Spirituality

The inner dimensions of religion - such as experiences,

beliefs, and values

It may occur in personal, non-institutional ways, without t

the ritual and social dimensions of organized religion.

7 Dimensions of Religion

1) Ritual(public or private ceremonies) 

2) Narrative/Mythic Stories 

3) Experimental and Emotional (feelings of guilt, awe, dread, devotion, etc)

4) Social and Institutional (group dimensions: sharing belief,identity, membership)

5) Ethical and Legal (rules concerning behavior)

6) Doctrinal and Philosophical (systematic belief structure and intellectual framework)

7) Material (things or places representing or manifesting in the sacred)

Materialistic Point Of View

The materialistic point of view is that the supernatural is imagined by humans; only the material world exists.

• Karl Marx (believed that religion pacified people falsely)

Dogma

systems of doctrines proclaimed as absolutely true and accepted as such, even if they lie beyond the domain of one's personal experiences

William James

The Varieties of Religious Experience

James concluded that there is more than one state of consciousness. We do not function in the rational mind alone. 

"No account of the universe in totality can be final which leaves these other forms of consciousness quite disregarded."

Encounters with Unseen Reality

enlightenment, realization, illumination, satori, awakening, self-knowledge, gnosis, ecstatic communion, "coming home"

Joachim Wach

A German scholar of comparative religions who concluded:

1. It is an experience of what is considered Unseen Reality
2. It involves that person's whole being
3. It is the most earth shattering and intense of all human experience
4. It motivates the person to action through worship, ethical behavior, service and sharing with others in a religious grouping

Theistic

Religion based on one's relationship to a Divine Being

• Monotheistic - one god
• Polytheistic - many gods
• Nontheistic - no sense of God or Creator

Monistic

Believing in the concept of life as a unified whole, without a separate spiritual realm

Allegories

Narratives that use concrete symbols to convey

abstract ideas.

Myths

the symbolic stories that communities use to

explain the universe and their place within it

• may purport to explain how things came to be as they are, perhaps incorporating elements of historical truth and in any case are treated as sacred history

Fundamentalism

Insistence on what people perceive as the historical form of their religion, in contrast to more contemporary influences. This ideal sometimes takes extreme rigidly exclusive, or even violent forms.

4 General positions of current dialogue between Science and Religion

1. Conflict - they do not mix at all
2. Understanding of separate realms
3. Common Ground
4. Completely overlapping

Women in Religion

Women are still barred from equal spiritual footing with men in most religions. It is now however, being widely challenged. The contemporary feminist movement includes strong efforts to make women's voices heard in the sphere of religion.

Charisma

rare quality of personal magnetism

Spiritual Leaders

are in a position to dominate and control their followers, many are given the authority to guide people's spiritual lives because they are presumed to have wisdom and special access to the sacred

Phenomenology

An approach to the study of religions that involves appreciative investigations of religious phenomena to comprehend their meaning for their practitioners. 

(An inside P.O.V. to religion)

"Thick Description"

a term used by the cultural anthropologist Clifford Geertz, not only reporting outward behaviors but also attempting to explain their meaning for members of particular cultural systems

Lifeway

a particular approach to all of life, it is not a separate expiereince

a way of life

• most native cultures share lifeways ORALLY which is beneficial by keeping them flexible and not fossilized

Understanding Indigenous Lifeways

How are we coming to understand them better?

• Elders are growing more concerned with planetary destruction. They are beginning to share with modern society in effort to protect the planet.
• Other religions are realizing the importance of indigenous ways.
• Many people who have not grown up in native culture are attempting to embrace their heritage, finding their own traditions are lacking in certain qualities for which they long (ie: love for the earth)

Cosmos

Thought to contain and be affected by numerous divinities, spirits, and also ancestors. Many indigenous traditions worship a Supreme Being that they believe created the all-inclusive Cosmos

Family Aspect of Indigenous Ways

Religion is experienced as a family. Even people who live in more modernized communities that practice indigenous ways are equally important. Everything is spiritually interconnected.

Landmarks

Some striking feature of the natural environment of an area - such as a mountain or canyon- may be percieved as the center from which the world was created. Such myths heighten the perceived sacredness of the land.

Native People vs. Environment

Native People VS. Other Creatures

Misuse of Power

Gaining power is both desirable and dangerous. Native people whom channel spiritual power must live in certain strict conditions, continuously purifying themselves to keep their intentions and actions pure. 

Male/Female Rituals

Shaman

someone who offers themself as a mystical intermediary between the physical and nonphysical world for specific purposes, such as healing. Shamanic methods are EXTREMELY ancient, some dating back as far as 30,000 years old. They are not to be confused with sorcerers, who practice black magic.

• Some were even thought to be able to speak with plants and animals, control the weather, see/communicate with the spiritual world, and prophecy.

Why rituals?

