Week 2

Question 1

Where does English come from?
-Where did it develop?

Answer 1

-English
~Father
-German
~Vather
-Spanish
~Padre
-Greek
~Pateras
-Latin
~Pater
-Sanskrit
~Pitar

Question 2

Indo-European Languages

Answer 2

-Simplified Language Tree
-They discovered that there were similar grammatical structures in all of these languages
~It was unimaginable that these similarities had developed independently from on another, they started to develop language trees
In attempt to trace all of these languages back to their origin
**Based of the language tree, scholars argue that all of these languages originated from a single common language
**Due to the locations where these languages were found India and Europe-scholars refer to this common language as Indo-European on intensive linguistic studies, scholars have reconstructed the grammar and vocabulary for this proto-Indo-European language and they have argued that the speakers of this language probably formed part of the ancestry for all those individuals where Indo-European languages originated

Question 3

Proto-Indo-European Migrations

Answer 3

-Anatolian Theory
~8,500 years ago
*Farmers
-Steppe Theory
~6,500 years ago
*Herders
-Based on linguistic reconstruction, there are really two main theories
~First suggest that these people started in Anatolia, modern Turkey, as farmers sometimes around 8,500 years ago
*These farmers started to migrate, for unknown reasons, heading east and west, bringing knowledge of agriculture with them to Europe
**Known as the Anatolian Theory
~The other main theory argues that it seems that these Proto-Indo-Europeans speakers probably started as nomadic herders on the steppes of Southern Russia, Ukraine around 6,500 years ago
They were probably the first to domesticate horses, first for food, but later they began to use them as beasts of burden
**These herders moved west into Europe, south into Anatolia, and southeast into modern India
**Known as the Steppe Theory
**Received some validation in recent years due to recent linguistic studies that helped validate the theory, but the exact origin of these people is unknown. Regardless, it is clear that the migration of these people probably took place very slowly over hundreds or even thousands of years
-The nature of these migrations is a matter of some debate.
~Scholars who argue the Anatolian Theory have generally tended to suggest that this was a peaceful movement of people
~While many of those who argue the Steppe Theory have generally suggested that this may have been accompanied by conquest
-There is some evidence that these Proto-Indo-European speaking people saw themselves as superior to the groups that encounter
~One of the Indo-European groups that moved into first central Asia and then into India referred to themselves as the Aryans (“noble”) people, seemingly setting themselves apart from other groups who inhabited India and perhaps implying conquest of some kind
*The descendants of these migrants who spoke Indo-European established many of the great civilizations that we will talk about over the course of this class
-Most European (with the exception of the Basques, Finns, and Hungarians), northern Indian, and Persian people speak languages associated with these migrations and many of their religious and philosophical concepts seem to be descended from a similar set of beliefs and ideas
-Early Indo-European speakers seem to have believed in a broad panther of deities who controlled the natural forces of the world; while that is not unique, they do seem to have believed that these deities were broadly divided into various camps, some positive and some negative
~In order to communicate with these deities, animal sacrifices were called for as priests consumed soma, a drink with possibly hallucinogenic properties that allowed them to commune with the gods
*It is from these ideas and beliefs that some of the great developments of western religious and philosophical traditions came

Question 4

Medes and Persians

Answer 4

-Cyrus the Great
~r. ca. 558-530 BC
-Persian Empire
~550-330 BC
-Perhaps the most important early contributions came from two groups of Indo-European speakers who migrated to modern Iran sometimes around 1000 BC, Medes and the Persians
~These groups were originally fairly minor herders and nomads who were dominated by the larger empires of Mesopotamia
*Example
**Assyrians and Babylonians
-In the 500s BC, as those empires began to decline, the king of the Persians, Cyrus, began to expand, establishing what is known as the Persian empire, which eventually encompassed all the land between the Mediterranean and the Indus River
~This is important because this expansion allowed for the spread and development of the Persian religion we know today as Zoroastrianism

