Religion Chapter
Buddhism Chapter
Ryan Merkle QMRThe four Brahma Viharas are considered by Buddhism to be the four highest emotions. The word brahma literally means ‘highest’ or ‘superior.’ It is also the name given to the supreme god in Hinduism during the Buddha’s time. Vihàra means ‘to dwell’, ‘to live’ or ‘to abide.’ Thus the Brahma Vihàras are not emotions one occasionally feels but those that one ‘lives in’ and ‘lives by’ all the time. These four Brahma Vihàras are loving-kindness, compassion, (vicarious) sympathetic joy, and equanimity. They can be understood from several different perspectives – as four related but separate qualities or perhaps better, as four different ways the spiritually mature person relates to others according to their situation. So for example, we relate to friendly people with love, to those in distress with compassion, to the successful with vicarious joy and to unpleasant people with equanimity. The purpose of the practice called Loving Kindness meditation is to encourage and nurture the Brahma Vihàras.
Ryan Merkle The Brahma Viharas are also known as the Four Divine Emotions or The Four Divine Abodes. They are the meditative states, thoughts, and actions to be cultivated in Buddhist meditation. They are the positive emotions and states that are productive and helpful to anyone of any religion or even to the one with no religion. The result will be a very nice and good person, free from hate and ill-will. Those who cultivate the brahma viharas are guaranteed to happiness. Those who further cultivate equanimity, may reach insightful states and wisdom of enlightenment experiences.
The Four Divine Emotions
1. Metta (Loving-kindness)
2. Karuna (Compassion)
3. Mudita (Joy with others)
4. Upekkha (Equanimity)
(from Anguttara Nikaya 3.65)
The Four Divine Emotions are known in Pali as the Brahma-viharas and are also known as the divine abidings or the divine abodes. They are emotional states to be strived for.By practicing and developing the divine emotions, we will have a peaceful and patient daily life practice.
Metta (loving-kindness) is a soft, affection and care for others and yourself.It is not a hard, romantic type of love and not a love that includes extreme attachment or controlling feelings.
Karuna (compassion) is like an open heart that cares for everyone. It includes empathy, being able to see the other person’s position and caring for and about them.
Mudita (joy with others), sometimes is called sympathetic joy or appreciative joy. It is the ability to be happy when you see others happy. Their joy becomes your joy as you welcome less suffering and happiness of others.
Upekkha (equanimity) is the balanced state of mind. It is the middle way state of mind that is neither clinging nor pushing away.
Near enemies and Far enemies of Brahma Viharas
Each of the four brahma-viharas has what is called a near enemy and a far enemy. The near enemy is a state of mind that is close to the brahma-vihara and is sometimes mistaken as the good emotion, but is actually “a near enemy” and not the correct mental state. The far enemy is virtually the opposite of the brahma-vihara and is completely off the mark for the emotion that is strived for. This is shown in this table:
Brahmaviharas1.jpg
Emotional Intelligence
The Four Supreme Efforts and the Four Divine Emotions, like much of the Buddha’s teachings, could be summarized to the following two words: emotional intelligence.
In 1995, Daniel Goleman, published the best-seller, Emotional Intelligence.In this book he showed that more than intellectual intelligence, such as I.Q., what is a far greater scale of a person’s success is how well they deal with social and emotional issues. Emotional intelligence refers to getting along with others, knowing how and when to act, not letting things bother you, and success features, such as persistence, determination, and deferred gratification.
Dr. Goleman provides references from many studies to show the importance of the emotional skills for success. He explains how even residual amounts of anger (which some people feel are necessary to get the anger “off your chest”) leads to further, escalated anger. A person even with a small amount of anger can enter a “flooding” state, where there is an overwhelming amount of anger with adrenaline, where no rational decisions can be made in this state and it needs a long recovery time before settling down.Many people who have killed loved ones report that they “just snapped” in the heat of some arguments.(Goleman, 1995)
Dr. Goleman writes near the end of his book:
“Great spiritual leaders, like Buddha and Jesus, have touched their disciples’ hearts by speaking in the language of emotion, teaching in parables, fables, and stories.Indeed, religious symbol and ritual makes little sense from the rational point of view;it is couched in the vernacular of the heart.” (Goleman, 1995)
Ryan Merkle QMRToday, Marion is on a mission to teach the public about the Holocaust. Her memoir Four Perfect Pebbles is taught in classrooms throughout the world. And, although she's been speaking publicly about the Holocaust since 1979, her speaking engagements have significantly increased since the publication of her book. Marion lectures to adult groups, synagogues, churches and civil organizations, but her favorite audience is an auditorium full of students.
