William Dalrymple's "Nine Lives"

We have had an excellent choice of books to go along with this class, the first one we have read is Nine Lives . Starting with 9 separate lives, interviewing them about the ancient and sacred religious beliefs in our current time. 
The Nun's Tale: This is a story of Jain nun whom knows from a very young age her calling into her attainment of moksha, spiritual liberation of Jains. It is their belief that bad karma can "stick" to your soul, and only through many different rituals, can you liberate your soul in order to stop the birth and rebirth of Karma. I really enjoyed this tale, impressed with her ability to make such a huge decision at such an early age of 12, dragged back and forth between home and the monestary until at 14, making her vows. The second life looked at in this book is called:
The Dancer of Kannur: This is the story of a Dalit (untouchable) man named Hari Das who
There is more of this one to come... just finding time :)

The Bhagavad- Gita

I have been reading the Bhagavad-Gita for class, discussing it yesterday in our small group and then as a full class. The discussion was interesting yet strange , I thought. I myself have some different ideas about the Gita, now that I have read more and discussed it with Dave, also. 
In looking at the ability to take action without paying for your actions, or my take on it, anyhow...certainly leaves you open for doing anything you truly believe in, which leaves it wide open for any psychopath to justify his or her actions. With no repercussions, killing your kin, your enemy, anyone, harming anything you want, and yet knowing the cyclic nature of reincarnation, being absolved of all. 

How can this be, I have been thinking , when all of Hinduism, Jainism and the hundreds of offshoots of these religions are foremost about love, for oneself, one another, and all living things. 
I looked through some pages today of similar teachings, ways of living and how you can do anything without fear at all. These pages were about Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler. The more I read both the Gita and about it's apparent abuse by these horrific monsters, the more afraid I became of the amount of people who, to this day, rely on this book. 
There is a Wiki page about the Russian trial of the Bhagavad-Gita located here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita_trial_in_Russia

Jainism

Jainism : It's origins are in ancient India, around the 6th Century,  with one of the main beliefs being that no harm is to come to any living creature. 

"Friendship to all living forms, 

delight in the qualities of the virtuous ones, 

unlimited compassion for all suffering beings, 

equanimity toward all who wish me harm, 

may my soul have these dispositions, now and forever."

-- Jain prayer

The Jains believe in no harm to others and complete asceticism (characterized by a lifestyle of abstinence and denial of self pleasure, including family members, aesthetic belongings, monetary items, et al. )

The sacred person (or persons in this case) are the 24 Tirthankaras, "ford-makers", the religions itself centers on sacred images and mantras. Mahāvīra was the final  of the 24 Tirthankaras,  a sacred sage who is said to have established the

sacred tenets of the Jain.  He is referred to by many different names throughout India, eg: Vira, Sanmati, and Gnatputra to name a few. Mahavira thought that in order for the men and women to know the real truth, they must leave their homes and belongings and practice mahimsa, the 

 The Jain lead their lives in a way as to delete the "karma's" attached to their souls, and in doing so, reaching ultimate liberation. This is attained by doing good, treating other living beings with respect and if needed, working toward your own death in a ritualistic starving of the body. This starving of the body can take up to 18 months, as they slowly diminish the food intake, one by one, until they are only taking in water, and then renounce even the water. 
As Jainism as a religion is not about seeking happiness, eternal or otherwise, it is by itself in this type of religion that one wonders about penance itself. The basic ideals of Jains are to keep the world safe, all living things then are equal. The entire time is spent renunciating and paying a type of penance to get rid of the bad Karma's attached to you.

