Quadrant Model of Reality: Quadrant Model of Reality Book 22 Religion

Religion Chapter

Buddhism Chapter

QMRBodh Gaya is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is famous as it is the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have obtained Enlightenment (Bodhimandala) under what became known as the Bodhi Tree.[2]

For Buddhists, Bodh Gaya is the most important of the main four pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha, the other three being Kushinagar, Lumbini, and Sarnath. In 2002, Mahabodhi Temple, located in Bodh Gaya, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Later periods[edit]

Pilgrimage to

Buddha's

Holy Sites

Dharma Wheel.svg

The Four Main Sites

Bodh Gaya Kushinagar Lumbini Sarnath

Four Additional Sites

Rajgir Sankassa Shravasti Vaishali

Other Sites

Chandavaram Devadaha Gaya

Kapilavastu Kesaria Kosambi

Nalanda Pataliputra Pava

Varanasi

Later Sites

Ajanta Caves Barabar Caves Bharhut

Ellora Caves Lalitgiri Mathura

Pandavleni Caves Piprahwa Ratnagiri

Sanchi Udayagiri Vikramashila

v t e

Further stupas and other religious Buddhist structures were added over the following centuries until the 12th century AD. Temple 17 is probably one of the earliest Buddhist temples as it dates to the early Gupta period. It consists of a flat roofed square sanctum with a portico and four pillars. The interior and three sides of the exterior are plain and undecorated but the front and the pillars are elegantly carved, giving the temple an almost ‘classical’ appearance (Mitra 1971).

Temple 45 was the last Buddhist temple built during the mid - late 9th century.[5] Also at this time the monuments were enclosed within a wall. With the decline of Buddhism in India, the monuments of Sanchi went out of use and fell into a state of disrepair. In 1818, General Taylor of the Bengal Cavalry recorded a visit to Sanchi. At that time the monuments appear to have been left undisturbed for a long time and in generally good preservation.

The original brick stupa was later covered with stone during the Shunga period. On the basis of Ashokavadana, it is presumed that the stupa may have been vandalized at one point sometime in the 2nd century BCE, an event some have related to the rise of the Shunga emperor Pushyamitra Shunga who overtook the Mauryan Empire as an army general. It has been suggested that Pushyamitra may have destroyed the original stupa, and his son Agnimitra rebuilt it.[2] During the later rule of the Shunga, the stupa was expanded with stone slabs to almost twice its original size. The dome was flattened near the top and crowned by three superimposed parasols within a square railing. With its many tiers it was a symbol of the dharma, the Wheel of the Law. The dome was set on a high circular drum meant for circumambulation, which could be accessed via a double staircase. A second stone pathway at ground level was enclosed by a stone balustrade with four monumental gateways (toranas) facing the cardinal directions. The buildings which seem to have been commissioned during the rule of the Shungas are the Second and Third stupas (but not the highly decorated gateways, which are from the following Satavahana period, as known from inscriptions), and the ground balustrade and stone casing of the Great Stupa.

QMRThe Buddhist vihara at Sanchi, famous for its Great Stupa is located at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, it is 46 Km north-east of Bhopal.

The Great Stupa at Sanchi is the oldest stone structure in India[1] and was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BCE. Its nucleus was a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the Buddha. It was crowned by the chatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, which was intended to honour and shelter the relics. The construction work of this stupa was overseen by Ashoka's wife, Devi herself, who was the daughter of a merchant of Vidisha. Sanchi was also her birthplace as well as the venue of her and Ashoka's wedding. In the 1st century BCE, four elaborately carved toranas (ornamental gateways) and a balustrade encircling the entire structure were added.

QMRAnanda parinirvanizes in midair over the ganges, his body is autocremated and his relics divide into four portions for the people of Rajargrha, the people of Vaisali, the naga's and the gods.

QMRVersions[edit]

The text of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra in the original Sanskrit has survived only in a number of fragments, which were discovered in Central Asia, Afghanistan and Japan. It exists in Chinese and Tibetan versions of varying lengths. There are four extant versions of the sūtra, each translated from various Sanskrit editions:[3]

The "six fascicle text",[note 2] the translation into Chinese by Faxian and Buddhabhadra, translated during the Jin dynasty (265–420) between 416 and 418, containing six fascicles, which is the shortest and earliest version;

The "northern text", with 40 fascicles,[note 3] translated by Dharmakṣema between 421 and 430 in the Northern Liang kingdom, containing forty fascicles. This version was also translated into Classical Tibetan from the Chinese.

The "southern text",[note 4] with 36 fascicles, in approximately 453 by Huiguan and Huiyan during the Liu Song dynasty, integrated and amended the translations of Faxian and Dharmakṣema into a single edition of thirty-six fascicles;

The Tibetan version (c790CE) by Jinamitra, Jnanagarbha, and Devacandra;

According to Hodge, some other versions have also existed:[3]

a secondary Chinese version of Dharmakṣema's translation, completed in 453 CE. This was produced "by polishing the style and adding new section headings";[3]

Chinese catalogues of translations mention two other Chinese translations, slightly earlier than Faxian, which are no longer extant.[3]

Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra[edit]

The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, which has as one of its main topics precisely the realm or dhatu of nirvana, has the Buddha speak of four attributes which make up nirvana. Writing on this Mahayana understanding of nirvana, William Edward Soothill and Lewis Hodous state:

‘The Nirvana Sutra claims for nirvana the ancient ideas of permanence, bliss, personality, purity in the transcendental realm. Mahayana declares that Hinayana, by denying personality in the transcendental realm, denies the existence of the Buddha. In Mahayana, final nirvana is both mundane and transcendental, and is also used as a term for the Absolute.[118]

Kosho Yamamoto, translator of the full-length Nirvana Sutra, expresses the view that the non-Self doctrine of the Buddha's earlier teaching phase is an expedient only and that in the Nirvana Sutra a hidden teaching on the True Self is disclosed by the Buddha:

Theravada-tradition[edit]

According to the Theravada-tradition, the meditator uses the jhāna state to bring the mind to rest, and to strengthen and sharpen the mind, in order to investigate the true nature of phenomena (dhamma) and to gain insight into impermanence, suffering and not-self.[citation needed]

According to the sutta descriptions of jhāna practice, the meditator does not emerge from jhāna to practice vipassana but rather the work of insight is done whilst in jhāna itself. In particular the meditator is instructed to "enter and remain in the fourth jhāna" before commencing the work of insight in order to uproot the mental defilements.[61]<[note 11]

According to the later Theravāda commentorial tradition as outlined by Buddhagoṣa in his Visuddhimagga, after coming out of the state of jhāna the meditator will be in the state of post-jhāna access concentration. In this state the investigation and analysis of the true nature of phenomena begins, which leads to insight into the characteristics of impermanence, suffering and not-self arises.[citation needed]

QMRTwo kinds of dhyana[edit]

According to Richard Gombrich, the sequence of the four rupa-jhanas describes two different cognitive states:

I know this is controversial, but it seems to me that the third and fourth jhanas are thus quite unlike the second.[59][note 9]

Alexander Wynne further explains that the dhyana-scheme is poorly understood.[58] According to Wynne, words expressing the inculcation of awareness, such as sati, sampajāno, and upekkhā, are mistranslated or understood as particular factors of meditative states,[58] whereas they refer to a particular way of perceiving the sense objects:[58]

Thus the expression sato sampajāno in the third jhāna must denote a state of awareness different from the meditative absorption of the second jhāna (cetaso ekodibhāva). It suggests that the subject is doing something different from remaining in a meditative state, i.e. that he has come out of his absorption and is now once again aware of objects. The same is true of the word upek(k)hā: it does not denote an abstract 'equanimity', [but] it means to be aware of something and indifferent to it [...] The third and fourth jhāna-s, as it seems to me, describe the process of directing states of meditative absorption towards the mindful awareness of objects.[60][note 10]

