Study Questions Upanishads 1. What Does the Word

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Study Questions Upanishads 1. What does the word “Upanishads” mean? 2. When approximately were the Upanishads composed? And by whom? What is the larger sacred text of which the Upanishads form a textual sub-group? 3. The Upanishads is a foundational text for which broad school of Hindu philosophy? When was this school of philosophy established? And by whom? Katha Upanishad 4. Who assumes the role of teacher in the Katha Upanishad? What is the name of the student in the discourse? What is the student’s central question asked of his teacher? 5. Does the Katha Upanishad teach that the self exists after death? Explain. 6. The Katha speaks of “the separate self/ego” and “the Self”? What is the difference between the two? 7. What is Brahman? What is Atman? How are they related? 8. What does self-realization mean? How is it achieved? Chandogya Upanishad 9. What does “Chandogya” mean? 10. How is Brahman described? What is Brahman’s relationship to the world or universe? 11. What is Uddalaka’s teaching to his son Shvetaketu in “the story of Shvetaketu”? 12. What does the famous Chandogya Upanishad line “tat tvam asi” mean? 13. What does the story teach about the relationship between Brahman and Atman? 14. How does the Chandogya teach that the Self is ever-present awareness? Shvetashvatara Upanishad 15. The text says (1.12) that “the world is filled with the presence of God” and “His face is everywhere (2.16)? What do these statements mean? 16. How does the Shvetashvatara Upanishad illuminate the famous saying of the Rig Veda that “truth is one but the sages call it by different names”? 17. What is maya? What does the text teach about the relationship between Brahman and maya? 18. How is Brahman or the Self known? 19. From the viewpoint of the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, what is Brahman’s relation to the many gods acknowledged in the vedas? .

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