Intro To World Religions Midterm

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Ultimate Concern:

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• All beings are concerned with things, food, shelter, and anything that deals with the things that deal with their existence. However, human beings are also concerned with greater things than material things. They are concerned with spiritual concerns.
• The ultimate concern is the most important concern in a human’s life. It demands total surrender of him and it promises total surrender.
• A person is willing to give up everything for the cause of their ultimate concern. Nothing is as important as the ultimate concern.

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Symbols

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• Something that points beyond itself.
• It participates in what they point to. The symbol takes on the characteristics of that which it points. Ex: flag, bible
• Symbols allows us to see things that otherwise we would not be able to see or understand
o A picture or a poem can show us a reality that could not have been explained or described by science.
• They cannot be made intentionally. That have to be discovered
• They grow and die- whenever a symbol no longer has a use it is considered to be a dead symbol

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Myth

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• A story that tells about the great questions and problems of life.
• A story about life and its meaning and purpose
• They are not silly false stories from ancient times, but stories that convey the truth and meaning which are still relevant and are still operating in the modern world
• Is not scientific and not trying to prove scientific theories. They are to make us aware of our spirituality

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Broken Myth

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• A myth which is understood as a myth, but not removed or replaced
o I.e. Greek gods
o You recognize that it is just a myth but you do not delete it from your understanding.

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The Holy

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• We are amazed and afraid.
• We know that we are nothing to perfection we are little peons. Also, the holy could kill us in one heartbeat if it wanted too. We have no way of defending ourselves against something that huge.
• While having an ultimate concern waters down the scary part it should not diminish it. Faith should have both.

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Idolatrous faith

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• It is the faith in finite things. Things that are not the ultimate being such as God. It is the faith in things that are material and will lead to disappointment. These things cannot provide the satisfaction that we are always looking for.

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Animism

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• All living things have a soul, for example, trees, plants, insects, etc.

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Mana

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• Spiritual Power
• Awareness that things have power and the power is seen more as spiritual power. You can use this power as good or evil
• Power of spirit in certain places and beings that is believed to be highly concentrated
• Called this by people in Pacific islands
• It is the vital force that makes it possible to act with unusual strength, insight, and effectiveness.

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Medicine wheel

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• Round and broken into four different quadrants
• A symbol used by almost all native people of North and South America as a teaching tool. It is circular with a cross in the middle of it and the cross. The first basic meaning of the cross was the four directions
• Natives referred to medicine not in the same way we do. It was referred to as good sacred power.
• Three ways to express it:
o 4 Sacred colors: The four directions were tied to the colors of the sky. These colors symbolize the four races, all humanity. All colors of race are part of the same humanity. White, red, yellow, black
o 4 Elements: the four elements are all part of the world and must be respected equally for their gift of life. Fire, earth, air, water
o 4 Aspects: there are four aspects of our nature. They must all be equally developed. Mental, spiritual, emotional, physical

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Primal Religion

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• The religions that were practiced during the three million years before the historical religions were practiced
• Primal religions were the first religions religion is a way of life rather than something that you do once a week.
• They had an interconnectedness with nature. They were connected with the plants and the animals as well as with each other.

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Rites of Passage

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• Changes in social status
• They honor major points in the human life cycle, such as birth, naming, puberty, marriage, and death. These rites of passage assist people in the transition from one state to another and help them become aware of their meaningful contribution to life.

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Shaman

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• They were the first religious specialists who use their skills to help others.
• Often called medicine men. There are many types of medicine: hey can heal physically, psychologically, and spiritually
• They are often confused with sorcerers
• It can be hereditary or they can be recognized as a special gift
• Scholars use “Shaman” as a generic term for those who offer themselves as mystical intermediaries between the physical and the nonphysical world for specific purposes, such as healing.
• In addition to healing, certain mystical intermediaries are thought to have gifts such as being able to talk with plants and animals, control the weather, see and communicate with the spirit world, and prophesy.

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Sacred Pipe

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• Also known as Calumet
• An ancient story of a woman or prophet who is called White Buffalo Calf came down to earth and brought down the sacred pipe in order to communicate the mysteries and understand the ways of life.
• It is made from the four kingdoms. It is made of:
o Some kind of animal bone or feather attached to it
o The bowl is usually made out of rock
o The stem is some sort plant work
o And it is a human being who smokes it
• Used to consecrate a ritual. You offer it to the four directions the spirit and then to everyone else

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Totemism

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• Primal peoples disregard altogether the division between animals and humans
• In Totemism a human tribe is joined to animal species in a social and ceremonial while that gives them a common life. This species of animal acts as mate, friend, and protector of the humans and they in turn do not kill them unless in a dire situation.
• The animal is the clan’s emblem as well as representative of the ancestor or hero.

