Why Religion Matters and Hinduism Test

Ganesha

Elephant-headed and potbellied god of thresholds and remover of obstacles. One of the most popular Hindu deities, he is invoked at the beginning of any new venture.

Mahabharata

One of the two major Sanskrit epics (alongside the Ramayana); a far-reaching story of duty and war that includes the popular Bhagavad Gita.

Guru

Personal spiritual teacher, who might offer meditation technigues, wisdom, service to others, or hugs, is called a_.

Upanishads

Philosophical dialogues between teachers and pupils that elaborate on the Vedas and teach wisdom as a path to spiritual liberation.

Brahmin

Priestly social class. The priestly class.

Interdisciplinary

Relating to more than one branch of knowledge.

Renouncer/sannyasin

Renouncer who has left behind work and family for a life of homelessness and celibacy in search of liberating wisdom.

Darshan

Sacred seeing; eye-to-eye moment in Hindu worship when a god and a devotee take in one another in a visual embrace.

Mantra

Sacred sound, such as Om/Aum, used in chanting or to concentrate the mind in meditation and believed to unleash supernatural power or win spiritual liberation.

Essentialism

Scholars refer to this, or essentializing something-turning it over and over in the mind until it becomes an unchanging "essence." Ancient philosophical view that the things we see in the world express unchanging forms.

Puja

Worship, conducted in the temple and at home.

Shaktas

Worshippers of Mahadevi are known as_.

1. Ritual (practices) 2. Narrative/mythic (central stories) 3. Experiential (subjective, emotional) 4. Social/institutional (community, structure) 5. Ethical/legal (moral codes) 6. Doctrinal/philosophical (belief system) 7. Material (physical, cultural, artistic) 8. Divine/transcendent: Sacred/Divine/Ultimate Reality (monotheism, polytheism, pantheism, atheism, nontheism, agnosticism)

Taking a "family resemblance" approach to the study of religion, what are the 8 basic dimensions of religion?

Polytheism

The belief in or worship of more than one god.

Brahman

The divine principle, understood either "with attributes" (saguna) or "without attributes" (nirguna).

Monotheism

The doctrine or belief that there is only one god.

Atman

The individual self-soul, said to migrate from life to death to rebirth to redeath.

Bracketing

The preliminary step in the philosophical movement of phenomenology describing an act of suspending judgment about the natural world to instead focus on analysis of experience.

Axial Age

Around 500 BCE. (Also the time of the Buddha, Pre-Socratic Greek philosophers, Confucius, and the major Hebrew Prophets).

Aum

Cosmic, sacred syllable. Aum Shanti= "the soundless sound, peace, peace, peace."

Jnana, Bhakti, Karma.

What are the three yogas?

Krishna and Rama

Which of the following are two of the avatars of Vishnu?

Pantheism

A doctrine which identifies God with the universe, or regards the universe as a manifestation of God. Worship that admits or tolerates all gods.

Ethnography

A research method using observation of a cultural human activity, such as a religious service. A way of adopting an "insider" perspective through empathetic observation and participation while remaining an "outsider."

Shakti

Feminine energy, power of gods. A feminine consort of a male deity, who gives him the energy/power to act.

Krishna

"Dark One." One of the avatars of Vishnu and one of the most celebrated gods in Hindu mythology, popularly associated with youthful play and flirtation.

Avatar

"Descent." Deity who comes to earth in human or animal form to combat evil and restore order.

Bhakti

"Devotion." The way of devotion, one of the three main Hindu paths to spiritual liberation and the dominant form of Hinduism today.

Moksha

"Freedom." Spiritual liberation; release from the cycle of birth, death, rebirth, and redeath. The ultimate goal of Hinduism and liberation from the cycle of suffering, death, and reincarnation is called_.

Ramayana

"Journey of Rama." One of the two major Sanskrit epics (alongside the Mahabharata); a story of love and wandering in which Rama rescues his wife from the demon king Ravana.

Vedas

"Knowledge." The oldest and most sacred Sanskrit scriptures; unauthored revelations that offer one common source of a shared Hindu identity.

Dalits

"Oppressed." Contemporary term for a social group previously known as "outcastes" or "untouchables."

