Download 1. Hinduism - Introduction and History

1. Hinduism - Introduction and History
Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world and it orginated in India. It has many
beliefs and is a complex religion. This page is a simple guide to Hinduism and basic key
terms. Of course, there are many variations on Hinduism, but this is only meant to be a basic
guide.
Hinduism began in India and is thousands of years old. It has no one founder or single holy
book, and it is a polytheistic religion, having many gods. Hinduism formed from a
combination of Indus Valley, Aryan and Dravidian cultures. It blends Aryan traditions with the
religious beliefs of the people the Aryans conquered. Hinduism beliefs developed over time
from the Vedas and the Upanishads, the oldest sacred texts. Other famous works of
literature include two epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Hinduism did not develop at
one time, and it's still evolving and changing today.
The Vedas
Many scholars believe that Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa composed the Vedas. Dvaipayana
Vyasa was a sage who lived before 4 B.C. Some scholars believe that after collecting the
Vedic Truths and compiling them into the Vedas, he was later renamed Veda Vyasa, and
wrote the Mahabharata.
The Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is a long epic with many stories, and it was likely written sometime before
4 B.C. (when Veda Vyasa lived). It's title literally means "the great tale of the Bharata
dynasty." It's main story tells of the conflict between two familes - the Pandavas and
Kauravas. One well known story called "Sibi" comes from this epic. At over 1.8 million words,
the Mahabharata is one of the longest epic poems in the world.
http://jolpid.hubpages.com/hub/Quick-Guide-to-Hinduism-and-Beliefs
2. Indian Trinity
Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva (as Mahesha)
Hinduism Gods
There are many gods in Hinduism, and this is why it is considered a polytheistic religion.
There is a main being called Brahman, who is made up of three main gods. They are:

Brahma - The Creator

Vishnu - The Preserver

Shiva - The Destroyer
These are just the main gods in Hinduism. There are many, many others.
Yoga and Moksha
Yoga is the path to enlightenment. The goal of Yoga is moksha, which is union with god
(Brahman).
There are four different Yogas. They are the paths of:

Work

Knowledge

Meditation

Love
Dharma
Dharma is the Hindu word for duty, or how you should conduct yourself and live your life.
Each person has a dharma according to what caste he or she is in. For example, the dharma
for all kings is to protect their people and keep order. Each person also has his or her own
individual dharma.
Karma
Karma is the actions in a person's life, which affect his or her next life. To have good karma,
a person must perform his or her dharma. If a person has good karma, he or she will be
reincarnated into a higher caste in the next life. If a person has bad karma, he or she will be
reborn into a lower caste in the next life.
The Caste System
The caste system is an important aspect of Hinduism. There are four main castes called
varnas:
1.
Brahmins - priests
2.
Kshatriyas - rulers and soldiers
3.
Vaisyas - farmers and merchants
4.
Sudras - artisans
There is also a class of "untouchables," which originated in 1000 B.C. The untouchables
were made up of non-Aryans who did dirty jobs for little or no pay.
Caste affects peoples jobs, husbands/wives and the food they can eat. Lower castes can
pullute upper castes. For example, an upper caste person is not supposed to eat food
prepared by a lower caste person.
http://jolpid.hubpages.com/hub/Quick-Guide-to-Hinduism-and-Beliefs
3. Tibetan Buddhism
The Buddha’s task as a teacher could not even begin until works of art had
opened the people’s imagination to the revelation of new perceptions. So we find
that in the Buddhist scriptures almost every discourse is preceded by some sort
of miracle, some dramatic revelation of an extraordinary perception to stimulate
the people’s imaginations. After the Buddha’s death those who knew him began
to make icons of his liberating presence, although at first it was considered that
no human representation could do justice to his memory, so that symbols such
as the wheel (of the Law), or the trees (of spiritual enlightenment) were used.
Tibetans first came into contact with Buddhism when they occupied the oasis
cities of central Asia. By the time Buddhism came to Tibet in the seventh century
AD, however, the artistic expression of the Mahayana, or Universal Vehicle, had
reached considerable heights of inspiration. Sakyamuni Buddha, various cosmic
Buddhas, magnificent female and male Bodhisattvas, all were portrayed in
splendid paradise-like settings. And with the development of Tantric Buddhism
the archetypal imagery went more deeply into the unconscious mind to uncover
other enlightening possibilities, both terrifying and benign. Some time later, in the
8th century AD, the first of many missionary monks arrived and the country's first
monastery was established in 787AD.
