REL 100 EXAM 2
Hindu
"Hindu" was originally a word given by the Greeks, then the Persians, to the land and peoples beyond the Indus or "Sindhu" River. The term "Hinduism" came into common use only in the 19th century to describe a complex and dynamic pattern of life and practice. The Hindu tradition is more an ethos than a set of beliefs. It includes three major streams of Hindu devotion—Vaishnava, Shaiva, and Shakta—and a number of distinctive philosophical traditions. Despite great sectarian diversity, there are Hindu assumptions about life that do have common, although not universal, currency. the universe is permeated with the Divine, a reality often described as Brahman; the Divine can be known in many names and forms; this reality is deeply and fully present within the human soul; the soul's journey to full self-realization is not accomplished in a single lifetime, but takes many lifetimes; one's course through life after life is shaped by one's deeds
Duhka
1. Life involves suffering, duhkha.The "illness" that the Buddha diagnosed as the human condition is duhkha, a term often rendered in English as "suffering" or "unsatisfactoriness." The Buddha spoke of three types of duhkha. First, there is the ordinary suffering of mental and physical pain. Second, there is the suffering produced by change, the simple fact that all things—including happy feelings and blissful states—are impermanent, as is life itself. Third, there is suffering produced by the failure to recognize that no "I" stands alone, but everything and everyone, including what we call our "self," is conditioned and interdependent.
Eight-Fold Path
4. The way is the "Noble Eightfold Path."To develop this freedom one must practice habits of ethical conduct, thought, and meditation that enable one to move along the path. These habits include:Right understanding. Really knowing, for example, that unwholesome acts and thoughts have consequences, as do wholesome acts and thoughts.Right intention. Recognizing that actions are shaped by habits of anger and self-centeredness, or by habits of compassion, understanding, and love.Right speech. Recognizing the moral implications of speech. Truthfulness.Right action. Observing the five precepts at the foundation of allmorality: not killing, not stealing, not engaging in sexual misconduct, not lying, and not clouding the mind with intoxicants.Right livelihood. Earning a living in ways that are consonant with the basic precepts.Right effort. Cultivating this way of living with the attention, the patience, and the perseverance that it takes to cultivate a field.Right mindfulness. Developing "presence of mind" through the moment-to-moment awareness of meditation practice, including mindfulness of breathing, mindfulness of walking, and mindfulness of bodily sensations.Right concentration. Developing the ability to bring the dispersed and distracted mind and heart to a center, a focus, and to see clearly through that focused mind and heart.
Muslim
A Muslim, sometimes spelled Moslem,[1] relates to a person who follows the religion of Islam,[2] a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion based on the Quran. Muslims consider the Quran to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. They also follow the teachings and practices of Muhammad as recorded in traditional accounts called hadith.
Bodhisattva
A bodhisattva is one who has dedicated his or her life to the attainment of enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. The bodhisattva vows to postpone enlightenment in order to help all sentient beings realize liberation. In some cases, the bodhisattva is assumed to have already attained enlightenment, yet remains on this earth out of his or her boundless compassion. In its broadest sense, the term bodhisattva refers to anyone who aspires toward universal Buddhahood or Enlightenment, i.e. any Mahayana Buddhist.
Brahmin
A brahmin is a member of the priestly class, charged with the duties of learning the Vedas, teaching the Vedas, and performing rituals. It is the highest of the four general castes of Hindu society.
Abraham
Abraham is the patriarch, acknowledged as the father of the lineage of faith by the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. He is presumed to have lived sometime in the period 2000-1700 BCE. He is the father of Isaac by Sarah (Genesis 12.25), and the "Friend of God" and Father of Ishmael by Hagar (Qur'an 37.83-113), and the exemplar of faith. (Galatians 3-4).
Mara
According to tradition, Siddhartha seated himself at the foot of a tree, which has since been called the Bodhi Tree, the tree of enlightenment. He vowed to sit beneath that tree until he had attained deep insight into suffering. As he sat through the night, a profound stillness settled upon his mind, like that of a lake on a windless day. This stillness enabled him to see ever more deeply and clearly into the cycle of grasping, clinging, and egotism found at the root of suffering.The demon Mara rose to tempt him and to attack him with arrows of passion. Desire, fear, pride, and thirst rose to challenge his clear concentration of mind.
