Gawrys' Eastern Religions

Islam half test

2009-05-04T08:28:00.002-04:00

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

2009-05-03T18:13:00.003-04:00

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

2009-04-26T18:28:00.002-04:00

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

2009-04-15T08:31:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-31T18:50:00.001-04:00

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

2009-03-26T11:35:00.004-04:00

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

2009-03-10T08:07:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-03T08:02:00.001-05:00

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

2009-02-26T15:00:00.005-05:00

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!

2009-02-23T18:40:00.003-05:00

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

2009-02-22T15:56:00.002-05:00

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

2009-02-19T17:07:00.002-05:00

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

2009-02-11T15:59:00.002-05:00

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

2009-02-10T08:06:00.001-05:00

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

Test on Hinduism

2009-02-01T10:47:00.004-05:00

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

2009-01-28T07:55:00.002-05:00

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

Bhaktifest (January 1/28 assignment)

2009-01-21T08:13:00.003-05:00

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

2009-01-14T19:07:00.005-05:00

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

2009-01-12T18:14:00.002-05:00

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

2009-01-09T09:53:00.002-05:00

Chapter 5 here

Chapter 4

2009-01-09T09:52:00.005-05:00

Chapter 4 here

Note that Krishna describes the avatar concept in this chapter.

Chapter 3

2009-01-09T09:52:00.004-05:00

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

2009-01-09T09:51:00.001-05:00

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,

2009-01-08T19:30:00.003-05:00

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

2009-01-05T20:16:00.003-05:00

Assignment for Friday, January 9

2009-01-02T09:33:00.004-05:00

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

2009-01-02T09:31:00.001-05:00

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!

Due Tuesday, 12/9

2008-12-02T06:35:00.001-05:00

Read the Islam chapter of the textbook and take notes. We will have a quiz, and you may use any notes you yourself take on that quiz.

Final Exam

2008-11-30T13:59:00.005-05:00

Monday, 12/15: Exam from 9-11 in Weeks. For the exam, you will have 5 possible essay questions. You may use a note card (5 by 7) to prepare each. Just before the exam, we'll roll the dice to pick which two essays we write. Essay possibilities (though I haven't yet finalized them):

1. Pick your favorite Hindu or Buddhist picture and write a beautiful essay on it. You may include anything that inspires you, such as stories about the god/gods in the picture, theological interpretations, iconography, devotees’ poetry, etc…. Please print off and turn in your picture with this essay.

2. Compare and/or contrast any single Hindu we’ve studied with any single Buddhist we’ve studied. Be specific. Use quotes.

3. Compare and /or contrast Mohammad with any Hindu or Buddhist we've studied. Use quotes.

4. Perhaps the basic philosophical question is, What is Ultimate Reality (some might call it God)? Discuss using three or four people or texts we’ve studied this semester. Be specific. Use quotes.

5. This is a free essay on Islam. You may write on the Sunni and the Shia, or the Sufi, or the causes for the rise in Islamic terrorism, or women in Islam, or whatever. Narrow your topic to make sure it's manageable. The best essays will have quotations and will also show outside research.

Monday class F Period

2008-11-07T14:46:00.001-05:00

I'll be absent on Monday. Complete as much of your MLA rough drafts as you can, and give a copy to the proctor at the end of class.

Extra Weekend

2008-11-05T07:26:00.003-05:00

Inspired by the compassion of the bodhisattva, I'm going to give you an extra weekend to finish your projects. I will not count them late as long as they are turned in by Monday, November 17.

I grade the projects holistically, but note that I take an automatic 10% off if you do not follow proper MLA form on your formal essay. You also lose an automatic 10% per day for late projects.

News Flash!!!

2008-10-29T09:54:00.004-04:00

Because we're all going to be watching the election results Tuesday night, the essay part of the test will be Thursday (for C) and Friday (for F). We still have the objective part on Tuesday. I will not have your objective test graded by Wednesday.

Test on Tuesday, November 4

2008-10-27T16:53:00.004-04:00

We'll have a two-day test on Buddhism starting November 4. The first day will again be objective, and the second day will be an essay for which you may use note cards (one for each essay possibility).

Here are the topics for the essay.
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

I've posted links in Useful Things to help you study.

Assignment for Tuesday, 10/28

2008-10-23T10:43:00.001-04:00

Read the "Paths of Devotion and Transformation" handout. Be ready for a quiz.

Assignment for Wednesday

2008-10-19T18:40:00.002-04:00

Continue getting your final project ready.

Assignment for Wednesday

2008-10-19T18:40:00.000-04:00

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

Assignment for Monday, 10/20

2008-10-15T18:37:00.002-04:00

Start assembling your semester research projects (due on 11/12).