Various possibilities for liberation[edit]

Schmithausen notes that the mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight", which is attained after mastering the Rupa Jhanas, is a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36.[13][3][page needed][2][page needed] Schmithausen discerns three possible roads to liberation as described in the suttas, to which Vetter adds a fourth possibility:[49]

Mastering the four Rupa Jhanas, where-after "liberating insight" is attained;

Mastering the four Rupa Jhanas and the four Arupa Jhanas, where-after "liberating insight" is attained;

Liberating insight itself suffices;

The four Rupa Jhanas themselves constituted the core liberating practice of early Buddhism, c.q. the Buddha.[50]

Jhana

The Arupa Jhānas[edit]

See also: Arūpajhāna and Formless Realm

Beyond the four jhānas lie four attainments, referred to in the early texts as aruppas. These are also referred to in commentarial literature as immaterial/the formless jhānas (arūpajhānas), also translated as The Formless Dimensions, in distinction from the first four jhānas (rūpa jhānas). In the Buddhist canonical texts, the word "jhāna" is never explicitly used to denote them, but they are always mentioned in sequence after the first four jhānas. The immaterial attainments have more to do with expanding, while the Jhanas (1-4) focus on concentration. The enlightenment of complete dwelling in emptiness is reached when the eighth jhāna is transcended.

The four formless jhanas are:

Dimension of Infinite Space - In this dimension the following qualities are "ferreted out":[38] "the perception of the dimension of the infinitude of space, singleness of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention".[38]

Dimension of Infinite Consciousness - In this dimension the following quailities are "ferreted out":[38] "the perception of the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention".[38]

Dimension of Nothingness - In this dimension the following qualities are "ferreted out":[38] "the perception of the dimension of nothingness, singleness of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention"

Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception No qualities to be "ferreted out" are being mentioned for this dimension.[38]

Although the "Dimension of Nothingness" and the "Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception" are included in the list of nine Jhanas taught by the Buddha, they are not included in the Noble Eightfold Path. Noble Path number eight is "Samma Samadhi" (Right Concentration), and only the first four Jhanas are considered "Right Concentration". If he takes a disciple through all the Jhanas, the emphasis is on the "Cessation of Feelings and Perceptions" rather than stopping short at the "Dimension of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception".

Nirodha-Samapatti[edit]

The Buddha also rediscovered an attainment beyond the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception, Nirodha-Samapatti, the "cessation of feelings and perceptions".[38] This is sometimes called the "ninth jhāna" in commentarial and scholarly literature.[39][40]

QMRThe Pāli canon describes eight progressive states of jhāna. Four are called meditations of form (rūpa jhāna), and four are formless meditations (arūpa jhāna).

The Rupa Jhānas[edit]

There are four stages of deep collectedness which are called the Rupa Jhāna (Fine-material Jhāna).

Jhana and samadhi[edit]

According to Henepola Gunaratana the term "jhana" is closely connected with "samadhi", which is generally rendered as "concentration." The word "samadhi" is almost interchangeable with the word "samatha," serenity.[37]

In the suttas samadhi is defined as mental one-pointedness.[37] Buddhaghosa explains samadhi etymologically as

... the centering of consciousness and consciousness concomitants evenly and rightly on a single object... the state in virtue of which consciousness and its concomitants remain evenly and rightly on a single object, undistracted and unscattered (Vism.84-85; PP.85).[37]

In the widest sense the word samadhi is being used for the practices which lead to the development of serenity. In this sense, samadhi and jhana are close in meaning. Nevertheless, they are not exactly identical. Samadhi signifies only one mental factor, namely one-pointedness, while the word "jhana" encompasses the whole state of consciousness.[37]

Samadhi also covers another type of concentration, namely "momentary concentration" (khanikasamadhi), "the mobile mental stabilization produced in the course of insight contemplation of the passing flow of phenomena."[37]

Rupa Jhana related factors[edit]

The rupa-jhānas are described according to the nature of the mental factors which are present in these states:

Movement of the mind onto the object (vitakka; Sanskrit: vitarka)

Retention of the mind on the object (vicāra)

Joy (pīti; Sanskrit: prīti)

Happiness (sukha)

Equanimity (upekkhā; Sanskrit: upekṣā)

One-pointedness (ekaggatā; Sanskrit: ekāgratā)[note 3]

Qualities of the Four Rupa Jhanas[edit]

Main article: Rupajhana

For each Jhāna are given a set of qualities which are present in that jhana:[38]

First Jhāna — the five hindrances have completely disappeared and intense unified bliss remains. Only the subtlest of mental movement remains, perceivable in its absence by those who have entered the second jhāna. The ability to form unwholesome intentions ceases. The remaining qualities are: "directed thought, evaluation, rapture, pleasure, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity & attention"

Second Jhāna — all mental movement utterly ceases. There is only bliss. The ability to form wholesome intentions ceases as well. The remaining qualities are: "internal assurance, rapture, pleasure, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention"

Third Jhāna — one-half of bliss (joy) disappears. The remaining qualities are: "equanimity-pleasure, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity & attention"

Fourth Jhāna — The other half of bliss (happiness) disappears, leading to a state with neither pleasure nor pain, which the Buddha said is actually a subtle form of happiness (more sublime than pīti and sukha). The breath is said to cease temporarily in this state. The remaining qualities are: "a feeling of equanimity, neither pleasure nor pain; an unconcern due to serenity of awareness; unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity & attention".[38]

Psychic powers[edit]

Traditionally, the fourth jhāna is seen as the beginning of attaining psychic powers (abhijñā).[note 4]

QMRAggañña Sutta is the 27th Sutta of the Digha Nikaya collection. The sutta describes a discourse imparted by the Buddha to two brahmins, Bharadvaja and Vasettha, who left their family and caste to become monks. The two brahmins are insulted and maligned by their own caste for their intention to become members of the Sangha. The Buddha explains that caste and lineage cannot be compared to the achievement of morality practice and the Dhamma, as anyone from the four castes can become a monk and reach the state of Arahant. Then, he explains about the beginning of the Earth and the birth of social order and its structure, including the castes. The Buddha emphasizes the message of universality in the Dhamma and how the Dhamma is the best of all things.

This is a Buddhist text about the four castes and the four clans and the fifth transcendent clan that the Buddha describes emerges from all of the other four (like how the aether, the fifth element, has the qualities of the other four elements)

Forty-four beliefs about the future[edit]- The Buddha next lists forty four beliefs about the future. Forty four is a repetition of fours. Like in the bible there is repetitions of fours and in all holy texts throughout the world, the Buddha next states forty four beliefs, accentuating the number four

There are ascetics who based their beliefs on the future. The proponents of one of these beliefs, adhered that:

Perception's existence after death[edit]

A. the perception still exists after death. The difference of beliefs were described that after death, the Atta:

1. possessed physical shape (rupa)

2. possessed no shape/immaterial (arupa)

3. both had physical shape some had not (rupa and arupa)

4. neither possessed physical shape nor immaterial

5. Infinite

6. Limited

7. Both Infinite and limited

8. neither Infinite nor Limited

9. had a certain form of consciousness

10. had several form of consciousness

11.had infinite consciousness

12.had limited consciousness

13.always in joy/blissful state

14.always in suffering state

15.Both in joy and suffering

16.neither joyful nor suffering

B. the Perception vanished after death. The difference of beliefs were described that after death, the Atta was devoid of perception after dead but:

1. possessed physical shape (rupa)

2. possessed no physical shape (arupa)

3. Both had shape and no shape

4. Neither had shape nor had no shape

5. Limited

6. Unlimited

7. Both limited and unlimited

8. Neither limited nor infinite

C. Neither there was Perception of No Perception after death. The difference of these beliefs were describe that after death, the Atta was neither devoid of perception nor non-perception, but:

1. possessed physical shape (rupa)

2. possessed no physical shape (arupa)

3. Both had shape and no shape

4. Neither had shape nor had no shape

5. Limited

6. Unlimited

7. Both limited and unlimited

8. Neither limited nor infinite

All of the followers of these beliefs defended and clung on their faith and didn't believe in another faiths.