Advent
Advent is the Christian season of preparation for Christmas, the four weeks before Christmas in the Western churches; the first Sunday in Advent is the beginning of the Christian liturgical year.
Ali
Ali ibn Abi Talib (/ˈɑːli, ɑːˈliː/;[6] Arabic: علي بن أبي طالب, translit.: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Arabic pronunciation: [ʕæliː ibn ʔæbiː t̪ˤæːlib]; 13th Rajab, 22 or 16 BH - 21st Ramaḍān, 40 AH; September 20, 601 or July 17, 607 or 600[7] - January 27, 661)[2] was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, ruling over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661.[8] A son of Abu Talib,[8] Ali was also the first young male who accepted Islam.[9][10] Sunnis consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun (rightly guided Caliphs), while Shias regard Ali as the first Imam after Muhammad, and consider him and his descendants the rightful successors to Muhammad, all of whom are members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad. This disagreement split the Ummah (Muslim community) into the Sunni and Shi`i branches
Allah
Allah is the word for God in Arabic, used by Arabic-speaking Christians, Jews, and Muslims. According to Islam, Allah is the creator and ruler of the entire universe, the ultimate judge of all human beings, characterized by mercy and compassion. By means of revelations to various prophets, Allah guides the faithful along the path of righteousness.
Arahant
An arahant (Pali) or arhat (Sanskrit) is a "worthy one," a Buddhist monk who has attained nirvana through living a monastic life in accordance with the Buddha's teachings, thereby extinguishing all defilements and desires. The arahant represents the model of ideal spiritual attainment in Theravada Buddhism.
Icons
An icon is a painted or mosaic image of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the Trinity, or the saints which is used in the liturgy, prayer, and theology of the Eastern Orthodox churches. The icon is understood to be a window opening upon the divine reality.
Baptism
Baptism is the Christian sacrament of initiation in which new birth into the Christian community is conferred by sprinkling of or immersion in water.
Bar Mitzvah
Bar mitzvah means, literally, "son of the commandment": a Jewish boy who has achieved the age of 13 and is consequently obligated to observe the commandments. It is also the ceremony in which the boy marks this important rite of passage by reading from the Torah in the synagogue for the first time. The practice was first instituted in the 20th century.
Bat Vitzmah
Bat mitzvah means, literally, daughter of the commandment: a Jewish girl who has achieved the age of 12 and is consequently obligated to observe the commandments. In non-Orthodox communities it is also the ceremony in which the girl marks this important rite of passage by reading from the Torah in the synagogue for the first time. The practice was first instituted in the 20th century.
Bhakti
Bhakti is devotion to or love of God. The term is derived from a Sanskrit root meaning "to share." Hence, it conveys the sense of a personal relationship with the Lord, expressed in such forms as chanting, singing, dancing, and temple worship.
Brahman
Brahman is a term used in the Hindu tradition to refer to the Supreme Reality that is the source of all being and all knowing, pervading and yet transcending all that is. Brahman is said to be one with Atman, the inner reality of the self or soul.
Buddha
Buddha means "awakened one" and specifically refers to Shakyamuni Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gautama (traditional date, sixth c. BCE), the historical founder of the tradition that became known as Buddhism. All Buddhist traditions agree that there have been many Buddhas, but the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions particularly emphasize that Shakyamuni is only one of a variety of Buddhas. Other prominent Buddhas include Amitabha, Bhaishajya-guru, and Vairochana.
Castes
Caste comes from a Portuguese word "casta" which was used by early traders to describe India's complex class structure of varnas. The four major inherited varnas are the Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (kings, warriors), vaishyas (merchants), and shudras (craftsmen and servants). The term caste was also used to describe hundreds of sub-castes called jatis, literally birth-groups. The caste system distinctive to India governs religious, social, and economic interactions. This social structure, while hierarchical, is not inflexible; it has changed through time and continues to change today.
Christmas
Christmas is the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Since the fourth century this observance has been held on December 25 in the Western church.
