Religion Notes PDF

Academic- Theory and methodology Understanding how religion influences relationships, social, and the individual Confessional- what you learn in your church What is religion- a system of beliefs and practices and symbols which organize life around the pursuit of value Why you should care about re...

Academic- Theory and methodology Understanding how religion influences relationships, social, and the individual Confessional- what you learn in your church What is religion- a system of beliefs and practices and symbols which organize life around the pursuit of value Why you should care about religion: Our world is shaped by religion Those who hate religion are influenced by it Veda: Earliest indian text was developed 1500-1000 bc Four vedas Rig (Oldest) Sama Yiguar Ayurveda Sacrificial rites: Central role of ritual in vedic religion Communicating with the gods - Order of action - Content of recitation - Use of implements - Consecrating sacred spaces - Connect performance of the ritual Use of Fire Ethogen- a mind altering substance Vedic Gods/deities: “ a god” or “deity: here translate to deva Similar to the gods in the greek and norse in that they are human-like, material and fallible -Departmentalization of functions less clear cut -Predominantly male, family relationships matter less than in the Greek pantheon Agni- god of fire Indra- material god, god of war, and ruler of the gods Ushas- goddess of daws, femininity beauty Rudru- The “howler” precursor to Shiva, lord of the animals Upanishads: Body of texts created between 900 and 300 bc Philosophical texts of disparate schools and movement Vedanta- thought in early and modern hinduism Brahamn- the fact of all existence Atman- the source of consciousness, it's not a soul, it is unchangeable Upanishads: Atman is reborn/reincarnated again and again (which is bad) until it conquers ignorance and realizes its oneness with Brahman Brahman- a manifestation of everything in the universe Vedic religion: Afterlife in a good, or a bad, or a nondescript Place The Four Classes: Brahmin: priest, a ritual specialist, the highest class Kshatriya: warriors, armed ruling class Vaishyas: merchants, landholding farmers Shudras: workers, artisans Outside & below the system “Untouchables” Karma The concept of karma includes that actions have a moral Valency, doing good things, good things will happen, doing bad things will cause bad things to happen Hinduism Hinduism is the world's third largest religion in the world It is a diverse religion with many different practices, communities and deities The three most important gods are called the Trimurti. Brahma: creation Vishnu (preservation, maintenance) Shive (Disintegration) Shive is blue Brahma is on the left and Vishnu is on the right Trimurti “Synthetic Hinduism” Puranic period (300-1200 ce) post vedic religion Distiant manifest aspects of one absolute god. “Brahman” Gods in Hinduism Vishnu and Shiva developed their own large communities of worship, Brahma less so rahma → Saraswati Vishnu → Lakshmi Shiva → Parvati bhakti-loving devotion to a personal god Yoga Time plus time = mastery Yoga is a way of reaching the highest goal Forms of yoga: jñāna Yoga (the path of knowledge / philosophical reasoning) Karma Yoga (the path of (right) action or duty) Bhakti Yoga (the path of love and devotion) Rāja Yoga (the path of meditation) Bhagavad gita the gita is a written in sanskrit and was translated in english in 1785, it has 700 verses and is a small art of the Mahabharata Shiva- destruction for purpose Hinduism in philly Hindu temples began to appear and spread in the late 1900s The first Hindus arrived much earlier but did not have temples In the late 1900s,Hindus decided they wanted to worship in temples that felt like the ones back home Over time temples grew into larger complexes eventually expanding into spawning community centers Mahant Swami Mahara is the Present Guru and president of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha, it was founded in 1905 and formed in 1907. Denomination of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya: Swami (Master/Lord) Narayan (High God, Vishnu) Sampradaya: “Lineage” Swaminarayan: Avatar of Purushottam (Vishnu), the High God according to Vaishnava Hinduism Population Hindiu makes up about 1% of the population of Phildeah in the last 20 years Philly’s Asian population has increased by about 31%