Transcript Ancient Asian Civilizations

Ancient Asian Civilizations
I. Ancient Asian Religions
1. Hinduism
a. Vedas:
-Holy books
-“Veda” = “knowledge”
b. Upanishads:
-Philosophical Books
In Hindusim, this is the "great point" - the
perfect balance of all and the point from which
all of creation is projected and the point to
which all returns. The central point - the bindu ,
is surrounded by a holon - a series of
concentric rings of repeated patterns,
representing the different layers of perception
and reality.
"The Vedic literatures are
divided into two parts: the
srutis and the smrtis. The
srutis are the four Vedas: Rg,
Sama, Atharva and Yajur, and
the Upanisads, and the smrtis
are the Puranas like the
Mahabharata, which includes
Bhagavad-gita. The conclusion
of all these is that one should
know Sri Krsna as the
Supreme
Personality
of
Godhead."
"What is that by knowing
which all things are
known?"
"What makes my mind
think, my eyes see, my
tongue speak, my body
live?"
What happens when this
body dies?"
With such questions begin
the Upanishads, the
wellspring of India's loftiest
philosophies and faith.
Some thousand years old,
they do not explain or
develop a line of argument
in the modern sense. They
are darshana, "something
seen", and the reader is
expected not only to listen
to the words but to realize
them: that is, to make their
truths an integral part of
character, conduct, and
consciousness.
For the last thousand years,
ten Upanishads offered in
this book in modern English
have been considered as
"principal Upanishads" on
the authority of Shankara,
an eighth-century mystic
who reawakened India to its
spiritual heritage. Included
in the book is the
Shvetashvatara Upanishad
for its great beauty and four
Yoga Upanishads to
represent later traditions.
1. Hinduism continued…
c. Religious Practice:
-Brahma:
-Creator
-living soul
-Karma:
-reincarnation
-promotion or demotion
through “Caste System”
-based on personal conduct
GOAL: Union with Brahma
The caste system is like a religious social standing system wich means that the
population is divided in higher and lower groups. The expression "caste" comes from
the portugese word "casto" (="pure").
The four main castes (Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vashaya and Shudra) are called "Varnas",
the Indian word for "colour". The Varnas are split up in "Jati". The Jati are subgroups
of the castes, and depend on the profession of the people.
There is no social mobility in the caste system, because people mustn´t marry people
of other castes. Hinduism believes in an eternal circle of rebirth which ends in the
"Nirvana", like our heaven or paradise. That means a Hindu has many lives and is
reborn after death.
The "Dharma" (Karma) is his "account" of good and bad things he has done in this
life. The more bad things he has done in this life the longer it will take to get to the
Nirvana. His Dharma decides in which caste he will be born into in the next life. So
the caste system is justified.
2. Buddhism
a. Siddhartha Gautama
b. “Buddha”
-“Enlightened One”
Siddharta Gautama is known as the
Buddha.
He was born around the year 580 BCE in
the village of Lumbini in Nepal. He was
born into a royal family and for many
years lived with in the palace walls away
from the sufferings of life; sufferings such
as sickness, age, and death. He did not
know what they were.
One day, after growing-up, marrying and
having a child, Siddhartha went outside
the royal palace and saw, each for the first
time, an old man, a sick man, and a
corpse. He was worried by what he saw.
He learned that sickness, age, and death
were the inevitable fate of human beings
— a fate no-one could avoid.
2. Buddhism continued…
c. Buddhist Practice
-live a simple life
-avoid earthly pleasures
-practice good conduct
GOAL:
Avoid Reincarnation
& enter Nirvana
-“Perfect Peace”
- White transforms
the delusion of
ignorance into the
wisdom of reality
- Yellow transforms
pride into wisdom
of sameness
- Blue transforms
anger into mirror
like wisdom
- Red transforms
the delusion of
attachment into the
wisdom of
discernment
- Green transforms
jealousy into the
wisdom of
accomplishment