QMRFour perfect knowledges (Skt. catuḥpratisaṃvid; Tib. སོ་སོར་ཡང་དག་པ་རིག་པ་བཞི་, Wyl. so so yang dag par rig pa bzhi):
perfect knowledge of meaning (Skt. artha; Tib. དོན་སོ་སོར་ཡང་དག་རིག་པ་, Wyl. don so sor yang dag rig pa)
perfect knowledge of Dharma (Tib. ཆོས་སོ་སོར་ཡང་དག་རིག་པ་, Wyl. chos so sor yang dag rig pa)
perfect knowledge of language (Skt. nirukti; Tib.ངེས་ཚིག་སོ་སོར་ཡང་དག་རིག་པ་, Wyl nges tshig so sor yang dag rig pa)
perfect knowledge of courageous eloquence (Skt. pratibhāna; Tib. སྤོབས་པ་སོ་སོར་ཡང་དག་རིག་པ་, Wyl. spobs pa so sor yang dag rig pa)
The four perfect knowledges are included within the twenty-one sets of immaculate qualities.
In Mipham Rinpoche's Khenjuk, these are described as the means of maintaining the vast and profound teachings, i.e., the ten topics of knowledge (the vast) and the four seals (the profound).
In the Abhidharma tradition, they are part of the exclusive qualities of a buddha.
Ryan Merkle QMRChristian ethics is a branch of Christian theology that defines concepts of right (virtuous) and wrong (sinful) behavior from a Christian perspective. Various sources inform Christian ethics but "comprehensive Christian ethical writings use four distinguishable sources: (1) the Bible and the Christian tradition, (2) philosophical principles and methods, (3) science and other sources of knowledge about the world, and (4) human experience broadly conceived."[2] Jewish ethics and the life of Jesus also figure prominently.[3] According to D. Stephen Long, "The Bible is the universal and fundamental source of specifically Christian ethics",[2] as "Christian ethics finds its source in diverse means, but it primarily emerges from the biblical narrative.".[4] Christians do not all follow one type of ethics. It depends on their view of Scripture and Tradition.
Ryan Merkle qMRBasic Ethical Elements[edit]
There are at least four elements that aim to create an ethical culture and behavior of employees within an organization. These elements are:
1) a written code of ethics and standards (ethical code)
2) ethics training for executives, managers, and employees
3) the availability of ethical situational advice (i.e. advice lines or offices)
4) confidential reporting systems[5]
QMRTronto states there are four ethical elements of care:
Attentiveness
Attentiveness is crucial to the ethics of care because care requires a recognition of others' needs in order to respond to them.[13] The question which arises is the distinction between ignorance and inattentiveness.[13] Tronto poses this question as such, "But when is ignorance simply ignorance, and when is it inattentiveness"?[13]
Responsibility
In order to care, we must take it upon ourselves, thus responsibility. The problem associated with this second ethical element of responsibility is the question of obligation. Obligation is often if not already tied to pre-established societal and cultural norms and roles. Tronto makes the effort to differentiate the terms "responsibility" and "obligation" with regards to the ethic of care. Responsibility is ambiguous, whereas obligation refers to situations where action or reaction is due, such as the case of a legal contract.[13] This ambiguity allows for ebb and flow in and between class structures and gender roles, and to other socially constructed roles that would bind responsibility to those only befitting of those roles.
Competence
To provide care also means competency. One cannot simply acknowledge the need to care, accept the responsibility, but do not follow through with enough adequacy - as such action would result in the need of care not being met.[13]
Responsiveness
This refers to the "responsiveness of the care receiver to the care".[13] Tronto states, "Responsiveness signals an important moral problem within care: by its nature, care is concerned with conditions of vulnerability and inequality".[13] She further argues responsiveness does not equal reciprocity.[13] Rather, it is another method to understand vulnerability and inequality by understanding what has been expressed by those in the vulnerable position, as opposed to re-imagining oneself in a similar situation.[13]
QMRThe four levels of organizational ethics[edit]
Social disregard': the company shows carelessness for the consequences of its actions.
Social obligation: the company does not wish to extend its activity any further than just meeting its legal responsibilities.
Social responsiveness: the company adjusts its policies according to the social conditions, demands and pressures.
Social responsibility: the company decides to concentrate on its long-term goals for the benefit of society in general. An example is ISO 26000 Social Responsibility launched 2010.
