Asian Philosophy: Midterm Review

So far, we have studied Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism in the class.  The midterm will have three types of questions testing your knowledge of the material from the readings and lectures.  First, there will be multiple choice questions.  Second, there will be fill-in-the-blank questions.  Third, there will be short answer questions.  The first two types of questions are straight forward.  Choose the answer or fill in the blank as best as you can.  For the short answer questions, you will be given a list of concepts we have studied (such as the Jain leaky boat, the Upanishads’ ‘Tat Tvam Asi’, the Buddhist metaphor of the monkey mind, etc, in bold below) from which you must select four and write a comprehensive third to a half page explanation for each you select.  You should demonstrate that you understand the meaning of the concept, that you can connect it to other material from the class, and that you can apply it to examples from your own experience or outside material (print or video, fictional or nonfictional).  If you demonstrate each of these three things and complete the required page length, you will get full points for your answer.

Hinduism (Vedas, Upanishads, Epics & Orthodox Schools)

Hinduism a rich diversity of traditions and schools, Vedas lead to Upanishads that lead to Vedanta, many gods/one god/monism, Brahma vs. Brahman, Six orthodox schools & three unorthodox schools rise in the golden age of Indian thought after the Upanishads, three paths of worship & devotion (Bhakti, Raja & Jnana yoga), Bhakti Shaivism & Vaishnavism, Vishnu as preserver/savior & Shiva as destroyer/transformer, darshana as seeing/being seen, intermediate goal of better rebirth and ultimate goal of moksha/nirvana, additional goals of dharma, kama & artha (discipline, pleasure & comfort), wootz and mathematical concepts of zero, variable & infinite series important to algebra, knowing the self (atmavidya), self vs. no-self (atman & anatman), Vedic passages questioning the gods, Does Indra exist, purchase Indra for modest price, boneless One, frogs like priests, Upanishads (‘sitting down beside’) use Vedas as metaphors about the self & cosmos, Tat Tvam Asi (That Is You), essence mudra, appeal beyond the caste system, beyond knowledge & non-knowledge, becoming as destruction, Jabala’s fig seed & salt water, Ramayana, Mahabharata & Arjuna’s duty, Maya as illusion/trickster/demon, Vedanta schools of Shamkara vs. Ramanuja (monism vs. theism), Vaisheshika school of Kanada & atomism, general/particular/inherence, fire as energy, sound as impermanent, water cycle & inertia, Nyaya school of Gautama, debates & proofs

The Unorthodox Schools of Indian Thought (Charvaka & Jainism)

Charvaka skepticism & materialism, gods, afterlife & all inference as illusion, comparison with Wittgenstein’s ‘facts, not things’, consciousness as fermentation of alcohol, Jainism as relative of Buddhism, two Jain principles of skepticism (non-one-endedness & truth is hypothetical), seven points of view (describable & indescribable), absolute vs. relative truth debate, pot as being/non-being, teaching & discipline in spite of relativism, cycles of the cosmos (kalpas), Tirthankaras, karma as bondage & bad, Jain leaky boat, radical non-violence & vegetarianism

Buddhism (India, Tibet, China & Japan)

Life of the Buddha, the four sights (sick, old, dead, holy), period of austere Jain-like practice, balance over self-hate/annihilation, Buddha vs. Budai the laughing monk, four noble truths, eightfold path, five abilities (wisdom highest), the middle way, impermanence, monkey mind, codependent arising, emptiness as openness/compassion, dueling mudras, meditation practices, Theravada (“Hinayana”) vs. Mahayana, three vows, three ways of being involved in the sangha, popular movement of Mahayana, naga princess story, Buddha nature (from seed to reality), bodhisattvas & vow, superiority to arhats, completion of wisdom sutras, questioning Subhuti to demonstrate understanding transmission, Buddhist logic, dominant causes vs. essences, study, reflection & meditation, Nagarjuna & the Madhyamaka school vs. Yogachara school, the catuskoti

Tibetan culture transformed by Buddhism, Indian sutras & Nagarjuna kept, demons & profane/sacred images, Chinese Zen controversy, celebrity debaters, Book of the Dead, Chinese Han weakening as Buddhism gaining a foothold, Daoism appeal, Chinese concrete vs. Indian abstract, issue with monastery vs. traditional family, Pure Land practice, Shinran & Jodoshinshu, gradual vs. sudden enlightenment, Neo-Confucian use of Buddhist teachings, modern Chinese interpretations, Nishida Kitaro

Zen sitting, unorthodox methods, Buddha holds up a lotus, Bodhidharma vs. Emperor Wu, Hui Neng’s verses, flag, wind & minds moving, Joshu’s dog, Gutei’s finger, Nansen, Joshu & the cat, Joshu’s avoid picking & choosing, compulsive passions are Buddha, tale of old woman burning down the hut, girl in the kimono, samurai & the gates of hell, Basho’s frog