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26 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Name 5 major Gods and give what they are known for being reesponsible for.
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1) Lakkshmi = wealth
2) Shiva = creation, destruction, preservation 3) Vishnu = cosmic preserver and sustainer 4) Kali = delighter of darkness 5) Durga = consort of Shiva, may be fierce occassionally |
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What is Brahman? How does it differ from Atman?
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Brahman: unmanifest energy that makes up the universe
Atman is the sense of oneself. It is a person's brahman within. |
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What are the four purposes (aims and goals) of life?
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1) Artha (material gain)
2) Kama (sensory) 3) Dharma (fufilling one's duty) 4) Moksha (release from cycle of rebirth) |
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What is the caste system (what is the heirarchy)? How does it differ from "social classes" set up in other countries?
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1) Brahmins (priests)
2) Kshatriyas (warriors) 3) Vaishyas (traders/mercants) 4) Shudras (servants) 5) Untouchables (outcasts) Castes are based upon how much pollution the jobs create in the atomasphere. Social classes are based upon wealth. |
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What are the 4 stages of life?
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1) Student
2) Householder 3) Forest Dweller 4) Homeless Wanderer |
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What is enlightenment?
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Moksha- release from the eternal circle of rebirth
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What is one's duty called? What if you do not do your duty well?
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Dharma; It is better to do your duty bad then to do someone else's well.
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What is karma?
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Action; what a person does in that lifetime that affects his/her rebirth for the next lifetime.
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What is samsara?
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Eternal cycle of birth/rebirth
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What is sat-cit-ananda?
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Another term for "brahman"; it means:
existence, concience and bliss |
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What are the 3 ways of liberation?
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1) Way of Action (karma yoga)
2) Way of Knowledge (jnana yoga) 3) Way of Devotion (bakhti yoga) |
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What is a guru?
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A spiritual teacher
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What is yoga?
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A disciplined practice where people focus their bodily powers for the purpose of realizing their true spiritual essence.
Means: "to yoke" |
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Who is Arjuna? What is his dillema?
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The main character of the "Baghavagita."
His dharma is to be a warrior, however, he didn't want to go to battle because he would be fighting some of his relatives. Krishna helped to persuade him to fufil his dharma. |
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In the Baghavagita, who is Krishna?
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Krishna is an avatar of Vishnu (Wise God reincarnated as a human) who gives advice to Arjuna.
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What is the function of Gita's teachings? What does it say?
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A person must fufil one's dharma no matter what.
Killing his family does not mean that their spirits are gone, they will be reincarnated. |
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What are the vedas? What language are they in?
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A collection of more than 1,000 hymns and praises to the Gods.
They are in sandscript- oral scripture. |
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What are the upanisads?
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(means to "sit down next to")
They are appendices to the vedas. People sit down next to their teachers to learn the secret wisdom of: "who am I?" |
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What is the Ramayana?
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(aka Sita Sings the Blues)
A story of Sita and Rama and how Sita is captured after following her husband into exile. Rama saves her, yet questions her purity. She becomes pregnant and Rama exiles her. Sita raises her sons to praise their father and asks the earth to swallow her up. |
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Who was Ghandi?
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A leader of civil rights in India who used civil disobedience and passive agression to fight injustice and get freedom in India.
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What was Ghandi's theory of non-violence called? When did India gain independence?
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Ahisma; 1947
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What is perusa creation myth?
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Explains the caste system- veda's come from his sacrifice:
head = brahmins hands = warriors legs = traders/merchants feet = servants |
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What is the trimurti?
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3 Forms (related to trinity)
1) Brahman: creator 2) Vishnu: preserver 3) Shiva: destroyer |
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What are the 3 different areas of the vedic system?
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1) Ethereal (soma, fire, sun)
2) Atomasphere (sun, stars, dawn) 3) Earthly (earth, fire, soma) |
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What is smiriti?
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"That which is remembered"-
expresses messages of vedas; secondary scriptures |
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What is henotheism?
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The worship of one God without denying the ultimism of the others.
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