Daniel Choi's Reflection 2

Hinduism in Action. Reflection #2

"I am a Muslim, Christian, and a Jew; and so are you"
When Gandhi says this when everyones together and they were talking about what should happen between the Muslims and the Hindus. One side was arguing that there should be a Pakistan land for the Muslims and then India land for the Hindus. Then Gandhi comes in and then tells them that he is a Muslim, Christian, and a Jew, which he meant that everyone was equal and everyone was the same. We were all made by God the same way and he does not say that he likes a another person more than someone else. We are all equal and all the races are equal.

"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks; he becomes"
Gandhi is talking about how the people thinks is the way the person acts. When the Hindus were rebelling against the police and the British, they acted like people who were just killers. Gandhi wanted to make people fight with peaceful thoughts and peaceful actions. He did not want anyone to hurt the people they were rebelling against. When the people were acting violent he fasted for them to stop. When he did the people stopped acting violent and praying that Gandhi would stop because if he went any further with the fasting he would have had died. So he wanted to have people think the right way and peacefully because he did not want people to become corrupt.

Yoga.
 While I was doing yoga, I was able to feel very relaxed and i was able to feel safe while doing yoga. The experience was surprising because it was also my very first time doing yoga and it also felt like I was able to feel like I was in a different world. I was able to find out that yoga in Hinduism was important because the Hindus would have to concentrate and be to connect with the inner self. It is also important because it is able to relax them and help them achieve Nirvana.

The Hindu "Om Symbol"

The symbol above is called the "Om" symbol in Hinduism. This sacred symbol represents Brahman to the Hindu people. This symbol represents the manifest and manifest aspects of god. Since Brahman is extremely incomprehensible, it is important for the Hindu people to have a symbol that represents it.  Om symbolizes the core concepts of Hinduism.

For more information, go to: http://hinduism.about.com/od/omaum/a/meaningofom.htm

Reflection #2: Hinduism in Action

Gandhi: Hindu and Activist

In class, your small groups went over movie questions about the content in Gandhi. You should know who each of the main characters are and the events that defined Gandhi’s religion and activism.

{Paragraph 1 & 2): Choose two of Gandhi’s quotes below. Describe how Gandhi’s actions in the movie support this statement. Summarize the movie scene and supplement your answer with information from the book, the NY Times article, or discussion from class.

YOGA

{Paragraph 3}: Reflect on your experience of yoga. How did you feel while doing it? Could you understand the purpose of these rituals within the Hindu religion? Why?

DUE: Saturday, Sept. 29th- by 3pm

Quotes of Mohandas Gandhi: Red quotes are from the movie

“A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks; he becomes.”

“A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.”

“A religion that takes no account of practical affairs and does not help to solve them is no religion.”

 “A true disciple knows another’s woes, as his own.  He bows to all and despises none.”

“Action expresses priorities.”

“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

 “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think of it, ALWAYS.”

 “’Love they neighbor as thyself’ is not something we Hindus prescribe to, but it is something we could learn from.”

“A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.” (About whom is Gandhi referencing?)

I am a Muslim, and a Hindu, and a Christian and a Jew; and so are you.

Asaram ji Bapu: Attack on Hinduism

Most famous Gandi quotes

Most famous Quotes from Gandi:

1. Religion - a Matter of the Heart: "True religion is not a narrow dogma. It is not external observance. It is faith in God and living in the presence of God. It means faith in a future life, in truth and Ahimsa…. Religion is a matter of the heart. No physical inconvenience can warrant abandonment of one's own religion."
2. Belief in Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma): "I call myself a Sanatani Hindu, because I believe in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Puranas, and all that goes by the name of Hindu scripture, and therefore in avataras and rebirth; I believe in the varnashrama dharma in a sense, in my opinion strictly Vedic but not in its presently popular crude sense; I believe in the protection of cow … I do not disbelieve in murti puja." (Young India: June 10, 1921)
3. The Teachings of the Gita: "Hinduism as I know it entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being … When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita." (Young India: June 8, 1925)
4. Seeking God: "I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him, but I am seeking after Him. I am prepared to sacrifice the things dearest to me in pursuit of this quest. Even if the sacrifice demanded my very life, I hope I may be prepared to give it.
5. The Future of Religions: No religion which is narrow and which cannot satisfy the test of reason, will survive the coming reconstruction of society in which the values will have changed and character, not possession of wealth, title or birth will be the test of merit.
6. Faith in God: "Everyone has faith in God though everyone does not know it. For everyone has faith in himself and that multiplied to the nth degree is God. The sum total of all that lives is God. We may not be God, but we are of God, even as a little drop of water is of the ocean."
7. God is Strength: "Who am I? I have no strength save what God gives me. I have no authority over my countrymen save the pure moral. If He holds me to be a pure instrument for the spread of non-violence in place of the awful violence now ruling the earth, He will give me the strength and show me the way. My greatest weapon is mute prayer. The cause of peace is therefore, in God's good hands."
8. Christ - a Great Teacher: "I regard Jesus as a great teacher of humanity, but I do not regard him as the only begotten son of God. That epithet in its material interpretation is quite unacceptable. Metaphorically we are all sons of God, but for each of us there may be different sons of God in a special sense. Thus for me Chaitanya may be the only begotten son of God … God cannot be the exclusive Father and I cannot ascribe exclusive divinity to Jesus." (Harijan: June 3, 1937)
9. No Conversion, Please: "I believe that there is no such thing as conversion from one faith to another in the accepted sense of the word. It is a highly personal matter for the individual and his God. I may not have any design upon my neighbour as to his faith, which I must honour even as I honour my own. Having reverently studied the scriptures of the world I could no more think of asking a Christian or a Musalman, or a Parsi or a Jew to change his faith than I would think of changing my own." (Harijan: September 9, 1935)
10. All Religions are True: "I came to the conclusion long ago … that all religions were true and also that all had some error in them, and whilst I hold by my own, I should hold others as dear as Hinduism. So we can only pray, if we are Hindus, not that a Christian should become a Hindu … But our innermost prayer should be a Hindu should be a better Hindu, a Muslim a better Muslim, a Christian a better Christian." (Young India: January 19, 1928)

