Circle
“T” (for true) or
“F” (for false) in front of each of
the following.
T F
The Eusebius Principle points out that we
should always be skeptical of claims about the miraculous whenever they
appear.
T F For someone who agrees
with Wittgenstein’s
notion of a family resemblance in how many words are used, it
definitely should
be possible to identify at least one trait in common that allows
everything we
consider to be a religion to be recognized as such.
T F Traditional
Hinduism included
practices such as animal sacrifice.
T F A Hindu who was in the
householder stage
of life was to see both worldly success and a pleasurable life as
definite
goals.
T F A Hindu who was at the
fourth stage of
life was expected to have abandoned all his possessions and his family
ties.
T F It did not matter what
caste a person
would be in order to be considered one of the twice-born.
T F In the Bhagavad Gita
Arjuna’s question of
conscience is resolved by being told that even though he is to kill his
own
beloved relatives it is something he is to do without regrets.
T F In the Bhagavad Gita
Arjuna’s best friend
and companion reveals himself to be an incarnation of the god
Shiva. Krishna
is the incarnation of Vishnu
T F The man who came to be
known as the Buddha
started life as a poor laborer.
T F The key to Buddhist
teaching is the idea
that suffering can be overcome by eliminating the cravings that lead to
frustration.
T F Buddhists did
keep the idea of
reincarnation but rejected the idea that the individual who did well in
this
life would be reborn in a higher caste in the next.
T F The Emperor
Ashoka is important in the
history of Buddhism as the ruler who ordered it to be accepted as the
state
religion of India.
T F A key difference
between Mahayana and
Theravada Buddhism is the acceptance of the documents we know as the
sutras as
the authentic teachings of the Buddha.
T F In
countries such as Thailand and Cambodia young boys are expected
to spend
a period in the monastery as apprentice monks regardless of whether
they plan
to make this their life.
T F The Dalai Lama is
someone who believes
that in fact he is the reincarnation of the man who used to head the
monastery
where he was brought as a small child.
T F In Japanese Buddhism
the distinction
between jiriki and tariki is based on whether someone accepts the
sutras as the
actual teachings of the Buddha.
T F The Zen approach known
as Soto sees
enlightenment as something that happens suddenly, like a flash of
lightning. that was the rinzai
school
T F In traditional Chinese
society a married
man was expected to bring his bride to live with him in his father’s
house.
T F The
greatest of the early Chinese philosophers offered a teaching that was
meant to
be a guide for the ruler who wanted to gain supremacy during a period
of
intense warfare among the various states.
T F Confucius
insisted on maintaining
traditional rituals regardless of whether anything could really be
known about
the world of the supernatural.
T F In the Book of Dao the
ideal ruler is
someone who remains out of sight of the ordinary citizen.
T F Daoists think of
society as something
natural while Confucians see it as something
artificial. it's just the
opposite
T F The sage Zhuang Zi
used the question of
whether he was a man who had dreamed of being a butterfly or a
butterfly now
dreaming he was a man to point out the relativity of all our
perceptions.
T F
Confucian priests are expected to
remain unmarried.
T F We can be sure that
the martial arts
traditions of China, Korea, and Japan were not inspired by Buddhism
because
they involve violence.
T F The samurai tradition
of Japan was
inspired by Confucianism and not
Buddhism.
At least
one of the first five statements in the
previous
section is false. Take any one of these
statements that you think is incorrect and below explain what the truth
really
is.
The
Eusebius Principle suggests how believers and non-believers can look at
the similarity of religious traditions differently, believers by seeing
how they would prepare the way for the Christian Gospels and the
non-believers by seeing how they must all reflect common human
tendencies.
Wittgenstein's family resemblance
idea is that, like a family reunion where the individuals clearly all
fit in but have no single trait in common, some terms (and I include
"religion") cannot be defined in terms of some one characteristic.
