Religion Test 1 Flashcards
Asceticism
Life detached from worldly comforts.
Aryans
Indo-European pastoral invaders of many European and Middle Eastern agricultural cultures during 2nd millennium BCE.
Rishi
Hindu Sage.
Gayatrimantra
The daily Vedic prayer of upper-caste Hindus.
Soma
Deity of and an intoxicating drink used by early Hindu worshippers.
Deva
A deity.
Indra
Old Vedic thunder god in the Hindu tradition.
Ushas
Goddess of dawn.
Brahmanas
The portion of Hindu Vedas concerning rituals.
Upanishads
Philosophical part of the Vedas in Hinduism, intended only for serious seekers.
Atman
Soul
Brahman
Impersonal Ultimate Principle in Hinduism.
Samsara
Wordly cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
Moksha
Liberation from worldly cycle of reincarnation.
Brahmin
Member of priest caste in Hinduism, top caste.
Bhakti
Intense devotion to a personal manifestation of Supreme Reality.
Puranas
Hindu Scriptures composed to popularize the abstract truths of the Vedas through stories about historical and legendary figures.
Ramayana
Hindu epic about Prince Rama, defender of good.
Mahabharata
Long epic that includes the Bhagavad-Gita.
Mantra
Sound/phrase chanted to evoke sound vibration of one aspect of creation/to praise a deity.
Shakta
Worshipper of the divine in female form.
Shaiva
Follower of Shiva.
Vaishnava
Worshipper of Vishnu or one of his manifestations, like Krishna.
Shakti
Female divine power.
Devi
Goddess in all her forms.
Durga
The Great Goddess as destroyer of evil, and sometimes as shakti of Shiva.
Kali
Destroying and transforming Mother of the World.
Lakshimi
Consort of Vishnu
Saraswati
Goddess of knowledge.
Tantra
Sacred esoteric text with spiritual practices honoring the divine in female form.
Kundalini
The life force that can be awakened from the base of the spine and raised to illuminate the spiritual center at the top of the head in Hindu yogic thought.
Maya
Illusion of reality and the physical world.
Agni
God of fire.
Shiva
Supreme as lord of yogis, absolute consciousness, creator, preserver, and destroyer of the world; or the destroying aspect of the Supreme.
Parvati
Shiva’s partner, daughter of the Himalayas.
Vishnu
Kind and forgiving preservation aspect of the Supreme, reincarnating periodically to save the world.
Advaita Vedanta
Nondualistic Hindu philosophy, in which the goal is the realization that the self is Brahman.
Samkhya
One of the major Hindu philosophical systems, according to which the interaction of activity, inertia, and equilibrium governs the development of the world.
Raja yoga
Mental concentration yoga.
Jnana yoga
Intellectual effort as yogic technique.
Karma yoga
Path of unselfish service.
Bhakti yoga
Path of undying devotion.
Sadhana
A spiritual practice, particularly in yoga.
Sutra
A thread on which are strung jewels - the discourse of the teacher; in yoga, a sutra is a terse saying.
Samadhi
In yoga, the blissful state of superconscious union with the Absolute.
Asana
A yoga posture.
Prana
Invisible life force.
Chakra
Subtle energy center in the body, recognized in raja yoga.
OM
The primordial sound.
Ashram
Ascetic spiritual community of those who’ve gathered around a guru.
Kshatriya
Warrior caste.
Dalit
Lowest caste.
Vaishya
Merchant/farmer caste member.
Sannyasin
Renunciate spiritual seeker.
Shudra
Member of the manual labor caste.
Puja
Ritual worship.
Guru
Enlightened spiritual teacher.
Darshan
Visual contact with the divine through encounters with Hindu images or gurus.
Hagiography
Idealized biography of the life of a saint.
Sadhu
Ascetic holy man.
Prasad
Blessed food.
Secularism
Personal disregard of religion; government policy of not favoring any one religion.
Havan
Sacred fireplace around which ritual fire ceremonies are conducted.
