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Lesson 14

The Catholic Church and Eastern Religions

Hinduism teaches that all things in the universe are Brahman, or God, and that the universe is in an eternal cycle of creation, sustenance, destruction and re-creation.

Lesson Vocabulary

  • Hinduism
    :
    (n.): The umbrella term for a series of closely related paths to the divine which Hindus themselves collectively call sanatana dharma, or “the eternal way.”
  • Sanatana Dharma
    :
    (n.): Hindu phrase meaning “the eternal way.”
  • Advaita Vedanta
    :
    (n.): A form of Hindu philsophy; one of the most influential schools of classical Indian thought.
  • Brahman
    :
    (n.): Vedic Sanskrit word meaning the highest universal principle or ultimate reality. It is the closest concept of “god” in Hinduism, while it is understood by some Hindus more as a principle or metaphysical concept.
  • Trimurti
    :
    (n.): Name for the group of three Hindu gods who faciliate the universe’s eternal cycle of creation, sustenance, destruction, and recreation.
  • Brahma
    :
    (n.): The Hindu creator god.
  • Vishnu
    :
    (n.): The Hindu sustainer god who enters the world at specific times in history in order to save it.
  • Avatar
    :
    (n.): Term in Hindu philosophy for the material appearance of a diety on earth, in human or animal form.
  • Shiva
    :
    (n.): The Hindu destroyer god who performs a cosmic dance that brings the world full circle.
  • Saccidananda
    :
    (n.): The Hindu concept of infinite existence, knowledge, and bliss.
  • Jiva
    :
    (n.): The Hindu word for the soul.
  • Atman
    :
    (n.): The Hindu concept of the innermost core of one’s being; the universal and unchanging “self” that pervades everything in the universe.
  • Upanishads
    :
    (n.): A collection of Sanskrit texts written in India 500–800 years before Christ, and that contain the central philosophical ideas of Hinduism.
  • Maya
    :
    (n.): The term for what Hindu’s believe is the illusion that we are limited creatures distinct from one another.
  • Enlightenment
    :
    (n.): A philosophical movement of the eighteenth century that derived the value of faith and maintained that reason alone leads us to truth and holds the potential to solve the problem of evil.
  • Samsara
    :
    (n.): The term for what Hindus believe is the endless cycle of death and rebirth from which we seek liberation.
  • Karma
    :
    (n.): The idea in Eastern philosophy of spiritual cause and effect: good actions lead to good outcomes in our next life; bad actions lead to bad outcomes.
  • Caste system
    :
    (n.): The Hindu system of fixed social classes into which people are born. Practiced in present-day India, the caste system divides Hindus into five classes: Brahmins (intellectuals/ teachers), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (merchants), the Shudras (performers of menial tasks), and the Dalits (untouchables).
  • Yogas
    :
    (n.): Various paths Hinduism offers to reach enlightenment or moksha. These include Jnana yoga, involving constant meditation; Karma yoga or the sacrificial giving of oneself; Raja yoga, which includes steps of fasting, observances, and body positions; and Bhakti yoga involving intense devotion to particular gods/ goddesses.
  • Sikhism
    :
    (n.): Religion that blends the Hindu and Muslim traditions, whose adherents believe in reincarnation, karma, and that Brahman and Allah are simply different names for the same god.
  • Guru
    :
    (n.): A spiritual master in the Sikh tradition.
  • Siddhartha Gautama
    :
    (n.): The prince who renounced his life of luxury for asceticism, and embarked on a quest to find the realm of no age, suffering, or death. After meditating on this mystery he is said to have emerged as Buddha with insight into the Four Noble Truths, the pillars of Buddhist belief and practice.
  • Middle Way
    :
    (n.): Siddhartha Gautama’s proposal that enlightenment was best sought between the extremes of excessive asceticism on the one hand and indulgence on the other.
  • Buddha
    :
    (n.): Meaning “awakened one,” this term commonly refers to Siddhartha Gautama but can refer to any Buddhist who has achieved Nirvana.
  • Four Noble Truths
    :
    (n.): Four inescapable conditions of life as described by Buddhism: all life is suffering, suffering is caused by our own selfishness, suffering can be cured, and the path to cure it is the Noble Eightfold Path.
  • Nirvana
    :
    (n.): The goal of the Buddhist life which is the liberation from the cycle of suffering and extinguishing of the finite self.
  • Anicca
    :
    (n.): The Buddhist doctrine of impermanence.
  • Sunyata
    :
    (n.): The Buddhist doctrine of emptiness, wherein emptiness takes on the nature of what we would call a god.
  • Anatta
    :
    (n.): The Buddhist doctrine that there is no human soul apart from the universe.
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