Question 5

Zoroastrianism

Answer 5

-Zarathustra
~1500-600 BC
~Ahura Mazda (“The Wise Lord”)
~Angra Mainyu (“Hostile Spirit”)
-Dualism
~Division between light and dark
-Eschatology
~Final Judgment and the End Times
-Zarathustra or Zoroaster (which the Greeks called him) was probably a real human being, but scholars don’t know for sure when he lived
~Some sources place him as early as 1000 BC, others closer to 600 BC
Regardless, he seems to have been a priest who became disillusioned with the traditional religious practices of the Persians
**He abandoned those beliefs and wandered in the wilderness, praying and seeking enlightenment
**While wandering he began to have visions sent by the supreme god who had created the world and all good things, Ahura Mazda (“The wise Lord”)
**However, Ahura Mazda was not alone in the universe, he was served by a variety of lesser deities, and he was locked in a cosmic conflict with an evil deity known as Agnra Mainyu (“Hostile Spirit”) who was also served by a variety of lesser spirits
-Ahura Mazda encourages people to follow basic moral precepts and to enjoy the world in moderation
-Agnra Mainyu attempted to lure people to overindulge in all the sensual pleasures and cruelties of the world
~According to Zoroaster, the contest between Ahura Mazda and Agnra Mainyu would last for 12,000 years
*In the end Ahura Mazda would emerge victorious, and he would judge the souls of every person, living and dead
**Those who had followed his precepts and were good people would enjoy the rest of eternity in heavenly bliss
**Those who were wicked and evil would be sent to a world of eternal torment with Agnra Mainyu
-In the idea that the universe is a contest between good and bad, darkness and light, Zoroaster articulated a profoundly dualistic view of the universe
~His belief of the world and history are moving towards some sort of end and divine judgment is known as Eschatology, and Zoroaster was the first individual to articulate this sort of eschatological vision

Question 6

Influence of Judaism

Answer 6

-Dualism and Eschatology
-As Cyrus and Persians busied themselves with conquering an empire, Zoroastrian priests and beliefs accompanied them
-In 583 BC, Cyrus conquered the city of Babylon and he allowed the survivors of Judah to return home
~There they rebuilt the Temple of Solomon and rededicated themselves to the Torah
-Up until this point, eschatological ideas had not been a major part of Jewish belief
~Possibly due to the influences of Zoroastrian belief, during this time we began to see writers incorporate ideas about an eventual resurrection of all people and a divine judgment
*It is at this point that authors began to develop ideas about angels and demons and the role of the Devil in the world
-These eschatological and dualistic ideas seem to be influenced by the Zoroastrian beliefs

Question 7

Indus Valley Civilization

Answer 7

-Circa 3000-1500 BC
-Developed along the Indus River
-Little is known
-As far as archeologists can tell, the earliest settled civilization in South Asia developed along the Indus River, which flows from the Himalayas south through modern Pakistan and India
~Known as Indus Valley Civilization
-As early as 3000 BC, people began to settle and build cities along the river that flourished until around 1900 BC
~While hundreds of cities have been discovered in the region, little is known about these people for three main reasons
*Called “difficulties”

Question 8

Difficulty 1
-The Indus River

Answer 8

-Flooding
-Silt
-The Indus River is great for agriculture because when it floods it brings massive amounts of fertile silt down from the mountains
~While this is great for crop yields, it means that the river constantly rises and the silt deposited in the riverbed
-The earliest cities seem to have been established as close to the river as people could build, which means that these early cities are buried under centuries of silt
~It is difficult to study the origins of these cities since the early cities are inaccessible

Question 9

Difficulty 2
-Writing

Answer 9

-Circa 3300 BC
-Seals
-Translations
-While the Indus Valley people had a form of writing, archeologists have not been able to decipher it
~Archeologists have found hundreds of stamp seals
Note that they all have the image of an animal of some type and at the top of each seal, there are a series of marks
**That is a form of writing but archeologists have identified hundreds of unique symbols, and there are not enough repetitions of the symbols to actually translate the language
**The symbol might indicate names, syllables, letters, numbers, or none of the above

Question 10

Difficulty 3
-British Railroads

Answer 10

-Since the 19th century
-Built across Indus River Valley
-Destroyed and buried remnants of civilizations
-Many of these ancient cities survived buried in the silt but were reasonably intact up until the 19th century
~However, as the British conquered the region in the nineteenth century, they began to build railroads to connect their new territory
To do that they needed to build railroad fill, rocks, and stones to go in between and underneath the railroad ties and rails
As they built across the Indus River valley, they discovered massive piles of mud bricks that could be stiped-mined and broken up to fill
*What they had found were the cities of the Indus River civilization, but in their desire to build railroads, they essentially destroyed the top archeological level of the civilization and buried the remnants under the railroads
**That makes it a bit difficult to study these sites
**Between the river and the British, we can study neither the origins nor the end of this civilization

