Midterm

1. Nella Crisci

2. nellacrisci

3. nellacrisi@yahoo.com

4. I completed seven (7) posts. the 1st on 09/01, the 2nd on 09/06, the 3rd and 4th on 09/08, and the 5th, 6th and 7th on 09/20.

5. I have read the following: When Scholars Study the Sacred, When Gods Decay, The Enchanted Land, chapters 1-4 in Hudson Smith's book, Jainism, Why I Don't Eat Faces, Lions in the Punjab, Wisdom of the Buddha and Tao te Ching. I read all required reading.

6. I watched the following films: a half an hour of the Hudson Smith, the film on Guru Faqir Chand, the fifty minute Hinduism documentary, the short Jainism video, the short films on Sikhism, the short films on Buddhism and the short vidoe on Taoism. I did not skip any required films. I enjoyed the documentary on Hunduism because it gave me more insight to the mysterious religion.

7. I visited a Buddhist Temple, the Hsi Lai Temple.

8. I did not complete any extra credit work.


Essay question 1
There are numerous religious groups today, ranging from old religions such as Christianity to fresh religious groups known as cults. Exactly what sustains a religion from dying out depends on different concepts offered by different experts. Ninian Smart presents one of the most accepted concepts of religion as he explains that it is an “organism with seven dimensions”. Within religion lives ethics, doctrines, rituals, myths, religious experiences, social institutions and material outlines of religion. According to Smart, in order to be considered a valid religion, all seven of these dimensions must be present.

J. Gordon Melton argues that there are approximately three hundred thousand affiliates that should not be under minded by their miniscule number compared to millions of affiliates in Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism, just to name a few examples. Eastern religious inspiration will increasingly continue to be seen in America. According to Melton, people who seek to join cults live in middle to upper class urban areas and are edified individuals, who are looking for unity, self worth, increased spiritual understanding and an enlightened worldly outlook. According to Melton, Eastern Religions are popular in America because of the openness to multiple ideologies instead of strict doctrines and a teaching of personal spiritual growth. Even though only ten percent of students venture out to try new religions that they have mostly learned in college, it is a short lived journey that results in the student returning back to the religion they grew up in. People are stepping away from orthodox Christianity and Judaism to religions that are not as unbending in rituals and the fallible self but instead. Instead, people seek religions that offer a strong, powerful meaning of self worth. Melton goes on to say that for young individuals trying to break free from strict religious upbringings, cults may offer a good sense of belonging and growing into adulthood, instead of negative outcomes, such as drug abuse.

Susan Blackmore believes that religious ideologies are carried on by humans. Since memes do outnumber humans, it is important that ideas replicate and continue on. Although, humans can misinterpret ideas as they are passed on by word thus creating more versions of the truth. Imitation is the only true way to pass on a meme, according to Blackmore. As children mimic behavior in order to fit into society, religious concepts should be impersonated in order to insure success. Emotional ideas also have a stronger likelihood of dispersing because we cannot talk about what we do not experience. Another important factor of meme replication is that the more complex the meme, the less chance it has for surviving. If we combine Neitzsche’s theory with Blackmore’s theory, we have the ingredients for religious success, which is that humans pass on theories and orthodox breakdown will be replaced with new religions. Memes that merge what humans want with that of what humans dread tend to be more successful than those religions who lack them.

Ken Wilber argues that human awareness has evolved over time, just like the human body has. Consequently, ideas have developed as realization in humans has. Wilber states we will find that some memes will be more successful than other memes simply because of the when they were introduced and to who they were introduced to. According to Wilber, there are three stages of human awareness: pre-rational, rational, and transrational. Within each of the stages is a place for memes to fit into.


Essay question 2
Religion does not die because of the vibrant and supple nature of it but instead is ever changing and developing. According to H. Richard Niebuhr, there a continuous religious sequence that we see: traditional religions evolve from sensible to liberal ones, liberal religions become more spiritual and sects turn out to be traditional religions which start the sequence once more. Because of the secularization that all religious nations have endured, new religious developments will be born. There are three types of religious categories. The first category is the well-known religions that are supported in society. The second is the sect which is a division of the well-known religions that are usually not accepted in society. The third type is the cult, considered an innovative movement that is not familiar to society.