Varna
the general term for one of
the four main castes
Artha
success, one of the goals
of the householder
Ahimsa
non-violence, the key value of the
Jains and Buddhists
Prakriti
the material or natural
principle in the Yoga and Samkhya schools
Bhakti devotion (specifically to Krishna) as the motivation of an action
Mandala
a design (sometimes made of sand)
that is
the basis for meditation in Tibetan Buddhism
Sutra
any of the documents that are
meant to be the teachings of the Buddha handed on by his first
followers and then written down in a later age
Yin the cosmic feminine principle in the
Daoist approach
Wu
wei non-action,
which in the Daoist outlook indicates not going against the flow of
nature
Bushido
the Samurai code
The English writer John Blofeld wrote about
staying in a
Chinese Zen monastery which on a particular festival brought out the
statues of
the gods for visitors to revere.
Blofeld was shocked, since the Zen monks did not really accept that
these gods were real. The monks
explained to him that this was not at all hypocritical, as he had first
thought, but it was how more ordinary people could move along the path
to
eventual enlightenment. Comment on how
this story illustrates a basic Asian outlook that differs from what we
would
expect in the West.
The Asian
outlook stresses a both/and approach rather than the either/or outlook
we are familiar with in the West. Whatever we can call truth can
be understood at different levels (what we see in the esoteric teaching
of the Upanishads), so that those not ready for the "real" truth can
still benefit from what they believe at a "lower" level. Think of
how we do encourage a child's belief in Santa Claus with the
expectation that later on this will be transformed into a a more
general outlook about the reason for giving and receiving gifts at
Christmas.
1. Karl Marx was someone
who believed that religion would be unneeded in a future society in
which
there was no longer class exploitation.
*Answer (true or false):
True
2. Sigmund Freud was
someone
who believed that supernatural explanations would always be necessary
in
order for someone to live a meaningful life.
*Answer (true or false):
False
3. Hindus and Buddhists
alike believe that reincarnation makes sense only if there is a caste
system.
*Answer (true or false):
False
(Buddhists accept reincarnation but not the caste system)
4. Buddhists following the
"jiriki" pattern would seek to gain merit by chanting a phrase that
expresses
who or what the Buddha is.
*Answer (true or false):
False
(this is "tariki")
5. Buddhists following the
"jiriki" pattern would rely on their own efforts alone to gain
enlightenment.
*Answer (true or false):
True
6. Buddhism appeared in
China and then was brought to India by the monk Bodhidharma.
*Answer (true or false):
False
(it was the other way around)
7. The term "zen" was the
Japanese effort to transliterate a Chinese word that originated in
India
and referred to meditation.
*Answer (true or false):
True
(dhyana became ch'an and then
zen)
8. The Yellow Turbans
movement
is an example of a religious movement that was prepared to accept
violence
in order to bring about a new era.
*Answer (true or false):
True
9. Confucians insisted on
the avoidance of sex for those who sought genuine enlightenment.
*Answer (true or false):
False
10. The Confucian movement
died out less than five centuries after its founding.
*Answer (true or false):
False
11. Individuals who could
never be considered "twice born" in Hindu society include
___ members of the
merchant caste (vaisyas)
___ members of the
warrior caste (khashatriyas)
___ members
of the laboring class (shudras)
12. Another avatar of the
god Vishnu apart from Krishna is
___ Shiva
___ Kali
___ Rama
13. While not meaning
quite
the same thing, the term "moksha" corresponds most closely to the
English
religious term
___ salvation
___ repentance
___ baptism
14. One thing setting
early
Buddhists apart from Hindus was
___ how they
presented
the idea that a warrior’s life could be morally acceptable
___ how
they allowed women to become members of a monastic community
___ how they
rejected
the notion of reincarnation
15. In the Pali language
of the early Buddhist scriptures, the term "anatta" refers to
___ the idea that
some individuals are reborn to complete the religious task of the
previous
incarnations
___ the idea that
some individuals are obligated to live celibate lives
___ the
idea that there is no such thing as an eternal soul
16. From a Confucian
perspective,
a superior man was characterized most by
___ prosperity
___ courage
___ learning
17. From a Daoist
perspective,
the wise ruler would be
___ completely
withdrawn from his people
___ eager to learn
of and meet the expectations of his people
___ visible to his
people
18. Among examples of
religious
traditions that do not emphasize the idea of a personal God (or gods)
