Islam half test

We will have our final test (worth half a normal test) on Wednesday, May 13. Students with a 70 or below after that test will have to take a final exam.

I've put a review sheet under Useful Things.

Assignment for Friday

Find and read as much of the poet Rumi as you can (he's all over the Web). Pick some lines or a poem you like, and then post under Comments a) those lines, and b) at least 150+ words of commentary on them. Enjoy.

Assignment for Monday, May 4

Every night this week, spend 30+ minutes reading the Islam articles in the New York Times and parts of the Muslim newspaper Al-Jazeera.  Take notes in your notebooks.  Feel free to let your interests wander and to look up terms you don't know, links to articles on similar topics, etc....  Quiz and notebook collection.

Assignment for Monday, 4/27

Congratulations on turning in your research projects!

You can take a few nights off from homework now (you deserve it). For 4/27 read "Islam" in your text from pages 142-167. Quiz and notebook collection.

Final Project due date

Because of the long Easter weekend, I'm giving you until Wednesday, 4/15 to turn in your final project. You must turn it in during class that day or it's late (-10% per day).

Buddhism Test

The Buddhist test is Monday and Tuesday, April 6-7. The first day is the objective day, and the second day is the essay. Note that there are lots of useful Useful Things to help you. I have also put 3 Buddhist PowerPoints in the erel folders on your FC desktops.

Here are the three possible essay topics, and once again, you may prepare a note card for each:

1. If you had to choose three words to characterize the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, which three would you pick, and why? Use quotes.
2. Explain Zen to your mother or father. Hitting them is no doubt a bad idea, so you're going to have to use words. Use quotes.
3. Describe the life and importance of the Dalai Lama. Use quotes.

Assignment for Monday, 2/16

Finish the Buddhism chapter in your text. Take notes in your notebooks.

Also read "Commentary Unveils Evil Deeds of Dalai Lama" from the Chinese People's Daily and "Dalai Lama Harshly Condemns China" (from today's New York Times!).
We will have a quiz, and I will collect your notebooks.

Assignment for Monday, 2/9

Quiz over Zen. This quiz will include the Zen handout, the Zen comics, and all Zen material we've covered in class to that point. I promise that this will be the toughest quiz of the semester.

Assignment for Tuesday

Find an interesting dharma talk at DharmaSeed.org, listen to at least 30 minutes of it, and take notes. Post your notes in the Comments section of the blog by class on Tuesday.

Second sick day!

I'm sorry, but I have been cheered by reading your blogs.

You can actually finish your homework for Friday today (!): Read the rest of the Teachings assignment and write a second blog (under Comments here). I also recommend you at least browse your classmates' comments, as some of them have already answered Friday's quiz questions for you.

Don't forget to keep working on your semester projects.

Sick day assignment, Monday

Sorry I'm not in school today.

During class you should start your assignment for Friday. Make sure you post at least one of your 150+ word essays by the end of class today. If you didn't bring your Teachings of the Buddha, you can find the beginning of this book at http://www.amazon.com/Teachings-Buddha-Jack-Kornfield/dp/1570621241

Assignment for Friday, 2/27

Read to page 78 in Teachings of the Buddha (including the Preface).~ Write two 150+ word essays on interesting lines or ideas you find. Post them in the blog comments. You may use lines classmates have already written on, but you may NOT repeat ideas that have already been posted. There will also be a short quiz.

Assignment for Friday, 2/20

Read the Buddhism chapter in Inside World Religions up to "Awe and Wonder" on page 56. There will be a quiz, and I will collect your notebooks.

Please start bringing Teachings of the Buddha to class every day.

Picture from Wikimedia Commons.

Hours for Hindu Temple

The posted hours are 9-12 am and 5-8 pm (open).
Aarti (prayers) at 9 am and 7 pm.

Test on Hinduism

We will have a two-day test on Hinduism on Tuesday, 2/10 and on Wednesday, 2/11. You'll notice that I've put a review sheet and a sample test in Useful Things.

This week, in preparation for the Gandhi essay, you should read the Appendix to the Bhagavad Gita (pp. 211-221) and also peruse a good Gandhi web site.

Assignment for Monday, 2/2

Finish the Hinduism chapter in Inside World Religions (pp. 29-41). Probable quiz.

