PHIL 352 – STUDY GUIDE CHAPTER 1 – INVITATION TO WORLD RELIGIONS Learning Objectives: After reading this chapter, the student should be able to do the following: 1. To clarify the importance of studying world religions and briefly to explain the history of this academic field 2. To introduce the challenge of defining “religion,” with examples of notable attempts 3. To explore three basic questions that point to what religions do 4. To introduce three categories—teachings, historical development, and way of life— that provide the book with its primary organizational structure 5. To consider various features of religions in the modern world 6. To introduce the most important aspects of an academic approach to the study of religions Study Questions: 1. Identify and discuss the importance of some of the “don’ts” of the academic study of world religions. 2. Are religion and spirituality the same? Is it possible to be spiritual without being religious and vice-versa? 3. Who is Émile Durkheim, and what is notable about his definition of religion? 4. Bruce Lincoln, in his definition of religion, identifies four “domains.” What are they? Explain the significance of the “transcendent” for the definition of religion set forth by Lincoln. 5. How are the roles of women in religions changing? 6. Explore the insights of Freud or Jung regarding religion, and use those insights to examine the religious tradition with which you are most familiar. How would Freud or Jung understand that religion? 7. Karl Marx argued that religions arise as an escape from poverty and social oppression. Consequently he thought that when social problems were eliminated, religions would die away. What arguments and examples would you give for and against this position? 8. Identify and briefly describe Ninian Smart’s seven “dimensions” of religion. 9. What is meant by the concept of the numinous? 10. What is “empathy,” and how is it relevant for the academic study of religion? Terms: atheism, cosmology, empathy, globalization, henotheism, urbanization, modernization, monism, monotheism, multiculturalism, mysterium tremendum and fascinans, mystical experience, myth, nontheistic, numinous experience, pantheism, polytheism, revealed ethics, revelation, ritual, secularization, theistic, transtheistic Figures: Kant, Durkheim, James, Tillich, Jung, Marx, Freud, Eliade, Otto, E.B. Tylor, James Frazer, Smart, Lincoln. CHAPTER 2 – INDIGENOUS RELIGIONS OF NORTH AMERICA Learning Objectives: After reading this chapter, the student should be able to do the following: • Understand the diversity and similarities of North American indigenous religious traditions • Understand some teachings of Native North American religions • Become familiar with different practices of Native American religions • Learn about the impact of European colonialism on indigenous religions of North America • Discuss rite of passage and rites of renewal ceremonies • Define and describe the role of shamanism Study Questions: 1. Your area now has, or once was home to, native peoples. Make a list of their religious sites, beliefs, and practices. 2. The indigenous religions of North America are very diverse. However, we can see some common threads in belief and practice. What are these? Why is it difficult to make generalizations? 3. What is a rite of passage and a rite of renewal? Describe two examples of each from Native North American religions. 4. How do mythic narratives address the origins of humanity? Give two examples. 5. What happened to Native American peoples and religions during European colonization of the Americas? 7. Discuss the Ghost Dance and the Native American Church as resistance movements. 8. What does the term “shamanism” mean? What is its origin and history as a term? What are some of the tasks of the shaman? 9. What is sacred time, sacred space? How do indigenous religions tend to differentiate it from ordinary time and space? Terms: Axis Mundi, Changing Woman, initiation, cosmogony, vision quest, animism, calumet, chantway, Ghost Dance, Holy Wind, Jump Dance, kachina, Native American Church, peyote, Popul Vuh, Quetzalcoatl, rites of passage and renewal, two spirit, sand painting, Sun Dance, sweat lodge (temescal), Corn Woman, trickster, Coyote, Mt. Shasta. Figures/Tribes: Lame Deer, Black Elk, Wovoka: Lakota, Hopi, Navajo, Zuni, Mayan, Aztec, Modoc, Yurok, Ojibway, Cherokee, Huichol. CHAPTER 4 – HINDUISM Learning Objectives: After reading this chapter, the student should be able to do the following: • Describe possible origins of Hinduism and key features of the Vedic and Upanishadic periods • Explain a monistic and a dualistic worldview • Explain concepts of atman, brahman, karma, samsara, dharma, and moksha • Discuss aspects of social and personal life, such as caste, stages of life, and four goals • Explain the practices and goals of the yogic paths • Describe features of devotional Hinduism practiced by the majority of Hindus • Become familiar with main events in the historical development of Hinduism Study Questions: 1. What are the essential features of Vedic religion? How does it differ and how it is similar to contemporary Hinduism? 