Annihilation (nihilism) beliefs[edit]

The proponent of these beliefs declared that after death, existence simply vanished (Atta vanished). These beliefs were described in seven type of authorities and basis:

1. that the Atta was created from the union of father and mother's essence, composed of four elements (dhatu) and on the death, these elements ceased to exist. By this manner, Atta become non-existent.

2. that not only the (1) but the physical-related desire of the celestial gods, who had physical shape and take nourishment, which also cease to exist after death.

3. that not only the (2), but the attha of Brahma gods, which were shaped of Jhanna mind, and faculties of senses which cease to exist after death.

4. that not only the (3), but also the attha which had transcended the concept of Infinity, where the perception of shape had been surpassed, the perception of contact between mind and object had vanished, not paying attention to major kinds of Perception, which cease to exist after death.

5. that not only the (4), but also the attha which had reached the Realm of Infinity of Consciousness.

6. that not only the (5), but also the attha which had reached Realm of Nothingness.

7. that not only the (6) but also the attha which had reached the realm of neither Perception nor Non-Perception.

All of the followers of these beliefs defended and clung on their faith and didn't believe in another faiths.

Five beliefs on attainable Nibbana[edit]

The proponents of these faiths proposed that Nibbana's state of bliss could be attained in the current life. They based their faith because:

1. The joy coming from the five senses can be enjoyed and attained thoroughly. So, the Nibbana could also be attained.

2. The joy from the five senses were vulnerable to change and mortal. But the joy from the attainment of the first Jhana (Dhyana) can be enjoyed and attained thoroughly. So, with the first Jhana, the Nibbana could also be attained.

3. ..... (same with No.2) but with Second Jhana...

4. ..... (same with No.3) but with Third Jhana...

5. ..... (same with No.4) but with Fourth Jhana. So, the Nibbana could also be attained.

All of the followers of these beliefs defended and clung on their faith and didn't believe in another faiths.

The Universe[edit]

The beliefs on the universe is based on the speculation about the infinite or the limited nature of the universe. There are four ways these beliefs were expressed:

1. The universe is infinite.

2. The universe is limited.

3. The universe is vertically limited but horizontally infinite.

4. The universe is neither limited nor infinite.

The source of these beliefs came from two reasons:

1. The frame of mind which formed these beliefs came from the object of focus of meditation taken by the ascetics who managed to reach a deep level of meditation and came to the conclusion that the world is infinite (if they used infinity as the object of meditation), or limited (if they imagined the object of their focus to be limited).

2. The people who used logic and thought and concluded that the world must be neither infinite nor limited.

All of the followers of these beliefs defended and clung to their faith and didn't believe in other faiths.

Ambiguous Evasion[edit]

The concept of ambiguous evasion or eel-wriggling (Pali: Amaravikkhepa) is introduced in the Brahmajala sutta. When hearing Buddhist teachings, the Buddha claims that people would react with four forms of ambiguous evasion:

Evasion out of fear or hatred of making false claims.

Evasion out of fear or hatred of attachment.

Evasion out of fear or hatred of debate.

Evasion out of fear or hatred of admitting ignorance.

In other words, when a person would hear the dharma, they would respond, "I don't know. Maybe it is true. Maybe it is not true. I can't say it's true because I don't know and I can't deny it's true because I don't know."

The idea is that the person isn't considering the arguments presented (see Kalama Sutta), but stubbornly adhering to irrational agnosticism out of feelings of fear or hatred.

Semi-eternalistic belief[edit]

The semi-eternalistic belief is described as belief that is based on the past, where the dualistic notion is asserted that there are things which are eternal and things which are not eternal. There are four ways these beliefs come to be faith, where one believer never acknowledged the other beliefs:

The Buddha told a story about a time when the Earth was not yet formed. The sentient beings in this time normally lived in the realm of Abhassara, in radiant light and nourished by celestial joy. Then came a time when the Earth was in the process of forming yet still uninhabitable. One of these beings in the Abhassara realm died (due to the exhaustion of his karma) and was reborn in the higher realm called the Brahma realm and lived alone in the palace there. From living alone for so long a time, this being grew distressed and longed for a companion.

He then uttered, "O, let it be that another being may come here and accompany me." At the same time as the utterance, a being in the Abhassara realm died (due to the exhaustion of his good karma) and was reborn in the Brahma realm as his follower, but in many ways, similar to his feature.[clarification needed]

Seeing this happen, the Brahma being thought, "I am Brahma, Mahābrahmā, the Almighty, Omniscient, the Lord of All, Creator, Master of all creatures. I am the source of all life, Father to everything which exists and will come to exist. These creatures are my creations. How can I conclude this? Because, just as I was thinking, "Let it be that another being may come here and accompany me", then my wish made that being come into existence."

Beings that came after thought the same thing. They worshipped and revered the Brahma because, "He was here even before I existed! Surely he is the Lord and Creator of All." In the Brahma realm, the first being had longer and more powerful features than the latter coming beings. So, a probability existed that the latter being died in the Brahma realm, and then was reborn as a human. This human abandoned worldly affairs and became an ascetic, then by his devotion and practice, achieved the power to remember his one past life. As he recalled it, he came to the conclusion that creatures, including himself, are not eternal, had limited age, were vulnerable to change, but that Brahma is eternal, ageless, and changeless.

The second semi-eternalistic belief came from ascetics who were once Khiddapadosika gods, celestial beings that were too busy to experience desire-based joy and fun, forgot to take their nutriments and therefore, died. As they were reborn as ascetics and achieved the ability to remember their past life, they came to a conclusion analogous to the 'Fall from Grace': "If only we were not so greedy and overzealous in our previous life, if only we had been able to control ourselves, we would not have suffered death. Now that we had made this error, we have to suffer this mortal life". Here, they concluded that the gods were eternal, and others were not.

The third semi-eternalistic belief came from the Manopadosika gods. These were the gods who always envied the other gods. This illness of mind caused their death. In the same cycle, they were reborn as ascetic Manopadosika gods, achieved the ability to remember their past life, and came to the conclusion, "Had we not been envious, we would have stayed strong and intelligent. We would never have died or fallen forever from the realm of gods.".

The fourth semi-eternalistic belief is based on logic and reflection. The people who embraced this belief concluded their faith based on their thoughts and logics as follow: "Here is what is called (atta) of eyes, nose, tongue, and our physical body, which are always changed. But, there is also atta of mind: the state of mind, awareness of 'atta', which is eternal.".

All of the followers of these beliefs defended and clung to their faith and didn't believe in other faiths.

Eternalism is described in the sutta as the belief which is based upon the past, and holds that the universe (loka) and the soul or self (attha) are eternal as a 'rock mountain or strong-fastened pole'. The world doesn't create new souls and therefore, the souls are living in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth, differing only in name, location, and time. These kind of beliefs have four origins:

1. Ascetics and Brahmins who have reached a high level of meditation; due to this achievement, they were able to remember from one to tens of thousands of their past lives.

2. Ascetics and Brahmins who have reached the spiritual achievements which provided them access to memories of one to ten iterations of the Earth's formation, evolution, and destruction.

3. Ascetics and Brahmins who have managed to recall the Earth's evolutionary process from ten to forty times.

The abovementioned ascetics and Brahmins recalled how they had name, family, heirs, food, joy and sadness, then death and rebirth in their past lives. Based on their experience, they concluded that the universe and the soul must be eternal.