Eucharist, or Communion
Communion or holy communion—also called the Eucharist, or the Lord's supper—is the central rite of the Christian community in which the faithful partake as a community of the sanctified bread and wine. By extension, communion is often used to refer to a family of churches that understand or observe this rite in the same way and are, thus, in communion with one another.
Hajj
Hajj, or pilgrimage to the Ka'bah in Makkah, is one of the five pillars of Islam, performed by millions annually during Dhu'l-Hijjah, the last lunar month. The Hajj is required at least once in a lifetime of every Muslim in good health and with financial means.
Halal
Halal means "permissible" or "pure.. For Muslims, halal is a legal term referring to good actions and to foods that are ritually slaughtered. Halal is the opposite of Haram.
Hanukkah
Hanukkah means, literally, "dedication." It is the eight-day Jewish holiday celebrating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after it was reclaimed from the Seleucid Greeks in 167 BCE. Hanukkah is celebrated with the kindling of the menorah lights and the giving of gifts.
Haram
Haram means "prohibited" or "impure." For Muslims, haram is a legal term referring to sinful actions and impure food. Haram is the opposite of Halal.
Holocaust
Holocaust (from Greek, entire burnt offering) refers in modern times to the Nazi German campaign to exterminate the Jewish people during the 1930s and 1940s with death camps and gas chambers. Six million Jews died in this Holocaust. In Hebrew, the Holocaust is referred to as "Shoah."
Theosis
In Eastern Orthodoxy deification (theosis) is a transformative process whose goal is likeness to or union with God.
Pali canon
Pali is an early middle-Indic language in which Buddhist texts were written. The group of Theravada Buddhist texts is collectively referred to as the Pali Canon.
Passover/Pesach
Passover, or Pesah in Hebrew, is a major Jewish holiday, also called "the festival of unleavened bread." During the eight days of the festival, Jews commemorate God's deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt, eating only unleavened bread or matzah, as did those who fled from Egypt. At the special ritual meal called the seder, the traditional narrative of Passover, as contained in the Passover Haggadah, is told.
Siddartha
Prince Siddhartha: Renouncing the WorldWhat we know about the life of the historical Buddha can be sketched from legends. One of the most beautiful literary renderings of the story is told by Ashvaghosha in the first century CE. Prince Siddhartha Gautama is said to have been born in the royal Shakya family, some say in the year 563 BCE, in a place called Lumbini, which is located in present-day Nepal, at the foothills of the Himalayas. At the time of his birth, seers foretold that he would either become a great king or an enlightened teacher. If the prince were to see the "four passing sights"—old age, sickness, death, and a wandering ascetic—he would renounce his royal life and seek enlightenment. His father, the king, was determined that his son become a great ruler and tried to shield Prince Siddhartha from these four realities of life. However, at age 29, Siddhartha, with his charioteer, went out of the protected palace grounds and, for the first time, encountered suffering, which he understood to be an inevitable part of life. He saw four sights: a man bent with old age, a person afflicted with sickness, a corpse, and a wandering ascetic. It was the fourth sight, that of a wandering ascetic, that filled Siddhartha with a sense of urgency to find out what lay at the root of human suffering. Siddhartha left the luxury of the palace. He studied and lived an austere life in the forest with the foremost teachers and ascetics of his time. Yet, he found that their teachings and severe bodily austerities did not enable him to answer the question of suffering or provide insight into how to be released from it. Having experienced the life of self-indulgence in the palace and then the life of self-denial in the forest, he finally settled on a "middle way," a balance between these two extremes. Accepting food from a village girl, he recovered his bodily strength and began a journey inward through the practice of meditation.
Protestant Movement
Protestant is a term used for the range of reform movements that broke with the Roman Catholic Church during the period called the Reformation. There are many branches of Protestantism, including the Lutherans, Anabaptists, Anglicans, Methodists, Baptists, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians. While they differ in many respects from one another, they agree on the rejection of the papacy, reliance on the Bible more than church tradition, and justification before God by faith alone. The Protestant Reformation is a reform movement that began in the 16th century with Martin Luther in Germany and Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin in Switzerland. More broadly, the Reformation came to include not only the Lutheran churches, the Reformed or Calvinist traditions (Baptists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians), but also Anabaptists (Mennonites, Amish, Brethren) Anglicans, and Methodists.