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Vision Quests

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• To open themselves for contact with the spirit world, individuals in many indigenous cultures undergo a vision quest. After ritual purification, they are sent alone to a sacred spot to cry to the spirits to help them in their journey. Pre-puberty or the onset of puberty is commonly thought to be the best time for vision quests, for children are closest to the spirit world. Among the Dene Tha, children are informally encouraged to go out to the bush before the age of puberty and spend time alone, seeking a spirit helper.
• One is not supposed to ask for a vision for selfish personal reasons. The point of this individual ordeal, which is designed to be physically and emotionally stressful, is to ask how one can help the people and the planet.

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Atman

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• Literally means “breath” and is translated as true self, or soul
• The atman is eternal (it is never born and it never dies) and it is unchanging. It is what makes you alive. It does not die when the body dies.
• Examples:
o Tree: the essence of the tree is whatever is in that seed. Every seed has the DNA of the whole species. When you take a fig from a tree and cut it in half you find seeds and when you cut the seed in half it is so small that you cannot see it but it is what causes the tree to grow.

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Avatar

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• The incarnations of the gods. It is “one who descends”
• There are ten avatars of Vishnu

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Bhagavad-Gita

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• It is the sixth book of the Mahabharata. (The Mahabharata is a type of epic literature and the epic literature is one of the Smarti Sacred Writings) (The Smarti sacred writings are the remembered or inspired texts derived from the Vedas and composed by human authors) The most popular book of the Hindu Scriptures
• It’s a story that is a long dialogue between Arjuna, a warrior prince, and Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu.

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Brahma

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• One of the three images of Brahman. It is under Saguna Brahman which is the person God.
• Brahma is the Creator God
• Not to be confused with Brahman, which is the all-encompassing God.

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Brahman

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• The all-encompassing God. In the beginning there was Brahman
• There is only one God in Hinduism and it is Brahman. Brahman is the Breathe
• He is the God of forms infinite in whose glory all things are ever living in the mystery of his creation
• He is so great no one with mortal eyes can see him. There is nothing greater than him.
• In Sanskrit Brahman means expansive.
• They see God in two ways- personal and impersonal these are the Saguna Brahman and the Nirguna Brahman.

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Saguna Brahman

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• One of the two divisions of Brahman. Known as God with attributes
• Most Hindu’s view Brahman this way
• This way he is the Lord. The God who has personality and hears your prayers and intercedes in your problems.

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Nirguna Brahman

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• God would be beyond all form and concept and he is non-personal and non-being. Something non personal
• This God is too great for us to understand and too
• This is the God with no attributes.

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Trimurti

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• The trinity in Hinduism. These are under the Saguna Brahman. They are the pointers to Brahman
• Brahma- the Creator
• Vishnu- the one who maintains the universe
• Shiva – the destroyer

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Brahmins

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• Is the first of the four major caste system
• The priestly caste, the highest rank of the four casts. Includes philosophers, artists, priests, teachers, and professors.
• The priest who performed the public sacrifices had to be carefully trained and maintain high standards of ritual purity. Those trained are the Brahmins.
• They were the priests and philosophers, specialists in the life of the spirit.

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Dharma

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• In the Sanskrit it means law, duty, religion, truth, and righteousness.
• It is the moral order in the world.
• Carrying out one’s responsibilities and duties, for the sake of social and cosmic order.

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Hindu

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• It is the Persian word for the Sanskrit name for the Indus River, Sindhu, and refers to the people living in that area. The Muslims about 1200 CE originally used it in order to distinguish the faith of the people of India from their own.

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Kali

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• A goddess worshiped by the Shaktas.
• When one goddess is seen as representing the totality of deity—eternal creator, preserver, and destroyer the general term Devi may be used to refer generically to the goddess in all her forms, understood as the supreme Divine Mother, the totality of all the energy of the cosmos.
• Kali is the goddess in her fierce form. She may be portrayed dripping with blood, carrying a sword and a severed head, and wearing a girdle of severed hands and a necklace of skulls symbolizing her aspect as the destroyer of evil. What appears as destruction is actually a means of transformation. With her merciful sword she cuts away all personal impediments to realization of truth for those who sincerely desire to serve the Supreme. At the same time, she opens her arms to those who love her.