Peter Berger contends that the decrease of spiritual religion is actually being disputed. Berger goes on to say that there may actually be another phenomenon in the making in America. As the world is altering ever so quickly, conservatism is more appealing to people. For some people, the morals that existed before the nineteen hundred sixties are desired. An example of this is the returning of the male as the head of the house hold who brings home the bacon while the woman stays home to raise the children and tend to the home.

Today, the baby boomers, people that were born between nineteen hundred forty six and nineteen hundred sixty four, make up one third of America with a population of approximately seventy six million people. Consequently, the baby boomers play a big part in religion today and where it will be headed in the future. The mid-life crisis will hit baby boomers with questions arising such as changes in religious outlooks, contemplation and reconsideration of life. These baby boomers are looking at religion in a different way as the importance is placed on individual preference and spiritual encounter. Instead of viewing God as a separate inspiration of nature, baby boomers are looking at God as being one with nature. Earth day is an example of how baby boomers are bonding with God. Many baby boomers are starting to view the self as purely virtuous instead of immoral. This optimism has lead to the fresh cultural development of the environmental consciousness.

According to Abraham Maslow, there are necessities are prioritized differently and once the necessities to live are obtained, the true self can be found. Since the baby boomers are the most successful bunch of individuals in history, they can now search for their true self. Wade Clark Roof has found in recent studies that the majority of baby boomers seek out unity and are egalitarians. Baby boomers are also more open to new ideas than past generations have been, due to an increase in education and introduction to different cultures.


Essay question 3
Sociologist George Simmel describes humans as being innately religious along with a deeply rooted character of destiny and community. Religion, according to Simmel, permits an appropriately operating civilization. Society would be non-existent without religion because it defines how a culture should function in everyday life. A significant role in religion is the laws set forth, such as no adultery and no killing. Religion also has the influence to promote a solid meaning of community. Unity is also an outcome of religious groups because everyone works together to form a sound world. Confidence in a god promotes love, kindness and peacefulness because those acts are what a god will abide by and enforce. God is the backbone for religion. Without the backbone, religion would not be.

A different description of religion offered by sociologist Bryan Wilson is that religion offers optimism and deliverance. An immensely hidden benefit of religion is unity, as said by Wilson. For a society to function adequately, religion is a crucial necessity. Following the word of God gives a meaning of responsibilities and societal worth. Religion serves as a set of laws that should be followed, or incriminating actions will have consequences, in order to keep an organized and goal oriented society. Wilson argues that a human necessity is passionately expressing one self through rituals, art and dance. Orthodox religion has become non-existent in the Western hemisphere. Without religion, Wilson believes that society will die because of the lack of kindness, hope and unity. Wilson believes that the fate of the Western world is doomed because traditional religion is diminishing.

According to sociologist Max Weber, religious philosophies promote social change. Weber goes on to argue that religious thoughts can determine how people will act in a social environment. Austere behavior is important for revolutionizing society and to feed the strength of capitalism. In countries of Protestant influence, capitalism prospers.

Mark Juergesnmeyer agrees with Max Weber that religious values will induce beneficial social transformation. Religion can liberate social cruelty, as seen in the with the Ad Dharm movement in India. The Ad Dharm movement purposely served to liberate the lowest social level of the caste system, known as the Untouchables. The caste system in Hinduism defines your course in life with no change. The Untouchables are often seen as outsiders from the caste system. Instead of rebelling against the caste system, the Untouchables fought back by questioning the religious history that India lived by. The Ad Dharm movement endorsed a sense of hope and a new character for the Untouchables. Equality was not on the agenda of the Ad Dharm movement but simply detachment from Hindu race. The British government assisted the Ad Dharm movement with the existing optimistic affiliation with the Untouchables. The Ad Dharm movement died out in the nineteen hundred thirties but revived itself in the nineteen hundred seventies and is still going strong today.

One of the first sociologists in the nineteenth centuries was Emile Durkheim. Durkheim concurred with Freud’s theory that tribal groups and their totems were the primary structure of religion. To Durkheim, the totems exemplified societal strength. The totem was enclosed with laws that the society lived by. Today, we see the same form of religion but God replaces the totem. Social organization is the outcome of approved behaviors and thoughts by God. If you disobeyed the beliefs of God, you would be condemned to hell.