Queen Maya
Queen Māyā of Sakya (Māyādevī) was the birth mother of Gautama Buddha, the sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded, and the sister of Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī, the first Buddhist nun ordained by the Buddha.[
Ramadan (sawm)
Ramadan is the ninth lunar month during which the first revelation of the Qur'an came to Muhammad. Each year in this month, Muslims abstain from all food, drink, and sexual activity from dawn until sunset. They ar. also meant to make a conscious effort to abstain from any sinful acts during this month. Ramadan is a time of community, as family and friends share meals and festivities after dark. At the end of the month, Muslims gather to perform the prayers of Eid al-Fitr, the Festival of Fast-breaking.
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah is the day of the Jewish New Year, falling on the first day of the autumn month of Tishri.
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (/ˈsænskrɪt/; Sanskrit: saṃskṛtam [səmskr̩t̪əm] or saṃskṛta, originally saṃskṛtā vāk, "refined speech") is the primary sacred language of Hinduism, a philosophical language in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, and a literary language that was in use as a lingua franca in Greater India.
Shabbat
Shabbat or sabbath is the day of rest, the seventh day, recalling the Biblical creation narrative in which God rested from the labors of creation on the seventh day. In the Jewish tradition, the Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and runs through sundown on Saturday. For observant Jews it is a day of family and communal worship, study, and rest from labor, following the commandment found in Exodus (Shmot) 20:8-10. "Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work." Christians observe the sabbath or the "Lord's Day" on Sunday.
Shari'ah law
Shariah, meaning "way or road," refers to the system of law, ethics, and values based on the Qur'an and Sunnah. As such it is a way of life prescribed by God. The process of interpreting and applying this law led to the formation of four schools of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh).
Sufism
Sufism is often called "the heart of Islam," as its emphasis on the inner life enlivens and supplements the outward practices of ritual and legal obligation. It is not a sect of Islam, but rather a stream of interpretation stressing the interior path, or tariqah, of mystical devotion to God. Sufi "orders," groups of disciples, developed around the great masters, each with particular teachings and practices.
Sunni Muslims
Sunni Muslims emphasize the authoritative role of the consensus of religious scholars ('ulama) in interpreting the Qur'an and the Sunnah (custom) of the Prophet. The community could thus choose any good Muslim as a successor (khalifah) to Muhammad, though the leader would have no special spiritual guidance as Shi'i Muslims believe. Sunni Muslims comprise approximately 85 percent of Muslims today.
Three Treasures
The "Three Treasures" of the Buddhist tradition are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Throughout the Buddhist world, Buddhists have these Three Treasures in common. To be a Buddhist means "taking refuge" in the Three Treasures, that is, to put one's trust in them.
Aryan people
The Aryan peoples began to move into northwest India from Central Asia about 1500 BCE, eventually settling in the wide plains of the Ganges River. Their legacy includes the Sanskrit language and a large corpus of religious hymns and poems called the Vedas.
Bhagavad-Gita
The Bhagavad Gita or "Song of the Lord" forms part of the sixth book of the epic Mahabharata and contains Lord Krishna's teachings to the warrior Arjuna. The Gita is beloved by Hindus for its message of selfless action and devotion to God.