Hinduism1

Today I have chosen to work with Hinduism as my choice of religions to study/discuss. I have always been interested in Hinduism because of it's beginnings, or not beginnings, I suppose it could be said. There is no one single founder, no single scripture, and no commonly agreed upon set of teachings. 
        It is truly a religion of the people. Based on different stages in your life, different castes and different elements of where you are in your life, the teachings change and you follow certain paths (dharma) dependent on that. 
        Hinduism is the religion of the majority of India and Nepal, plus with non local members practicing, there are approximately 900 million Hindus. Closely related to Buddhism,  Jainism, and Sikhism in many ways, and being considered a way of life more than a religion, the four mentioned religions have very similar belief systems for karma and reincarnation. Karma can follow you through many life forms/incarnations and is meant to deal out what is earned as a earthly being. If you do wrong, Karma can follow you through your reincarnations continuing to make life hard for you, if redeemed by doing good though, Karma can then follow you continuing on with good health, wealth and general well being. 
        Hindus believe in one God, whom is then represented by thousand (hundreds of thousands) of deities whom emanate from this one God, doing the different types of work needed. 

Hinduism2

Hinduism: Discussion

Truth is one, sages call it by different names.  Hinduism is the 3rd most popular religion with around a billion followers. Approximately 81% of Nepalese are practicing Hindus. Colonial British rule and how it affected India; in 1858 through 1947, the British Raj (rule/reign) was in affect. During that time, the Brits called it the Indian Empire (as seems to be a commonality with Brits while in ruler-ship) During this reign, the Brits commonly changed the names of cities, counties and towns to more easily pronounced or just for loyal pride. In 1947 the Partition of India began, being parted by religious rule and demographics. On August 15th the partition began, as the Brit rule slowly dissipated, the country was then divided into particulars such as Pakistan, specifically for Muslims in the area,  (actually formed one day earlier, on August 14th), displacing 12.5 million people, leading to the loss of much life, with numbers varying from several hundred thousands to a million. There is approximately 1100 miles of Indian land between East/West Pakistan. East Pakistan seceded from the nation at this time, India took the side of West Pakistan, East Pakistan became Bangladesh, a country one fifth the size of Pakistan with a larger population. There is so much more about the partition that I am going to pay attention to and study more on, I found this very interesting and very under-rated in my short History studies.  (Cite: Dowling, Mike, "Pakistan and Bangladesh at mrdowling.com," available from http://www.mrdowling.com/612-pakistan.html; Internet; updated Monday, July 11, 2005 . ©2009, Mike Dowling. All rights reserved. 
80.5% of Indian peoples regard themselves as Hindus, Hinduism is a complete approach to life, finding nature and her Gods/Goddesses as very sacred, including Mother Ganges (river), Mother India (the land). It is a common belief that you are born  Hindu, not converted into one. Some people believe you can convert, but this goes against the  evangelization, proselytization and conversion thoughts of the old school Hindu belief. 
Hinduism does not have any one founder or doctrine it follows, which leaves it open to perception of how to solve any possible controversies which arise.There are four Vedas, the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. The Vedas are the primary texts of Hinduism. They also had a vast influence on Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhismere and are four very sacred texts. Other the books they do follow, The Mahabharata, which is one of the original Sanskrit epics, consisting of four different epic stories, stories that are a part of the Mahabharata are the Bhagavad Gita, the story of Damayanti, an abbreviated version of the Ramayana, and the Rishyasringa, often considered as works in their own right. The Bhagavad Gita is mentioned in another page of mine, as a separate study. The Ramayana is about Rama, another one of Vishnu's avatars, in which Rama's wife Sita is abducted by the kind of Sri Lanka and Rama's epic journey to retrieve her. This book, as many of the epics, are written in verse after verse of lines backing up the belief in human nature, human values and dharma. A brief explanation of Dharma - Moksha and the Trinity are as follows:

• Dharma, moral order of the universe
• Atman The individual human soul
• Samsara The cycle of lives
• Karma The law of action and reaction-connnects hinduism, jainism, buddhism
• Moksha Liberation from Samsara 
• The TRIMTURI (the trinity)
• Brahma- The Creator\Vishnu- The Preserver and Shiva- The Destroyer

Sometimes the key goal of reincarnation is to escape the over and over life and death, finally figuring out the answer, finally reaching Moksha The ultimate aim of Hinduism is to escape from the cycle of Samsara and to attain release or Moksha

There are considered 330 million Gods and Goddesses in Hinduism, all avatars of the Trinity. 

