Monastic Community Extra Credit

       The Buddha was the founder of the first Buddhist monastic community. It was a place for his followers to work to obtain nirvana as well as to spread the Buddha’s teachings. In monastic communities, monks and nuns work to expand themselves spirituality an as an addition they help newer members to the community to do the same. Monastic communities have rules that include celibacy as well as not taking the life of others. If these rules were to be broken, a member of that community would be ask to leave. In the community, monks and nuns participate in both individual and group in order to study and learn their faith. In that community, each person is assigned a specific duty to perform and to ensure that the community runs smoothly and problem free. For the lay people of their faith Buddhist monk and nuns serve as spiritual counselors.

       It may be slightly easier to practice Buddhism if a person is a monk or a nun because Buddhist monks and nuns live in special faith-centered communities. In these communities, they are surrounded by others who share the same faith and beliefs. Their companions are also in search of spiritual enrichment and enlightenment, and because they are living together as a group, the monks and nuns are able to support their peers who share a common goal.

       Theravada monks and nuns mostly focus on themselves and being able to better themselves to reach nirvana. Theravada monks and nuns spend basically all of their free time meditating. Tibetan monks focus primarily on the beauty of life as a way to reach nirvana. They work for countless hours to produce beautiful sand mandalas only to destroy them completely when they are done to show no attachments. It also teaches them about the impermanence of beauty and life.

       None of the rules that govern the lives of monks and nuns could be changed or taken away because these rules lead the simplistic lifestyle that the Buddhists live and expierence. If these rules were changed, the monks and nuns would be following the same rules as the lay people and they would not have anything that could set them apart and show uniqueness. Lastly, if these rules were changed or removed, the understanding of monastic life would not be the same.

 

Ancient Western Religions

1. It arose and flourished in ancient Iran, known today as Persia during the Persian empire of the 5th and 6th centuries.
2. Zoroastrianism spread beyond its origin after Persia conquered by the Greek and Alexander the Great in 328 BC which caused it to spread far
3. Zarathustra had the religious experience at age 30 of that an angle called good Thought appeared and brought him before Ahura Mazda who Zarathustra recognized as the one true god which drove him to spread the idea of monotheism.
4. The Sacred Text of Zoroastrianism is the Avesta and the oldest part is the Gathas, which are Zarathustra’s seventeen hymns
5. Ahura Mazda is eternal and universal goodness and controls the cosmos and the destiny of human beings
6. Ethical dualism is the belief in universal forces of good and evil
7. The Lie is the evil spirit. The Lie was chosen by the hostile spirit who was one of the Ahura Mazda’s twin children
8. Humans must choose between truth and the Lie, the beneficent spirit or the Hostile spirit
9. Zarathustra’s understanding of human destiny is that after death individuals undergo judgment. The good go to paradise and the bad to a dark abyss. Stress individual responsibility of a person in their passing of judgment.
10. The general ethical demands of the traditional Zoroastrian life and caring for livestock and fields lead by example, tell the truth, and avoid evil people.
11. The Parsis are today’s Zoroastrians that mostly live in India.
12. “The Bible” of the ancient Greeks was Homer’s The Illiad and the Odyssey.
13. “The gods of the Olympian pantheon are anthropomorphic” means that they have human attributes and none of them are all knowing but rather each has their own talents.
14. Aeschylus main contribution to the understanding of the gods was to focus on divine justice and have an emphasis on the characteristic strengths each god had rather than the humanistic ones. For example, he focused on Zeus’ power and strength.
15. An oracle is a sanctuary favored by a particular god who communicated to morals who were at the site. The most famous oracle was at Delphi where they sought the wisdom of Apollo.
16. The three basic aspects of the mystery religion are that individuals had to choose to become initiates and they went through some sort of initiation ritual, initiates experienced a personal encounter with deity, and initiates gained spiritual renewal through participation in the religion and hope for better afterlife.
17. The mystery religion that honored Demete, and Pesphore was that celebrated at Eleusis near Athens.
18. The god Dionysus is associated with fertility, vegetation and wine. He is often depicted in Greek art with vines and grapes.
19. The goal of the ascetic practices of the Orphics is to release the soul from the body and fully realize its divine nature.
20. Plato’s theory of knowledge is that we know things in life partially because we experienced them in a previous lifetime. This is known as recollection
21. Platonic dualism is how truth exists outside of any physical thing and is in ideas therefore perfect and eternal.
22. Jesus seemed to have much in common with Asclepius because they were both god and mortal at the same time, had the power to heal, and both encouraged a closer relationship between the worshipper and the worshipped.
23. Numina were supernatural powers that were in charge of specific functions. They were thought to inhabit homes, towns, fields, the countryside, streams, doorways, altars, shrines, and many other things.
24. The most powerful Roman deity was Jupiter
25. The six planets named after Roman deities are Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, and Saturn.
26. Official worship practices were essential because it was believed such worshipping ensured the welfare of the Roman state
27. The mystery religions that were the major threats to Christianity were those from Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, Palestine, and the Greeks.
28. The Egyptian myth of Isis and Oriris is that Orisis was killed and hacked into pieces by his brother. Isis, his wife, searched all over until finally finding Oriris’s body parts. She mummified him and he came back to life and was a god of the underworld.
29. The sort of emperor worship that was encouraged by Augustus was that he be worshipped as a god by the people he conquered.
30. Christians and Roman rulers clashed over emperor worship because Christians only believed in their one god and therefore refused to worship the emperor.