are
___ Hinduism
___ Zen Buddhism
___ Tibetan Buddhism
19. Someone who follows
the teachings of the Dalai Lama would stress the importance of
___ learning as much
as possible about one’s own previous incarnations
___ withdrawing from
secular activity in order to pursue a path of enlightenment
___ a
non-violent approach to solving problems
20. A key distinction
between
any Asian approach and what is most familiar from the traditions of
Judaism,
Christianity, or Islam is the idea that
___ some individuals
are called to pursue enlightenment by living a monastic lifestyle
___ whatever
we mean by the divine is something that is already true of ourselves
___ the divine is
something that is completely outside the material world that we
experience
21. The Indian word for
not harming another is
*Answer: ahimsa
22. The Indian word for
a member of the highest caste is
*Answer: brahman
23. The name of the
warrior
whose chariot Krishna drove into battle is
*Answer: Arjuna
24. The name of the Indian
god of prosperity who is represented as having the head of an elephant
is
*Answer: Ganesha
25. The Dalai Lama was
born
in
*Answer: Tibet
26. The Tibetan term for
an intricate illustration that is an object of
meditation is
*Answer: mandala
27. The Japanese term for
a state of enlightenment that ideally should follow prolonged
meditation
is
*Answer: satori
28. The school of Zen that
insists that enlightenment comes gradually, like the dawn rising, is
*Answer: Soto
29. The Japanese outlook
that expresses the culture of the true samurai warrior is referred to as
*Answer: bushido
30. The philosopher whose
idea of language as involving "family resemblances," which supports a
polythetic
approach to understanding what we mean by the term "religion," is
*Answer: Wittgenstein
31. Imagine that a
devout
Christian discovers striking similarities between his own beliefs and
various
elements in Asian traditions. According to the Eusebius principle
recommended for this course, how should he or she make sense of these
similarities?
(Explain carefully.)
As
a believer a person could, like Eusebius, say that this was how the
Lord
prepared the way for the Gospel. It would not be necessary to
conclude
that the similarities disprove the uniqueness of Christianity, although
this is often the argument of the non-believer.
32. If I am following
the
path of "bhakti yoga" presented in the Gita, what would I be doing
differently
apart from honoring the obligations that come to me because of my
station
in life? (Explain carefully.)
I
would be motivated by the love of God (Krishna, for a Hindu) and not
just
a concern for my own karma. This was the fourth "type" of yoga or
path Krishna presents to Arjuna in the Gita, and it is higher than the
paths of asceticism, knowledge, and unselfish action.
33. If I am a good
Confucian,
what should I do if what I want in terms of my marriage or my career is
not what my parents want for me? (Explain carefully.)
Because
of my primary obligation to obey my parents I would not follow my own
desires.
The family unit is more important than the individual.
III.
A B C
The authors of the text define
“myth” as (A) a false belief about a
person or place (B) a story about the
past told and retold to express certain values
(C) a traditional explanation for events used by societies
before the
advent of science
A B C
In the lecture notes you are
encouraged to (A) look for a common
element that allows us to define what counts as a religion
(B) make a clear distinction between
religion and spirituality (C) think of
what we call religions as having a family resemblance but not
necessarily a
common element
A B C
Freud thought of religion as (A) an
illusion that would be replaced by a
scientific view (B) an expression of a
human need to transcend the physical world
(C) a generally beneficial effort to establish personal meaning
A B C
Hinduism is (A) a single
well-established set of beliefs
and practices (B) a number of more or
less distinct traditions linked by an acceptance of the Vedas and the
caste
system (C) a mystically oriented world
religion not to be confused with those traditions in India that
continue to
accept theriomorphic deities
A B C
The term “twice born” refers to a
Hindu male who (A) has been formally
initiated as an adult in one of the three upper castes
(B) has made a commitment to reject ordinary
life in order to be a monk (C) has
rejected his sins and accepted Krishna as his savior
A B C
Samkhya and Yoga, as schools of
thought in Hinduism, emphasize (A) a
clear distinction between matter and spirit as ultimate realities (B) the ultimate identity of matter and
spirit (C) the idea that the material
world is entirely an illusion
A B C
When the Vedantist philosopher
Shankara told a story about first thinking he had seen a snake and then