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Karma

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• It is the actions we make and the consequences to those actions. Every thought, action, desire, we will affect our future.
• The effects of Karma are not felt just in this lifetime but also in future lives.
• Karma is just. It does not love or hate, reward or punish, nor is it ever angry. It is just a law of cause and effect.

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Krishna

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• Vishnu is considered to have appeared in many earthly incarnations, some of them animal forms. Many deities have been drawn into this complex, in which they are interpreted as incarnations of Vishnu.
• An avatar of Vishnu. Is “the dark one”
• One of the most beloved of his carnations is Krishna. Now many people revere Krishna without reference to Vishnu
• Krishna is regarded as the transcendent Supreme Lord.

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Samsara

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• Skt. Flowing together, often translated as passage.
• It is the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. The way to escape from samsara is to achieve Moksha
• Life and death are not separate, they flow into each other you flow from life to death and death to life etc.

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Lingam and Yoni

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• This is the abstract symbol of Shiva.
• Shiva is often depicted as both male and female and so in order to balance the male and female qualities it is often expressed as a lingam within a yoni
• A yoni is a symbol of the female vulva.
• The lingam is cylindrical and resembles an erect phallus but the people think of it in the abstract and keep it asexual.
• The lingam and yoni represent two different natures of Shiva. The lingam is the symbol of the un-manifest, transcendent nature. The yoni represents the manifest aspect.
• She is symbolized with the lingam and yoni because before you can create you have to destroy and clear. Shiva is often seen as the god of creation.

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Mahabharata

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• One of the two epic literatures.
• It is an epic poem of 90,000 Sanskrit verses dealing with a battle between two branches of the Bharata people. Contains battle narratives, mythological scenes, and moral discourses. The story takes place during the Late Vedic Period and is a metaphor for the struggle between good and evil, selfish and selfless desires.

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Margas

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• There are three margas: kama-marga, artha-marga, dharma-marga

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Kama-marga

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• This is one of the two paths of desire. It is the path or way of pleasure. The path of hedonism or the cultivation of sensuous pleasures such as food, sex and the enjoyment of the arts. All forms of pleasure are bound with pain (childhood-teens)

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Artha-marga

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• This is the second path under the path of desire. It is the path of power or wealth. It is the pursuit of wealth, power, prestige, and social position. It requires ruthlessness, determination, and competitiveness.

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Dharma-marga

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• It is one of the paths under the path or way of renunciation.
• The path of duty: duty to one’s family, caste, community, and country as outlined in the Code of Manu. Renunciation of egoistic desires and the doing of good deeds, not for material reward, but for the joy of service. Even this joy is eventually seen as less than perfect (late adulthood to retirement)

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Moksha

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• It is a release from the sorrow and illusion of this world with its endless cycle of death and rebirth.
• It is liberation into the fullness of being truly one with ultimate being, infinite awareness, and supreme bliss.
• This liberation takes at least one lifetime and often it takes multiple lifetimes.

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Rama

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• An avatar of Vishnu. Known as “the pleasing one”
• His heroic life is outlined in the epic poem Ramayana. The poem is 24,000 Sanskrit verses
• Rama is Vishnu incarnated as a virtuous prince so that he could kill Ravana. He is the air to the throne but is denied it because his step brother compels the king to cast him out for 14 yrs. He believes that a son’s greatest duty is to always obey his parents and goes willingly. His wife Sita follows him and she is a good example of wifely devotion. Sita is kidnapped and Rama and his half-brother need the help of monkeys. The monkey becomes the hero, he symbolizes the power of faith and devotion to overcome our human frailties.

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Rig Veda

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• The oldest of the known Vedic scriptures—and among the oldest of the world’s existing scriptures—is the Rig Veda. This praises and implores the blessings of the devas—the controlling forces in the cosmos, deities who consecrate every part of life.
• Collection of 10 books containing 1028 hymns to various gods
• The Rig Veda is the first of four collections of which the Vedas are comprised.