Christianity Chapter
Ryan Merkle QMRIn Christianity, the Sign of the Dove was a prearranged sign by which John the Baptist would recognize the Messiah.
The Four Gospels each record an account of the sign of the dove. Matthew 3:16 (Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32) And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him.
In Hebrew, Jonah (יוֹנָה) means dove.[1] The "sign of Jonas" in Matthew 16:1-4 is related to the "sign of the dove".[2]
Ryan Merkle QMRA longer four-engined development of the Dove, intended for use in the less developed areas of the world, was the de Havilland Heron.
Ryan Merkle QMRFour Souls (2004)
Ryan Merkle QMRIn 2009, Erdrich's novel The Plague of Doves was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. The narrative focuses on the historical lynching of four Native people wrongly accused of murdering a Caucasian family, and the effect of this injustice on the current generations.
QMRLiturgy of Preparation[edit]
When the priest cuts the Lamb from the prosphoron, he uses a liturgical knife called a "spear", with a blade shaped like a spearpoint to recall the spear used at the crucifixion to pierce Jesus' side. As he cuts along the four edges of the seal, the priest says the words from Isaiah 53:7-8, which St. Philip interprets as referring to the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross (Acts 8:32-33). The priest repeats a phrase from the prophecy as he cuts along each of the four sides of the seal:
on the right side: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter."
on the left side: "And as a spotless lamb before His shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth."
at the top: "In his humiliation his judgement was taken away."
at the bottom: "And who shall declare His generation?"
as he removes the Lamb from the prosphoron: "For His life is taken up from the earth."
Ryan Merkle When it comes time for Communion, the priest will divide the Lamb into four portions, breaking it along the cuts in the underside made during the Liturgy of Preparation. The deacon will say, "Break, Master, the Holy Bread." And, as he breaks it, the priest says, "Broken and distributed is the Lamb of God; broken, but not disunited; ever eaten, yet never consumed; sanctifying all who partake thereof." He then puts the four portions of the Lamb on the rim of the diskos in the form of a cross. They remain in this arrangement only briefly.
Ryan Merkle QMRAll services pass through Manhattan except for the G train, the Franklin Avenue Shuttle, and the Rockaway Park Shuttle. Large portions of the subway outside Manhattan are elevated, on embankments, or in open cuts, and a few stretches of track run at ground level. In total, 40% of track is not underground despite the "subway" moniker. Many lines and stations have both express and local services. These lines have three or four tracks. Normally, the outer two are used for local trains, while the inner one or two are used for express trains. Stations served by express trains are typically major transfer points or destinations.
QMRVarna (वर्ण) is a Sanskrit word which means colour or class.[1][2] Ancient Hindu literature classified all humankind, and all created beings, in principle into four varnas:[3][4]
the Brahmins: priests, teachers and preachers.
the Kshatriyas: kings, governors, warriors and soldiers.
the Vaishyas: cattle herders, agriculturists, artisans[5] and merchants.[6]
the Shudras: laborers and service providers.
This quadruple division is an ancient stratification of society is not to be confused with the much more nuanced jati or "caste".[7]
The varna system is discussed in Hindu texts, and understood as idealised human callings.[8][9] The concept of Varna is generally traced to the Purusha Sukta verse of the Rig Veda, however modern scholarship believes that this verse was inserted at a later date, possibly to create a charter myth.[10]
The commentary on the Varna system in the Manusmriti is oft-cited.[11] Counter to these textual classifications, many Hindu texts and doctrines question and disagree with the Varna system of social classification.[12
Islam Chapter
Hinduism Chapter
QMRVarna (वर्ण) is a Sanskrit word which means colour or class.[1][2] Ancient Hindu literature classified all humankind, and all created beings, in principle into four varnas:[3][4]
the Brahmins: priests, teachers and preachers.
the Kshatriyas: kings, governors, warriors and soldiers.
the Vaishyas: cattle herders, agriculturists, artisans[5] and merchants.[6]
the Shudras: laborers and service providers.