Question 11

Cities and Trade

Answer 11

-Cities
~The Great bath as Mohenjo-Daro
-Trade with Mesopotamia
~Gems, gold, etc.
-They built some of the finest and most expertly engineered cities in the ancient world
-The cities had some of the first discovered underground sewers, and elites lived in houses that had an indoor plumbing
-While they produce some amazing structures we don’t always know their purpose
-The Great Bath since scholars once believed that it could have been for public bathing, but that’s really speculation
~Could have also have been a public water source; used for religious ceremonies, or something else
-These people traded extensively with early Sumerian society as well as other Mesopotamian civilizations via the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf
~In particular sending gems, gold, and other trade goods west
-Archeologists are not sure how much if any cultural or religious ideas were traded, but they do know that similar motifs appear in Mesopotamian and Indus River Valley Seals

Question 12

Dravidian Languages

Answer 12

-Role of migration
-Linguistically, the best current guess is that these people spoke some sort of Dravidian Language
~If you go to India today, you will find that most of the languages in northern India are Indo-European in origin, but these are pockets of Indo-European languages in southern India
*Most southern Indian languages are part of the Dravidian language family, but there are pockets of Dravidian speakers in the north
-The best current theory is that this pattern developed during the southern migration of Indo-Assyrian
~As they moved they brought their languages with them, displacing the native Dravidians except for small pockets

Question 13

Religion? Government? Society?

Answer 13

-Decline, circa 1900-1500 BC
-Deserted by 1500 BC
-The religion, social structure, gender relationships, and really all other aspects of Indus Valley Civilization are lost
~Without writing or additional evidence, really all we have are small statues
*We don’t even know why or how the civilization fell apart
**It could have been disease of some kind, natural disasters such as earthquakes or possibly anything else
*What is clear if that by 1900 BC these cities were in a period of decline, and by 1500 BC they were basically deserted

Question 14

Indo-Aryans

Answer 14

-Migration into India
~Circa 1500 BC
-Fusion with Dravidian people(?)
-Sometime around 1500 BC that the Indo-Aryans, a branch of the Indo-European speaking people, moved south into the region
-They were primarily nomadic herders who raised sheep and/or cattle and moved those herds into India
-By 1500 BC they were in the Indus River Valley, 1000 BC they started to settle along the Ganges, and by 500 BC they had moved into the center of India
~To be quite clear, these Indo-Aryans did not destroy the Indus River Valley cities
*Those cities were on the decline already
~While those Indo-Aryans certainly conquered the local Dravidian people, there seems to have been more fusion and cultural blending with them than destruction
*We know this because of mud bricks
-While the Indus-Valley people were masters of the production of mud bricks, there is no evidence that the Indo-Aryans actually used mud bricks until they moved to this area
~They started to produce temporary alters and other structures using sophisticated building techniques
*The logical assumption here is that they learned this technology from the Dravidian people they encountered

Question 15

Religion

Answer 15

-Vedas
~Literally, “Wisdom” or “Knowledge”
~Hymns
~Rig Veda (the verses of Knowledge) circs 1400-1600 BC
-gods
~Henotheism (?)
~Sacrifice
-Few things about the Indo-Aryans from their religious literature
~Perhaps as early as 1400 BC Indo-Aryans composed hymns and verses to their various gods known as Vedas (“Wisdom” or “knowledge)
*These hymns were preserved as oral traditions for millennia until til they were finally written down sometime after the first centuries CE
**The most famous of these is known as the Rif Veda (the verses of Knowledge), which is a collection of 1,028 hymns in praise of various gods
*Collections like the Rig Veda provide a window into the lives and experiences of the Indo-Aryan people and their movement into India, gods like Indra are described as controlling the natural forces of the universe, helping the Indo-Aryans succeed in war by destroying dams and fortifications, and creating the universe
**The worship of Indra has survived in India until the modern day, although he is nowhere near as important as he was in Rig Veda
-The gods needed to be honored with elaborate sacrifices of horses, cattle, or other animals
~During these sacrifices, the priests who led the ceremonies would consume soma, a drink of unknown origin (possibly a powerful hallucinogenic), which allowed them to communicate with the gods

