Transcript Eastern Orthodox Churches

CHAPTER 9:
Eastern Peoples &
Eastern Religions
Columbian Exposition
• 1893 in Chicago
• World’s Parliament of Religion
o Swami Vivekananda
o Anagarika Dharmapala
o Soyen Shaku
Asian Exclusion
• harassment & discrimination
• immigration laws
o 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act
o 1907 Gentlemen’s Agreement
o 1924 Oriental Exclusion Act
• Japanese internment camps
Looking from Europe &
the East Coast of the U.S.
• Nearer East – Eastern Orthodoxy
• Middle East – Islam & Baha’i
• Farther East – Hinduism & Buddhism
Eastern Orthodoxy
in America
• Russian Orthodox
o earliest to arrive
• Greek Orthodox
o largest branch in America
• other national churches
e.g.) Romanian, Serbian
Eastern Orthodox Churches
• “right religion”
• patriarchates: Constantinople,
Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem
• autocephalous churches
• autonomous churches
Eastern Orthodox Practice
• Divine Liturgy
• Hesychasm
• Icons
o point of connection to sacred
o 8th- & 9th-century controversy
Eastern-Western Split within
Christianity
• opposed primacy of Roman Pope
o “filioque” controversy
• Pope excommunicated Bishop
of Constantinople
• 4th Crusade in Constantinople
Islam in America
• Muslim slaves
• African American Muslims
o Nation of Islam
• Arab & European Muslim immigrants
• Immigration Act of 1965
Religion of Islam
• Muhammad
• Allah
• Qur’an
• umma
• jihad
Pillars of Islam
1) confession of faith
2) prayer 5x a day
3) alms
4) fast during Ramadan
5) hajj
Forms of Islam
• Sunni – caliphs
• Shiite – imams
o line of Ali
o await the Mahdi
• Sufi – sheikhs
o mysticism
Developments in America
• mosques as Islamic centers
• Muslim Students Association
• Islamic Society of North America
• September 11th, 2001
Baha’i
• “completes” previous religions
• Baha’u’llah
• age of universal unity & peace
• equality & reverence for living things
• forbids partisan politics
Hindu Religion
• religions of India
• Brahman & Atman
• monism
• polytheism
• puja
Yoga
• “union & the discipline to achieve it”
• 3 broad paths to the divine
o bhakti
o karma
o jnana
• Hatha yoga
Early Export Forms of Hinduism
• Vedanta Society
o Vivekananda
o raja yoga
• Self-Realization Fellowship
o Yogananda
o kriya yoga
Later Export Forms of Hinduism
• Transcendental Meditation
o Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
• ISKCON
o “Hare Krishnas”
o A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Post-1965 Hinduism
• temple culture
o ecumenical
• guru culture
Buddhism
• Siddhartha Gautama
• Four Noble Truths
1)
2)
3)
4)
human suffering has a cause
the cause of suffering is desire
there is a way to end suffering
the way to end it is to end desire
• Eightfold (Middle) Path
Major Forms of Buddhism
• Theravada – Southeast Asia
o arhat
• Mahayana – China & Japan
o bodhisattva
• Vajrayana (Tantric) – Tibet
o mystical union with divinity
Buddhists in U.S.
• early sympathizers
o Transcendentalists
o Theosophists
• monks & lay Buddhists
o Pure Land Buddhist immigrants
o Tibetan refugees
Buddhist Meditation
• popular export forms of Buddhism
• Rinzai Zen
o koans
• Soto Zen
• Vipassana Insight Meditation
Trends of American Buddhism
• “Church” or “Temple” Buddhism
• “Convert” Buddhism
• “Missionary” Buddhism
o Nichiren Shoshu
o Soka Gakkai International, USA
Expansion, Contraction,
& Combination
• postpluralism
• Healthy-Happy-Holy Organization
o 3HO
o Yogi Bhajan
o kundalini yoga, Tantric & Sikh
OVERVIEW
• Near East – Eastern Orthodoxy
• Middle East – Islam & Baha’i
• Farther East – Hinduism & Buddhism
• ethnic & export forms in U.S.