This quadruple division is an ancient stratification of society is not to be confused with the much more nuanced jati or "caste".[7]
The varna system is discussed in Hindu texts, and understood as idealised human callings.[8][9] The concept of Varna is generally traced to the Purusha Sukta verse of the Rig Veda, however modern scholarship believes that this verse was inserted at a later date, possibly to create a charter myth.[10]
The commentary on the Varna system in the Manusmriti is oft-cited.[11] Counter to these textual classifications, many Hindu texts and doctrines question and disagree with the Varna system of social classification.[12]
Etymology and origins[edit]
Varna is a Sanskrit term varṇa (वर्ण). It is derived from the root vṛ, meaning "to cover, to envelop, count, classify consider, describe or choose" (compare vṛtra).[13]
The word appears in the Rigveda, where it means "colour, outward appearance, exterior, form, figure or shape".[14] The word means "color, tint, dye or pigment" in the Mahabharata.[15] Varna contextually means "colour, race, tribe, species, kind, sort, nature, character, quality, property" of an object or people in some Vedic and medieval texts.[16] Varna refers to four social classes in the Manusmrti.[17][18]
The Vedas[edit]
The earliest application to the formal division into four social classes (without using the term varna) appears in the late Rigvedic Purusha Sukta (RV 10.90.11–12), which has the Brahman, Rajanya (instead of Kshatriya), Vaishya and Shudra classes emerging from the mouth, arms, thighs and feet of the primordial giant, Purusha, respectively:[19]
11. When they divided Purusa how many portions did they make?
What do they call his mouth, his arms? What do they call his thighs and feet?
12. The Brahman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rajanya made.
His thighs became the Vaisya, from his feet the Sudra was produced.[19]
This Purusha Sukta varna verse is now generally considered to have been inserted at a later date into the Vedic text, possibly as a charter myth.[20] Stephanie Jamison and Joel Brereton, a professor of Sanskrit and Religious studies, state, "there is no evidence in the Rigveda for an elaborate, much-subdivided and overarching caste system", and "the varna system seems to be embryonic in the Rigveda and, both then and later, a social ideal rather than a social reality".[21]
Ram Sharan Sharma states that "the Rig Vedic society was neither organized on the basis of social division of labour nor on that of differences in wealth ... [it] was primarily organised on the basis of kin, tribe and lineage."[22]
In the post-Vedic period, the varna division is described in the Dharmashastra literature, the Mahabharata and in the Puranas.[23]
The Dharmasastras[edit]
See also: Caste system in India
Varna system is extensively discussed in Dharma-sastras.[24] Varna system in Dharma-sastras divide the society into four varnas (Brahmins, Kshtriyas, Vaishya and Shudras), those who fall out of this system because of their grievous sins are ostracized as outcastes (untouchables) and considered outside the Varna system.[25][26] Barbarians and those who are unrighteous, unethical are also considered patita (outside the varna system, outcastes) in Dharma texts.[27]
Recent scholarship suggests that the discussion of varna, as well as untouchable outcastes (people outside the varna system), in these texts does not resemble the modern era caste system in India. Patrick Olivelle, a professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions and credited with modern translations of Vedic literature, Dharma-sutras and Dharma-sastras, states that ancient and medieval Indian texts do not support the ritual pollution, purity-impurity as the basis for varna system.[28] According to Olivelle, purity-impurity is discussed in the Dharma-sastra texts, but only in the context of the individual's moral, ritual and biological pollution (eating certain kinds of food such as meat, going to bathroom).[29] In his review of Dharma-sastras, Olivelle writes, "we see no instance when a term of pure/impure is used with reference to a group of individuals or a varna or caste".[30] The only mention of impurity in the Shastra texts from the 1st millennium is about people who commit grievous sins and thereby fall out of their varna. These, writes Olivelle, are called "fallen people" and impure, declaring that they be ostracized.[31] Olivelle adds that the overwhelming focus in matters relating to purity/impurity in the Dharma-sastra texts concerns "individuals irrespective of their varna affiliation" and all four varnas could attain purity or impurity by the content of their character, ethical intent, actions, innocence or ignorance, stipulations, and ritualistic behaviors.[32]
Olivelle states, "Dumont is correct in his assessment that the ideology of varna is not based on purity. If it were we should expect to find at least some comment on the relative purity and impurity of the different vamas. What is even more important is that the ideology of purity and impurity that emerges from the Dharma literature is concerned with the individual and not with groups, with purification and not with purity, and lends little support to a theory which makes relative purity the foundation of social stratification".[33]
The first three[34] varnas are described in the Dharmasastras as "twice born" and they are allowed to study the Vedas. Such a restriction of who can study Vedas is not found in the Vedic era literature.