realizing it was only a vine, he was making the point that
(A) what might be the truth at one stage of
knowledge can be replaced with something else at another, higher stage (B) the powers of darkness conspire to keep
us from achieving real enlightenment
(C) what is real is entirely a question of personal belief and
we have
no absolutes
A B C
In the Bhagavad Gita we meet
Krishna as a member of the (A) priestly
caste (B) warrior caste
(C) merchant caste
A B C
Kama refers to (A) the idea
that all actions have
consequences (B) the pursuit of
pleasure appropriate to someone who is at the householder stage of life (C) the renunciation of ordinary pleasures
in the search for enlightenment
A B C
The path (marga) considered
the highest in the Gita is (A) knowledge (B)
righteous action (C)
devotion
A B C
Ahimsa (non-injury) is a dominant
value for (A) Hindus, Jains, and
Buddhists (B) Jains but not Hindus or
Buddhists (C) Jains and Buddhists but
not Hindus
A B C
Buddhism broke with Hinduism by (A)
rejecting the authority of the Vedas as
well as the caste system and a belief in reincarnation
(B) rejecting the authority of the Vedas but
not the caste system and not a belief in reincarnation
(C) rejecting the authority of the Vedas as
well as the caste system but not a belief in reincarnation
A B C
Buddhism (A) was once the official
religion of India (B) was generally
tolerated in India but
never gained official status (C) was
generally persecuted in India
A B C
In countries outside India, such as
Indonesia or Cambodia, Hinduism (A)
never took hold but Buddhism did (B)
often took hold and coexisted with Buddhism
(C) usually won out over Buddhism
A B C
In many countries, such as Cambodia
or Thailand, the life of a Buddhist monk
(A) is limited only to those who intend to make a lifetime
commitment (B) is encouraged as a
temporary period of training, especially for young males
(C) is severely restricted in terms of who
is accepted and is seen as lasting only a few years
A B C
One thing distinctive about Tibetan
Buddhism is that its most important monks are
(A) seen as reincarnations of their predecessors in the same
monastery (B) elected
to office by those in the monastery (C)
are appointed by the government on the
basis of their training
A B C
Someone who has a gohonzon
and chants daily in front of it is practicing a version of Buddhism
found
in (A) Thailand (B)
Tibet
(C) Japan
A B C
Monks who construct
elaborate sand paintings and then destroy them are practicing a version
of
Buddhism found in (A) Thailand (B) Tibet
(C) Japan
A B C
A Theravadin Buddhist (A) accepts
the Diamond Sutra as the
authentic teaching of the Buddha (B)
includes the Diamond Sutra in his scriptures but does not regard it as
the
actual teaching of Gautama but as something developed by his followers (C) does not accept the Diamond Sutra
A B C
A Zen Buddhist (A) stresses the
role of meditation (B) stresses the role
of chanting (C) gives equal stress to both
meditation
and chanting
A B C
Mahayana Buddhism differs from
Theravadin teaching in that (A) there
can be a personal immortality in a heaven or hell (B)
personal enlightenment does not come through meditation
(C) those who live as monks may be married
and have families within the monastery
A B C
Legendarily, the teaching of
meditation as the means to enlightenment was
(A) brought to India from China by the monk Bodhidharma (B) brought to China from India by the monk
Bodhidharma (C) brought to Japan from
India by the monk Bodhidharma, who then renamed himself Daruma
A B C
Someone who is a Confucian stresses
the importance of (A) meditation (B) learning (C)
unquestioning obedience to authority
A B C
The tradition that in China was
occasionally associated with violent reform movements was
(A) Confucianism (B) Daoism (C) Buddhism
A B C
The Confucian who stressed the
essential evil of human nature was (A)
Mencius (B) Xun Zi (C) Mo Ti
A B C
Someone who prefers a Daoist
approach would say that (A) society is
artificial and someone should look to nature instead
(B) society is something natural with rules that need to be
respected (C) there should be a balance
between the formal rules of society and a respect for individual rights
A B C
In the Dao De Jing we are
presented an idea of the ruler as being like nature itself in that he
is to
be (A) benevolent (B)
ruthless (C) unselfish
A B C
The aesthetic tradition of China
reflects a merger of (A) Confucian and
Buddhist ideals (B) Confucian and
Daoist ideals (C) Daoist and Buddhist
ideals
A B C
The warrior tradition of bushido
in Japan reflects a merger of (A)
Confucian and Buddhist ideals (B)
Confucian and Daoist ideals (C) Daoist
and Buddhist ideals
A B C
One characteristic of Shinto is
its (A) animism
(B) monotheism (C) agnosticism
Agnostic:
Maya:
Mandala:
Ren:
Indicate whether the
statement is true (T) or false (F) by
circling the letter in front.