4. Ascetics and Brahmins who use logic and inference and come to the conclusion that the soul and universe are eternal.

The Buddha said that there are 18 types of eternalistic belief, all based on one of these four origins. All of the followers of these beliefs defended and clung to their faith and did not give credence to other faiths.

QMRThe Brahmajala Sutta is the first of 34 suttas in the Digha Nikaya (the Long Discourses of the Buddha). The name comes from 'brahma' (perfect wisdom) and 'jala' (net-which-embraced-all-views). The sutta is also called 'Atthajala' (Net of Essence), Dhammajala, (Net of the Dhamma), Ditthijala (Net of Views), Anuttarasangama Vijaya (Incomparable Victory in Battle).

QMRThe jhānaṅga have the following meanings: vitakka means the noticing of the object of meditation, vicāra means the experiencing of the object, pīti means rapture, sukha means bliss, ekaggatā means one-pointedness of concentration, upekkhā means equanimity.

The Stages of the Four Meditations of Form[edit]

¯To reach each successive stage of meditation, a factor of attachment in the previous stage is renounced. Such renunciation is aided by a progressive realization of the quality of relative grossness of each of the primary factors characterizing the respective states of jhana absorption, appreciating, in other words, that each factor is in the end a kind of "agitation" of the mind. The first meditation of form includes the three primary factors of the one-pointed noticing and experiencing of the object, rapture in the experience, and bliss in the rapture. In the second meditation of form, the meditator lets go of the relatively gross factors of noticing and experiencing of the object and perceives the rapture and bliss of the one pointedness. In the third meditation of form the person then detaches from the sense of rapture and perceives the one-pointed bliss, a less "agitated" state. In the fourth meditation of form the meditator relinquishes even the quality of bliss and perceives only one-pointed undisturbed equanimity.[1][2]

The three realms (Skt. triloka or tridhātu) of desire, form, and formlessness and the meditations of form within the realm of form are related to the Buddhist view of the three poisons of the mind, i.e., greed (lust, desire, etc.), aversion (hatred, anger, etc.) and ignorance (delusion, illusion, etc.). In the six worlds of desire, the three poisons are present and equally strong. When the meditator renounces the poison of greed they are able to enter the realm of form. When the meditator renounces the poison of aversion they enter the formless realm. And when the meditator renounces the last poison of ignorance they leave the three realms altogether and enter the Buddha realms.

After renouncing the poison of greed and entering the realm of form, in order to renounce the poison of aversion, the meditator engages in the four meditations of form. By renouncing one's attachments to objects, the rapture in objects, and bliss in the rapture, one is renouncing one's aversion to the absence of objects, absence of rapture, and absence of bliss. When one is able to renounce even the equanimity achieved in the fourth meditation of form, one renounces the last attachment to the realm of form and is able to enter the formless realm without being overcome by either desire or aversion, and one becomes able to engage in the four formless meditations.

QMRThere are eight jhānas in total, out of which the first four are rūpajhānas, meditations of form. All four rūpajhānas are characterized by ekaggatā (Skt: ekāgratā) which means one-pointedness, i.e. the mind focuses singularly on the material or mental object during meditation.

The four rūpajhānas are:

paṭhama-jhāna (Skt: prathamadhyāna, literally "first jhana")

dutiya-jhāna (Skt: dvitīyadhyāna, literally "second jhana")),

tatiya-jhāna (Skt: tṛtīyadhyāna,literally "third jhana"))

catuttha-jhāna (Skt: caturthadhyāna, literally "fourth jhana"))

See also right concentration.

These first four jhānas can be characterized by certain factors called jhānaṅga (Skt: dhyānāṅga) whose presence or absence in each rūpajhāna is summarized in the following table:

jhāna vitakka

& vicāra

(applied and

sustained thought) pīti

(rapture) sukha

(bliss) ekaggatā

(one-pointedness) upekkhā

(equanimity)

paṭhama-jhāna * * * *

dutiya-jhāna * * *

tatiya-jhāna * *

catuttha-jhāna *

QMRSources of information

There is little purely historical information about Chanakya: most of it comes from semi-legendary accounts. Thomas Trautmann identifies four distinct accounts of the ancient Chanakya-Chandragupta katha (legend):[18]

Version of the legend Example texts

Buddhist version Mahavamsa and its commentary Vamsatthappakasini (Pali language)

Jain version Parishishtaparvan by Hemachandra

Kashmiri version Kathasaritsagara by Somadeva, Brihat-Katha-Manjari by Ksemendra

Vishakhadatta's version Mudrarakshasa, a Sanskrit play by Vishakhadatta

The following elements are common to these legends:

The King Dhana Nanda insults Chanakya, prompting Chanakya to swear revenge and destroy the Nanda Empire

Chanakya searches for one worthy successor to the Nanda and finds the young Chandragupta Maurya

With the help of some allies, Chanakya and Chandragupta bring down the Nanda empire, often using manipulative and secretive means

Brahma Vaivarta Purana was written in Banga, which was the ancient name for the region of present day Bengal.[citation needed] It was recited by Suta to the sages at the forest of Naimisharanya. The first part is called Brahma Khanda and describes Brahma and his sons, Narada in particular. The second part is called Prakriti Khanda deals with the goddesses or shaktis who are manifestations of Prakriti. The third part, Ganesha Khanda, is about Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati. In this canto Ganesha's mother Parvati told Shani to ignore the curse and look at Ganesha.[2] The fourth and last part is called Krishna Janma Khanda, a canto about the birth and life of Krishna, Svayam bhagavan.(BVP 4.90.32–33 is quoted in Chanakya's Niti sastra 11.4.)[3]

QMRBrahma Vaivarta Purana, (Sanskrit: व्रह्मबैवर्तपुराणम्, brahma-vaivarta purāṇa) one of the major eighteen Puranas, a Hindu religious text of the 10th century AD, is divided into four parts. First part describes the creation of the universe and all beings, the second part relates to description and histories of different goddesses. The third part is mostly devoted to life and deeds of Ganesha, and the last part details the life and deeds of Krishna. The Padma Purana categorizes Brahma Vaivarta Purana as a Rajas Purana (Purana which represents dimness and passion).[1]

Shaligrams are iconographic fossil stones particularly found in the Gandaki River in Nepal which are worshipped by Hindus as representative of Vishnu. The shaligrama - which has the marks of a shanka, chakra, gada and padma arranged in this particular order – is worshipped as Keshava. Twenty-four orders of the four symbols defined for Shaligrama are also followed in worship of images of Vishnu with different names. Out of these, besides Keshava the four names of images worshipped starting with Shankha on the upper hand, are: Madhusudanah, Damodara, Balarama and Vamana

Shankha (Sanskrit: शङ्ख, Tibetan: དུང་དཀར་, Lhasa dialect IPA: [dungkar][tʰúŋkar]) translated from Tibetan is literally “white conch”, Tibetan-English Dharma Dictionary, 2003), and true to its name, it is a trumpet formed from a white conch shell of the species Turbinella pyrum, from the Indian Ocean. It is heavily decorated with ornate patterns in metals such as silver, bronze or tin and is topped with a bright bead, which is said to represent good energy. The conch shell of ritual and religious importance in both Hinduism and Buddhism. The shankha is the shell of a species of large predatory sea snail, Turbinella pyrum, which lives in the Indian Ocean.

In Hinduism, the shankha is a sacred emblem of the Hindu preserver god Vishnu. It is still used as a trumpet in Hindu ritual, and in the past was used as a war trumpet. The shankha is praised in Hindu scriptures as a giver of fame, longevity and prosperity, the cleanser of sin and the abode of Lakshmi, who is the goddess of wealth and consort of Vishnu.