Manusmriti assigns cattle rearing as Vaishya occupation but historical evidence shows that Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Shudras also owned and reared cattle and that cattle-wealth was mainstay of their households. Ramnarayan Rawat, a professor of History and specializing in social exclusion in Indian subcontinent, states that the 19th century British records show Chamars listed as untouchables also owned land and cattle, were active agriculturalists.[35] The emperors of Kosala and the prince of Kasi are other examples.[6]
Tim Ingold, an anthropologist, writes the Manusmriti is a highly schematic commentary on the varna system, but it too provides "models rather than descriptions".[36] Susan Bayly states that Manusmriti and other scriptures helped elevate Brahmin in the social hierarchy and these were a factor in the making of the varna system, but the ancient texts did not in some way "create the phenomenon of caste" in India.[37]
The Epics[edit]
The Mahabharata, estimated to have been completed by about 4th century CE, discusses the Varna system in section 12.181.[38]
The Epic offers two models on Varna. The first model describes Varna as color-based system, through a character named Bhrigu, "Brahmins Varna was white, Kshtriyas was red, Vaishyas was yellow, and the Shudras' black".[39] This description is questioned by Bharadvaja who says that colors are seen among all the Varnas, that desire, anger, fear, greed, gried, anxiety, hunger and toil prevails over all human beings, that bile and blood flow from all human bodies, so what distinguishes the Varnas, he asks? The Mahabharata then declares, according to Alf Hiltebeitel, a professor of religion, "There is no distinction of Varnas. This whole universe is Brahman. It was created formerly by Brahma, came to be classified by acts."[40]
The Mahabharata thereafter recites a behavioral model for Varna, that those who were inclined to anger, pleasures and boldness attained the Kshtriya Varna; those who were inclined to cattle rearing and living off the plough attained the Vaishyas; those who were fond of violence, covetousness and impurity attained the Shudras. The Brahmin class is modeled in the epic, as the archetype default state of man dedicated to truth, austerity and pure conduct.[41] In the Mahabharata and pre-medieval era Hindu texts, according to Hiltebeitel, "it is important to recognize, in theory, Varna is nongenealogical. The four Varnas are not lineages, but categories."[42]
Varna in Buddhist texts[edit]
Ancient Buddhist texts mention Varna system in South Asia, but the details suggest that it was a non-rigid, flexible and with characteristics devoid of features of a social stratification system.[43] Maurice Walshe, a German scholar and translator of Digha Nikaya, provides a discussion between Gotama Buddha and a Hindu Brahmin named Sonadanda who was very learned in the Vedas.[44][45] Gotama Buddha asks in Digha Nikaya, according to the Theravada Pali text translation by Walshe, "By how many qualities do Brahmins recognize another Brahmin? How would one declare truthfully and without falling into falsehood, "I am a Brahmin?"[44][46] Sonadanda initially lists five qualities as, "he is of pure descent on both the mother's and the father's side, he is well versed in mantras, he is of fair color handsome and pleasing, he is virtuous learned and wise, and he is the first or second to hold the sacrificial ladle".[44][45] Buddha then asks the Brahmin, "If we omit one of these qualities you just listed, could not one be still a true Brahmin?" Sonadanda, one by one, eliminates fair color and looks, then eliminates Varna in which one was born, and then eliminates the ability to recite mantra and do sacrifices as a requirement of being a Brahmin.[44][45] Sonadanda asserts that just two qualities are necessary to truthfully and without falling into falsehoold identify a Brahmin; these two qualities are "being virtuous and being learned and wise".[44][45] Sonadanda adds, states Walshe, that it is impossible to reduce the requirement for being a Brahmin any further, because "for wisdom is purified by morality, and morality is purified by wisdom; where one is, the other is, the moral man has wisdom and the wise man has morality, and the combination of morality and wisdom is called the highest thing in the world".[44] Brian Black and Dean Patton state Sonadanda admits after this, "we [Brahmins] only know this much Gotama; it would be well if Reverend Gotama would explain meaning of the two [morality, wisdom]".[47]
Peter Masefield,[43] a Buddhism scholar and ancient Pali texts translator, states that during the Nikāya texts period of Buddhism (3rd century BC to 5th century AD), Varna as a class system is attested, but the described Varna was not a caste system. The Pali texts enumerate the four Varnas, writes Masefield, always in the following order: Khattiya (Kshatriya), Brahmin, Vessa (Vaishya) and Sudda (Shudra).[43] Masefield notes that people in any Varna could in principle perform any profession. The early Buddhist texts, for instance, identify some Brahmins to be farmers and in other professions. The text state that anyone, of any birth, could perform the priestly function,[43] and that the Brahmin took food from anyone, suggesting that strictures of commensality were as yet unknown. The Nikaya texts also imply that endogamy was not mandated in ancient India. Masefield concludes, "if any form of caste system was known during the Nikaya period - and it is doubtful that it was - this was in all probability restricted to certain non-Aryan groups".[43]