Tragically, since the Chinese occupation began in 1949, many thousands of
temples with their splendid wall paintings and magnificent sculptures have been
destroyed, so that today there are probably many more beautiful Tibetan works
of art in Western museums and private collections than presently exist in Tibet.
A thangka painting of a Lama.
There are Four Principle Schools in Tibetan
Buddhism. In the 17th century the head of the
country's most powerful sect, the Fifth Dalai
Lama (1617-82), made himself king and his
successors ruled the country until 1951.
Although living in a sparsely populated and
geographically isolated region, the Tibetans
gradually evolved one of the richest and most
sophisticated forms of Buddhism. However, the
powerful and conservative clergy refused to
allow any form of modernization or contact with
the outside world, which made Tibet an easy
target for communist China which invaded the
country in 1951. Between 1959 and 1977
almost all traces of Buddhism were destroyed and hundreds of thousands of
people were driven into exile.
The Dalai Lama and about a 100 thousand men and
women went into exile in India, in 1959. Completely
destitute at the beginning of their exile, they have
succeeded in gradually rebuilding their monasteries,
preserving their culture and restructuring their society
and keeping it alive, in spite of the extremely difficult
circumstances. They have set up a government and
rebuilt monasteries where masters pass on their
teachings to young monks. They built schools where
they provide a suitable education for more than 10,000
children supported by sponsors from all over the world.
These schools are rated the best in the Himalayas. In
spite of the extremely precarious circumstances in exile, Tibetans have recreated
their monastic institutions.
Tibetans believe that the Dalai Lama is a reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara
(Ocean of Wisdom). The Potala Palace, the residence of His Holiness, the Dalai
Lama is thirteen storeys high, this vast structure on the Red Hill, dominating the
Tibetan capital, is now a museum, though still regarded by many Tibetans as a
sacred place. The present palace was raised on the site of a much older
residence in the mid-seventeen century, in the time of the great Fifth Dalai Lama,
who consolidated the Tibetan theocracy and the dominance of the Gelugpa
(Yellow Hat) sect.
For his part, the Dalai Lama travels around the world spreading a message of
Peace and Universal Responsibility. The Dalai Lama believes that the common
aim of all religions, an aim that everyone must try to find, is to foster tolerance,
altruism and love. According to him, if the authentic Buddhism of Tibetan Lamas
disappears from the surface of the Earth, this loss will result in an imbalance that
concerns us all, and we must all accept responsibility for it.
4. OM MANI PADME HUM
by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
It is very good to recite the mantra Om mani padme hum, but while you are doing it, you should
be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast. The first, Om is
composed of three letters, A, U, and M. These symbolize the practitioner's impure body, speech,
and mind; they also symbolize the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.
Can impure body, speech, and mind be transformed into pure body, speech, and mind, or are
they entirely separate? All Buddhas are cases of beings who were like ourselves and then in
dependence on the path became enlightened; Buddhism does not assert that there is anyone
who from the beginning is free from faults and possesses all good
qualities. The development of pure body, speech, and mind
comes from gradually leaving the impure states and their being
transformed into the pure.
How is this done? The path is indicated by the next four syllables.
Mani, meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method-the
altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love.
Just as a jewel is capable of removing poverty, so the altruistic
mind of enlightenment is capable of removing the poverty, or
difficulties, of cyclic existence and of solitary peace. Similarly, just
as a jewel fulfills the wishes of sentient beings, so the altruistic
intention to become enlightened fulfills the wishes of sentient
beings.
The two syllables, padme, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom. Just
as a lotus grows forth from mud but is not sullied by the faults of
mud, so wisdom is capable of putting you in a situation of noncontradiction whereas there would be contradiction if you did not have wisdom. There is wisdom
realizing impermanence, wisdom realizing that persons are empty, of being self-sufficient or
substantially existent, wisdom that realizes the emptiness of duality-that is to say, of difference of
entity between subject an object-and wisdom that realizes the emptiness of inherent existence.
Though there are many different types of wisdom, the main of all these is the wisdom realizing
emptiness.
Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final
syllable hum, which indicates indivisibility. According to the sutra system, this indivisibility of
method and wisdom refers to wisdom affected by method and method affected by wisdom. In the
mantra, or tantric, vehicle, it refers to one consciousness in which there is the full form of both
wisdom and method as one undifferentiable entity. In terms of the seed syllables of the five
Conqueror Buddhas, hum is the seed syllable of Akshobhya - the immovable, the unfluctuating,
that which cannot be disturbed by anything.
Thus the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path
which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body,
speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha. It is said that you
should not seek for Buddhahood outside of yourself; the substances for the achievement of
Buddhahood are within. As Maitreya says in his Sublime Continuum of the Great Vehicle
(Uttaratantra), all beings naturally have the Buddha nature in their own continuum. We have
within us the seed of purity, the essence of a 'One Gone Thus' (Tathagatagarbha), that is to be
transformed and fully developed into Buddhahood
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/buddhistworld/tibet-txt.htm
5.
Year
Major Events in Tibetan Buddhism
c200 C.E.
• Buddhism begins to percolate into Tibetan region and teachings affect Bon religion in kingdom of
Shang-Shung (South Tibet).
3rd century
• Buddhist scriptures begin to reach early Tibetan Kingdoms (North Tibet) during reign of King
Lhatotori Nyentsen.
641
• King Songtsen Gampo unifies Tibet and marries Chinese princess Wen Cheng and Nepalese
Princess Bhrkuti who bring Buddha images.
641-650
• Construction of Potala Palace, and Jokang and Ramoche temples to house Buddha images.
773?
• King Trisong Detsen (r.755-797) invites Shantarakshita to Tibet.
774
• King Trisong Detsen invites Padmasambhava, yogin of Swat, to Tibet, and construction of Samye
begins (775).
c785
• Samye, Tibet's first monastery, built by Trisong Detsen and Padmasambhava. • Great
Convocation, 3000 monks ordained. • Translating begins. • Padmasambhava founds Nyingma
order.
792
• Exponents of Indian Buddhism prevail in debate with Chinese at Samye.
840
• Persecution of Tibetan Buddhism under King Lang Darma, period of conflict and civil strife
begins.
877
• Destruction of Tibetan Dynasties. • Buddhism almost completely wiped out in Tibet.
978
• Commencement of second Buddhist period in Tibet. • Atisha (982-1054).
1038
• Atisha comes to Tibet and founds the Kadampa school (which later becomes the Gelugpa order).
c1039
• Marpa the translator (1012-1099) founder of the Kargyu school, travels to India, studies under
Naropa.
• Gampopa (1079-1153) is responsible for the actual founding of the Kagyu school on the basis of
Kadampa, later to be known as Gelugpa. Monastic practice and education system, with the Tantric
practices of Naropa, Marpa and Milarepa.
1040
• Birth of Milarepa, 2nd hierarch of Kagyu order and a renowned poet.
1055
• Birth of Marchik Labdron (1055-1153) founder of the Chod lineage, the main lineage founded by
a woman.
1060
• Founding of the Sakya Lineage by Brogmi (992-1072). • Gonchok Guelpo (1034-1102)
establishes the first monastery of the Sakya monastic order.
1247
• Sakya Pandita submits to Godan Khan; beginning of the first priest/patron relationship between a
Tibetan Lama and a Mongol Khan.
1261
• Tibet is reunited with Sakya Pandita, Grand Lama of Sakya, as king.
1350
• King Changchub Gyaltsen defeats Sakya and founds a secular dynasty.
1409
• Ganden, first Gelug monastery, built by monastic reformer Tsongkhapa (1357-1419).
1435-81
• In prolonged warfare, Karmapa supporters gain control of royal court.
1578
• Gelug-pa leader gets the title of Dalai ("Ocean") from Altan Khan.
1642
• Gushri Khan enthrones the 5th Dalai Lama as temporal ruler of Tibet.
1653
• "Great Fifth" Dalai Lama meets Qing Emperor Shunzhi near Beijing.
1682
• Fifth Dalai Lama dies; regent conceals death for the next 14 years.
1716-21
• Italian Jesuit priest, Ippolito Desideri studies and teaches in Lhasa.
1717
• Dzungar Mongols invade Tibet and sack Lhasa. • Fifth DL's tomb looted.