The shankha is displayed in Hindu art in association with Vishnu. As a symbol of water, it is associated with female fertility and serpents (Nāgas). The shankha is the state emblem of the Indian state of Kerala and was also the national emblems of the Indian princely state of Travancore, and the Kingdom of Cochin.

The shankha is one of the eight auspicious symbols of Buddhism, the Ashtamangala, and represents the pervasive sound of Buddhism.

A powder made from the shell material is used in ayurveda, primarily as a cure for stomach ailments and for increasing beauty and strength.

In the Western world, in the English language, the shell of this species is known as the "divine conch" or the "sacred chank". It may also be simply called a "chank" or conch. The more common form of this shell is known as "left-turning" in a religious context, although scientists would call it "dextral". A very rarely encountered form has reverse coiling which is called "right-turning" in a religious context, but is known as "sinistral" or left-coiling in a scientific context.

QMR Vishnu has four arms that hold four items. The Sudarshana Chakra is a spinning, disk-like weapon with 108 serrated edges used by the Hindu god Vishnu. The Sudarshana Chakra is generally portrayed on the right rear hand of the four hands of Vishnu, who also holds a shankha (conch shell), a Gada (mace) and a padma (lotus).[1]

QMRResults of a study on male patients at a maximum-security forensic hospital suggested four potential subtypes of psychopathy: narcissistic, borderline, sadistic, and antisocial. The researchers have stated that additional data are needed to understand the observed variations

QMRStyles of attachment[edit]

Johnson & Sims (2000) describe four attachment styles:

People who are secure and trusting perceive themselves as lovable, able to trust others and themselves within a relationship. They give clear emotional signals, and are engaged, resourceful and flexible in unclear relationships. Secure partners express feelings, articulate needs, and allow their own vulnerability to show.

People who have a diminished ability to articulate feelings, tend not to acknowledge their need for attachment, and struggle to name their needs in a relationship. They tend to adopt a safe position and solve problems dispassionately without understanding the effect that their safe distance has on their partners.

People who are psychologically reactive and who exhibit anxious attachment. They tend to demand reassurance in an aggressive way, demand their partner's attachment and tend to use blame strategies (including emotional blackmail) in order to engage their partner.

People who have been traumatized and have experienced little to no recovery from it vacillate between attachment and hostility.

Although EFT posits that each person's emotions are organized into idiosyncratic emotion schemes that are highly variable both between people and within the same person over time,[14] nevertheless emotional responses can be classified into four broad types: primary adaptive, primary maladaptive, secondary reactive, and instrumental.[15]

Primary adaptive[edit]

Primary adaptive emotion responses are initial emotional responses to a given stimulus that have a clear beneficial value—for example, sadness at loss, anger at violation, and fear at threat. Sadness is an adaptive response when it motivates us to reconnect with someone or something important that is missing. Anger is an adaptive response when it motivates us to take assertive action to end the violation. Fear is an adaptive response when it motivates us to avoid or escape an overwhelming threat. In addition to emotions that indicate action tendencies (such as the three just mentioned), primary adaptive emotion responses include the feeling of being certain and in control or uncertain and out of control, and/or a general felt sense of emotional pain—these feelings and emotional pain do not provide immediate action tendencies but do provide adaptive information that can be symbolized and worked through in therapy. Primary adaptive emotion responses "are attended to and expressed in therapy in order to access the adaptive information and action tendency to guide problem solving."[16]

Primary maladaptive[edit]

Primary maladaptive emotion responses are also initial emotional responses to a given stimulus; however, they are generally dysfunctional responses based on emotion schemes that are no longer useful (and that may or may not have been useful in the past) and that were often formed through previous traumatic experiences. Examples include sadness at the joy of others, anger at the genuine caring or concern of others, fear at harmless situations, and chronic feelings of insecurity (fear) or worthlessness (shame). For example, a person may respond with anger at the genuine caring or concern of others because as a child he or she was offered caring or concern that was usually followed by a violation; as a result, he or she learned to respond to caring or concern with anger even when there is no violation. The person's angry response is understandable, and needs to be met with empathy and compassion even though his or her angry response is not helpful.[17] Secondary maladaptive emotion responses are accessed in therapy with the aim of transforming the emotion scheme through new experiences.[18]

Secondary reactive[edit]

Secondary reactive emotion responses are complex chain reactions where a person reacts to his or her primary adaptive or maladaptive emotional response and then replaces it with another, secondary emotional response. In other words, they are emotional responses to prior emotional responses. ("Secondary" means that a different emotion response occurred first.) They can include secondary reactions of hopelessness, helplessness, rage, or despair that occur in response to primary emotion responses that are experienced (secondarily) as painful, uncontrollable, or violating. They may be escalations of a primary emotion response, as when people are angry about being angry, afraid of their fear, or sad about their sadness. They may be defenses against a primary emotion response, such as feeling anger to avoid sadness or fear to avoid anger; this can include gender role-stereotypical responses such as expressing anger when feeling primarily afraid (stereotypical of men's gender role), or expressing sadness when primarily angry (stereotypical of women's gender role).[18] "These are all complex, self-reflexive processes of reacting to one's emotions and transforming one emotion into another. Crying, for example, is not always true grieving that leads to relief, but rather can be the crying of secondary helplessness or frustration that results in feeling worse."[19]

Secondary reactive emotion responses are accessed and explored in therapy in order to increase awareness of them and to arrive at more primary and adaptive emotion responses.[20]

Instrumental[edit]

Instrumental emotion responses are experienced and expressed by a person because the person has learned that the response has an effect on others, "such as getting them to pay attention to us, to go along with something we want them to do for us, to approve of us, or perhaps most often just not to disapprove of us."[17] Instrumental emotion responses can be consciously intended or unconsciously learned (i.e., through operant conditioning). Examples include crocodile tears (instrumental sadness), bullying (instrumental anger), crying wolf (instrumental fear), and feigned embarrassment (instrumental shame). When a client responds in therapy with instrumental emotion responses, it may feel manipulative or superficial to the therapist. Instrumental emotion responses are explored in therapy in order to increase awareness of their interpersonal function and/or the associated primary and secondary gain.[21]

QMROne feature that Shingon shares in common with Tendai, the only other school with esoteric teachings in Japan, is the use of bīja or seed-syllables in Sanskrit written in the Siddhaṃ alphabet along with anthropomorphic and symbolic representations to express Buddhist deities in their mandalas.

There are four types of mandalas:

• Mahāmaṇḍala (大曼荼羅, Large Mandala)

• Bīja- or Dharmamaṇḍala (法曼荼羅)

• Samayamaṇḍala (三昧耶曼荼羅), representations of the vows of the deities in the form of articles they hold or their mudras

• Karmamaṇḍala (羯磨曼荼羅) representing the activities of the deities in the three-dimensional form of statues, etc.

The Siddhaṃ alphabet (Shittan 悉曇, Bonji 梵字) is used to write mantras. A core meditative practice of Shingon is Ajikan (阿字觀) "meditating on the letter a" written using the Siddhaṃ alphabet. Other Shingon meditations are Gachirinkan (月輪觀, "Full Moon visualization"), Gojigonjingan (五字嚴身觀, "Visualization of the Five Elements arrayed in The Body" from the Mahavairocana Tantra) and Gosōjōjingan (五相成身觀, Pañcābhisaṃbodhi "Series of Five Meditations to attain Buddhahood") from the Vajraśekhara Sutra.

The essence of Shingon practice is to experience Reality by emulating the inner realization of the Dharmakaya through the meditative ritual use of mantra, mudra and visualization, i.e. "The Three Mysteries" (Japanese. Sanmitsu 三密). All Shingon followers gradually develop a teacher-student relationship, whereby a teacher learns the disposition of the student and teaches practices accordingly. For lay practitioners, there is no initiation ceremony beyond the Kechien Kanjō (結縁灌頂), which is normally offered only at Mount Koya but can also be offered by larger temples under masters permitted to transmit the empowerment. It is not required for all laypersons to take, and no assigned practices are given.