Four Noble Truths
The Buddha's sermons and teachings pointed toward the true nature of the universe, what is known within Buddhism as the Dharma. He gave his first sermon on the outskirts of the city of Varanasi at a deer park called Sarnath. This first sermon presents an overview of suffering and the way out of suffering. It is called the "Four Noble Truths." The Buddha is often described as a physician who first diagnoses an illness and then suggests a medicine to cure the illness. The "Four Noble Truths" follow this pattern:1. Life involves suffering, duhkha.The "illness" that the Buddha diagnosed as the human condition is duhkha, a term often rendered in English as "suffering" or "unsatisfactoriness." The Buddha spoke of three types of duhkha. First, there is the ordinary suffering of The Buddha's sermons and teachings pointed toward the true nature of the universe, what is known within Buddhism as the Dharma. He gave his first sermon on the outskirts of the city of Varanasi at a deer park called Sarnath. This first sermon presents an overview of suffering and the way out of suffering. It is called the "Four Noble Truths." The Buddha is often described as a physician who first diagnoses an illness and then suggests a medicine to cure the illness. The "Four Noble Truths" follow this pattern:1. Life involves suffering, duhkha.The "illness" that the Buddha diagnosed as the human condition is duhkha, a term often rendered in English as "suffering" or "unsatisfactoriness." The Buddha spoke of three types of duhkha. First, there is the ordinary suffering of suffering. This is the good news of the Dharma. It is possible to put an end to ego-centered desire, to put an end to duhkha and thus attain freedom from the perpetual sense of "unsatisfactoriness."4. The way is the "Noble Eightfold Path."To develop this freedom one must practice habits of ethical conduct, thought, and meditation that enable one to move along the path. These habits include:Right understanding. Really knowing, for example, that unwholesome acts and thoughts have consequences, as do wholesome acts and thoughts.Right intention. Recognizing that actions are shaped by habits of anger and self-centeredness, or by habits of compassion, understanding, and love.Right speech. Recognizing the moral implications of speech. Truthfulness.Right action. Observing the five precepts at the foundation of all morality: not killing, not stealing, not engaging in sexual misconduct, not lying, and not clouding the mind with intoxicants.Right livelihood. Earning a living in ways that are consonant with the basic precepts.Right effort. Cultivating this way of living with the attention, the patience, and the perseverance that it takes to cultivate a field.Right mindfulness. Developing "presence of mind" through the moment-to-moment awareness of meditation practice, including mindfulness of breathing, mindfulness of walking, and mindfulness of bodily sensations.Right concentration. Developing the ability to bring the dispersed and distracted mind and heart to a center, a focus, and to see clearly through that focused mind and heart.
Bodhi
The Buddhist Sanskrit term bodhi means enlightenment or awakening. It is a direct awareness or realization of the changing and interdependent nature of reality which is accompanied by the elimination of the defilements and clinging that bind one to the suffering characteristic of ordinary life.
Gemarah
The Gemara refers to the second major layer of Jewish commentary on the Torah (Mihsna being the first). The Gemara is the written account of the legal deliberations of the generations known as the Amoraim, who lived approximately from the third to fifth centuries CE. Stylistically, the Gemara is a commentary that dissects the Mishna line-by-line, elaborating on the terse prose of the Mishna to draw out contemporary concerns touching on almost any aspect of life imaginable.
Ka'bah
The Ka'bah is a cube-shaped building located within the Grand Mosque in Makkah, the most sacred place on earth for Muslims. Believed to have been built by Abraham on the site of Adam's original temple, the Ka'bah serves as the focal point toward which the Muslim ritual prayer (salat) is directed and around which pilgrims of the Hajj circumambulate.
Mishnah
The Mishnah, meaning "teaching" is the written compilation of the oral Torah, also believed to have been revealed at Sinai. It includes laws and observances having to do with agriculture, holy seasons, women, family, civil law, temple rituals, and laws of purity. The Mishnah was compiled in the second century CE by Rabbi Judah HaNasi (literally "Judah the Prince") and became the basis of the monumental code of law, the Talmud.
Orthodox Christian Churches
The Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox churches are a family of fourteen or fifteen churches that developed from the Church of the Byzantine Empire, which formally separated from the Church of Rome in the 11th century. Today they include the ancient patriarchates of, Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem, the large Greek and Russian Orthodox churches and the new Orthodox Church in America.
Muhammad
The Prophet Muhammad, known as "the Seal of the Prophets," was born in the city of Makkah on the Arabian peninsula in 570 C.E. At 40, he began to receive a series of revelations from God through the angel Gabriel. His small group of followers met with harsh persecution. In 622 C.E., the Prophet and his followers emigrated north from Makkah to Madinah to establish the first Islamic community. In 630, after a series of military battles and negotiations with enemies in Makkah, Muhammad returned to his city victorious. By his death in 632 CE, much of the Arabian peninsula had embraced Islam. Through the centuries, Muhammad has been beloved by Muslims as a paradigm for life in response to God.