Question 16

Social/Religious Distinctions

Answer 16

-Varna
~Literally, “Color”, circa 1000 BC
-Social classes
~Brahmins (priests)
~Kshatriyas (ruler/warriors)
~Vaishyas (merchants and peasants)
~Shudras (laborers)
-The hymns also provided a window into development of the social structure of ancient India.
~As the Indo-Aryans moved into the region, instead of creating kingdoms or empires to maintain order, they began to divide society into various classes that were referred to by the term Varna (color)
*At the top of the social spectrum were the Brahmins (priests), below them the Kshatriyas (rulers/warriors), below them the Vaishyas (merchants and peasants), and at the bottom Shudras (laborers)
**These groups form the main classes of society
*The exact origins of the system are unclear, but it is not possible that the main clue lies in the term Varna itself
-Archeologists and scholars have argued that it is possible that Varna was used to describe this system since it may have reflected actual color differences between the lighter skinner Indo-Aryan elites at the top and the darker-skinned Dravidians at the bottom that are no longer evident today
~That may or may not be correct, but at least at the beginning, it may have described an ideal rather than the way society actually operated
*As time went on these classes began to develop, to define society, and they began to be seen as a product of the divine order
-Perhaps the most famous hymn in the Rig Veda is the hymn Purusha Sukta
~The exact origin of the hymn is disputed, it might be a truly ancient origin or it may be a later insertion into the collection, regardless, it describes the creation of the universe
*The first part described Purusha, the cosmic man as being the origin of all things
**He sacrifices himself to himself, and from each part of his body emerges animals, humans, and indeed the cosmos itself
*This hymn provides the justification for Varna, making it not just a social system, but also a part of the religious order

Question 17

Varna and the Caste System

Answer 17

-Further social division circa 500s BC
~Jatis
*Defined by occupations and roles in society
*Sub-sections of Varna
~Dalit (untouchables)
*Outside of boundaries of Varna
-There is a difference between the Varna and the caste system
~Varna refers to the main classes in society, starting in the 500s BC it began to be broken down even further
People began to be defined by their occupation and roles in society as a sub-section of varna also known as Jatis
**People were expected to stay and marry within their occupation rather than move to different potentially higher occupations
**This system was rigid in the ideal rather than the reality
**People could move down due to bad luck to poor circumstances, and it was flexible enough to absorb migrants who arrived with new occupations or who needed to be absorbed into existing Jatis
The other main group added were Dalits (untouchables)
**These are individuals who performed jobs that were seen as so ritually unclean that they were outside of Varna entirely
**These are the individuals who handled human waste, bodies of the dead, or other materials that were seen as to unpure for people within Varna
**Because of their position outside of Varna, they were treated with disrespect and derision
~Despite the modern reform such as Gandhi the untouchables are often treated with derision to this day