The Tibetan system of classifying tantras into four classes is not used in Shingon.

QMRThe teachings of Shingon are based on early Buddhist tantras, the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Japanese. Dainichi-kyō 大日経), the Vajraśekhara Sūtra (Kongōchō-kyō 金剛頂経), the Adhyardhaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (Rishu-kyō 理趣経), and the Susiddhikara Sūtra (Soshitsuji-kyō 蘇悉地経). These are the four principal texts of Esoteric Buddhism and are all tantras, not sutras, despite their names.

QMRThe Mahāvairocana Tantra (traditional Chinese: 大毘盧遮那成佛神變加持經; ; pinyin: Dà Pílúzhēnà Chéngfó Shénbiàn Jiāchí Jīng; also known as 大日经 Da ri Jing) is an important Vajrayana Buddhist text. It is also known as the Mahāvairocana Abhisaṃbodhi Tantra, or more fully as the Mahāvairocana Abhisaṃbodhi Vikurvita Adhiṣṭhāna Tantra. In Tibet it is considered to be a member of the Carya class of tantras. In Japan where it is known as the Mahāvairocana Sūtra, it is one of two central texts in the Shingon school, along with the Vajrasekhara Sutra. Both are also part of the Tendai school.

Esoteric Precepts[edit]

Chapter 2 of the sutra also contains four precepts, called the samaya, that form the basic precepts esoteric Buddhist practitioners must follow:

Not to abandon the true Dharma

Not to deviate from one's own enlightened mind

Not to be reserved in sharing with others the Buddhist teachings

Not to bring harm to any sentient beings

The place of a bodhisattva's earthly deeds, such as the achievement of enlightenment or the acts of Dharma, is known as a bodhimaṇḍa, and may be a site of pilgrimage. Many temples and monasteries are famous as bodhimaṇḍas. Perhaps the most famous bodhimaṇḍa of all is the Bodhi Tree under which Śākyamuṇi achieved buddhahood. In the tradition of Chinese Buddhism, there are four mountains that are regarded as bodhimaṇḍas for bodhisattvas, with each site having major monasteries and being popular for pilgrimages by both monastics and laypeople. These four bodhimandas are:

Mount Putuo: Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva

Mount Emei: Samantabhadra Bodhisattva

Mount Wutai: Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva

Mount Jiuhua: Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva

QMRIn Mahayana Buddhism, bodhisattva is the Sanskrit term for anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.[1] A bodhisattva is one of the four sublime states a human can achieve in life (the others being an arhat, buddha or pratyekabuddha).[2]

QMRThe name Theravāda comes from the ancestral Sthāvirīya, one of the early Buddhist schools, from which the Theravadins claim descent. After unsuccessfully trying to modify the Vinaya, a small group of "elderly members", i.e. sthaviras, broke away from the majority Mahāsāṃghika during the Second Buddhist council, giving rise to the Sthavira sect.[1] According to its own accounts, the Theravāda school is fundamentally derived from the Vibhajjavāda "doctrine of analysis" grouping,[2] which was a division of the Sthāvirīya.

According to Damien Keown, there is no historical evidence that the Theravāda school arose until around two centuries after the Great Schism which occurred at the Third Council.[3] Theravadin accounts of its own origins mention that it received the teachings that were agreed upon during the putative Third Buddhist council under the patronage of the Indian Emperor Ashoka around 250 BCE. These teachings were known as the Vibhajjavada.[4] Emperor Ashoka is supposed to have assisted in purifying the sangha by expelling monks who failed to agree to the terms of Third Council.[5] Later, the Vibhajjavādins in turn is said to have split into four groups: the Mahīśāsaka, Kāśyapīya, Dharmaguptaka, and the Tāmraparṇīya.

QMRThere are four extant collections of āgamas, and one for which we have only references and fragments (the Kṣudrakāgama). The four extant collections are preserved in their entirety only in Chinese translation (āgama: 阿含經), although small portions of all four have recently been discovered in Sanskrit, and portions of four of the five āgamas are preserved in Tibetan.[7] The five Āgamas are:

Dīrgha Āgama[edit]

The Dīrgha Āgama ("Long Discourses," Cháng Ahánjīng 長阿含經 Taishō 1)[8] corresponds to the Dīgha Nikāya of the Theravada school. A complete version of the Dīrgha Āgama of the Dharmaguptaka (法藏部) school was done by Buddhayaśas (佛陀耶舍) and Zhu Fonian (竺佛念) in the Late Qin dynasty (後秦), dated to 413 CE. It contains 30 sūtras in contrast to the 34 suttas of the Theravadin Dīgha Nikāya. A "very substantial" portion of the Sarvāstivādin Dīrgha Āgama survives in Sanskrit,[9] and portions survive in Tibetan translation.

Madhyama Āgama[edit]

The Madhyama Āgama (traditional Chinese: 中阿含經 "Middle-length Discourses")[8] corresponds to the Majjhima Nikāya of the Theravada school. A complete translation of the Madhyama Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda school was done by Saṃghadeva (Chinese: 僧伽提婆) in the Eastern Jin dynasty in 397-398 CE. The Madhyama Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda school contains 222 sūtras, in contrast to the 152 suttas of the Pāli Majjhima Nikāya. Portions of the Sarvāstivāda Madhyama Āgama also survive in Tibetan translation.

Saṃyukta Āgama[edit]

The Saṃyukta Āgama ("Connected Discourses", Zá Ahánjīng 雜阿含經 Taishō 2.99)[8] corresponds to the Saṃyutta Nikāya of the Theravada school. A Chinese translation of the complete Saṃyukta Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda (說一切有部) school was done by Guṇabhadra (求那跋陀羅) in the Song state (宋), dated to 435-443 CE. Portions of the Sarvāstivāda Saṃyukta Āgama also survive in Sanskrit[10] and Tibetan translation.

There is also an incomplete Chinese translation of the Saṃyukta Āgama (別譯雜阿含經 Taishō 100) of the Kāśyapīya (飲光部) school by an unknown translator, from around the Three Qin (三秦) period, 352-431 CE.[7] A comparison of the Sarvāstivādin, Kāśyapīya, and Theravadin texts reveals a considerable consistency of content, although each recension contains texts not found in the others.

Ekottara Āgama[edit]

Main article: Ekottara Agama

The Ekottara Āgama ("Numbered Discourses," Zēngyī Ahánjīng, 增壹阿含經 Taishō 125)[8] corresponds to the Anguttara Nikāya of the Theravada school. A complete version of the Ekottara Āgama was translated by Dharmanandi (曇摩難提) of the Fu Qin state (苻秦), and edited by Gautama Saṃghadeva in 397–398 CE. Some believed that it came from the Sarvāstivāda school, but more recently the Mahāsāṃghika branch has been proposed as well.[11] According to A.K. Warder, the Ekottara Āgama references 250 Prātimokṣa rules for monks, which agrees only with the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, which is also located in the Chinese Buddhist canon. He also views some of the doctrine as contradicting tenets of the Mahāsāṃghika school, and states that they agree with Dharmaguptaka views currently known. He therefore concludes that the extant Ekottara Āgama is that of the Dharmaguptaka school.[12]

Of the four Āgamas of the Sanskritic Sūtra Piṭaka in the Chinese Buddhist Canon, it is the one which differs most from the Theravādin version. The Ekottara Āgama contains variants on such standard teachings as the Noble Eightfold Path.[13] According to Keown, "there is considerable disparity between the Pāli and the [Chinese] versions, with more than two-thirds of the sūtras found in one but not the other compilation, which suggests that much of this portion of the Sūtra Piṭaka was not formed until a fairly late date."[14]

Kṣudraka Āgama or Kṣudraka Piṭaka[edit]

The Kṣudraka Āgama ("Minor Collection") corresponds to the Khuddaka Nikāya, and existed in some schools. The Dharmaguptaka in particular, had a Kṣudraka Āgama.[15] The Chinese translation of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya provides a table of contents for the Dharmaguptaka recension of the Kṣudraka Āgama, and fragments in Gandhari appear to have been found.[16] Items from this Āgama also survive in Tibetan and Chinese translation—fourteen texts, in the later case.[15][17][18] Some schools, notably the Sarvāstivāda, recognized only four Āgamas—they had a "Kṣudraka" which they did not consider to be an "Āgama."[17][19] Others—including even the Dharmaguptaka, according to some contemporary scholars—preferred to term it a ""Kṣudraka Piṭaka." As with its Pāḷi counterpart, the Kṣudraka Āgama appears to have been a miscellany, and was perhaps never definitively established among many early schools.