Assignment due Wednesday, 10/15

2008-10-08T10:45:00.003-04:00

Quiz on Zen handouts (the cartoon one and "See? Words Cannot Express Zen"). This will be the most detailed quiz of the semester.

Assignment due Thursday, 10/9

2008-10-07T09:52:00.002-04:00

Finish the Buddhism chapter in Inside World Religions. Take notes in your notebooks on what you feel are the most interesting and important points.

2008-10-01T19:46:00.000-04:00

Assignment due Tuesday, 10/6

2008-10-01T06:53:00.002-04:00

Buddhism assignment due Wed, 10/1

2008-09-25T09:42:00.005-04:00

2008-09-17T09:49:00.002-04:00

Gandhi's birthday, October 2, is commemorated in India as "Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and world-wide as the International Day of Non-Violence" (Wikipedia). We should do something special.

Hinduism test review

2008-09-14T12:01:00.002-04:00

Note that I've posted a Hinduism review sheet in Useful Things to the right. I have a few more terms to add, but I will have the review sheet finalized by Thursday, 9/18. This first draft will help you get started, though.

Due 9/17

2008-09-09T10:26:00.004-04:00

Finish the "Hinduism" section of Inside World Religions (pp. 29-41), an also read at least chapters 11 and 18 in the Bhagavad Gita.

No quiz this week. We have too much to discuss before our test.

The first test will be Tuesday, 9/23 for F and Tuesday, 9/23 for C.

Ishta PowerPoints

2008-09-05T10:40:00.001-04:00

I've put all the ppts into an erel folder on your FirstClass desktop. You'll want to review these before our Hinduism test, which will be Sept. 16.

Bhakti Festival (due 9/10)

2008-09-03T08:04:00.001-04:00

Krishna posts go under the previous blog. All other posts go here.

Krishna Bhakti (due 9/10)

2008-09-03T07:48:00.004-04:00

Image from Wikimedia Commons

Read and mark up the Krishna-Radha poetry pack, and then browse the internet for more great bhakti stuff. Starting today and certainly by 9/10, do two things: 1) post at least once in the Comments section below on Krishna-Radha. This post can be on the poetry pack (I suggest picking a few lines or a poem) or on other Krisha-Radha stuff you find. You may cite some other moving lines (give credit to your source), link to pics or videos, whatever.... 2) post in the Comments section above on bhakti devoted to any other Hindu deity. You may also include posts about bhakti itself, events happening in India today, historical notes, or whatever moves you. You will end up with two posts total, at least 100 words apiece.

I'd like to have us all start reading these as soon as they pop up this week.
There will also be a short quiz on Wednesday.

Ishtadevata PowerPoint due Wednesday 9/3

2008-08-26T17:25:00.004-04:00

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 posts

2008-08-21T19:46:00.005-04:00

Notice that what we mean by "yoga" is different from what Krishna means. A yoga is a path to God (our word "yoke" comes from it), to yoke the Atman to the Brahman.

Images used in these posts are from Wikimedia Commons.

Chapter 4 posts

2008-08-21T19:46:00.001-04:00

Note that Krishna describes the avatar concept in this chapter.

Chapter 3 posts

2008-08-21T19:25:00.002-04:00

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 posts

2008-08-21T19:23:00.002-04:00

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 Friday, 8/29

2008-08-21T19:11:00.006-04:00

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 Friday to encourage you to read well.

Blog comments from Tuesday

2008-08-19T18:47:00.004-04:00

Thanks for the interesting comments and questions on the blog. Many of these questions we'll start clearing up Wednesday in class.

Hinduism is a big and diverse religion, and as we'll see, you can NEVER say "All Hindus believe...or do...." Also, learn to avoid the trap of saying "People in India are all so much more spiritual...": you watched videos about religion and of course the people are being religious. I'd recommend a movie like Monsoon Wedding to give you a more well-rounded view of life in India.

Also, whoever is posting Anonymously needs to fess up and get a user name I can recognize!

Assignment for Friday 8/22

2008-08-18T17:35:00.003-04:00

Read pp. 18-28 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.

Textbook has arrived

2008-08-18T09:19:00.001-04:00

Inside World Religions is now in the bookstore.

Assignment for Tuesday, 8/20

2008-08-17T12:38:00.005-04:00

I understand that our textbook isn't here yet, so we're going to dive right into a village in India. Watch the following two videos (hang in there with the young woman's accent as well as you can), and then respond to this blog in the Comments by 1) listing two interesting things you learned, and 2) asking two questions you'd like to know about Hinduism.

NOTE: When you sign on to the blog, use your initials and year of graduating, ie. jpg72. It's against school policy to use full student names on internet.

Namaste

2008-08-07T18:33:00.001-04:00