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Shaktas

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• These are the devotees of the female creative power. There is an est. 50 million worship some form of the goddess.
• Some Shaktas follow a Vedic path while others are more independent of the Vedic tradition.
• The goddess is worshiped in many forms.
• 23 million adherents
• Located in Calcutta
• Principal scriptures are Tantras and Puranas

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Shaivites

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• Followers of Shiva the destroyer. Shiva is the destructive but also creative force. There are 195 million adherents
• They are located in South India
• Principle scriptures are Puranas

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Saktis

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• Feminine consorts

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Vaishnavites

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• Devotees of Vishnu and his various incarnations or avatars
• There are 547 million adherents
• They are located in North India
• The principle scriptures are the Bhagavad-Gita, Puranas, and Ramayana

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Two types of Hindu Scriptures

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• Shruti and Smarti

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Shruti

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• “Heard” it is the text that are revealed or sacred that are considered to be eternal and not authored by a person

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Smarti

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• “Remembered” It is the inspired texts derived from the Vedas and composed by human authors.

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Types of Vedas

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• Samhitas
• Brahmanas
• Aranyakas
• Upanishads

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Samhitas

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• “Collections” the first three of these collections were used principally by the elite in the Vedic sacrifices
• The three are the following: Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda, and Atharva-Veda

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Sama-Veda

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• “Knowledge of chants” Rhythmic chants and hymns used mainly by the singing priests of the Vedic sacrifices.

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Yajur-Veda

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• Veda ("knowledge of rites"): Collection of dedications, prayers and litanies used to accompany the devotional use of the Rig-Veda

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Atharva-Veda

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• ("knowledge given by the sage Atharva"): A treasury of charms, chants, spells, and incantations; many are of non-Aryan origin and thus of great antiquity. Used by the common people in their homes and villages.

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Vedas

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• “Sacred Knowledge” Hinduism’s earliest writings believed to be heard by the rishis or sages 8000-6000 BCE, written down 1500-500

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Sanatana Dharma

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• This is the Indian name for Hinduism. Translated it means eternal religion. Sanatana means eternal or timeless. Dharma means law, duty, religion, truth, and righteousness

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Sannyasin

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• The last stage of the 4 stages of life. “renounced” wandering beggar who has or is about to achieve moksha

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Shakti

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• The great power of the goddess

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Shiva

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• Is the destroyer

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Varnas

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• These are the four major castes
• A person’s position in the caste is fixed at their birth and they cannot get out of that caste until they die and are put into another caste.
• The four castes are: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras

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Kshatriyas

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• The cast of princes and warriors, and the nobility. It includes political leaders, bureaucrats, administrators, and various professional classes such as engineers, doctors and lawyers and other white-collar workers.

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Vaishyas

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• The cast of skilled laborers which includes farmers, merchants, crack men, slumbers and other blue-collar workers

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Shudras

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• the lowest of the four casts which includes all unskilled laborers such as maids, servants, gardeners, but also barbers.
• Outcast, Untouchables: a subtest of the Shudras as that includes all the so-called polluted people who work with leather, slaughter animals, and dispose of the dead and all non-Hindus.

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Upanishads

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• Pertain to the nature and origin of the universe, the nature of human beings, ultimate reality, and the path to salvation.
• Also known as the Vedanta ("the end and fulfillment of the Vedas").

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Yoga

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• The yogas are the four paths to moksha and there are four different yogas for the four different human personalities. They are often called spiritual disciplines. A person does not have to stick with one of the yogas but are encouraged to tray all four in order to find the combination that best suits their needs.
• The four types are: Jnana-yoga, bhakti-yoga, karma-yoga, and raja-yoga

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Jnana-yoga

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• This is the way to God through knowledge. This is best for people who are philosophical and it is a way to Godhead through knowledge. It is one of the shortest paths but it is hard. It requires a rare combo of rationality and spirituality

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Bhakti-yoga

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• This is the way to God through devotion
• This is the most popular of the four yogas. The aim is to love and adore God with every element of your being. Such devotion is most commonly directed to the Hindu gods Vishnu or Shiva.

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Karma-yoga

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• The way to God though deeds
• IN this you find God through work and service to others. The work is considered worship when it is done for the sake of God and not through the thought of any material reward

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Raja-Yoga

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• The royal road to re-integration
• This is for people who are more scientific. It is the path to God through psychological exercises and experiments on one’s body and soul. The goal is to train the mind to be completely absorbed in God.

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Asceticism

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• (Gk., askesis, lit. “exercise”): Forms of religious discipline, practice and exercises that include renouncing desires or pleasures (i.e., Jainism).
• This is known as life denying. Since they believed that society kept you away from God then they thought the best way to get to God is to get rid of all the material societal things. It is a painful experience rather than a pleasurable experience.
• Some of the Jains say even our clothes are considered to keep us from spiritual path. We have a lot of pride in our clothes

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Ahimsa

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• Means non-injury. It is the fundamental doctrine of non-violence which prohibits the killing of living beings.