Roman Catholic Church
The Roman Catholic Church, often referred to as the Catholic Church, is the largest of the major streams of Christianity. It claims the authority of Christian tradition dating to the time of the apostles. Its representative and interpreter is the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, whose center of authority is the Vatican in Rome. The church is organized worldwide into parishes and dioceses.
Sangha
The Sangha is the community of monks or, more broadly, the community of Buddhists. To formally become a Buddhist, one takes refuge in the Three Treasures: the Buddha, Dharma (the Buddha's teachings), and Sangha. In its widest sense, "sangha" refers to all those who follow the teachings of the Buddha. Often, however, the term is reserved specifically for the community of ordained monks and nuns. In its most restricted sense, it may refer to a family of students under a particular master.
Shi'ah Muslims
The Shi'at 'Ali (the party of 'Ali, for which Shi'ah is an abbreviation and from which the adjective Shi'i comes) believed that the Prophet Muhammad designated his son-in-law 'Ali and his descendants to be leader (Imam) of the ummah after his death. The Imam is regarded as an infallible interpreter of the revelation as well as the political leader. The various groups of Shi'i Muslims comprise about 15 percent of Muslims today.
Talmud
The Talmud is a compendium of many texts, a comprehensive legal code, including rabbinic disputation and other, extra-legal material. It is the most significant compilation of Rabbinic Judaism, dating from the fourth and fifth centuries CE, consisting of the traditions of Jewish law (the Mishnah) and commentary.
Dharma
Dharma means religion, religious duty, religious teaching. The word dharma comes from a Sanskrit root meaning "to uphold, support, bear," thus dharma is that order of things which informs the whole world, from the laws of nature to the inner workings of conscience. For the Buddhist tradition, the Dharma (or Dhamma in Pali) refers especially to the teachings of the Buddha. This body of teachings constitutes one element of the "Three Jewels" in which Buddhists take refuge: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha (the community). For Hindus, dharma means righteous conduct, religious obligation, or religious duty—either the eternal obligations (sanatana dharma) incumbent upon all humankind, or the obligations specific to one's caste and stage of life (varnashrama dharma).
the Dharma
Dharma means religion, religious duty, religious teaching. The word dharma comes from a Sanskrit root meaning "to uphold, support, bear," thus dharma is that order of things which informs the whole world, from the laws of nature to the inner workings of conscience. For the Buddhist tradition, the Dharma (or Dhamma in Pali) refers especially to the teachings of the Buddha. This body of teachings constitutes one element of the "Three Jewels" in which Buddhists take refuge: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha (the community). For Hindus, dharma means righteous conduct, religious obligation, or religious duty—either the eternal obligations (sanatana dharma) incumbent upon all humankind, or the obligations specific to one's caste and stage of life (varnashrama dharma).
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546) was the reformer who broke with the Roman Catholic Church and launched the German reformation. He denied the authority of the Pope and the church of Rome, emphasized the sole authority of the Bible, the priesthood of all believers, and salvation by faith alone.
Nirvana
In religions of Indian origin, nirvana means "blowing out," i.e. the cessation of greed, hate, delusion, attachment, and desire —all the fuel of rebirth. In Buddhist philosophy, it refers both to Truth of the "far shore," and to th. state of great spontaneity, tranquillity, and purity that accompanies the realization of that Truth. In the Hindu tradition, moksha (liberation) is often spoken of as nirvana as well. In the Jain tradition, moksha occurs with the attainment of kevalajnana, the supreme, omniscient knowledge of the nature of the universe
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of forty days of preparation, study, and penitence preceding Easter.