2. Describe Vedas, Upanishads, epics, and Puranas. What are the most important features of each? 3. What are Atman and Brahman and how are they related? 4. What are varnas, or Hindu castes, and how do they relate to the concept of karma and reincarnation? 5. What is an avatar? How does the concept of avatar compare with the ways in which other religions speak of God on earth? 6. Investigate to see whether examples of Hindu practice exist in or near your home or school. Visit a Hindu temple or center and attend a service; write a short report. 7. Explain how it is that Hindus who hold the monistic viewpoint still believe in gods and goddesses. 8. How has Hinduism changed since the British Colonial period? 9. Describe the various roles that women have played in Hindu tradition and worship. 10. Describe the history of bhakti. What are the earliest sources? How does bhakti change as it develops across time and moves from region to region? Terms: Vedas, rishis, Upanishads, Vedanta, Bhagavad-Gita, The Laws of Manu, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Indus Valley, Hindu, Brahmin, karma, samsara, darshan, bhakti, monism, dualism, Atman/Brahman, advaita-vedanta (nondual), vishishta-advaita (brahman is vishnu), dvaita (dualist), OM, mantra, Ganges, avatar, maya, Sat-chit-ananda (truth-consciousness-bliss), karma yoga, bhakti yoga, jnana yoga, raja yoga, hatha yoga, kundalini yoga, chakras, varnas (castes), dalit, ashramas (life-stages), sannyasin, kama, artha, moksha, ahimsa, dhyana, prana, lingam/yoni, puja, tantra. Deities/Personages: Purusha/ Prithvi, Arjuna, Krishna/Radha, Rama/Sita, Shiva/Parvati, Shiva/Shakti, Vishnu/Lakshmi, Devi, Mahadevi, Kali, Durga, Ganesha; Hanuman, Saraswati, Indra, Agni, Varuna, Usha, Shankara, Kalidasa, Kabir, Mirabai. CHAPTER 5 – BUDDHISM Learning Objectives: After reading this chapter, the student should be able to do the following: • Understand the teachings of the Buddha • Understand the essential features of Buddhist traditions and schools • Understand the most important features in the history of Buddhism • Understand the significance of Buddhist practices • Explain the content of the Four Noble Truths • Discuss concepts of impermanence, suffering, and no self in Buddhism • Discuss the spread of Buddhism from India • Distinguish among the three major branches of Buddhism • Discuss modern developments in Buddhism, including its emergence in the West Study Questions: 1. Describe some of the ways in which Buddhism differs from other religions. 2. Explain the Noble Eightfold Path to Liberation. What are the Four Noble Truths? 3. What is meant by “the Middle Way”? What is meant by the phrase tat tvam asi? 4. How do you think the Buddha might have regarded distinctive Mahayana and Vajrayana beliefs and practices? 5. Describe the doctrine of Interdependent Origination and its implications. 6. What do Buddhists mean when they speak of “suffering” (dukkha)? Why does it occur? Why does putting an end to desire bring an end to suffering? 7. Buddhism arose in a Hindu culture. What features of Hinduism does it preserve? Which does it reject? 8. Some scholars have claimed that Mahayana Buddhism arose in order to serve the needs of laypeople. Do you think it serves the needs of laypeople? Why? 9. Describe and compare the essential features of Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana Buddhism. 10. What is the place of Buddhism in the world today? Do you think it will become a more popular religion in the future? Why? Terms: anatman, arhat, bodhisattva, dharma, lila, nirvana, Dukkha, interdependent origination, karma, lamas, Mahayana, trikaya (Dharmakaya, Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya),Theravada, Vajrayana, mandala, mantra, middle way, Noble Eightfold Path, parinirvana, samsara, sangha, skandhas, stupa, sutra, karuna, shunyata, tathata, Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Zen, satori, koan, Zendo, zazen, vipassana, upaya, shamatha, Pali Canon, Bodhi tree, Tantra, Naropa Institute. Deities/Personages: Siddharta Gautama, Maitreya, Ashoka, Guanyin, Amaterasu, T.W. Rhys-Davids, Alan Watts, Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Nagarjuna, Kyoto School, Nishitani, D.T. Suzuki, Beat Zen (Synder, Kerouac, Rexroth), Schopenhauer, Hume. CHAPTER 8 – DAOISM AND CONFUCIANISM Learning Objectives: After reading this chapter, the student should be able to do the following: • Describe the basic elements of traditional Chinese belief that appear in later developments