Varna in Jaina texts[edit]
Ādi purāṇa, an 8th century text of Jainism by Jinasena, is the earliest mention of Varna and Jati in Jainism literature.[48] Jinasena does not trace the origin of Varna system to Rigveda or to Purusha Sukta, instead traces varna to the Bharata legend. According to this legend, Bharata performed an "ahimsa-test" (test of non-violence), and those members of his community who refused to harm or hurt any living being were called as the priestly varna in ancient India, and Bharata called them dvija, twice born.[49] Jinasena states that those who are committed to ahimsa are deva-Brāhmaṇas, divine Brahmins.[50]
The text Adi purana also discusses the relationship between varna and jati. According to Padmanabh Jaini, a professor of Indic studies, Jainism and Buddhism, the Adi purana text states "there is only one jati called manusyajati or the human caste, but divisions arise account of their different professions".[51] The varna of Kshatriya arose when Rishabha procured weapons to serve the society and assumed the powers of a king, while Vaishya and Shudra varna arose from different means of livelihood they specialized in.[52]
Varna in Sikh texts[edit]
Sikhism is a 15th-century religion that originated in northwest South Asia during its Islamic rule period. Sikh text mention Varna as Varan, and Jati as Zat or Zat-biradari. Eleanor Nesbitt, a professor of Religion and specializing in Christian, Hindu and Sikh studies, states that the Varan is described as a class system in 18th- to 20th-century Sikh literature, while Zat developed into caste system particularly during the British colonial era.[53] In theory, Nesbitt quotes the Sikh dictum to be,
A Sikh should be a Brahmin in piety, a Kshatriya in defense of truth and the oppressed, a Vaishya in business acumen and hard work, and a Shudra in serving humanity. A Sikh should be all castes in one person, who should be above caste.[53]
Judaism Chapter
QMRKosher locusts are varieties of locust deemed permissible for consumption under the laws of kashrut (Jewish dietary law). While the consumption of most insects is considered to be forbidden under the laws of kashrut, the rabbis of the Talmud identified four kosher species of locust. However, the identity of those species is in dispute.[1]
Source in the Torah[edit]
The Torah states in Shemini, the 26th weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading:[citation needed]
"Every flying insect that uses four legs for walking shall be avoided by you. The only flying insects with four walking legs you may eat are those with knees extending above their feet, [using these longer legs] to hop on the ground. Among these you may only eat members of the red locust family, the yellow locust family, the spotted gray locust family and the white locust family. All other flying insects with four feet [for walking] must be avoided by you." –Leviticus 11:20-23
Sources in the Talmud[edit]
The Mishna states in Kodashim 59a: "Any kind of grasshopper that has four walking legs, four wings, two jumping legs and whose wings cover the greater part of its body is kosher."
Yemenite tradition[edit]
This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2015)
According to Yemenite tradition, the four types of kosher locust in the Torah are:
The red locust (Hebrew: ארבה, Arbeh, Aramaic: גובאי, Govei, Arabic: الجراد, Al-Jaraad).
The spotted gray locust (Hebrew: חרגול, Chargol Aramaic: ניפול, Nippul, Arabic: الحرجوان, Al-Harjawaan).
The white locust (Hebrew: חגב, Chagav, Aramaic: גדיאן, Gadayin, Arabic: الجندب, Al-Jundub).
The yellow locust (Hebrew: סלעם, Sal'am, Aramaic: רשון, Rashona, Arabic: الدبا, Al-Daba).
QMRDocumentary Hypothesis[edit]
Main article: Documentary hypothesis
The documentary hypothesis considers the sources for the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible), claiming that it derives from four separate sources: the Yahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, and Priestly:
The Jahwist (J) source is characterized by the use of the name YHWH, has a human-like God, and is especially concerned with the kingdom of Judah. It is thought to have been written c. 950 BCE.
The Elohist (E) source is characterized with God being called Elohim, and deals more with the kingdom of Israel. It is thought to have been written c. 850 BCE.
The Deuteronomic (D) source is characterized by a sermon like style mostly concerned with law. It is thought to have been written c. 721-621 BCE.
The Priestly (P) is characterized by a formal style that is mostly concerned with priestly matters. It is thought to have been written c. 550 BCE.
