R 201:EASTERN RELIGIONS
Winter 2003

SECOND EXAM STUDY QUESTIONS

GENERAL QUESTIONS ON RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Be familiar with the following terms and names; be able to state their meaning. (For meanings, see R201 Lectures (2003) and R201 Glossary.)

public education religion studies (legally appropriate); empathy, empathetic objectivity, test of empathy, test of neutrality, bracketing, system of symbols, central (or primary) story, crossing the threshold, threshold effect, another world to live in, representational symbol, presentational symbol, problem of meaning, religion (generic definition of), "ultimate reality," at-onement, way of being religious, way of sacred rite, way of right action, way of devotion, way of shamanic mediation, way of mystical quest, way of reasoned inquiry, Western religions, Eastern religions, monotheism, oneness of God, holiness of God, otherness of God, revelation, historical religion, scandal of particularity, prophet, eschatological.

2. What are the three tests (or criteria) that must be met for publically sponsored instruction in religion to be in agreement with the First Amendment according to current legal interpretion? (Essay I, H2)

3. Distinguish teaching of religion from teaching about religion, and explain why the latter but not the former is appropriate for public education in the U.S. (Essay I, H2)

4. What is empathetic objectivity and why is it important in religious studies? (Essay II, H2)

5. What is the test of empathy and what is its purpose? What is the test of neutrality and what is its purpose? (Essay II, H2)

6. Explain how religious symbols change or alter in appearance and meaning ("the threshold effect") as one moves across the threshold of the system of symbols making up a religious tradition. (Essay II, H2)

7. Why is "the threshold effect" important to understand and keep in mind when studying religious phenomena? (Essay II, J2)

8. What is the working definition of religion being used in this class? Explain with an example. (Essay III, H3)

9. What are the practical advantages of being able to recognize, and have some understanding of, the six different ways of being religious discussed in the duplicated essay? Explain with examples. (Essay IV; H3; Cannon, Six Ways of Being Religious, chs. 1 & 6)

10. Be able to identify, cite examples of, and briefly explain any of the six ways of being religious. (Essay IV; H3; Cannon, Six Ways of Being Religious, chs. 3 & 4)

11. In what ways are Judaism, Christianity and Islam internally connected with each other that the great Eastern religions are not?  In other words, what makes them "blood brothers," as it were? (Essay V, H4)

12. What distinctive understanding of the nature of God is shared by the three traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam?  What distinctive understanding of the nature of the "ultimate reality" tends to be shared among the traditions of India, China, and Japan? Be able to explain each of the three aspects that characterize these understandings. (Essay V, H4)

13. Be able to recognize the other six traits that distinguish Eastern religions (the ones we are studying) from Western religions, beyond their shared understanding of the nature of "ultimate reality." (Essay V, H4)

14. Explain the respect in which the religions of India, China, and Japan (with the exception of Islam and Sikhism) are not "historical religions" in the way Judaism, Christianity and Islam are "historical religions." What does this have to do with how these traditions understand ultimate reality as "not other" and how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam understand ultimate reality (or God) as "other"?  (Essay V, H4)
 

QUESTIONS ON BUDDHISM

Be familiar with the following terms and names; be able to state their meaning, identify that (or those things) to which they refer, and/or indicate in a phrase their meaning in the mainstream tradition(s) of Buddhism. (For meanings see R201 Lectures (2003) and the R201 Glossary.)
 

Buddha, Gautama (Gotama), Three Refuges, sangha, dharma/dhamma, karma/kamma, samsara, duhkha, trsna/tanha, nirvana/nibbana, mindfulness (or mindfulness meditation), Triipitaka (Tipitaka), Eightfold Path, Four Noble Truths, anatman/anatta, emptiness (shunyata), compassion (karuna), Five Precepts, Pratimoksha/Pattimokkha), prajna-paramita, Three Bodies [of the Buddha], Dharmakaya, Kuan Yin (Kannon), Amitabha (Ami-to-fo, Amida), Maitreya, lineage, Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, Dalai Lama, Nagarjuna, Pure Land, bodhisattva, arhant/arahant, bhiksu/bhikkhu bhiksuni/bhikkhuni, Chan/Zen, zazen.

1.  Be able to identify which of the Ways of Being Religious correlate with the different expressions of Buddhism we will be covering.  (B2, B5, B6; Essay IV and H3; Cannon, Six Ways, ch. 7)

2.  Be able to recognize the main elements of the Central Story of Buddhism, the story of the Buddha's enlightenment.  (B2, Ludwig, ch. 5)

3.  In what basic respects did Buddhism retain elements of Hinduism?   (B3, Ludwig, ch. 5)

4.  In what basic respects did Buddhism depart from Hinduism?  How is Buddhism's conception of worship (puja) different?  (B3, Ludwig, ch. 5)

5.  What is the meaning of Buddhism's basic diagnosis of life as duhkha?  (I.e., be able to recognize an accurate explanation when you see it.)  How is this not a negative and despairing view of life?  (B2; Ludwig, ch. 6)

