated with one temple

119
Q

Mahayana Buddhism: Funeral Buddhism in Japan

A

Since every family was associated with one temple., the performance of funerary rituals became the responsibility of one specific temple.

Social system where the temples start to rely on their partitioners as their primary source of revenue

120
Q

Tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana): this is an esoteric tradition, what does that mean?

A

It is complex and inaccessible to the lay person, so you need to have someone teach it to you, like a guru

121
Q

Tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana): 3 M’s of ritual practice. Mantra, Mudra, and Mandala

A

Mantra - set of sacred syllables that represent the deity that is invoked
Mandala - geometrical arrangements that depict Buddhas. They are thought to represent celestial abodes, used in meditative practices
Mudra - a particular hand position to assume a bodily form of a desired Buddha

122
Q

Tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana): What is the purpose of mandalas?

A

Used to meditate and visualize the self merging with a deity.
Tantric belief system is that every living thing has innate Buddha-hood, and it is only our failure of understanding that prevents us from seeing this.
Sand mandalas are used to symbolize impermanence, they are destroyed when they are finished being created

123
Q

Tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana): Ritual logic/goal

A

Homology

Identification of self with chosen deity. Buddhahood in this lifetime

124
Q

Tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana): how do you achieve Buddhahood in this lifetime?

A

Realizing that every living being contains every other living being, including all the Buddhas

125
Q

Tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana): vajra

A

The lightning bolt weapon that Indra welds

It is a ritual implement and an artistic motif

126
Q

Tibetan Buddhism: delok

A

“return from death”
Religious figures like shamans who claim to have descended into the realm of the dead and then to come back to talk about it
Intended to prove the truth of the Buddhist teachings on death and the samsara

127
Q

Tibetan Buddhism: Tulku

A

“Gurus/Lama” or “the first level body of the Buddha”

The Dalai Lama is one of these

128
Q

Tibetan Buddhism: Bardo Thodol

A

“The great liberation”
A book that outlines death bed practices and liberation at the time of death

Over the course of life we pass through various intermediate states (bardo). Theory in the book is that in between death and birth, one goes through a succession of these intermediate states. Idea is that if a dying person manages to maintain their composure at the time of death, they can obtain Buddhahood because we are all Buddha’s already

129
Q

Tibetan Buddhism: bardo

A

“intermediate state”

130
Q

Tibetan Buddhism: The Bardo of the Dying Process

A

As your body dies it is thought that each of the elements in your body (earth, water, fire, air) will give itself up.

131
Q

Tibetan Buddhism: Sky burial

A

“Giving alms to the birds”
Offering up the body to sacred birds as food as the Bodhisattva did

Impermanence: once the consciousness is gone, there is no need for the body anymore

132
Q

Chinese Religion (Shang): oracle bones

A

People would write questions on animal bones. Then a religious leader would place a heated rod on the bone. The way the bone cracked was supposed to be the answer to the question. Typically asked moral questions or about the future

133
Q

Chinese Religion (Shang): “animistic” cosmos

A

The assumption that things out there in the world are animated by spirits

134
Q

Chinese Religion (Shang): Spiritual potency “Ling”

A

Bargaining with the supernatural world

135
Q

Chinese Religion (Shang): Spiritual potency “Ling”

A

The extent to which super natural beings have power to influence the world

136
Q

Chinese Religion (Shang): what do the graves of ancient monarchs tell us about their understanding of death?

A

Tell that there was a notion of continuity because people were buried with things to help them “survive” in the afterlife. The afterlife was somehow continuous with regular life because people would need the same things

137
Q

Chinese Religion (Zhou): Spiritualistic cosmology

A

Things are happening in the world because there are ghosts, gods, and spirits that are interacting directly with with humanity

138
Q

Chinese Religion (Zhou): Correlative cosmology

A

Assumes that things happen in the world due to the interaction between natural forces

139
Q

Chinese Religion (Zhou): extrahuman realm

A

Gods were not thought to be these being in another realm, but it was thought that they interacted with humans directly. Not necessarily supernatural nor superhuman. They can be defeated by humans and humans can have power over them

140
Q

Chinese Religion (Zhou): difference between Gods, ghosts, ancestors and other spirits

A

They differ in their relationships with human beings but they are not fundamentally different in type.

Relationship depends on the point of view of the individual

141
Q

Chinese Religion (Zhou): Ling and the creation of new gods

A

Ghosts who had a lot of clout (ling) could demand to be worshiped as a god with threats of misfortune if they were not

142
Q

Chinese Religion (Zhou): ming

A

Everything has a destiny or a pre-determined life span that is given to them at birth.