For example, of the two creation stories at the start of Genesis, the first is ascribed to P, while the second (the creation of Adam and Eve in chapter 2) is ascribed to J.
While the documentary hypothesis has widespread support among biblical scholars, other hypotheses such as the "fragmentary" and "supplementary" have also been proposed[citation needed]
The writers of the Tanakh sometimes mention sources they use. These include Acts of Solomon (1 Kings 11:41), Chronicles of the Kings of Judah (1 Kings 14:29 and in a number of other places), Chronicles of the Kings of Israel (1 Kings 14:19 and in a number of other places), the Book of Jashar (Josh 10:12-14, 2 Sam 1:18-27, and possibly to be restored via textual criticism to 1 Kings 8:12), and Book of the Wars of the Lord (Num 21:14).
A more complicated and speculative form of source criticism results from critical evaluation of style, vocabulary, reduplication, and discrepancies. An example of this kind of source criticism is found in the book of Ezra-Nehemiah (typically treated by biblical scholars as one book) where scholars identify four types of source material: letters to and from Persian officials, lists of things, the Ezra memoir (where Ezra speaks in first person), and the Nehemiah memoir (where Nehemiah speaks in first person). It is thus deduced that the writer of Ezra-Nehemiah had access to these four kinds of source material in putting together his book.
Source criticism also leads many scholars towards redaction of the book of Isaiah from original multiple authorship.
QMRThe theory is also well known in a more elaborate form set forth by Streeter in 1924, which additionally hypothesized written sources "M" and "L" for Special Matthew and Special Luke, respectively—hence, the influential four-document hypothesis. This exemplifies the prevailing scholarship of the time, in which the canonical gospels were seen as late products, from well into the second century, composed by unsophisticated cut-and-paste redactors out of a progression of written sources, derived in turn from oral traditions and folklore that had evolved in various communities.[27] More recently, however, as this view has gradually fallen into disfavor, so too has the centrality of documentary interdependence and hypothetical documentary sources as an explanation for all aspects of the synoptic problem.
Ryan Merkle QMRAmong Shia, Usuli school of Ja'fari jurisprudence uses four sources, which are Qur'an, Sunnah, consensus and the intellect. They use consensus under special conditions and rely on the intellect to find general principles based on the Qur'an and Sunnah, and use the principles of jurisprudence as a methodology to interpret the Qur'an and Sunnah in different circumstances. Akhbari Ja'faris rely more on tradition and reject ijtihad.[1][4] According to Momen, despite considerable differences in the principles of jurisprudence between Shia and the four Sunni schools of law, there are fewer differences in the practical application of jurisprudence to ritual observances and social transactions.
Analogical reason[edit]
Main article: Qiyas
Qiyas or analogical reason is the fourth source of the sharia for the majority of Sunni jurisprudence. It aims to draw analogies to a previously accepted decision. Shiites do not accept analogy, but replace it with reason (aql); among Sunnis, the Hanbalites have traditionally been reluctant to accept analogy while the Zahirites don't accept it at all. Analogical reason in Islam is the process of legal deduction according to which the jurist, confronted with an unprecedented case, bases his or her argument on the logic used in the Qur'an and Sunnah. Legally sound analogy must not be based on arbitrary judgment, but rather be firmly rooted in the primary sources.[20]
Supporters of the practice of qiyas will often point to passages in the Qur'an that describe an application of a similar process by past Islamic communities. According to supporters of the practice, Muhammad said: "Where there is no revealed injunction, I will judge amongst you according to reason."[21] Further, supporters claim that he extended the right to reason to others. Finally, supporters of the practice claim that it is sanctioned by the ijma, or consensus, amongst Muhammad's companions.[20] Islamic studies scholar Bernard G. Weiss has pointed out that while analogical reason was accepted as a fourth source of law by later generations, its validity was not a foregone conclusion among earlier Muslim jurists.[22] Thus the issue of analogical reason and its validity was a controversial one early on, though the practice eventually gained acceptance of the majority of Sunni jurists.
Ryan Merkle QMRThe Source Four PAR is a stage lighting instrument manufactured by Electronic Theatre Controls. The name of the fixture derives from the stylistic and construction features it shares with ETC's Source Four. The suffix identifies the Source Four PAR as a parabolic aluminized reflector (PAR). It is designed and marketed as a modern, energy efficient alternative to traditional PAR fixtures used in theatrical and broadcast lighting.