6.  What is the connection between duhkha and tanha?  (B2, B4; Ludwig, ch. 6)

7.  What is nirvana, and how it is not something negative and nihilistic.  (B2; 80-81 Ludwig, ch. 6)

8.  What are the Five Precepts that all Buddhists are supposed to follow?  What is the point or purpose of Moral Practice (sila/shila) in Buddhism?  What all is involved in the Buddhist conception of merit (punya)?  (B1, B3; Ludwig, ch. 7)  Which of the six ways of being religious does this correspond to?  (B3; H3 and Essay IV; and Cannon, Six Ways, ch. 7)

9.  What is the point or purpose of the Buddhist emphasis upon Right Understanding or Wisdom (prajna/panna)?  (B1, B4;  Ludwig, ch. 6)  Which of the six ways of being religious does this correspond to?  (H3 and Essay IV; and Cannon, Six Ways, ch. 7)

10.  What is the pont or purpose of the Buddhist emphasis on Meditative Concentration (samadhi)?  What two crucial components does it involve?  (B1, B4, Ludwig, ch. 6)   Which of the six ways of being religious does this correspond to?  (H3 and Essay IV; and Cannon, Six Ways, ch. 7)

11.  What does the Buddhist doctrine of anatman/anatta mean?  What difference does it make for the Buddhist understanding of reincarnation?  How is it connected with the Buddhist idea of the emptiness (shunyata) of all things, with its idea of the interdependence of all beings, and with its idea of compassion (karuna) at the heart of the universe?  (B4;  Ludwig, ch. 6)

12.  What do Buddhists mean in speaking of the three fundamental features of all things (anitya/anicca, anatman/anatta, and duhkha)?  (B4, Ludwig, ch. 6)

13.  In what specific respects do Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism differ?  Where is each found?  (B5, Ludwig; chs. 5 and 6)

14.  How does the bodhisattva ideal of Mahayana differ from the arahant ideal of Theravada?  (B5; Ludwig, chs. 5 and 6)

15.  What are the distinguishing features of Pure Land Buddhism?  (B5, B6, Ludwig, chs. 5 and 6)

16.  What are the basic teachings about the nature of reality found in prajna-paramita teachings of Mahayana Buddhism?  (B4, B5, Ludwig, ch. 6)

19.  What are the basic features of Vajrayana Buddhism and where is it found?  (B5, B6, Ludwig, chs. 5 and 6)

20.  What is the Dalai Lama, and what is his function and role (or what are his functions and roles) in Tibetan Buddhism?  (B5; Ludwig, ch. 5)

21.  What circumstances in the way that Buddhism was introduced to China gave shape to distinctive forms of Chinese Buddhism?  (B6, Ludwig, chs. 5 and 10)

22.  What distinctive new forms of Buddhism emerged in China?  What distinguished the so-called "catholic" sects from the so-called "protestant" sects?  Which of these survived the 9th Century attempt to suppress Buddhism in China and why??  (B6, Ludwig, chs. 5, 10, and 11)

23.  What are the distinctive features of Ch'an (or Zen) Buddhism?   (I.e., how is it different from other, classical forms of Buddhism?)  (B6; Ludwig, ch. 11)

24.  What distinguishes the Sudden Enlightenment school of Zen (i.e., Lin-chi or Rinzai) from the Gradual Enlightenment school (i.e., Tsao-tung or Soto)?  (B6; Ludwig, ch. 11)
 

Note: For 2003, the following terms and questions will not be on the exam.

QUESTIONS ON SIKHISM

Be familiar with the following terms and names; be able to state their meaning, identify that (or those things) to which they refer, and/or indicate in a phrase their meaning in the mainstream tradition(s) of Sikhism. (For meanings see R201 Lectures (2001) and the R201 Glossary.)
 

Sikh, guru, Kalsa, Singh, Kaur, Nanak, Adi Granth, Nam, nirvana, gurdwara.

1.  What is the central story of Sikhism?  How does this make Sikhism a historical religion?

2.  What relationship does Sikhism have to Hinduism and Islam?

3.  What is the Khalsa, and what significance does it have in Sikhism?  In this connection, what is the significance of the dagger (kirpan) which all members of the Khalsa are supposed to wear?

4.  What do Sikhs mean by "the Guru"?

5.  In what respects does Sikhism combine elements of both a Western understanding of ultimate reality as "other" with an Eastern understanding of ultimate reality as "not other."  In this respect, what do they mean in speaking of "the One True Name"?

6.  What is the Sikh attitude toward other religions?

7.  How does the Sikh understanding of transmigration and the law of karma differ from the Hindu understanding?

8.  What is the Sikh understanding of the human predicament?

9.   What is the Sikh understanding of the one thing needful for salvation?  Given this understanding, what sorts of things make up the Sikh path to liberation and union with God?  What Ways of Being Religious are involved?

10.  What is the Sikh approach to ethical and moral issues?

11.  What is the Sikh teaching with regard to distinctions between persons based on social rank (e.g., caste), ethinic background, race, and gender?

12.  What is the nature of Sikh worship?