Essay question 5
Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak and eventually had nine other Gurus who shaped the religion. Although Guru Nanak was a philosopher who was connected to the Sant Tradition, he was the founder of the religion called Sikhism in the beginning of the sixteenth century. Guru Nanak took beliefs from the Sant Tradition, an older and superior religion in India, and created Sikhism. According to W.H. Mcleod, Guru Nanak did not actually create Sikhism since the basic beliefs were nothing new. To Sikh followers, Guru Nanak was considered to be the creator of their new religion called Sikhism. Sikhism beliefs include the notions that God is amorphous and that enlightenment can be reached by mysticism and meditation. Sikhs also believe in reincarnation, karma and samsara, or the sequence of birth and death. One of the primary goals in Sikhism is to become so enlightened that one does not have to become stuck in the cyclical birth and death but to enter eternal bliss.

Over time, Sikhism has evolved from the sociological changes that have occurred in history. The third Guru, Amar Das, implemented a caste free system, created traditions and festivals to promote a sense of community for the Sikhs, he put into practice the manji system, or regime, which included responsibilities for men and women and he collected writings from past Gurus which would be of much importance later in history. Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru, conceived the Andi Grath, which is composed of statements from Sant Teachers and from the Sikh Guru’s as well as Muslim and Hindu scripts. Guru Arjan also constructed a religious site called Hari Mandir, which means the Temple of God, and also referred to as the Golden Temple. According to McLeod, the sixth Guru, Har Gobind, Arjan’s eleven year old son, took supremacy and soon structured a Sikh army due to the rise of persecution during that time. McLeod states that the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, employed the Khalsa instead of appointing another Guru to succeed him because all of his four sons were killed wile trying to defend Sikhism in India. The Khalsa, which means pure community, outlined the appropriate Sikh conduct and is seen as being an orthodox view of the religion. Gobind Singh implemented strict guidelines for his followers, such as no smoking, no eating meat and the five k’s, which were kesh, meaning not cutting your hair, kara, a bracelet that was worn, kanga, a comb placed inside the turban, kirpan, a sword that is worn, and finally kaach, or cotton underwear. The five k’s are controversial because studies have shown no direct correlations to Gobind Singh. The five k’s were seen being enforced in the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries, two hundred years after the creation of the Khalsa. In eighteen hundred seventy three the Singh Sabha, an organization to protect Sikhism, was created. The Singh Sabha kept the Sikh traditions alive in the following years, such as encouraging the five k’s. McLeod has expressed his concern that the history of Sikhism has been represented as being too simplistic for what it actually is.


Essay question 6
God is viewed to the Hindus as the supreme person. In regards to personal stipulations, God is the maker, the protector and the demolisher of all. Transpersonally, God takes a laid back approach. It is known to the Hindus that God's force allows souls to mysteriously enter into this world. The universe is a playground for the Hindus. It is where souls are reincarnated, where souls climb the evolution latter and where one's knowledge and wisdom conclude one's future. There is a personal responsibility that binds Hindus to the universe. There are different stages in the life that Hindus recognize. The first is the student, then the householder, then the retiree and finally, the repudiated. Each of these stages has their own plan of what should happen. For instance, the student should not be sexually active during this stage as that is preserved for marriage. The retiree will begin to withdraw from social encounters. The renunciated will prepare for death.
Hudson Smith indicated that people desire pleasure, success on the path of desire, community and duty. Pleasure is natural for humans because we are born wanting and if we ignore the need for such pleasure, we will die. People always want more and are never satisfied with what they have. Community is important to people because it gives them a sense of belonging. Duty makes people feel important and as if they have accomplishments in life. According to Smith, people really want to be happy, to have knowledge and to be as to exist. People do not want to be distant from happiness, knowledge and existence because their ultimate goal is Moksha. The avenues to these goals can be found through knowledge, love, work and psychophysical exercises. The trail through knowledge is done by Jnana yoga, which is the quickest way to achieve our surface selves but at the same time is the most difficult route of them all. Love works through Bhakti yoga, which is the most popular form. The work path is done through Karma yoga with emphasis on either Jnana yoga or Bhakti yoga. The psychophysical path is completed through Raja yoga, known as "the raj (royal) road to reincarnation".In my reflection of the movie, I found Hinduism to be a very beautiful and aged religion. It is very interesting how Hinduism is not a religion per say but more of a way of life for Indians. It is astonishing that at one point in history, Hindus actually ate beef considering how sacred the cow is to Hindus today. It is apparent that Hinduism played a major role in the creation of Buddhism and Jainism simply out of rebellion towards the Indian caste system. I admire the fact that India has acknowledged other religions. It shows decency and intelligence. Ghandi was a brilliant man by respecting and incorporating other religions in his everyday life. Before reading the book and viewing the movie, I had a preconception of India and it was nothing how I view it now. I am in awe by the Hindu beliefs and plan on incorporating them into my life. In my opinion, Hinduism definitely exists.