Bhaktifest (January 1/28 assignment)

The bhakti packet you'll get in class includes poems about Krishna-Radha from Bengal, biographies and poems of the Shaivite saints Basavanna and Mahadeviyakka, and the biography and poems by the Sikh founder Guru Nanak. Enjoy. As you read the packet, you'll no doubt feel compelled to express yourself at some point. Please do, in the Comments to this post, go off for at least 100 words on something interesting. You may start posting immediately, and I'd like to start looking at some of your posts this week in class before and after our ishtadevata presentations. As usual, you may not repeat an earlier post (though if you've already written something and someone beats you to the punch by minutes, you don't need to change your essay).


Image from Wikimedia Commons

On Wednesday, we'll have a quiz on the packet (a pretty hard quiz), and I'll check to make sure everyone has turned in at least one good blog entry.

Friday 1/16 assignment for class

As you know, I'll be out Friday, and you need to go to the Bullpen. You should have your Gitas (if you forget, you may use an online translation). Read at least chapters 11 and 18, and post one good blog on the lines or the idea of your choice (at least 100 words). If you finish, work on your PowerPoint presentation.

Ishtadevata PowerPoint due Wednesday, 1/21

See directions in the Useful Things area to the right. No two people in the same class can do the same deity, and so reserve your god or goddess in the Comments to this post. Make sure to say what period you're in. There are millions of deities to choose from, but here's one list you might pick from.

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 here

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 here

Note that Krishna describes the avatar concept in this chapter.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 here

Gita 3:43. "Be a warrior and kill desire, the powerful enemy of the soul."It's becoming more clear that the real battle Arjuna is fighting is the battle each of fight every day. Whereas you might have thought in chapter 2 that Krishna was urging Arjuna to kill his kinsmen, now the great battle of Kurikshetra is a grand metaphor. Like all heroes of myths, we are all on our own epic journeys with our own monsters to face. Arjuna's chariot is a metaphor for his body, and when he's troubled he turns inside, to his charioteer, Krishna, God who lives (according to this Hindu view) in all of us. The problem still remains, though: How does he defeat "the powerful enemy of the soul." And why is desire so bad? Is even desire for heaven selfish? (The Gita says yes!) How can we break the chains of karma? No matter how enlightened we are, we still have daily ups and downs, don't we? How can we find the peace that Krishna describes?

Chapter 2

Post Chapter 2 blogs here.

Chapter 2 has some of the most famous lines in the Gita, but it seems to me that it doesn't yet have the most sophisticated theology. Krishna is just warming Arjuna up before he takes him to the highest truths.

Assignment for Wednesday,

Get an email account (probably GMail) that is anonymous, yet where I can recognize you. Use your first name and an initial last name, for instance, with an 09 for your class. You'll need this for our blogging.

Read the Bhagavad Gita Intro (13-30) and then chapters 2-5, and find some lines in chapters 2-3 that interest you and some lines in chapters 4-5 that interest you. Write blog entries where you 1) copy the lines, and 2) write at least 100 words discussing them. If you pick lines from chapter 2, post in the Comments section Chapter 2 above, etc.... You are NOT allowed to pick lines that have already been posted for the chapter, so you need to at least skim all the entries posted before yours for that chapter.

So each of you will have 2 entries in 2 different areas above. There will also be a short quiz on Wednesday to encourage you to read well.

My favorite new students

Assignment for Friday, January 9

Read pp. 18-29 in your textbook, and bring your books to class on Friday. Mark passages you don't understand so that we can discuss them in class. We will have a quiz, and I will collect your notebooks.

Sample quiz question: Write a paragraph on the Aryans.
Sample quiz question 2: Write a paragraph on avatars.
Sample quiz question 3: Fill in a map of South Asia with the current countries' names. (Here they are.)

Namaste

Welcome to Eastern Religions! Bookmark this site, for it will have assignments, links, pictures, videos, and good stuff from your classmates, too.

One of the things about this class that is very different is an experiential component. 25% of your grade comes from your direct experience with religions we're studying: You'll be going to temples, interviewing Muslims, seeing Buddhist movies, etc.... Class lectures and discussions will be fascinating (I hope), but you'll never forget dancing at a Hindu ceremony or interviewing a Buddhist woman. Note that on the right hand side of this blog there's a link to places to go and also to movies to see. Get started as soon as you can!