QMRVaiśeṣika metaphysical premises are founded on a form of atomism, that the reality is composed of four substances (earth, water, air, fire). Each of these four are of two types:[83] atomic (paramāṇu) and composite. An atom is, according to Vaiśeṣika scholars, that which is indestructible (anitya), indivisible, and has a special kind of dimension, called “small” (aṇu). A composite, in this philosophy, is defined to be anything which is divisible into atoms. Whatever human beings perceive is composite, while atoms are invisible.[83] The Vaiśeṣikas stated that size, form, truths and everything that human beings experience as a whole is a function of atoms, their number and their spatial arrangements, their guṇa (quality), karma (activity), sāmānya (commonness), viśeṣa (particularity) and amavāya (inherence, inseparable connectedness of everything).[84][90]

QMRNāstika[edit]

Schools that do not accept the authority of the Vedas are nāstika philosophies, of which four nāstika (heterodox) schools are prominent:[6]

Cārvāka, a materialism school that accepted free will exists[26][27]

Ājīvika, a materialism school that denied free will exists[28][29]

Buddhism, a philosophy that denies existence of ātman (soul, self)[30] and is based on the teachings and enlightenment of Gautama Buddha

Jainism, a philosophy that accepts the existence of the ātman (soul, self), and is based on the teachings and enlightenment of twenty-four teachers known as tirthankaras, with Rishabha as the first and Mahavira as the twenty-fourth[31]

QMRThe name is a morphophonological form of Veda-anta = "Veda-end" = "the appendix to the Vedic hymns". It is also said that "Vedānta" means "the purpose or goal [end] of the Vedas".[note 2] Vedanta can also be used as a noun to describe one who has mastered all four of the original Vedas

Christianity Chapter

QMRVisions of John the Evangelist, as depicted in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Four cherubim surround the throne and twenty-four elders sit to the left and right

The cross has always been in Cologne Cathedral; it now hangs in its own chapel near the sacristy – now a different, Gothic, building from the one it was made for. The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg, written 1012-1018, said that it was originally displayed above Gero's grave; though no one is now sure where that was located in the old church, most scholars place it somewhere on the central axis of the nave,[7] in which case it may have been at the chancel arch, the usual location of later roods or large crucifixes. It has long been celebrated and visited by pilgrims.

The old cathedral only underwent minor changes until the 13th century. Cologne became one of the most important churches in Europe for religious pilgrimages, containing not only the Gero Cross, but also the Magi reliquary and the Madonna of Milan. When it was decided to rebuild it, the old building was taken down piece by piece before the new building could be put up in 1248. In 1322, the Gero cross was placed in the new building where it remains today.[8]

In 1904, a new layer of paint was added to the cross by W. Batzem. This, along with several other layers of paint below it, concealed many of the original details from the piece. However, modern day x-ray technology has determined that the eyes on the original layer of paint were indeed closed. This is unique because the artist did not depict Christ as idealized and overcoming death, but vulnerable and humanized. This is most likely because of a change in Christian teaching in the late tenth century that put salvation through Christ's death at the heart of Christian doctrine.[9] The beam and the corpus are original, however, the gold sun and the marble altar it stands in were donated in 1683 by Canon Heinrich Mering.[10]

Until the 1920s, despite local tradition, and the reference in Thietmar's chronicle [11] associating it with Gero, it was thought to be at least a century later in date, and it is indeed innovative for its date.[5] The dating was confirmed by dendrochronology in 1976, ending the controversy.[3] Contrary to long-held tradition, the studies in 1976 revealed that there is no space in the back of the head to place relics.[12]

According to the Luccan local histories, the Holy Face of Lucca in Italy is considerably older, though that sculpture had to be recreated in the Gothic period after being nibbled away by pilgrims, which makes this claim difficult to verify by art historians.[13]

A replica of the crucifix hangs in the St. Alphonsus Chapel located in the Alphonse J. Schwartze Memorial Catholic Center in Jefferson City, Missouri.

QMRThe Gero Cross or Gero Crucifix ("Gero-Kreuz" in German), of around 965–970, is the oldest large sculpture of the crucified Christ north of the Alps, and has always been displayed in Cologne Cathedral in Germany. It was commissioned by Gero, Archbishop of Cologne, who died in 976, thus providing a terminus ante quem for the work. It is carved in oak, and painted and partially gilded – both have been renewed. The halo and cross-pieces are original, but the Baroque surround was added in 1683. The figure is 187 cm high, and the span of the arms is 165 cm.[1]

The Gero Cross is important to medieval art for the unique way it depicts Christ. The figure appears to be the earliest, and finest, of a number of life-size German wood sculpted crucifixions that appeared in the late Ottonian or early Romanesque period, later spreading to much of Europe. It is the first monumental depiction of the crucified Christ on the Cross and the first monumental sculpture dating from this period.[2] Standing over six feet tall, it was one of the largest crosses of its time. Additionally, it appears to be the oldest Western depiction of a dead Christ on the cross;[3] in most earlier depictions, Christ holds his head erect and looks straight ahead, or in some Carolingian examples looks down at the Virgin at the foot of the cross.[4]

The shape of the Gero Cross is traditional to Carolingian religious art, however, this piece puts extra emphasis on the suffering of Jesus Christ's crucifixion with the slumped head, lifeless body, and closed eyes. Other depictions are idealized and do not show Christ as vulnerable and disfigured. This was a major influence on later crosses, especially in 11th century Germany, where you see more crosses that follow this rounded, natural style. The slumped head and twisted body, which arises as the hands are nailed to the cross at different heights, are found neither in Carolingian nor Byzantine art, and were to be slow to influence Western depictions, although the long hair spread over the shoulders is found in some Carolingian works.[5] The style of the Gero Cross shows a great deal of Byzantine influence, most likely stemming from Otto II's marriage to a Byzantine princess, creating a cultural link between the Roman Catholic Church and the Byzantine Empire. In crucifixions of the Gothic period, a still more slumped and curved figure of Christ, with knees bent sideways, was to become the standard depiction.

Earlier large figures of Christ on the Cross appear to have been in metal, or metal on a wooden core; there was said to be one in Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel in Aachen, and the Golden Madonna of Essen is an example of this type.[6] The development of a tradition of free-standing monumental sculpture was a crucial development in Western art; in Byzantine art such images were and are avoided.

QMR The Cross of Lothair or Lothair Cross (German: Lotharkreuz) is a crux gemmata (jewelled cross) processional cross dating from about 1000 AD, though its base dates from the 14th century. It was made in Germany, probably at Cologne.[1] It is an outstanding example of medieval goldsmith's work, and "an important monument of imperial ideology",[2] forming part of the Aachen Cathedral Treasury, which includes several other masterpieces of sacral Ottonian art. The measurements of the original portion are 50 cm height, 38.5 cm width, 2.3 cm depth. The cross comes from the period when Ottonian art was evolving into Romanesque art, and the engraved crucifixion on the reverse looks forward to the later period.