Vajrayana
In the seventh century, a major movement within Mahayana Buddhism arose. This stream of Buddhism, called the Vajrayana, is most prominent in Tibet and its surrounding regions, although forms of it are found in China and Japan. The Vajrayana, literally the "Diamond Vehicle" or the "Thunderbolt Vehicle," understands itself to be an esoteric form of Mahayana Buddhism with an accelerated path to enlightenment.This Tibetan tradition sees itself as embodying both the teaching and meditation practice of the Theravada monks, as well as the teaching of the "emptiness" of all conditioned things that is distinctive to Mahayana philosophy. Vajrayana is also called Tantrayana, because it is based on the tantras, the systems of practice which emphasize the indivisibility of wisdom and compassion, symbolized as the union of male and female. Three terms characterize the practice of Vajrayana, each one of which has overt ritual meanings, inner psychophysical meanings, and secret transcendent meanings:Mantra—a syllable or phrase for chanting or meditation, containing within it the sacred power and cosmic energies of a Buddha or bodhisattva. The mantra literally "protects the mind" from negative mental states by invoking these divine energies within oneself.Mandala—a "circle" or cosmic diagram for ritual or interior visualization, representing various realms of Buddhas and bodhisattvas and their cosmic energies in two- or three-dimensional forms.Mudra—a "symbol" or "ritual gesture," made by the position of the hands or body, and signifying the qualities and presence of various Buddhas and bodhisattvas in Vajrayana ritual.Since the Tibetan uprising in 1959, more than 100,000 Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhists have become refugees in India and around the world. The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso is head of one of the four major lineages of Tibetan monks and leads a Tibetan government in exile in north India. Other Tibetan teachers, called lamas, tulkus, or rinpoches, settled in the United States during the 1960s and 70s, where they attracted a largely Euro-American following. Only in the 1990s did substantial numbers of Tibetan lay Buddhists arrive in the United States. As a result, America is now a place where a centuries-old Vajrayana tradition encounters a decades-old American convert Vajrayana practice.
Islam
Islam in Arabic literally means "submitting" or "submission." One who submits or surrenders his or her will to God is called a Muslim. While the whole of God's creation is described as being inherently Muslim, human beings must choose whether to follow or to reject God's will, as revealed in the Qur'an. What we now call the Islamic tradition was born in the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century. Today, there are more than one billion Muslims, living all over the world.
Jnana
Jnana is wisdom, transforming knowledge, especially the knowledge of the identity of the atman or soul and the ultimate reality of Brahman. It is this inner realization to which the teachings of the Upanishads point, and it is this wisdom which is explicated in philosophical systems such as Advaita Vedanta.
Karma
Karma means action and the consequences of action, both in the world and for oneself. It is important in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions where rebirth is presupposed and karma shapes one's ongoing life. Every action leaves an imprint. In the Jain tradition, karma is understood to accumulate in quasi-material form, clouding and obscuring the luminous nature of the soul. The goal of some forms of Buddhism is seen as removing the effects of karma so that the cycle of birth and death, samsara, can be left. For Buddhists, karma can be both good and bad, and is sometimes referred to as good and bad merit
Kosher/Kashrut
Kosher means, literally, "proper" or "correct" and refers to food that is permissible to eat under Jewish dietary laws (kashrut). These dietary laws prescribe what foods may be eaten, how animals must be slaughtered etc.
Mahayana
Mahayana BuddhismMahayana, the "Great Vehicle," is a form of Buddhism the originated in India and spread to Central and East Asia, encompassing schools in Tibet, Mongolia, China, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. Its primary characteristics include a more supernatural view of the Buddha; the compassion of the bodhisattva ideal; an emphasis on universal salvation; and a more elastic view of the scriptural canon. Major Mahayana schools include Pure Land and Zen. The Vajrayana tradition of Tibet is also considered a form of Mahayana.
Makkah (Mecca)
Makkah (also spelled Mecca) is the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, the hub of the caravan trade in the Arabian Peninsula, and the site of the holy Ka'bah. After receiving the first revelations of the Qur'an on a mountain outside Makkah, Muhammad developed a small following, but he had to flee to Madinah to escape persecution. In 630, Muhammad and his strengthened community returned to Makkah, establishing it as the spiritual center of the Islamic world and performing the first Islamic pilgrimage.
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur is the "Day of Atonement," the holiest day of the Jewish year, a day of fasting and atonement. Rosh Hashanah (the New Year) and Yom Kippur are called the High Holy Days, ordinarily falling in early autumn.