Over the course of a persons life, their actions can cause this lifespan to change

143
Q

Chinese Religion (Zhou): spirit mediums “wu”

A

People who would allow spirits to enter them (allow themselves to be possessed)

They typically performed one of three different types of rituals:

  • communication, allows spirit to speak through them
  • exchange, can intercede and make offerings to spirits to keep them from making trouble
  • antagonism, exorcism or combat with evil spirits
144
Q

Chinese Religion (Zhou): wu participation in funerary rituals

A

Before the funeral they tried to call the spirit back to the body

145
Q

Chinese Religion (Zhou): Daybook

A

They were technical manuals, practical manuals to be used by lay people to give advice on how to deal with members of the invading spirit realm

146
Q

Chinese Religion (Zhou): Correlative cosmology, “qi”

A

“material energy”
There are forces out in the world that we can feel but not see (like wind)
There is this energy in things, it has a physicality

147
Q

Chinese Religion (Zhou): Yin and Yang (correlative cosmology)

A

“dark and light”
They generate each other, they have a cyclical nature

Need to understand their flow to be able to live a good life

148
Q

Chinese Religion (Zhou): The Way “Doa”

A

Everything has a thing that it is and a thing that it will become. The Doa is that which makes things as they are.

149
Q

Chinese Religion (Zhou): Zhuangzi’s ideas of life and death

A

There was ambiguity
Not assuming that life is better than death.
There might be a transformation in death, death might give you a better existence

150
Q

Chinese Religion (Zhou): multiple souls, the hun and po

A

Hun = cloud or spirit soul
Po = light or material soul
They are associated with ying and yang
Hun leaves body at death, po soul remains with the body and bones

151
Q

Chinese Religion (Zhou): Possible destination for the death: the Yellow Springs

A

A realm of the dead under the earth

It was thought that the souls living in this realm had property rights over the places they were burried

152
Q

Chinese Religion (Confucian): View of the self

A

We are who we are because of our social relationships

153
Q

Chinese Religion (Confucian): “ren”

A

“humankind-ness”

Acknowledging the humanity of other people

154
Q

Chinese Religion (Confucian): “Xiao”

A

“Filial piety”
Respect that is due to the old from the young
This is for both living and deceased relatives

155
Q

Chinese Religion (Confucian): what is the purpose of rituals “li”

A

To give us practical experience to know how to interact with others
Rituals from ancestor veneration to table manners are a discipline and teach us how to behave properly in the context of our relationships

156
Q
Chinese Religion (Confucian):   That is the memorial ritual with personators?
What did they think was happening and what was the goal?
A

The youngest relative plays the role of the deceased ancestor. It was thought that the spirit of the ancestor dwells within the personator and literally get to share the food with the living family

The personator gets to experience what it is like to experience filial piety. The idea is that the young person will be inspired by this and want to treat their elders with respect so they too will be treated with respect when they are older

157
Q

Chinese Religion (Confucian): how long are you supposed to mourn for the death of a parent? Why?

A

3 years

Because as a child you were completely dependent on your parents for 3 years, so you are paying them back that honour

158
Q

Chinese Religion (Confucian): the “filial and incorrupt” rank

A

People could be given a government position solely because they exemplified Confucian moral ethics (like properly mourning the death of a parent or proper performance of ancestor rituals)

159
Q

Chinese Religion (Confucian): Xian, the immortals

A

Benevolent figures, their very existence can protect those around them

160
Q

Chinese Religion (Confucian): The quest for immortality

A

Centred around cultivating qi.
- Through behaviours like breathing exercises
Elixirs were also made to help with immortality

161
Q

Chinese Religion (Confucian):3 types of immortals

A
  1. Heavenly immortals - in broad daylight would ascend up to heaven as divine beings
  2. Earth bound immortals - they leave human society behind and walk off into the wilderness
  3. Simulated corpse immortals - they feign death, their bodies are placed into a coffin but when the coffin is reopened at a later time, they are no longer there
162
Q

Chinese Religion (Daoi): The first Daoist “Church”: The Celestial Masters. What did they do?

A

A group of people who were responsible for updating the “fate roster” for their communities. They kept record of all the births and deaths to report them to the gods to make sure that the fate roster of the Celestial community was never out of synch with reality because they could lead to terrible consequences.

The “fate roster” is tied to the idea that everyone has a set lifespan and that one’s lifespan is being determined by divinities.