1720
• Dzungars driven out, Qing (Chinese) forces install Kesang Gyatso as the 7th Dalai Lama.
1721
• The position of Amban is created by a 13-point Qing decree on Tibet. 29-point Qing decree
prescribes "golden urn" lottery for picking DL and PL, bans visits by non-Chinese, and increases
Amban's powers.
1904
• British troops under Colonel Younghusband enter Tibet and occupy Lhasa.
1910-12
• Chinese troops occupy Tibet, shoot at unarmed crowds on entering Lhasa.
1911
• Bogh Haan, the Urga "Living Buddha," proclaims Mongolia independent.
1913
• 13th Dalai Lama proclaims Tibet a "religious and independent nation".
1924-25
• Pressure from monks causes Dalai Lama to dismiss his British-trained officers.
1933
• Truce ends. China and Tibet fighting; the 13th Dalai Lama dies at age 58.
1934
• Reting Rimpoche named regent. • China permitted to open Lhasa mission.
1940
• The five-year-old Tenzin Gyatso is enthroned as the 14th Dalai Lama.
1941
• Unable to keep celibacy vow, Reting is replaced as regent by Taktra.
1945
• Newly opened English-language school is closed after monks protest.
1950
• Red China invades Tibet; Tibetan army destroyed in battle at Chamdo.
1951
• 17-point agreement between China and Tibet; Chinese occupy Lhasa.
1956
• Tibetans in Kham and Amdo (Qinghai) begin revolt against Chinese ruler.
• Dalai Lama visits India for 2,500th anniversary of the Buddha's birth.
1959
• Dalai Lama flees to India. 87,000 Tibetans die in anti-Chinese revolt.
1960
• International Commission of Jurists: "acts of genocide [have] been committed... to destroy the
Tibetans as a religious group."
1963
• Dalai Lama approves a democratic constitution for the Tibetan exile community.
1964
• The Panchen Lama is arrested after calling for Tibetan independence.
1978
• Visitors find only 8 temples left in TAR, down from 2,700 in 1959.
1979-80
• China allows a series of three delegations from Dalai Lama to visit Tibet.
1989
• Dalai Lama receives the Nobel Peace Prize.
1995
• Dalai Lama recognizes six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as 11th Panchen Lama. China
denounces the Dalai Lama's choice.
1999
• The Karmapa (Urgyen Trinley Dorje) flees Tibet to join the Dalai Lama in exile.
6. Sunni’s and Shiite (Shia) Muslims
Basics
The majority of the world’s billion-odd Muslims are Sunnis. Approximately 10 to 15
percent of all Muslims follow the Shiite branch (pronounced Shi‘ite, Shi‘a or Shia).
Beyond that, it gets slightly complicated: Who lives where, and why the differences
and conflicts between them? The answer is less daunting than it seems.
Sunnis form the overwhelming majority in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt,
Yemen, Pakistan, Indonesia, Turkey, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Shiites form the
majority only in Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan, but they constitute sizable
minorities in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and
Yemen.
At heart, Sunnis and Shiites are like Catholics and Protestants in the commonality of
some fundamental beliefs. But their differences, especially in nations where the
Sunni-Shiite split is exacerbated by each other's proximity (as in Iraq and Lebanon),
run so deep that intolerance and violence shadow the two groups, making
coexistence difficult.
Islam's Origins
In 610 A.D., Muhammad ibn Abdallah was a successful 40-year-old Arab
businessman and tradesman. Every year he retired to a cave near Mecca, in presentday Saudi Arabia, to pray and fast. Beginning that year on his cave retreats, he had
overpowering revelation of the word of God, what would later come to be known as
the Quran (which means recitation). By 610, Muhammad was preaching the Quran
and directing his earliest followers to build a community, or ummah, where the
practical and the compassionate (rather than the theological) was to predominate.
The year 622 marks the founding of Islam as a religion: It was the year of the hijrah,
or migration, by Muhammad and his followers. They founded the first truly Islamic
ummah in Medina.
By the time of Muhammad's death in 632, Islam had conquered the Arabian
peninsula roughly up to what today would be Saudi Arabia's borders with Jordan and
Iraq. Within a century, Islam would spread to western India, the Caucasus, Turkey,
North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. Its furthest advance was to the heart of
present-day France, where the armies of Charles Martel stopped the conquerors in
732 in the Battles of Tours and Poitiers.