T F
Freud was a scientist who insisted on the
necessity of religious belief for a healthy state of mind.
T F
The Vedic tradition in India appears with
invaders who arrive somewhat over three thousand years ago.
T F
The Bhagavad Gita is an important
Hindu scripture composed before the appearance of the Buddhists.
T F
Hinduism emphasized the importance
of both worldly success and pleasure for the person who is at the stage
of life
of the householder.
T F
Buddhists retained the belief in
reincarnation but rejected the caste system.
T F
Krishna is an example of an enlightened
individual who, while not divine himself, came to understand the
importance of
identifying with the gods.
T F
Buddhist monks are encouraged to
marry at a young age and raise their families inside the monastery.
T F
In Confucian tradition a ruler is seen as
having authority that depends on the proper treatment of his citizens.
T F
Confucianism stressed the importance
of monasteries in the development of the ideal citizen.
T F
In the Book of Dao there is the image of a
ruler as someone who should be visible and accountable to his citizens.
In front of the item,
circle the letter of the phrase that
best completes it.
A B C
Looking at the problem of defining
the term “religion,” someone
who denies that all religions have at the very least a shared belief in
a
single supreme divinity who created the world holds a
(A) polytheistic
view (B) polythetic view
(C) projectivist view
A B C
The one caste that excludes someone
from being among the twice-born is that of (A)
warriors (B) laborers
(C) merchants
A B C
In Hindu tradition a
male could escape the limitations of the caste to which he was born by (A) marrying a woman of a higher caste (B) becoming successful and wealthy (C) renouncing ordinary life to become an
ascetic
A B C
In the Vedantist philosophy as
presented by Shankara (A) any
distinction between oneself and Brahman is essentially an illusion (B) Brahman and the self are distinct
realities, with the self a creation of Brahman
(C) Brahman is not real but a symbol of the totality of existence
A B C
One thing that would not be
emphasized with the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita was
(A) ahimsa (B) puja (C) varna
A B C
One thing clearly rejected by the
Buddhists was (A) ahimsa (B) puja (C)
varna
A B C According to Tibetan Buddhists, someone such as the Dalai Lama has his authority because (A) he is elected by his fellow monks to be their leader (B) he has completed an intense period of religious training that is not part of the ordinary life of a monk (C) he has been recognized from childhood as the reincarnation of the previous head of his monastery
A B C The Zen tradition legendarily derives from the teaching of the monk
(A) Nagarjuna (B) Shandao (C) Bodhidharma
A B C The importance of achieving liberation through prayer and chanting rather than through meditation characterizes (A) Rinzai Zen (B) Soto Zen (C) the Pure Land School
A B C A leading Confucian value is (A) li (B) wu-wei (C) hsin
A B C A leading Daoist value is (A) li (B) wu-wei (C) hsin
A B C Mencius insisted on (A) the need of a strong legal system because of the innate evil of human nature (B) the need of a strong educational system to preserve and develop the innate goodness of human nature (C) the importance of minimizing governmental interference in that the weak did not deserve to survive
Discuss each of the following.
What is the difference between the idea of atman in Hindu thought and what we have in mind in the West when we talk about an immortal soul?
Theravada Buddhism can be seen as a reform movement in Asia that broke away from the errors of what would come to be called the Mahayana tradition. Briefly, what would have been the supposed errors rejected?
Rinzai Zen has the saying “If you should meet the Buddha, kill him.” What is this supposed to mean?
What is the importance of the concept of the Mandate of Heaven in Confucian thought?