Question 18

Combining Indo-Aryan and Dravidian Beliefs

Answer 18

-Upanishads
~Literally “sitting down in front (of a teacher)” circa 800-400 BC
~Brahman (Universal soul)
Atman
~Samsara (Reincarnationn)
Karma
~Moksa (liberation)
*Renunciation and Asceticism
~Hinduism, Buddhism, and other traditions
-Starting in the mid-800s BC start to see Brahmins become disenchanted with the traditional religious beliefs of the Indo-Aryan people, They began to regard the traditional sacrifices and hymns as empty rituals that did not allow for a true connection with the divine
~They began to withdraw from society, retreating into the forest and other wilderness areas in an effort to meditate on the nature of reality
~There they began to consider traditional Dravidian beliefs, which may have included reincarnation the transmigration of souls and the idea that all living, and even inanimate things, had souls
*As these individuals meditated, they began to attract students, mostly males, but some women as well, who asked questions and learned from them
**Resulting conversations and teachings were passed down orally, but were later written down in text known as Upanishads
**Term that describes the scene of students gathering around a teacher as it literally means “sitting down in front (of a teacher)”
-These teachers argued that the physical world around them was an ever-changining illusion that was a pale reflection of the true reality that connected all things, the Brahman (the universal soul)
~The Brahman was the true reality that connected all being, a reality of peace, order, and calm in contrast to the chaos and disorder of the physical world
Because our souls (atman) are connected to the Brahman, we can access knowledge about the true reality
**However, our souls are trapped here
**When we die our souls will go to another world, either one of the heavenly realms where a soul could reside in bliss, or one of the many hell realms to be punished, but this is only temporary
****After an unknown period of time, souls will be born into a new form; this doctrine of reincarnation is known as Samsara
****The exact form of our new creation is determined by our karma
-Karma is not something that one can determine or know until after their death when the universe determines where their souls will reside in its next incarnation
~However, our life on earth is one of eternal turmoil, pain, and suffering
*Our goal in life should not be reborn eternally, but rather to end this vicious and painful cycle
-The Upanishads teach us that we should strive to attain Moksha, or liberation from this world
~If we can do that, our souls will merge with the Brahman and we will be free of all pain and suffering for enterinty
However, achieving Moksha, according to the Upanishads, is extremely difficult and lengthy process
**In order to accomplish this, one needs to fully separate oneself from the world via renunciation and asceticism
**An individual needs to wander into the wilderness, meditate, survive on the minimal amount of food, and engage on other ascetic practices
-Yoga, for example, developed during this time period as a way of attaining total control over one’s body, mind, and breath
~It was an ascetic practice that could enable practitioners to separate themselves from the world
*as these ideas spread, a number of religious and philosophical traditions developed based on these beliefs and traditions
-Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and other Indian traditions are all based on these concepts even though they took these beliefs in a variety of directions

Question 19

What is Hinduism?

Answer 19

-Infinite Variety
~Varna/Jatis
-The Mahabharata
~The Bhagavad Gits
*Arjuna
*Krishna
-Difficult to discuss traditional Hindu beliefs because there is really no single set of beliefs or paths that can be used to define Hinduism
-Hindu belief attempts to provide a route of Moksha, liberation from the pain and chaos of this world, through an infinite variety of beliefs and possibly paths
~One of the few common underlying threads is that these paths include Varna to some varying degree
*Unlike Buddhism, which rejects the Varna in the search for liberation, early Hindus embraced it as a structure that could help guide individuals along the path to Moksha
~Early teachers, particularly Brahmins argued it was only through being reborn into higher and higher Varnas that one could attain Moksha
*It was easier for a Brahmin than it was for a Kshatriya, and it was impossible for a Shudra or an Untouchable
-Hindu traditions embrace so many different practices and an almost infinite array of gods and goddesses, that some scholars have argued that Hinduism is a unified set of beliefs and practices that did not actually exist until the British and other Europeans showed up and grouped all the practices that they saw into a single set of beliefs that they labeled as Hinduism
-Hindu holy texts typically emerge from great works of epic literature that include conversations addressing religious and philosophical matters
~One of the greatest epics is the Mahabharata, the longest epic poem in the world
In summary, it tells the story of a war between two groups of cousins for control over northern India, and while some have argued that it provides a true historical narrative, scholars tend to argue that it provides a mix of legends and myths that were combined to create a set narrative
**The most famous section of the Mahabharata is the Bhagavad Gita (the song of the Lord)
**This section contains a conversation between a warrior Arjuna, and his charioteer, Krishna (who is also referred to as “The Lord” in the text)
**It begins when Arjuna is about to go into battle, but he sees his family and friends on the other side of the battlefield. Ince he does not want to harm them, he is filled with doubts, and so Krishna attempts to talk him into fighting; to do this Krishna provides three main arguments