The Prophet Muhammad's Succession
At Muhammad's death in 632, Abu Bakr, a close companion of the Prophet, became
his successor, or caliph. Most Muslims agreed that the most able and pious of the
Prophet's followers should be his caliphs. Their followers would come to be known as
the orthodox branch of Islam, or Sunnis.
A few Muslims disagreed, arguing for a line of succession based on bloodlines. To
those dissenters, the succession should have immediately gone to Ali, the fourth
caliph -- who took the helm after some of his followers assassinated Caliph Uthman,
his predecessor. Followers of Ali would eventually form Shiite Islam.
What Sunnis and Shiites Believe
The Quran, the Prophet's hadith, or sayings, and the sunna, or customs, are central
to the belief system of both Sunnis and Shiites. So are the five pillars of Islam: The
recitation of the creed ("There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his Prophet");
the salat, or the recitation of prayers five times a day; zakat, or the obligatory giving
of alms to the poor according to one's means; fasting from sunup to sunset during
the month of Ramadan; and the hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca at least once in a
Muslim's lifetime, means permitting.
Sunnis and Shiites also believe in Islamic law. But its application varies.
http://middleeast.about.com/od/religionsectarianism/a/me070907sunnis.htm
http://www.patheos.com/Library/Sunni-Islam/Beliefs/Ultimate-Reality-and-DivineBeings.html
7. Where Muslim Sunnis and Muslim Shiites Differ
Sunnis accept that the first four Caliphs, including Ali, were the rightful followers of
Muhammad. However--rather like Protestantism in Christianity--they don't grant the
kind of divinely inspired status to their clerics that Shiites do with their imams.
Shiites believe imams are descendants of the Prophet.
Islam has no codified laws per se. It has various schools of law. While Sunni doctrine
is more rigidly aligned in accordance with those various schools, its hierarchical
structure is looser and often falls under state, rather than clerical, control. The
opposite is true in Shiitism: The doctrine is somewhat more open to interpretation
but the clerical hierarchy is more defined and, as in Iran, the ultimate authority is
the imam, not the state.
Both Sunnis and Shiites break down into various sects that range from puritanical
(as with Sunni Wahhabism, prevalent in Saudi Arabia) to somewhat mysterious (as
with the Druze of Lebanon, Syria and Israel, who form an offshoot of Shiitism).
The Sunni-Shiite Divide
Country
Sunnis
Shiites & Offshoots
Afghanistan
84%
15%
Bahrain
30%
70%
Egypt
90%
1%
Iran
10%
89%
Iraq
32-37%
60-65%
Kuwait
60%
25%
Lebanon
23%
38%
Pakistan
77%
20%
Saudi Arabia
90%
10%
Syria
74%
16% (Alawites)
Turkey
83-93%
7-17%
United Arab Emirates
81%
15%
Yemen
70%
30%
Source: Congressional Research Service
http://middleeast.about.com/od/religionsectarianism/a/me070907sunnis.htm
8.
9. Judaism’s 13 Principles of Faith
The closest that anyone has ever come to creating a widely-accepted list of Jewish beliefs
is Rambam's thirteen principles of faith. These principles, which Rambam thought were
the minimum requirements of Jewish belief, are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
God exists
God is one and unique
God is incorporeal
God is eternal
Prayer is to be directed to Gd alone and to no other
The words of the prophets are true
Moses' prophecies are true, and Moses was the greatest of the prophets
The Written Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and Oral Torah (teachings now
contained in the Talmud and other writings) were given to Moses
9. There will be no other Torah
10. God knows the thoughts and deeds of men
11. God will reward the good and punish the wicked
12. The Messiah will come
13. The dead will be resurrected
Unlike many other religions, Judaism does not focus much on abstract cosmological
concepts. Although Jews have certainly considered the nature of God, man, the universe,
life and the afterlife at great length (see Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism), there is no
mandated, official, definitive belief on these subjects, outside of the very general
concepts discussed above. There is substantial room for personal opinion on all of these
matters, because as I said before, Judaism is more concerned about actions than beliefs.