Essay question 7
Buddhism was once a single religion consisting of one type of personality and eventually separated into different schools of thought after the death of Buddha and right before the turn of the century. There were two schools of Buddhism that were seen. The first was founded on individualism, brainpower, insightful progression, meditation, prayer and that Buddha was a saint. This group, known as the Hinayanists or Theravada Buddhism, adamantly saw Buddhism as a permanent responsibility. In Theravada Buddhism, the individual is exclusively responsible for their success because there is no assistance in the cosmos. One must experience and learn, through wisdom, the path to enlightenment. Theravada Buddhism believes heavily in realism, reasoning and isolation. Simplistic guidelines were the way of life for Theravada Buddhism where monks and nuns were respected. The second was instituted on inter-reliance, passion and assistance. Mahayanists was the name given to the second group because they were the majority of the population and maha meant the big raft and Hinayana meant the little raft. Mahayanists believed that success was interdependent on the society as a whole, that they were not alone and received assistance from Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Buddha is referred to as a savior to Mahayanists. Mahayana Buddhism advocated that compassion was not naturally inherited but was actively achieved and would lead to enlightenment. Spiritual growth was achieved through prayer, pleading and repetitious calling of the Buddha. Once a Mahayanist achieves nirvana, they will revisit the world to offer assistance to others. Mahayana Buddhism allowed priests to marry and their primary goal was to serve the community. Both schools argued that the Buddha taught their way.

Theravada Buddhism remained as the orthodox view and did not spin off any branches. Mahayana Buddhism did have branches form from its foundation. The Pure Land school relied on compassion, while Ti’en Tai in China and Tendai in Japan preferred social accordance and education.

A third school of thought was the Diamond raft, known as Vajrayana Buddhism, which is a combination of Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism because it believes in both wisdom and compassion. Vijrayana Buddhism is also referred to as Tibetan Buddhism. Sexual encounters are mostly practiced in Tibetan Buddhism but are also important in Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. Many people are fond of Tibetan Buddhism from the Dalai Lama, who one a Nobel Peace Prize in nineteen hundred eighty nine.

In the world that we live in today, we still see both forms of Buddhism actively practiced. Theravada Buddhism can be seen in south Asian countries, such as Cambodia, Burma, Thailand and Sri Lanka. On the contrary, Mahayana Buddhism can be seen in China, Japan, Tibet and Korea.


Essay question 8
Parshvanatha, who lived around nine hundred before Christ, was the first person linked to Jainism. Religious influences for Jains have been obtained Rishabh as well. Jainism is a religion that is based on the foundation that all life forms have souls and deserve respect. Furthermore, Jains believe that there is no beginning and no end to the universe but instead the universe goes through developments of recurring transformations. The ethical view point of Jainism is based on the soul's liberation. Jains live by standards such as non-violence, truth, no stealing, celibacy, no attachment to worldly possessions, the practice of forgiveness and no animosity. In Jainism, the spiritual goal is to reach Samyak darshana, or true perception. This can be achieved by observation and knowledge of worldly associations without attachment and loathing.
The similarities found in Sikhism and Jainism is the ethical viewpoints, such as peace, truth, celibacy and economical exercise. Jains and Sikhs also have the same goal of finding the true self. Both groups are vegetarians and believed in a caste free system because we are all equal.
Jainism is a bit more intense than Sikhism is in the sense that in Jainism, everything is considered to be as equal as a human is, including a fly, and should be treated with the same respect that we would want to be treated with. In Jainism, the universe is viewed differently as there is no beginning and no end.