Question 20

Three Arguments

Answer 20

-Illusion of reality
-Yoga of Action
~Dharma (duty)
-Vishnu
~Yoga of Devotion (Bhakti Yoga)
-First Krishna points out that the physical world is an illusion, and that no weapon held by Arjuna can possibly hurt the souls of his friends or relatives
~No matter what he does, he cannot truly hurt the essence of those individuals
-Second he points out that Arjuna is of the Kshatriya Varna
~He is a warrior by nature, and as a warrior, it is his duty (dharma) to fight in battles
*Dharma refers to one’s ritual duties to one’s Varna, one’s Jatis, to the gods, and to one’s family
*It is the social and religious obligations that an individual owes to society and the divine.
**Example
Following the will and instructions of your father, obeying your husband’s wishes performing religious rituals prescribed by your Varna, or maintaining the separation between Varnas could all be Dharma
By encouraging Arjuna to fight, Krishna argues that following one’s dharma is a religious act worthy of eventual salvation and Moksha
~In the third chapter, Krishna encourages Arjuna to follow his dharma and to perform what is required of him without being overly worried about the consequences and without questioning the acts themselves
*This is known as the Yoga of Action (karma yoga)
**If one follows the Yoga of action, one can live a normal life as long as they do not become overly concerned with their personal desire
**Instead they need to focus on performing their ritual duties regardless of how they will impact their lives or the lives of those around them
-When this does not converse with Arjuna, Krishna provides the third argument
~Krishna reveals himself to Arjuna as the true creator of the universe and presents himself as an avatar (incarnation) of the supreme deity, Vishnu
Krishna declares himself to be the true reality behind the physical world and the mover of the universe
**States that this is not the first time he has been incarnated to help humans and reveal the truth of existing, instead he has been incarnated on multiple occasions throughout history
**Arjuna asks for proof Krishna grants him a vision of his true self
****Krishna, Arjuna can see eternity, a vision that frightens him almost into madness, but Krishna takes pity on him by erasing his memory of the vision; Krishna suggests that Arjuna devote his life to Krishna
**What is known as the Yoga of Devotion (Bhakti Yoga)
****Krishna suggests that steadfast prayer, devotion, and offerings can also result in salvation and Moksha

Question 21

Yoga of Action
-Karma Yoga

Answer 21

-The Ramayana
-The Laws of Manu
-Epitomized by law codes and epics that clearly show individuals following their assigned dharma
-The Ramayana, one of the greatest epics of Hindu literature follows the path of Lord Rama, an incarnate of Vishnu, who follows his dharma to rid the world of evil even as he runs into a series of situations where following his duty leads him into situations that might seem undesirable
~Example
*Rama’s father is, essentially, blackmailed by one of his wives into forcing Rama to abandon his kingdom and live in the wilderness
**Despite the undesirable consequences of obedience, Rama follows his father’s wishes
-Works such as the Laws of Manu, one of the earliest laws codes from ancient India, outlining the need to keep Varna and Jatis separate
~Those who violate these rules could be declared outcasts (untouchables) and they will potentially be reborn into lower life forms
*Example
**Women who neglect to serve their husbands or men who do the professions of other Varnas
*These codes tend to highlight the ideal situation imagined by Brahmin elites to preserve and reinforce the social structure that placed them at the top
-Tend to focus on keeping women in their traditional roles of wives and mothers

Question 22

Yoga of Devotion
-Bhakti Yoga

Answer 22

-Offerings
-Devotion to a single deity
~Vishnu
~Krishna
~Shiva
*Lord of Dance
-Became particularly popular in southern India where devotion to the gods Shiva and Vishnu particularly his avatar Krishna, became extremely popular
~Starting in the early centuries of the Common Era, we start to see individuals argue that one needed to develop a sense of emotional connection with the gods
They emphasized that the gods care about they cared about the common worshipers and that one needs to express their devotion through offerings of fruit, milk, flowers, and other items so that the gods would recognize and reward their devotion.
In its most extreme forms often described in myths and stories of holy men and women, this desire to create an emotional connection could result in physical mutilation
*Instead of focusing on all of the gods in the Hindu tradition, those following the Yoga of Devotion in southern Inda began to focus on devoting themselves to a single deity
**This does not mean that they rejected the nearly infinite multitudes of other deities, but instead they saw these individual gods as being the true reality that was expressed via all the gods existence
***Can see this in the Bhagavad Gita where Krishna is seen as being the ultimate reality containing the universe; all the gods are simply expressed of his power and glory
**Devoting to Krishna became and still is today, a key component of worship in India
**However, perhaps the most famous of these devotional cults revolved around the god Shiva
*In the 10 CE, the king of Chola kingdom of southern India focused their worship on Shiva, particularly in his most characteristic form as the Lord of Dance
**Shiva dancing in a circle flame; in one hand he holds the divine flame he uses to create and destroy the universe; in another hand, he holds a drum that he uses to beat out the divine rhythm of the universe, and a third hand is held up is a symbolism of reassurance. One foot is stomping on the ground on a figure that represents the illusion of the physical world, the other foot is upraised with the third hand pointing at it; this is a symbol of the possibilities of Moksha that he offers