Das, Subhamoy. "Gandhi on God & Religion: Top 10 Quotations." About Hinduism - What You Need to Know About Hinduism. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2012. <http://hinduism.about.com/od/history/a/

Mahatma Gandhi's Short Biography

This short video basically talks about his biography of his life and what he did to change the world and India.

Gandhi was born in India October 2nd, 1869 in Porbandar, Kathiawar, West India. He studied law in London. In 1893 he went to South Africa for opposing discriminatory  law against Indians. As pioneer of Satyagraha, Gandhi became one of the major political and spiritual leader during that time. In 1914 Gandhi returned to India where he supported the home rule movement and became the leader of the Indian national congress. Gandhi wanted a policy of non violence and non co-operation to achieve independence. The goals for his policy was to help farmers and laborers protest again tax and the discrimination but struggled to make this happen. Following his civil campaign, he was jailed for conspiracy in 1922 - 24. When he was released from prison in 1931, he attended the London Round Table Conference about an Indian constitution reform. During independence in 1947 he tried to stop Muslim and Hindu conflict in Bengal, he was assassinated by Nathuram Godse in Delhi who was a Hindu fanatic.

"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind" famous quote by Ghandi

I decided to post this because at the moment we're watching a movie about Gandhi's life and this is a short review about it

"Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus"

General Warning: This video does contain some topics that may disturb the viewers. 

Viewer discretion is advised.

Here’s an interesting one. Now, I know that at least once in your lifetime you’ve heard about how church, the public, or society ruined the basic image demonstrated by the original scripture. This is one of those videos, although this man does things a little differently. Not only does he make his lines rhyme, which is just plain awesome, but he basically sums up everything you’ve heard on the matter into four minutes. It is a video to be taken seriously, it’s not just meant to show that a guy can rap about how Jesus is a different topic from religion, but it does actually transfer a message. Saying how people have corrupted the image the Jesus and God, along with the Bible, were trying to express. In any case, I would recommend watching all the way through, just to educate yourself on another perspective people have, perhaps this video could sum up how you feel. 

Sacred Poetry

Blog Page Entry #1

• Add a picture of an ancient religious as a blog page
• Write your own sacred poem to your chosen religious symbol.

Length: At least 3 stanzas of 4 lines each.

Be sure to include references that would be made by prehistoric humans 

¨Belief in spiritual realm

¨Close ties to geography

¨Prescientific worldview

¨Concern with survival

¨Propitiation: incantations, shamans,

¨Concern about death

¨Moral systems: things become taboo

¨Theology

¨Scripture

¨Prophecy

¨Sacrifice

¨Designated place of worship

Your research should help you understand why that symbol was created, but it does not have to be reported on, in your blog.

• Due  Friday, Sept. 7th (by end of class)

Rubric for Page Reflections

(1)  Student showed knowledge of reading assigned in class by using vocabulary and examples from reading- 5 points

(2)  Student gave supporting examples of hypothesis/opinion, either from personal experience or research and opinion is original/insightful- 5 points

(3)  Student embedded a picture, video, or hyper-linked examples in support of this reflection- 5 points

(4)  Writing Style- 5 points

   Concise (2 paragraphs or less depending on assignment criteria)- 2 points

   Timely (relevant to class discussion)- 2 points

   Grammar- No spelling, sentence structure, or grammatical errors- 1 point

Total Points per page entry: 20