Shiva

"The Auspicious." One of the three most popular Hindu deities (alongside Vishnu and Devi), often associated with destruction, who is worshiped in the form of the lingam and as an "erotic ascetic."

Vishnu

"The Pervader." One of the three most popular Hindu deities (alongside Shiva and Devi), worshiped in ten avatars, including Rama and Krishna, and widely viewed as a sustainer of life.

Yogas

"Union." Popular embodied posture practice loosely rooted in earlier Hindu mental and bodily disciplines designed to unite a human soul to the divine.

Samsara

"Wandering through." Unsatisfactory cycle of life, death, rebirth, and redeath and the core human problem according to the Hindu tradition.

Jnana

"Wisdom." The way of wisdom, one of the three paths to spiritual liberation, emphasized in the Upanishads and among renouncers.

Karma

Action and its consequences; ethical law of cause and effect that fuels the samsaric cycle; one of the three main Hindu paths to spiritual liberation. The Hindu impersonal law of the good or bad effects of good or bad actions is called_.

Rama

Avatar of Vishnu, husband of Sita, and the righteous king and hero of the Ramayana epic.

Brahma

Creator God, rarely worshiped but sometimes included alongside Shiva and Vishnu in a Hindu triad of divinities.

Atheism

Disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or Gods.

Dharma

Duty; one of the four aims of life.

Mahadevi

Great Goddess.

Bhagavad Gita

Iconic portion of the Mahabharata epic in which the warrior Arjuna and the god Krishna discuss karma and dharma and present the bhakti path as an alternative to the paths of action and wisdom.

Maya

Illusion. What keeps us from seeing reality as it is.

Sanskrit

Indo-European language.

Caste

Jati, or "birth group." A signifier of social status and a definer of social boundaries that determines whom one can marry and with whom one can eat.

Trimurti

Triple form.

Perennialism

Underlying unity or mountain-top convergence. Belief that there is one religion underlying what appears to be many religions-that all religions are, in essence, one.

Agni

Vedic god of fire and sacrifice.

Hinduism is closely related to other Indian religions, including Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism.

What are Hinduism's doctrinal/philosophical (belief system)?

These correspond to five Yamas of ancient Hindu ethics. Ahimsa (non-violence). Satya (truth, non-falsehood). Astey (non-stealing). Brahmacharya (celibacy if unmarried and non-cheating on one's partner if married). Aparigraha (non-possessiveness).

What are Hinduism's ethical/legal (moral codes)?

Camphor, an aromatic solid, is widely used in Hindu religious ceremonies, burned to make a holy flame. Charu is the name of a sweet porridge-like foodstuff used as an offering in Yajnas. Ghee, clarified butter made from cow's milk, is a sacred requirement in Vedic yajna and homa (fire sacrifices).

What are Hinduism's material (physical, cultural, artistic)?

Hindus believe in the doctrines of samsara (the continuous cycle of life, death, and reincarnation). Karma (the universal law of cause and effect). One of the key thoughts of Hinduism is "atman," or the belief in soul. This philosophy holds that living creatures have a soul, and they're all part of the supreme soul.

What are Hinduism's narrative/mythic (central stories)?

Life-cycle rituals (samskara). Especially initiation. Marriage. Death. Ancestor rituals. Worship and prayer (puja). Sacrifices, especially Vedic fire sacrifices and blood sacrifices. Collective and individual festivals (utsava). Processions.

What are Hinduism's ritual (practices)?

The caste system divides Hindus into four main categories- Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras. Many believe that the groups originated from Brahma, the Hindu God of creation.

What are Hinduism's social/institutional (community, struture?

Creation, preservation, and destruction.

What are the primary powers or functions of the Trimurti?

Transcendence is described and viewed from a number of diverse perspectives in Hinduism. The exact nature of this transcendence is given as being "above the modes of material nature," which are known as gunas (ropes) which bind the living entity to the world of samsara (repeated rebirth) in Hindu philosophy.

What is Hinduism's divine/transcendent?

Athiests believe God does not exist; agnostics think one cannot know whether God exists.

What is the difference between atheism and agnosticism?

What is the human problem? What's the solution goal? How to fix it: techniques. Who models the way: exemplars.

What is the four-part model; Exemplar?

Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva.

Which of the following deities form the Trimurti?