163
Q

Chinese Religion (Daoi): What is the role of the bureaucratic metaphor in Celestial Masters ritual

A

The Celestial Masters community set up a bureaucracy to parallel the bureaucracy of the gods. And they are regularly performing rituals to maintain contact with the gods.

164
Q

Chinese Religion (Daoi): spirit register

A

Each Celestial Master had one.
This was the list of gods that they could call on that would do their bidding. As they were promoted, they had access to more gods.
>parallels between the human and celestial bureaucracy

165
Q

Chinese Religion (Daoi): how does the celestial bureaucracy punish wrong actions

A

If you sin or behave immorally, years will be taken off of your fated lifespan

166
Q

Chinese Religion (Daoi): The ritual of confession

A

Sin was understood to have consequences, and as such, any time you felt sick they first thing you would do was confess your sins to your local libationer. The libationer would then perform rituals on your behalf to try to regain the lost years on your lifespan.

167
Q

Chinese Religion (Daoi): Sepulchral Plaints

A

There was the understanding that the underworld functioned almost the exact same way as the human world bureaucratically. So if bad things were happening in your life, it might be that there was a land dispute with a dead person and they were filing a law suit against you.

168
Q

Chinese Religion (Daoi): “soul silk” –> becoming an ancestor

A

A piece of paper containing the person’s name and other details. The paper is brought to the burial site and is venerated. It is thought that the soul transitions into that paper.
That paper is kept on a separate alter from the ancestor alter. After some time has passed they officially become an ancestor and then get a tablet on the alter of ancestors. (right of passage)

169
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: Five Stages of Grief (Elizabeth Kubler-Ross)

A
  1. Denial
  2. Anger
  3. Bargaining
  4. Depression
  5. Acceptance
170
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: Who did Kubler-Ross say goes through the stages of grief? Now pop-culture has now redefined it as who going through the stages?

A

The person who is dying

Also the people around the dying person

171
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: Critiques for the 5 stages of grief model

A
  1. Every person goes through the grieving process in the same way
  2. Prescriptive reading of the theory because it is linear nature (worrying about skipping a stage or that you are not grieving properly)
172
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: Bananno’s theory of grief

A

There is no linearity to grief, rather there are 3 main patterns:
Chronic Grief = no matter how much time passes the grief does not change
Recovery = have high grief at the beginning and get better after around a year, but still feel the loss forever
Resilience = grief hits them hard initially, but they are able to adapt to the loss (most common)

173
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: Lifton and Olson “Symbolic Immortality”

A

Suggest that one of the major drivers of human activity is the fear of death.
Psychologically humans crave a feeling of continuity. To have an understanding that in some why, they will survive this present moment (symbolic immortality)

174
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: What are the 5 forms of symbolic immortality

A
  1. Biological immortality - biosocial immortality (one can continue on by reproducing)
  2. Creative immortality - having a creative work be famous that you name lives on
  3. Theological immortality - believing that you will live on in some form after death
  4. Natural Immortality - we are all part of a natural cycle of life. As a result, when you die your body is simply reincorporated into the natural world
  5. Experiential immortality - there are certain experiences of changes in psychological states that radically redefine how death is seen or interpreted
175
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: what is the leading cause of death in Canada

A

Cancer, because we are living longer

176
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: Bill C-14

A

Dying with dignity

Allows for physician assisted suicide

177
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: what are 3 ways that we deny and distance death in our modern culture?

A

Medicalization
Professionalization
Bureaucratization

178
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: what is “medicalization” of death

A

The removal of death from the familial context and its transition into an institutional medical one. Most people are dying in hospitals

179
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: what is “professionalization” of death

A

The removal of families from the process of managing death and all of those responsibilities being off loaded onto professionals

180
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: what is “bureaucratization” of death

A

The overwhelming number of laws and procedures surrounding death

181
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: how do we talk around death?

A

By using terms like “they passed away” “they are in a better place” or even gallows humour

182
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: disenfranchised grief

A

When one is in a socially acceptable relationship with a person who had a “good death”, then there is social support for the grieving individual.

When one is in an unconventional relationship that is not socially recognized or has a degenerative disease so grieving starts before death, their grief is not supported by society and therefore feel disenfranchised

183
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: The “Phase of Negated Death”

A

The liminal state between the death of an individual and their funeral service

During this period, the deceased person is seen to be in a liminal space between death and life

The family holds a wake and the person is treated as if they were alive (talked to)

184
Q

Religion in the 21st Century: Muen

A

“without bonds”

Fear of being forgotten after death, of no longer being bound to anybody, both socially and karmically