What is Judaism

1. The synagogue is a House of Assembly, House of Study, and House of Prayer. Jews use the synagogue as a place for meeting with other Jews. It is also used to study the Torah and other holy texts. The synagogue is also used to pray to God.


2. The Ark is located on the eastern wall of the synagogue. The ark is the repository for the Torah scrolls when they are not in use. It also serves as the focus for one's prayers. The Torah is handwritten by a trained scribe on parchment made from a kosher animal. The Torah has to be written with no mistakes; the letters must be clear, the writing must not be faded. If there is something wrong with the Torah it cannot be used until it is repaired by a scribe. The scrolls themselves are covered by cloth mantles, or covers, elaborately designed on the front. The Ten Commandments are kept



3. A rabbi is a teacher of the Torah. The requirements to become a rabbi are different from each sect of Judaism. For example, the entrance requirements for an Orthodox yeshiva include a strong background within Jewish law, liturgy, Talmudic study, and attendant languages such as Yiddish. In a nutshell, being a rabbi requires years of study and being able to know the Torah in and out. The rabbi differs from other clergymen because he has no power over the people. The role of the rabbi is to teach the people the meaning of the Torah.


4. Shabbat is the most important ritual observance in Judaism. It is the only ritual observance instituted in the Ten Commandments. It is also the most important special day. The Shabbat occurs on the day of rest from sundown Saturday to Sunday.


5. The Torah is the Jewish sacred book. It is the first five books of the bible that includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers. The Talmud is known as the “Oral Torah” and this is how the stories of the Torah should be interpreted.

6. Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Humanistic, and Zionist. Orthodox Jews follow Jewish law as laid down in the Torah . 5 million American Jews are Orthodox. Reform Judaism began after the Enlightenment. They believe that while the Torah is a valuable cultural and philosophical body of work, it was not delivered by God at one time, but developed over centuries. Reform says Judaism must continue to evolve. Conservative Judaism arose due to a break between Orthodox and Reform. Some Conservative synagogues are similar to Reform, while others are close to Orthodox. Finally, Theodore Herzl created the Zionist branch of Judaism. Historically, some Orthodox Jews had opposed Zionism because the Messiah had not appeared. But there were many religious Zionists as well.

7. Hebrew is a member of the Canaanite group of Semitic languages. Hebrew is the national language of Israel and it is said that the bible was written in Hebrew.



8. Yiddish was the primary language of Ashkenazic Jews in the shtetl, found throughout eastern and central Europe. One of the Germanic languages, Yiddish is written in Hebrew characters. It began between the 9th and 12th centuries in southwestern Germany as an adaptation of Middle High German dialects to the special needs of Jews.


9. Mazal Tov means Congratulations, Shalom means Hello,Peace,Goodbye, and Mitzvah means party


10. Birth includes the ceremony of circumcision, by which a boy enters the Covenant of Israel on his eighth day of life, goes back to Abraham, who was commanded by God to circumcise himself. Following the circumcision, the child's Hebrew name is announced. Bar/Bat Mitzvah- Every Jew becomes a Bar Mitzvah automatically. It is a change of legal status; it has nothing to do with how much an individual knows or has learned. No ceremony, certificate, or special service is required. However, it is a change of status that affects the entire community, since now there is an additional member to count in the minyan, and thus it has been customary to celebrate this milestone since the 1300's, though celebrations have always been small and modest until this century. The centerpiece of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration is the child's first aliyah: the first time the child is permitted to recite the scriptures from the Torah. Wedding- In Jewish tradition, a marriage is termed Kiddushin which connotes that the husband and wife are sanctified to one another and enjoy an exclusive relationship. This relationship also has legal ramifications. The actual marriage ceremony is originally kinyan, one of acquisition, modeled on the transfer of property in the ancient world. In the case of marriage, the woman accepts a ring from the man, and thereby accepts the terms of the marriage. A ketubah is read during the ceremony. Witnesses are required not required for the signing of the ketubah but they are required for the kinyan ceremony. In the United States, when a rabbi officiated at a wedding, it is a legal wedding by the law of the United States. Go Jews!



11. Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first and second days of Tishri. In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah means, literally, "first of the year." Rosh Hashanah is commonly known as the Jewish New Year. Yom Kippur- The name "Yom Kippur" means "Day of Atonement," and that pretty much explains what the holiday is. Jews don’t go to work and some fast. A fun fact is that on Yom Kippur, the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. is closed. Jews may also go to the synagogue to pray. First off, Hanukkah is not a very important religious holiday in Judaism. Hanukkah is the celebration of the menorah staying lit for eight days. There was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle. Passover is the most observed Jewish holiday even by secular Jews, so it can be interpreted as Christmas for Atheists. The day before Passover is the Fast of the Firstborn, a minor fast for all firstborn males, commemorating the fact that the firstborn Jewish males in Egypt were not killed during the final plague. In a nutshell, Passover celebrates God freeing his people from slavery in Egypt.


12. Before this assignment, I knew what the Torah and the Talmud were. Jews take very special care in their scripture. Also that at age 13 the jewish boy becomes a man.



13. The most surprising thing I found was the rigorous amount of work and significance of a bar mitzvah.




14. Passover is a Jewish tradition similar to mine because during Holy Week in the Catholic church, this very story is the Old Testament reading.




15. One aspect of Jewish life that is different from mine is the language. Hebrew and Yiddish are Jewish languages but I guess this isn’t very different from my religion because Latin is the main religion of Christianity.