Essay question 9
According to Hudson Smith, Confucius had five principles that shaped his thinking. The first value was jen and was the most important of them all because it outlines the standards of interaction between individuals. The second value is chun tzu, which is the dignified and ample way life in its entirety is handled. The third value is li and has two connotations: propriety and right conduct. The fourth value is te, which means power. The last value is wen and refers to the ability of tranquility. Confucius believed that heaven and earth were connected to each other firmly. Heaven made up of our ancestors and Earth stored mortal beings. Confucius believed that the dead should be treated as if they were living on Earth. A good supernatural did exist in the cosmos, according to Confucius.

The Confucian project states that there is no self without human relationships. Communication with others defines the self, which is in the center of it all. According to Confucius, individuals are like birds and the affiliation with others are our wings that allow us to fly to the goal. As long as individuals try to be unselfish and outstanding individuals, their peers will help them succeed.

My mother raised me to treat others as I would like to be treated, which are famous words for Confucius. In my life, I was taught that you succeeded in life by assisting people on the way up. Pushing people down in life was not the answer and would come around to bite you in the rear, ten fold. I definitely believe that Heaven and Earth are connected in some way because of their connected gateways. Since my mother-in-law died last year, my husband and I find that we visit her and talk to her everyday as if she were still alive.

According to Smith, Taoism was created by Lao Tzu, about six hundred before Christ. Tao te Ching is the book that defines the religion, just like a bible does in Catholicism. Tao means path and there are three implicit logics of the path. The first is the way of the definitive connotation. The second is the way of the cosmos. The third is the way of human existence. There are three schools of Taoism that exist in China. One school of thought is the philosophical Taosim, known as a way of life, which has two elements: comprehension and accomplishment. The second school of thought is known as the proficient Taoism because it does not settle for comprehension but instead wants to master the Tao. The third school is known as the religious Taoism because a church was established to give hope and power to ordinary people. All three schools of Taoist thought all have the same agenda, which is to find the power to make the most of the path. Paralleling the Tao with an individuals’ daily life is an important task in philosophical Taoism.

Other Taoist values condemn self-confidence and competitiveness. Exploitation, mistreatment of the natural world, wastefulness and pageantry are not permitted. Modernity and travel are forbidden in Taoism. Oppositions, such as the yin/yang symbol in the Chinese tradition, compliment each other: man and woman, day and night, life and death and the rest. Peacefulness is important in Taoism and war is solemnly viewed.

Growing up, I was taught to stay on the right path and not to wander off of it by bad influence. Education and accomplishments in my life were greatly appreciated by my parents because they felt that I was growing up to be a good person. If I became too confident, my parents would remind e exactly who I was. Competitiveness between my brother and I was not allowed because my mother felt that it would make us grow apart.

According to Smith, Confucianism and Taoism are like yin and yang. Taoism is based on naturalness while Confucianism promotes analyzed behaviors. Confucius centered on the human while Lao Tzu connected humans to doing extremely well. Confucius travels within society while Lao Tzu goes further than society.


Essay question 10
I found Hinduism to be the most interesting Religion we have studied in this course so far. I would imagine that I would be a firm believer in Bhakti. Indians were extremely advanced for their time. The knowledge possessed by Indians is mind boggling. For instance, in the different paths to God there are four types of personalities that we find in this world; through knowledge, love, work and psychophysical exercises. Today, we still use personalities to find our true self. Another example is the different stages that we face in life. These stages accurately assist us to plan ahead in our life. Hindus knew how to read people in a sense because they were able to accurately figure out what people wanted in life; desire, community, duty and success. Less is always more but that does not change the truth behind human beings. Hinduism is not a religion per say but more of a way of life for Indians. It is also apparent that Hinduism played a major role in the creation of Buddhism and Jainism simply out of rebellion towards the Indian caste system. I admire the fact that India has acknowledged other religions. It shows decency and intelligence. Before reading the book and viewing the movie, all I knew about Hinduism was the fact that the cow was viewed as being sacred and was not used as a food source. I had a preconception of India and it was nothing how I view it now. I am in awe by the Hindu beliefs and plan on incorporating them into my life.