Judaism focuses on relationships: the relationship between God and mankind, between
God and the Jewish people, between the Jewish people and the land of Israel, and
between human beings. Our scriptures tell the story of the development of these
relationships, from the time of creation, through the creation of the relationship between
God and Abraham, to the creation of the relationship between God and the Jewish people,
and forward. The scriptures also specify the mutual obligations created by these
relationships, although various movements of Judaism disagree about the nature of these
obligations. Some say they are absolute, unchanging laws from God (Orthodox); some
say they are laws from God that change and evolve over time (Conservative); some say
that they are guidelines that you can choose whether or not to follow (Reform,
Reconstructionist). For more on these distinctions, see Movements of Judaism.
So, what are these actions that Judaism is so concerned about? According to Orthodox
Judaism, these actions include 613 commandments given by God in the Torah as well as
laws instituted by the rabbis and long-standing customs. These actions are discussed in
depth on the page regarding Halakhah: Jewish Law and the pages following it.
10. What Is
Judaism?
• Judaism has been described as a religion, a race, a culture, and
a nation
• All of these descriptions have some validity
• The Jewish people are best described as an extended family
What is Judaism? What does it mean to be a Jew? Most people, both Jewish and gentile,
would instinctively say that Judaism is a religion. And yet, there are militant atheists who
insist that they are Jews! Is Judaism a race? If you were to say so, most Jews would think
you were an antisemite! So what is Judaism?
Is Judaism a Religion?
Clearly, there is a religion called Judaism, a set of ideas about the world and the way we
should live our lives that is called "Judaism." It is studied in Religious Studies courses
and taught to Jewish children in Hebrew schools. See What do Jews Believe? for details.
There is a lot of flexibility about certain aspects of those beliefs, and a lot of
disagreement about specifics, but that flexibility is built into the organized system of
belief that is Judaism.
However, many people who call themselves Jews do not believe in that religion at all!
More than half of all Jews in Israel today call themselves "secular," and don't believe in
God or any of the religious beliefs of Judaism. Half of all Jews in the United States don't
belong to any synagogue. They may practice some of the rituals of Judaism and celebrate
some of the holidays, but they don't think of these actions as religious activities.
The most traditional Jews and the most liberal Jews and everyone in between would
agree that these secular people are still Jews, regardless of their disbelief. See Who is a
Jew? Clearly, then, there is more to being Jewish than just a religion.
Are Jews a Race?
In the 1980s, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Jews are a race, at least for
purposes of certain anti-discrimination laws. Their reasoning: at the time these laws were
passed, people routinely spoke of the "Jewish race" or the "Italian race" as well as the
"Negro race," so that is what the legislators intended to protect.
But many Jews were deeply offended by that decision, offended by any hint that Jews
could be considered a race. The idea of Jews as a race brings to mind nightmarish visions
of Nazi Germany, where Jews were declared to be not just a race, but an inferior race that
had to be rounded up into ghettos and exterminated like vermin. But setting aside the
emotional issues, Jews are clearly not a race.
Race is a genetic distinction, and refers to people with shared ancestry and shared genetic
traits. You can't change your race; it's in your DNA. I could never become black or Asian
no matter how much I might want to.
Common ancestry is not required to be a Jew. Many Jews worldwide share common
ancestry, as shown by genetic research; however, you can be a Jew without sharing this
common ancestry, for example, by converting. Thus, although I could never become
black or Asian, blacks and Asians have become Jews (Sammy Davis Jr. and Connie
Chung).
Is It a Culture or Ethnic Group?
Most secular American Jews think of their Jewishness as a matter of culture or ethnicity.
When they think of Jewish culture, they think of the food, of the Yiddish language, of
some limited holiday observances, and of cultural values like the emphasis on education.
Those secular American Jews would probably be surprised to learn that much of what
they think of as Jewish culture is really just Ashkenazic Jewish culture, the culture of
Jews whose ancestors come from one part of the world. Jews have lived in many parts of
the world and have developed many different traditions. As a Sephardic friend likes to
remind me, Yiddish is not part of his culture, nor are bagels and lox, chopped liver,
latkes, gefilte fish or matzah ball soup. His idea of Jewish cooking includes bourekas,
phyllo dough pastries filled with cheese or spinach. His ancestors probably wouldn't
know what to do with a dreidel.
There are certainly cultural traits and behaviors that are shared by many Jews, that make
us feel more comfortable with other Jews. Jews in many parts of the world share many of
those cultural aspects. However, that culture is not shared by all Jews all over the world,
and people who do not share that culture are no less Jews because of it. Thus, Judaism
must be something more than a culture or an ethnic group.