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Ajiva

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• “No soul” all inanimate substances; matter

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Jiva

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• “Soul” all living things (plants and animals) The jiva—the individual’s higher consciousness, or soul—can save itself by discovering its own perfect, unchanging nature and thus transcend the miseries of earthly life.

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Anekantwad

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• It is one of the five vows of Jainism. It means non-absoluteness. This is a doctrine of pluralism. They believe that reality has many aspects, not just the one that we see or understand. One only understands reality from a specific stand point or perspective. Good example is the elephant and the blind men.

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Aparigraha

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• One of the five vows of Jainism. It means non-possessiveness or non-attachment. It is the giving up of all desires and material possessions.

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Jina

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• “conqueror
• In the jiva’s true state, it is fully omniscient, shining, potent, peaceful, self-contained, and blissful. One who has thus brought forth the highest in his or her being is called a Jina (a “winner” over the passions) , from which the term Jain is derived.

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Tirthankaras

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• The Tirthankaras were Jinas who helped others find their way, by teaching inspiring spiritual principles.
• (“ford-finder,” “crossing-builder”): They bridge the gap between this life and nirvana or siddha-shila. Mahavira is considered the last in the line of 24 Tirthankaras.

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Mahavira

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• “Great Hero” He was born a prince, he renounced his title and retreated to the forest at age 30. He practiced ahimsa and rigorous asceticism. He achieved nirvana and became a Jina at 42. He gathered many followers and he died at age 72 from the rite of Sallkhana which is voluntary self-starvation.
• He is now enjoying supreme bliss. He called himself a Tirthankara

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Materialism

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• The view that matter is the ultimate reality from which all else emerges. Consequently the universe can be under-stood solely through the use of empirical and scientific methods of investigation.

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Naturalism

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• The view that the universe can be explained in purely natural terms and processes without appealing to any super-natural agents.

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Anatman

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• It means no soul, no self, or no ego
• They believe that there is no ultimate eternal self. They deny the existence of a separate permanent, eternal, spiritual substance such as a soul but they still believe in samsara. This can be explained by a row of dominos. The rebirth is considered a process. Each domino passes to the other the process of falling rather than passing something.

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Anicca/Anita

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• Everything is impermanent, everything is in a state of flux, of change, becoming, passing away, growth

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Buddha-Sasana

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• Buddha-Sasana (lit. "the Buddha-discipline” or “rule of life," or sometimes “the religion of the Buddha") when referring to themselves
• Like with Hinduism Buddhism is a western term for the religion that they do not use when referring to themselves.

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Skanda

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• The five components that makeup the entirety of what is generally called the “personality.”
o Physical form
o Sensation
o Perception
o Mental formations: ideas, conceptions, etc.
o Consciousness

• The five skandas are without essence, impermanent, empty, and cause craving or desire. They are characterized by old age, death, duration, & change.

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Bodhisattva

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• An enlightenment being. They are people who have attained enlightenment but have postponed Nirvana to tell others. A person who is dedicated to liberating others from suffering.

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Buddha

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• Skt. Translates awakened or enlightened one. It is a title that is given to people who have reached Buddhist religious life.
• This term was first used with Shakyamuni

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Shakyamuni

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• (Skt. “sage of the Shakyas”): The historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama ca. 448-368 BCE

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Bhikku

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• A monk or nun who renounces worldliness for the sake of following the path of liberation and whose simple physical needs are met by lay supporters.

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Siddhartha

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• He was the historical Buddha. His name means the one who has reached his goal
• His father was a wealthy landowner. He lived 80 years during the 5th century. Some epics depict a virgin birth in which a white elephant carrying a lotus flower entered her womb in adream
• He was raised in luxury (father tried to protect him from evils)
• Even though he grew up privileged he was unconvinced of its value.
• He has four sites: a bent old man, a sick person, a dead person, and a person seeking lasting happiness rather than temp oral pleasure.
• 29 he renounces wealth. He went to find a way two total liberation from suffering. He studied with Brahmin. He did six years of self-denial. He rejected all of these and did the middle way. He sat underneath the tree and a woman offered him food after accepting the food he went into meditation during which he remembered his previous lives. He finally realized the cause of suffering and means for ending it

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Dharma (buddhism)

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• Dharma is the basis of all order, whether social or moral. As an ethical or moral value, it is the instrumental value to liberation.