Hindu Time Scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_units_of_time

(retrieved from Dan's notes) :) 

                                                                                                   The Swastika

              The symbol of the swastika is a well-documented ancient symbol used around the world. Its first recorded occurrence dates back the 6th to 5th millennium BC when it was used in the "Vinca script" of Neolithic Europe. After that it has been used by primitive society consistently from China to the Americas passing by Greece and Africa.

The swastika (svastika in Sanskrit, which is an original language thought to have migrated with the people during the first millennia, BCE) translates into “well-being or being well and good fortune” and has been part of language since 2500-3000 BC. The icon, being a symbol of the language has been part of many Indian Buddhist, Hinduism, and Jainism religions.

            The left handed swastika is usually the sign of Kali, goddess of the dark and night.  Kali herself is an evil, dark, goddess. 

Kali is the Hindu goddess know for her association with empowerment, generally of the females, including fertility. Shakti is the Hindu word for this power. The name Kali is derived from Kala, meaning time of death, black, lord of death also known as Shiva. She is seen in many pictures and connotations stepping on Shiva,   
The sign itself is usually auspicious and a good sign in Buddhism, where the arms are bent to the right, clockwise. In India, the right handed swastika is the symbol of the sun and the god Vishnu.   
There are  people who believe it will never be restored to its former status as a good thing, and are beginning to rally the others to leave it behind as it is. I can't imagine it being this way, as it is still auspicious in many of the eastern religions.
As I found looking for information about this icon, there are many different meanings, long before it became the noxious symbol of racial genocide it has become today. 

A Journal of Religious Studies             HelenHenderson

Thursday, January 03, 2013

I awoke this morning, early, thinking about the coming days and weeks of study in the Religions of the Eastern World, the comparison of them, and the meaning they have had to me thus far and as to what were to come in further classes. I started to think first about Shintoism, as it being not a religion at all, having no Gods, per se, but more of an actual way of living, being one with the nature of our world. The name Shinto, coming from two separate Chinese words, meaning “the way of the Gods”. As this is a way of living rather than an actual religion unto itself, it leaves space then for the actual practice of other religions at the same time, mainly Buddhism is practiced alongside Shinto, with the numerous Shinto shrines being used to perform “happy” or life giving ceremonies, (weddings, births etc.) and the Buddhist part being used more for the afterlife, funerals, and burials. There are approximately 80,000 shrines throughout Japan, most of them being open at all times, with a few having areas closed off to the public to conserve the original and ancient buildings.

The stylized Shinto shape of the shrines is as old as Shintoism itself, being stated to be as old as Japan itself, according to the creation theory of Japan, Izanagi-no-Mikoto (male) and Izanami-

                                                   HelenHenderson

no-Mikoto (female) were called by all the myriad gods and asked to help each other to create a new land which was to become Japan. (copied Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shintoism)

Thoughts on Entering "Eastern and Comparative Religions"

I start this journal with my thoughts on why I chose this course to begin with. There are a few reasons. First being I have always had an almost spiritual feeling about the east, perhaps "almost" isn't quite right, perhaps "just a feeling". So when this course was offered, I was very excited to see it and decided now was the perfect time to check out the very things I am interested in. 

I have had Dan as my teacher for a few different classes, some I did great in, others not so much :) but, none the less, figured why not try it again. 

I expect, as his style is part of my liking his class, that I will finish having so much information about these religions that I will have to continue to study them in order to even get out of them as much as I would like, meaning...with all the wonderful reading assignments, audio and video as well, there really is barely enough time to take it all in, in a mere 15 weeks. 

I look forward to exploring a very exciting part of the world with Dan and my fellow classmates and know this will be fulfilling in many ways.