Question 23

Bhakti Yoga and Varna

Answer 23

-Became very popular, at least in this part, because it led to the lessening of the boundaries of Varna and Jatis as devotion rather than dharma took precedence for the devotional need of the individual
~This gave women an increased role in society and allowed them to control their devotional lives
-Gave women the ability to devote themselves to gods

Question 24

Buddhism

Answer 24

-Founded by Siddhartha, Gautama, circa 480-400 BC
~Early Life
~Asceticism
~Enlightenment
*The Buddha
-Founded by Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) which means enlightened one
~According to tradition, Siddhartha was born somewhere in northern India or modern Nepal sometime in the 500 or 400s BC
~Historians and scholars generally agree that he was a real person, there are multiple proposed dates for his actual life
*Some of the more well-researched and credible sources suggest that he lived sometime between 480-400 BC
-According to tradition Siddhartha was a prince, the son of a king
~Because his father wanted to protect him from hardship and suffering, he was kept in the palace where he enjoyed the pleasures of the world
~He married and had a child, but one day he went out in a chariot to go hunting nearby park
*He saw a sick person by the side of the road, and when he asked what was wrong with the person, he learned that all humans were subject to diseases
*On further trips he saw the elderly, the dying, and the dead, and as a result, he learned that suffering and death were natural and inevitable parts of life
*Also learned from encounters with ascetics that some individuals attempted to learn the truth of existence and attempted to mitigate and end the suffering through meditation and physical deprivation
**As a result he abandoned his life and began to travel, he met a group of five ascetics that taught him to mediate, eventually, he was able to sustain himself on a single grain of rice and a single drop of water
-This deprivation eventually interfered with his ability to meditate and when offered a bowl of rice, he ate a realized the part of depervation was not the true answer
~As a result, he settled down to meditate under a bo tree for forty-nine days he meditated during which he was subjected to visions sent by the demon Mara in an attempt to deter him from his path by tempting him with the pleasures of material existence
*At the end of forty-nine days, Siddhartha realized the truth of existence and became the Buddha

Question 25

The Teachings of the Buddha

Answer 25

-Dharma
~Dharmachakra
-The Pail Canon
-He could have attained freedom from material existence, but the gods descended and pleaded with him to teach others about the truths he had discovered
~He agreed to found the ascetics who had taught him to meditate and preached his first sermon outlining Buddhist Dharam (law)
This sermon is known as the Sitting in Motion the Wheel of the Law
**The title might seem confusing, but in the Buddhist tradition, the law and teachings of the Buddha are known as his Dharma, the symbol of which is a wheel (chakra)
**One can see the Dharmachakra, or the wheel of the law, in most Buddhist images
**Early Buddhists did not create figural images of the Buddha instead, they used footprints
**This sermon is part of what is known as the Pail Canon
**Collecting of sayings and sermons of the Buddha that were preserved as oral literature by Buddhist monks
**These sermons were eventually transmitted to modern Sir Lanka where they were written down in the Pali language on palm leaves in the early centuries BC
**This collection is the oldest known collection of Buddhist writings and while it undoubtedly reflects later editing and changes, many of the sermons and sayings probably originated with the Buddha