Are the Jews a Nation?
The traditional explanation, and the one given in the Torah, is that the Jews are a nation.
The Hebrew word, believe it or not, is "goy." The Torah and the rabbis used this term not
in the modern sense meaning a territorial and political entity, but in the ancient sense
meaning a group of people with a common history, a common destiny, and a sense that
we are all connected to each other.
Unfortunately, in modern times, the term "nation" has become too contaminated by ugly,
jingoistic notions of a country obsessed with its own superiority and bent on world
domination. Because of this notion of "nationhood," Jews are often falsely accused of
being disloyal to their own country in favor of their loyalty to the Jewish "nation," of
being more loyal to Israel than to their home country. Some have gone so far as to use
this distorted interpretation of "nationhood" to prove that Jews do, or seek to, control the
world. In fact, a surprising number of antisemitic websites and newsgroup postings linked
to this page (in an earlier form) as proof of their antisemitic delusions that Jews are
nationalistic, that Israel is a colonial power and so forth.
Because of the inaccurate connotations that have attached themselves to the term
"nation," the term can no longer be used to accurately describe the Jewish people.
http://www.jewfaq.org/judaism.htm
Focus Quiz: Answer on a separate sheet of paper.
The following questions reference the above image:
1. Does the image represent a polytheistic or a monotheistic religion?
2. Does the image represent a universalizing or an ethnic religion?
3. At its peak, this religion had many branches. What do you think was the focus of
these branches?
4. This religion was largely spread around the Mediterranean via oral histories.
Would the religion be more an example of popular culture or folk culture?
5. Is this 21st Century Image an example of popular culture or folk culture?
Station Questions: Answer on a separate page.
Station 1:
1. After reading the passage, would you say that Hinduism is an ethnic or a
universalizing religion? Explain your answers.
2. After reading the passage, identify the various Hindu religious texts.
3. What is special about the Mahabarata?
Station 2:
1. Explain why Hinduism is polytheistic?
2. For most people, religion is a path to spiritual enlightenment. How does a Hindu
obtain this enlightenment? Explain in detail.
3. What is the difference between Dharma and Karma?
4. How might the Caste System impact the social structure of Hindu countries like
India?
Station 3:
1. After reading the passage by what means do you believe Buddhist culture spread
to Tibet?
2. Why would the Chinese government want to destroy all traces of the Buddhist
religion?
3. What is the importance of the Dali Lama to Buddhism?
4. What is the mission of the Dali Lama?
Station 4:
1. After reading the passage, would you consider Buddhism an ethnic, or
universalizing religion? Explain why.
2. After reading the passage, what other major element of culture is essential to this
religion?
3. What do the six syllables help you transform?
Station 5:
1. In the early years of Tibetan Buddhism, what cultural icons were created to help
expand the Buddhist religion?
2. In 1945, why would the Buddhist monks protest against an English language
school in their society?
3. What is similar about the events of 877 and 1960?
4. What happened in 1989 to bring attention to the plight of Tibetan Buddhists?
Station 6:
1. What became the basic holy text of Islam?
2. When and how was the Islamic Religion founded?
3. What event set the stage for Islam to break into two distinct branches?
Station 7:
1. What is the major difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims?
2. Why is Iran considered a theocracy (government by religion)?
3. Looking at the chart, which countries have a majority Shiite population?
4. Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi dictator, was a Sunni Muslim. Now that he is gone,
and Iraq has an elected government, which branch of Islam do you think has more
power in the Iraqi government?
Station 8:
1. What is the main idea of the first map?
2. What is the main idea of the second map?
3. What geographic region of the world would you consider to be “The Muslim
World?”
4. Where in the world is Islam expanding fastest?
Station 9:
1. Why might the author of this passage write God instead of God?
2. According to the passage, what single word best describes the focus of Judaism?
3. What do Orthodox Jews follow in the practice of their religion?
Station 10:
1. Does the author consider Judaism just a religion? Why or why not?
2. Does the author consider Judaism a race? Why or why not?
3. Does the author consider Judaism an ethnicity? Why or why not?
4. Does the author consider Judaism a nation? Why or why not?
5. How would you label Judaism? Why?