Ryan Merkle QMRThe Bible with Sources Revealed (2003) is a book by American biblical scholar Richard Elliott Friedman dealing with the process by which the five books of the Torah or Pentateuch (the "Five Books of Moses") came to be written. Friedman follows the four-source Documentary Hypothesis model, but differs significantly from Julius Wellhausen's model in several respects.
Most notably, Friedman agrees with Wellhausen on the date of the Deuteronomist (the court of Josiah, c. 621 or 622 BC), but places the Priestly source at the court of Hezekiah; his sequence of sources therefore runs Jahwist–Elohist–Priestly–Deuteronomist [JEPD] (while Wellhausen order it as Jahwist–Elohist–Deuteronomist–Priestly [JEDP] in his Documentary Hypothesis model). Like Wellhausen, he sees a final redaction in the time of Ezra, c. 450 BC.
QMRThe book of Exodus lists four components of the incense while the Talmud lists seven additional components from the oral Torah. The four components from the book of Exodus are
stacte (נָטָף nataf)
onycha (שְׁחֵלֶת shekheleth)
galbanum (חֶלְבְּנָה khelbanah)
pure frankincense (לְבוֹנָה זָךְ levonah zach)
QMRCarbon, nitrogen, oxygen, water[edit]
Materials in a compost pile.
Food scraps compost heap.
Composting organisms require four equally important ingredients to work effectively:
Carbon — for energy; the microbial oxidation of carbon produces the heat, if included at suggested levels.[1]
High carbon materials tend to be brown and dry.
Nitrogen — to grow and reproduce more organisms to oxidize the carbon.
High nitrogen materials tend to be green (or colorful, such as fruits and vegetables) and wet.
Oxygen — for oxidizing the carbon, the decomposition process.
Water — in the right amounts to maintain activity without causing anaerobic conditions.[2]
QMRAn alcoholic beverage is a drink which contains a substantial amount of the psychoactive drug ethanol
Ryan Merkle Ethanol /ˈɛθənɒl/, also commonly called ethyl alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol is the principal type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, produced by the fermentation of sugars by yeasts. It is a neurotoxic[14][15] psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs used by humans. It can cause alcohol intoxication when consumed in sufficient quantity.
Ethanol is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid with a slight chemical odor. It is used as an antiseptic, a solvent, a fuel, and, due to its low freezing point, the active fluid in post-mercury thermometers. Its structural formula, CH
3CH
2OH, is often abbreviated as C
2H
5OH, C
2H
6O or EtOH.
It is made of carbon the miracle element
Ryan Merkle "What we normally think of as 'life' is based on chains of carbon atoms, with a few other atoms, such as nitrogen or phosphorus", per Stephen Hawking in a 2008 lecture, "carbon [...] has the richest chemistry." [3] The most important characteristics of carbon as a basis for the chemistry of life are, that it has four valence bonds, that the energy required to make or break a bond is at an appropriate level for building molecules, which are stable and reactive.[citation needed] Because carbon atoms bond readily to other carbon atoms allows for the building of arbitrarily long complex molecules and polymers.[citation needed]
Other candidates[edit]
There are not many other elements which even appear to be promising candidates for supporting life, for example, processes such as metabolism; the most frequently suggested alternative is silicon.[4] It is in the same group in the Periodic Table of elements, has four valence bonds, bonds to itself, generally in the form of crystal lattices rather than long chains.[citation needed] Silicon compounds do not support the ability to readily re-combine in different permutations in a manner that would plausibly support lifelike processes.[citation needed]
Other Religions Chapter
QMRThe Maya writing system consists of about 1000 distinct characters or hieroglyphs ('glyphs'), and like many ancient writing systems is a mixture of syllabic signs and logograms. This script was in use from the 3rd century BCE until shortly after the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. As of now (2015), a considerable proportion of the characters has a reading, but their meaning and configuration as a text is not always understood. The books were folded and consisted of bark paper or leather leaves with an adhesive stucco layer on which to write; they were protected by jaguar skin covers or, perhaps, wooden boards.[31] Since every diviner probably needed a book, there must have existed large numbers of them. Today, three codices (the Dresden, Paris, and Madrid codices), all of the Post-Classic period, are still in existence; the authenticity of a fourth one (the Grolier Codex) is doubtful. They are largely of a divinatory and priestly nature, containing almanacs, astrological tables, and ritual programs; the Paris Codex also includes katun-prophecies. Great attention was paid to a harmonious balance of texts and (partly coloured) illustrations.
The fourth is always different
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