Theravada
The Theravada, literally "the way of the elders," is the school of Buddhism most prominent today in the countries of Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. As the name suggests, it regards itself as the school most faithful to the teachings that have been passed down through the generations. In the United States, Theravada Buddhism has had its greatest growth since the 1960s when Euro-Americans started practicing vipassana, or "insight meditation." At the same time, large numbers of immigrants from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, and other traditional Theravadin countries have come to the United States. The major characteristics of the Theravada can be summarized as follows: 1. The Pali Canon, comprised of scriptures and commentaries written in the ancient Pali language, is regarded as the most accurate source of the teachings of the historical Buddha. While other schools have various other recensions of the canon or a broader interpretation of what the canon includes, the Theravadins believe that the Pali Canon is definitive. 2. The human and historical Buddha, the spiritual pathfinder, who lived 2,500 years ago in India is emphasized. While other schools of Buddhism might focus on the teachings of another Buddha or venerate multiple Buddhas, the Theravadins see Shakyamuni Buddha as central. 3. The ideal spiritual model of Theravada Buddhism is the arahant (arhat). Arahants, literally "worthy ones," are Buddhist practitioners who attain nirvana and have perfected their discipline such that defilements and desires are extinguished. « The Expansion of Buddhism || Mahayana: The Great
Upanishads
The Upanishads, dating largely from the eighth to the sixth centuries BCE, are the "wisdom literature" of the Vedas. Most Upanishads take the form of dialogues between teachers and students. They turn from the rites of the fire altar that had been the main focus of discussion in the earlier Vedic literature to the question of the deeper, inner meanings of ritual, especially as it can give insight into the origin, basis, and support of the universe. The Upanishads and their interpretations are sometimes called Vedanta, literally the "end of the Vedas."
Madinah (Medina)
The city of Madinah was originally called Yathrib, a city north of Makkah in western Saudi Arabia. It was renamed "the city of the prophet," (Madinat al-nabi) after Muhammad and his followers emigrated there in 622 to form the first Muslim community. Muslim pilgrims visit the mosque and tomb of the Prophet Muhammad in Madinah.
Five pillars
The five pillars of Islam are regular acts of worship Muslims are called upon to perform: the Shahadah ("witness" that there is no god but God and Muhammad is "the Messenger of God), Salat ("ritual prayer," five times daily), Zakat ("purification" or almsgiving), Sawm ("fasting" during Ramadan), and Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah).
Hijrah
The hijrah was the "emigration" of the Prophet Muhammad from Makkah to Madinah in 622 CE. When the Prophet and his followers were persecuted in Makkah, the tribes of Madinah promised to protect them and asked the Prophet to resolve disputes between them. The hijrah marks the founding of the first Islamic community under the leadership of the Prophet Muhammad, and thus the year 622 CE is the first year in the Islamic calendar.
Kabbalah
The kabbalah is the Jewish mystical tradition.
Qur'an
The word Qur'an literally means "recitation." Revealed orally to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel, he recited it to his followers. These recitations collected in written form are arranged in 114 surahs, generally from longest to shortest. Muslims consider the Qur'an to be the literal word of God. While it is possible to translate the message of the Qur'an into other languages, Muslims consider translations to be interpretations and not the Qur'an itself.
Zionism
Zion is a sacred hill in Jerusalem and refers, by extension, to Jerusalem and the homeland of the Hebrew people. In this latter sense, Zion came to symbolize Jewish national-religious hopes of renewal and Zionism became the name of the 19th and 20th century movement to create a new homeland for the Jewish people in Israel. These hopes were fulfilled, at least in part, through the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Zionism has penetrated Jewish life overwhelmingly, and plays an extremely important role in the identity of Jews, as individuals and communities.
Torah
Torah, meaning teaching or instruction, refers in its most specific sense to the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch or books of Moses, and to the scrolls on which these teachings are written. More broadly, Torah refers to the whole of the Hebrew Bible and the whole body of Jewish law and tradition.
Vedas
Veda means "wisdom" and specifically refers to the sacred wisdom of the four Vedic collections: Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. Associated with each of these Vedas is literature called Brahmanas, which are concerned especially with rituals, and Upanishads, which explore a deeper philosophical understanding of the universe. In its broadest sense, the term Veda refers to the wisdom and authority to which Hindus turn.poems
Atman
soul
Easter
the most important and oldest festival of the Christian Church, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and held (in the Western Church) between March 21 and April 25, on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox.the period in which Easter occurs, especially the weekend from Good Friday to Easter Monday.