Question 26

Buddhist Doctrines

Answer 26

-Setting in Motion the Wheel of the Law
-The Four Nobal Truths
-The Noble Eightfold Path
-Nirvana (non-existence)
-Impermanence
-Questions that tend not to Edification
~Ending suffering by ending desire
-In the first sermon, one can see him preaching in the image of the Buddha began by explaining the core message, what is known as the Four Noble truths
-The Four Noble Truths of the Buddha are
~All existence is suffering
~Suffering is caused by desire
~To end suffering, end desire
~To end desire, follow the Noble Eightfold path
-The Eightfold path encourages individuals not to kill, to behave and act with moderation, and to develop themselves until they focus finally on the path to enlightenment
~According to Buddha, is the untoward craving for both physical existence and for liberation and non-existence
*The desire for physical existence leads to indulging in the flesh
*While the desire for non-existence leads to unnecessary asceticism
**Instead of those extremes, the Buddha envisioned the Middle Path between them if one were able to practice the Middle Path, eventually, an individual would be able to attain Nirvana or non-existence which is, in essence, a synonym for Moksha
-Despite the fact that the Buddhists saw this as the Middle Path, this was not necessarily easier than the Yoga of Action or the Yoga of Devotion
-Buddha did not promise a quick release from worldly suffering; instead, it might take numerous incarnations and reincarnations, possibly thousands to tens of thousands of years, before one would be able to achieve Nirvana
~Despite the fact he was not offering a quick fix, he did offer the possibility of enlightenment and an end to suffering to all individuals regardless of their position in life
-Buddha taught a number of other doctrines over the course of his life; he argued in order to fully end desire, individuals needed to understand that all things are impermanent, including one’s self and identity
~While the Upanishads and early Hindu texts argued that one’s soul was preserved and would be reborn, the Buddha taught that these desires for an internal self were part of what kept people trapped in a worldly existence
*However, often the Buddha was rather vague about specifics
-The Buddha is asked by one of his followers about the nature of existence, about life after death, and about other fundamental questions
~However, the Buddha argues that these questions are immaterial and pointless
~Asking these questions is asking to be shot with a poisoned arrow and then sitting around asking questions about who shot it and what their motivation was
*those questions distract you from the issue at hand, you’ve been poisoned
~The Buddha is concerned with the main problem, how to end suffering by ending desire not empty distractions

Question 27

The Spread of Buddhism

Answer 27

-Rejecting Varna
~The Middle Path
~Appealed to Merchants
-Facilitated by vernacular languages
-After the Buddha’s death, Buddhism spread widely.
~There are a few reasons why, in particular, the Buddha and other early Buddhists rejected Varna and its rules
Instead they argued that all individuals were capable of following the Middle Path
**These doctrines applied to Kirshatriyas who resented Brahmin control over the religious ceremonies, as well as to Shudras who were given additional agencies over their spiritual fates
**This message appealed to merchants and traders of the Vaishya varna
**Buddhists supported their mercantile interests and in return, they supported Buddist monks and spread the doctrine via their trade connections across northern India
***This spread was facilitated by the fact that the Buddha and the monks who began to reach and spread his doctrines spoke and preached in the vernacular language spoken and understood by the vast majority of society
**While Brahmins taught and prayed in Sanskrit the holy language of India
-Sanskrit was not the language understood by the majority of the population
~By preaching in vernacular languages, Buddhists were also able to communicate their ideas more effectively and clearly across the cultured and linguistic barriers of ancient India

Question 28

Maurya Empire

Answer 28

-Asoka
~Circa 268-232 BC
-Conversion
-In the mid-200s BC the Buddhists received an important boost
-In the early 200s BC Chandragupta Maurya conquered northern India and established an empire in the region
-Asoka took over in the early 260s
~When Asoka came to power his empire dominated everything except for a small kingdom along the eastern coast; he conquered it, but according to Asoka’s own account, he killed 100,000 people and drove another 150,000 people from their homes
*Horrified by what he had done he converted to Buddhism and resolved to rule through Buddhist Dharma

Question 29

Edicts and Stupas

Answer 29

-To document his conversion to Buddhism, Asoka erected monumental pillars across northern India and carved edicts into them in order to spread Buddhism
~These edicts tell us that Asoka resolved not to persecute individuals who followed other paths, but instead protected all individuals
*The top of these pillars were decorated with elaborate carvings
-In Buddhist traditions, the lotus blossoms are used as symbols of purity, and you often see statues of the meditation Buddha sitting on top of a lotus blossom
-Asoka built stupas, or shrines, in order to provide a focal point for religious beliefs
-Stupas are typically circular shrines, although they can take a variety of forms that are believed to contain a relic of the Buddha or of his early followers, either a whole body or a piece of the body
~Belives used these stupas as meditative aids
-Early Buddhism was less of religion, but more of a philosophy
~Early Buddhism did not see the Buddha as a god or deity of some kind