Post on 05-Aug-2020
Unit 2.1: Religions & Philosophies of
India & ChinaIndo-Aryan
Beliefs India
Aryans
Hymn to Indra“The one who made firm the quaking earth; the one who make feast the shaken mountains; the
one who measured out wide the atmosphere; the one who propped up heaven; he O people,
is Indra...
The one in whole control are horses, cows, villages, all chariots; the one who has caused to be born the sun, the dawn,; the one who is the
waters’ leader; he, O people, is Indra...
The one without whom people do not conquer; the one to whom, when fighting,
they call for help; the one who is a match for everyone; the one who shakes the unshakeable, O people, is Indra.”
Caste System
BRAHMINSpriests
KSHATRIYAwarriors
VAISYASherders, farmers,
merchants, craftspeople
SUDRASfarm workers,
servants. laborers
determines - Occupation - Economic potential - Social status
non-aryans
Untouchables
All societies have had a social hierarchy. The Indian caste system was only one of the
most rigid.
Why do human beings have this need to structure society in terms of higher and lower
classes?SCoodle discussion forum assignment
Hinduism(India)
Caste System
BRAHMINSpriests
KSHATRIYAwarriors
VAISYASherders, farmers,
merchants, craftspeople
SUDRASfarm workers,
servants. laborers
determines - Occupation - Economic potential - Social status
non-aryans
Hinduism
Brahman - ultimate reality
Atman - individual self
vedas = Sacred text
how did reincarnation justify the caste
system?
KARMA determines CASTE
in this life in next life
a person is born into a
caste
higher caste
lower caste
if good and obeys
caste rules
if bad and breaks caste rules
dharma
Buddhism(India)
Buddhism
rivaled hinduism
6th Century B.C.
WHY?
Siddhartha
“the enlightened one”
denied the reality of material world
!"#$%!% the ultimate reality=
Four Noble Truths
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EightFold Path1. Right view - we need to know the Four Noble Truths2. right intention - we need to decide what we really want3. right speech - we must seek to speak truth and to speak well to others4. right action - “do not kill. Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not be unchaste, Do not take drugs or drink alcohol.”5. right livelihood - we must do work that uplifts our being6. right effort - “Those who follow the Way might well follow the examples of an ox that arches through the deep mud carrying a heavy load. He is tired, but his steady, forward-looking gaze will not relax until he comes out of the mud.”7. right mindfulness - we must keep our minds in control of our senses: “All we are is the result of what we have thought.”8. Right concentration - we must meditate to see the world in a new way
1. make a list of 10 favorite things you own
SHARE with someone what these means to you/
2. in a short paragraph, describe how these items define you as a person.
the aim of nirvana is to do without these feelings of want for earthly things
Because what humans do is so much a matter of what they believe they can do, these religions are keys to Indian history; it is the making of a culture that is its pulse, not the making of a nation or an economy, and to this culture religion was central.
- J.M. RobertsA Short History of the World, page 67
Buddhism teaches that humans suffer due to desire’s
attachments.
What do you think this idea of desire, or becoming attached to things means? Do attachments
cause suffering? in what ways do we lose who we are when we attach importance to material possessions?
SCoodle discussion forum assignment
Mauryan Dynasty
After 400 B.C., India faced threats from the west...
1. Persia2. Greece & Macedonia under
Alexander the Great
!"#$"%&'())%'*)+(,-%*,.(",'%/,0(*%1"$"222% Committed to spreading
impartiality,
cheerfulness, truthfulness,
and goodness throughout his kingdom, Asoka once said:
“All men are my children. As for my own children, I desire that they may be provided
with all the welfare and happiness of this world and of the next, so do I desire for all
men as well.”
“It is forbidden to decry other sects; the true
believer gives honor to whatever in them is
worthy of honor.”—Asoka, from Asoka's Edicts, third century
B.C. ext"Asoka: quote on respecting other religions." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. 2008.
ABC-CLIO. 16 Nov. 2008 <http://www.ancienthistory.abc-clio.com>.
governed in accordance with
Buddhist ideals
Asoka (r. ~300 B.C)
KINDNESS1. hospitals
2. shade trees3. shelters
COMMERCIAL // CROSSROADS
What happened after Asoka’s death in 232 B.C.?BUT...