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Dukkha

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• (the term covers all of these meanings: suffering, ill, unsatisfactoriness, and evil): As a consequence of anicca, all of life is unsatisfactory, full of pain, suffering, heartache, and evil. What pleasure exists is fleeting, ephemeral and ultimately unfulfilling. In Buddhism, dukkha is the closest equivalent to the English word evil. The first Noble Truth.

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Mahayana

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• one of the two principle divisions of Buddhism. Translated as the greater vehicle. They believed the Buddha came back to help them reach Nirvana. They believe they are not alone. Salvation by grace of Bodhisattva
• Their key virtue is compassion. Their ideal is the Bodhisattva. Their chief goal is enlightenment

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Theravada

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• One of the two principle divisions of Buddhism. Translated the way of the elders. They believe that people are on their own. They have to find Nirvana by themselves. While Buddha told people how to reach Nirvana he is not there to help you reach it.
• Their key virtue is wisdom
• Their ideal is the Arhat, which is the one who has extinguished all desires. And their chief goal is Nirvana

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Nirvana

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• It is the extinction of suffering. It is the way to remove attachment and cravings for the things of this world.
• It means blowing out or extinction

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Is Buddhism atheistic?

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• That depends on your definition of God.
• If God is a personal being who created the universe then Nirvana is not God. Buddha did not consider it personal because personality requires definition, which is what Nirvana excludes.
• If the idea of God as Godhead, meaning the idea of personality excluded.
• Tillich: if God is understood as ultimate concern then yes

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Tri-Ratna

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• I take refuge in the Buddha
• I take refuge in the Dharma
• I take refuge in the Sangha

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Sangha

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• ("assemblage," "order," or "priesthood" of bhikkhus or monks)
• The Sangha is ultimately the community of realized beings; on the conventional level, the Sangha is the order of bhikshus and bhikshunis who have renounced worldly life in order to follow, preserve, and share the Dharma.

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Pratityasamutpada

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• “The central doctrine of the Buddha upon which his other teachings are based. It explains the cause of suffering, both relatively and absolutely.”

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Tanha / Trsna

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• (“craving,” or “clinging”) -- an attachment and craving for the things of this world, including a desperate clinging to or holding on to one's life

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TRIPITAKA

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• ("The Three Baskets"): Canonical Buddhist scriptures compiled immediately after the death of the Buddha (c. 483 BCE) and during a series of three councils. They were written down in the first century BCE (c. 80 BCE) and were first translated into English in 1855. The Pali version is the most familiar to Western readers and is about eleven times as long as the whole Bible.

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Three flaws

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• Dukkha
• Anicca
• Anatman

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Non-theistic

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• Denying the theistic idea of God (i.e., “the Big Guy in the sky”), but not necessarily atheistic (i.e., Buddhism and Jainism).

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The four noble truths

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• It is broken down into two sections, the diagnosis and the prescription.
• Diagnosis: the illness and the cause which are the Dukkha and the Tanha .
• Prescription: there is a cure (Nirvana) and the Cure (noble eightfold path)
• So the four noble truths are Dukkha, Tanha, Nirvana, and noble eightfold path.

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Eightfold path

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• It is broken down into three categories: wisdom, morality, and meditation.
1. Right understanding
2. Right thought
3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right concentration

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10 precepts/five precepts

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• In Theravadin Buddhism. The first five are the ones that the laity are expected to follow and all ten are for the monks and nuns
1. Abstinence from destroying life (ahimsa).
2. Abstinence from taking what is not giving (stealing).
3. Abstinence from unchastity (for the laity, no adultery).
4. Abstinence from falsehood and lying.
5.Abstinence from spirituous liquors, strong drink, and intoxicants.

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5 vows of Jainism

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• Ahimsa (non-violence)
• Satya (truthfulness)
• Asteya (not stealing)
• Brahmacarya (chaste living)
• Aparigraha (non-acquisition)

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7 general features of primal religions

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1. Interconnectedness / inter-relatedness of all things ("To all my relations").
2. Religion as a way of life
3. Awe before the sacred
4. Veneration and worship of powers
5. Recognition of distant high god
6. Rites of passage – changes in social status
7. Purification rites
8. Importance of myths and sacred narratives
9. Animism: all living things have a soul

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6 characteristics of symbols

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1. Symbols point to beyond themselves
2. Symbols participate in that which they point
3. Symbols open up levels of reality which are otherwise closed to us
4. Symbols unlock dimensions of and elements of our soulds
5. Symbols cannot be produced intentionally
6. Symbols grow and die