R 201:EASTERN RELIGIONS
Winter 1999

SECOND EXAM STUDY QUESTIONS

GENERAL QUESTIONS ON RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Be familiar with the following terms and names. (For meanings see R201 Lectures (1999) and the R201 Glossary.)

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

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. What distinguishes teaching of religion from teaching about religion.  Why is the latter but not the former appropriate for public education in the U.S. (Essay I, H2)

4. What are the key elements or aspects of 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?  Be able to recognize what does and does not pass the test of empathy (i.e., what is and what is not effectively "bracketed"). (Essay II, H2)

6. In what respects do 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. What is the use or value of taking into account the "threshold effect" when studying religious phenomena?  What mistakes does an understanding of it help one avoid? (Essay II, H2)

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.  Be able to identify what it is that motivates persons to be involved in each.  (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 the former "blood brothers," as it were, while the latter are not? (Essay V, H4)

12. How is the distinctive understanding of the nature of ultimate reality in Eastern Religions different from that shared by the three traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam?  Be able to identify the three primary aspects. (Essay V, H4)

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

14. Explain the respect in which Judaism, Christianity and Islam are "historical religions" while Eastern religions are not (with the exception of Sikhism). What does this have to do with the "otherness" of God as these traditions portray ultimate reality versus the "non-otherness" of ultimate reality in Eastern religions?  (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 (1999) 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.

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; Eastman, pp.65-73; Ludwig, ch. 6)

6.  What is the connection between duhkha and tanha?  (B2, B4; Eastman, pp.65-73; Ludwig, ch. 6)

7.  What is nirvana, and how it is not something negative and nihilistic.  (B2; Eastman, pp.65-73; 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)?  (B3; Eastman, pp.99-104; Ludwig, ch. 7)

9.  What is the point or purpose of the Buddhist emphasis upon Right Understanding or Wisdom (prajna/panna)?  (B4; Eastman, pp.65-73; Ludwig, ch. 6)

10.  What is the pont or purpose of the Buddhist emphasis on Meditative Concentration (samadhi)?  What two crucial components does it involve?  (B4, Ludwig, ch. 6)

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; Eastman, pp.77-79; 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; Eastman, pp.94-98; chs. 5 and 6)

14.  How does the bodhisattva ideal of Mahayana differ from the arahant ideal of Theravada?  (B5; Eastman, pp.94-98; 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; Eastman, pp.105-111; 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; Eastman, pp. 113-144; 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, Eastman, pp. 113-115; Ludwig, ch. 11)
 

Note: For 1999, 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 (1999) 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?