Story of the "Stolen Generation" of Aboriginies

Between 1880 and 1960 Aboriginal children were taken from their homes and sent to boarding schools in efforts to institutionalize them and teach the modern beliefs of the world to them, thus destroying their heritage. 

Black Mesa Incident 

In 1966 the 4000 square mile area known as the Black Mesa was the interest of the U.S. Government. It was the largest coal deposit in the US. Negotiations began with a tribal council (not made up of their own people) representing the Hopi and the Navajo. The lawyer who represented the native council was secretly working for the government. 

Vedas

revered collection of ancient sacred hymns, seemingly written down by the middle of the first millennium BCE, though we know they are older (spoken). They are considered Shruti texts

Shruti Text

those which have been revealed, rather than written down by mortals. They are the breath of the eternal, as "heard" by ancient sages (rishis) and later compiled

Rishis

Rig Veda

oldest of the Vedas

Deva

diety

Indra

Agni

Soma 

Ushas

atman

the sub-self, the soul

the ACTUAL self

karma

action and the consequences of action

Every act we make and even every thought and every desire we have shapes our lives and future experiences.

samsara

the cycle of life and death, rebirth

moshka

Prakriti

Purusha

dualistic

Adviata Vedanta

monistic - only one reality

Shankara insisted that the atman and the Brahman are actually one. According to Shankara, our material life is an illusion. It is like a momentary wave arising from the ocean, the only one reality.

Yoga

4 kinds of yoga: 

1. Raja yoga - mental concentration
2. Jnana yoga - rational thought
3. Karma yoga - right action
4. Bhakti yoga (most popular) - devotion

Brahman

Shaktas

Shaivites

Vaishnavites

3 basic qualities of Hindu Gods

1. creating 
2. preserving
3. destroying

Devi

Durga

represented as a beautiful woman with a gentle face but 10 arms holding weapons with each

rides a lion

benevolent female form

Kali

the goddess in fierce form

may be portrayed dripping in blood carrying a sword and severed head, necklace of skulls symbolizing her as the destroyer of evil

Lakshimi

(think of the girl with the extra legs and arms)

Goddess embodying wealth, generosity, good fortune, beauty, and charm. Depicted with the lotus flower

Shiva

Vishnu

Depicted as an Elephant

Gentle God

tender, merciful

Epics and Puranas

In contrast to the rather abstract depictions of the Divine Principle in the Upanishads, the epics and Puranas represent the Supreme as a PERSON or rather as various human-like dieties

2 great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata present the Supreme usually as Vishnu, who intervenes on earth during critical periods of the cosmic cycles

Kali Yuga

depicted in the epics as imbalanced as a cow trying to stand on one leg

According to the Hindu time reckoning we are now living in a Kali Yuga period that began in 3102 BCE

Bhagavad - Gita

Bhagavata Purana

poetic sanskrit text (purana)

Life among cow-heard girls

puja

havan

caste system

a system of levels of human life, divisions of labor

Brahmans were priests, vedic religion was increasingly controlled by them

Marriage across caste lines is still disapproved of to this day

guru

spiritual teacher

not appointed, but more or less accepted

people are drawn to them

RSS - Rashtriya Svayamsevak Sangh

arose early in the 20th century, espousing Hindu cultural renewal in order to combat the ills of modernity and the return to an idealized past referred to as Ram Rajya, the legendary kingdom of Lord Ram, when Hindu virtues were maintained by a perfect ruler. 

Modern day group going back to the old virtues

What it means to be Hindu

1. Acceptance and reverence for the Vedas
2. A spirit of tolerance and willingness to understand 
3. Acceptance of the belief that cast cosmic periods of creation, maintenance, and dissolution regularly occur
4. Acceptance of Reincarnation
5. Recognition that the paths to truth and salvation are many
6. Recognition that there may be numerous gods and goddesses to worship, without neccesarily believing in worship through specific idols
7. Unlike other religions, absence of belief in a specific set of philosophic concepts

Mahavir

"The Great Hero"

Jainism's major teacher for this age. He was contemporary of the Buddha and died approximately 527 BCE. Like the Buddha, he was the prince of a kshatriya clan and renounced his position and his wealth at the age of 30 to wander as a spiritual seeker.

Digambara

"sky clad" 

The nude monks, stayed true to the original Jainistic ideals

Svetambara

Jina

"winner" 

One who has thus brought forth the highest in his or her being, Tirthankaras were Jinas - about to achieve moshka

Jain Belief

Jains believe that the universe is without beginning or end, it has no creator or destroyer. Our lives are therefore the results of our own deeds; only by our own efforts can we be saved. 

"In Jainism, unlike Christianity and many more Hindu cults, there is no such thing as a heavenly father watching over us. To the contrary, love for a personal God would be an attachment that could only bind Jainas more securely to the cycle of rebirth. It is a thing that must be rooted out."

karma - jainism

karma is physical parts that attach to the body, subtle matter

Until free of karmas, the soul will cycle in rebirth and death

ahisma

aparigraha

anekantwad