The Cross takes its name from the large engraved greenish rock crystal seal near its base bearing the portrait and name of the Carolingian ruler Lothair II, King of Lotharingia (835–869), and a nephew of Charles the Bald. The cross was actually made over a century after Lothair’s death for one of the Ottonian dynasty, the successors of the Carolingian dynasty; possibly for Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor.[3] It appears to have been donated to the Cathedral as soon as it was made.

The Cross is still used in processions today. On high feast days it is carried into Aachen Cathedral where it is placed next to the main altar during mass. For the rest of the time it is on display in the Cathedral Treasury Museum.

Description and interpretation[edit]

The oak core of the Lothair Cross is encased in gold and silver and encrusted with jewels and engraved gems – a total of 102 gems and 35 pearls. The front of the cross (in the terms used here) is made of gold and silver plate and is richly decorated with precious stones, pearls, gold filigree and cloisonné enamel.[4] There is a case for describing this as the reverse side, as some sources do, as it may have been carried that way in processions, with the plain engraved crucifixion facing forward, and the gem-encrusted face facing the emperor who followed the cross. The enamel is on the bands of the terminals that are interrupted by the points of the triangular sections. The gems in the centre rows are mounted in raised drum-like platforms, their sides decorated with arcades in filigree. The flat surface of the arms is decorated all over with filigree tendrils.[5] At the meeting point of the arms is a first-century AD sardonyx three-layered cameo of the Roman Emperor Augustus holding an eagle sceptre,[6] also mounted on a raised drum.[7]

On the assumption that the Ottonians were aware that the cameo was a portrait of Augustus, it served to link the Ottonian dynasty with the original Roman emperors, and assert them as God's representatives on earth.[8] On the other hand, an engraved gem portrait of Augustus's daughter Julia at the top of the "Escrin of Charlemagne", an elaborate treasure given to the Abbey of Saint-Denis by Charles the Bald, was treated as an image of the Virgin Mary. Another gem portrait of the Roman Emperor Caracalla had a cross and the name of Saint Peter added to it before use in metalwork for the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. It is now impossible to know the degrees of awareness of this iconographic recycling among the different categories of people creating and seeing these objects.[9]

The second largest gem, below Augustus, was probably Lothair's seal and has his portrait with the inscription "+XPE ADIVVA HLOTARIVM REG" ("God save King Lothar").[10] This served a similar function, linking the Ottonians with the Carolingian dynasty who had established the position of Holy Roman Emperor. Other gems on the cross have classical carvings on them, including an amethyst with the Three Graces and a lion in onyx, both of which are mounted with the images placed sideways.[11]

The reverse side of the Cross is a plain gold plate engraved with the “Crucifixion of Jesus”, with above it the Hand of God holding a victor's wreath containing the dove of the Holy Ghost; here this represents God the Father's acceptance of Christ's sacrifice. This is the earliest known appearance of the dove in this motif, which introduces the whole Trinity into a crucifixion, an iconography that was to have a long future.[12] The Serpent, representing Satan, is twined round the bottom of the cross. In medallions at the ends of the arms are personifications of the sun and moon with heads bowed and surmounted by their symbols.[13] The Hand with the wreath was a common motif in mosaics in Rome, and also used in art associated with the early Holy Roman Emperors, including in illuminated manuscript portraits of themselves, to emphasize their authority from God.

This is an outstanding and moving example of the “Crucifixion”, closely related to the slightly earlier life-size wooden Gero Cross in Cologne, which was a crucial work in developing the Western image of the dead crucified Christ, whose head is slumped to his shoulder, and whose sagging body forms a S shape, showing the marks of his suffering, here with blood spurting from the spear-wound in his side.[14] Engraved backs are found in many jewelled crosses of the period.[15] The cross is now mounted on a 14th-century Gothic stand, itself decorated with two small crucifixions and other figures.

This style of gem-studded gold decoration, re-using material from antiquity, was usual for the richest objects at the time.[16] In particular, the motif of the glorified jewelled cross, a "transformation of the crude gibbet on which Christ died", goes back to Late Antiquity, when pagan opponents of Christianity often mocked the mean nature of the primary Christian symbol.[17] Until about the 6th century, crosses rarely showed the figure of Christ, but by 1000 other grand jewelled crosses had already moved the crucifixion, usually in gilded cast bronze, to the front face of the cross, to make them crucifixes, which would remain the most common Catholic form of cross. Some examples are the crosses of Bernward of Hildesheim (c. 1000, Hildesheim Cathedral), Gisela of Hungary (Regensburg, 1006, now Munich Residenz[18]), and Mathilda of Essen (973, Essen Cathedral, see left),[19] which uses a virtually identical design for the terminals of the arms to the Lothair Cross.[20]

The Lothair Cross is in this respect a somewhat conservative object, leaving the front free for imperial symbolism, and also perhaps as a deliberate revival of Carolingian style; for example most rich crosses of similar date made more use of enamel. The two sides can be taken to represent Church and state, fittingly for an Imperial donation that was carried in front of the Holy Roman Emperors as they processed into the church.[21] The broad form of the design matches that of the small cross at the front of the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire (c. 973/83?), which also has a jewelled front side and an engraved crucifixion on the rear.[22]

Islam Chapter

QMRThe Qur'an refers to the Zabur of Dawud (David) as one of God's books revealed to four selected messengers.[citation needed] The Zabur is preceded by the Taurat (Torah), and followed by the Injil (Gospel) given to Jesus and finally by the Qur'an given to the Islamic prophet, Muhammad.

Karna: The unknown Pandava. His name refers to his congenital earrings when he was born. Karna is the son of Kunti and Surya, the god of the Sun. He was born when many years ago before Kunti's marriage to Pandu and the subsequent birth of the Pandavas. When she was unmarried, Kunti rashly tested the power of Durvasa's mantra, invoking Surya. Bound by the power of Durvasa's mantra, Surya sired Karna with Kunti. Karna was born with congenital armour and earrings, which granted him some immunity to divine weapons. Kunti abandoned Karna, who was found and raised by a family of charioteers. Though Karna was wealthy, he was never given the status of a Kshatriya and was ridiculed by people for his desire of being a warrior. Karna was known to be charitable, firm in his principles and his unswerving loyalty. In his childhood, he befriended Duryodhana which lasted into a strong and enduring friendship and brotherhood. However, this resulted in Karna supporting Duryodhana's evil schemes against the Pandavas. Along with the royal princes, Karna learnt to wield weapons from Drona. When Karna desired to learn divine weapons and advanced archery lessons from Dronacharya, the latter rejected him for not being a Kshatriya and for having bad company with Duryodhana. Humiliated, Karna swore revenge on Drona and decided to study from Drona's own martial guru, the legendary Parashurama, who also happened to be Bhishma's martial guru as well. Fearing Parashurama's wrath, Karna lied his identity of being a Brahmana. Parashurama welcomed Karna and rigorously trained him in martial disciplines. Guru Parashurama himself declared Karna to be his own equal. However, Parashurama discovered Karna's lies and cursed him to forget the Brahmastra when he needed it the most. Karna returned to Hastinapura, much to everyone's surprise. Duryodhana crowned Karna as the King of Anga and knew him to be a powerful ally against the Pandavas. Despite Karna's initial defeats and failures against the Pandavas, he did achieve many accomplishments. Karna helped Duryodhana kidnap the princess of Kalinga in her Swayamvara and he singlehandedly defeated all the kings in battle. When criticized by Bhishma, Karna pointed out that Bhishma too had done the same thing in the past. Karna was the only warrior to defeat and humble the powerful Jarasandha in battle. Jarasandha for the first time and only time, surrendered to Karna and made an alliance with him. When Bhishma ridiculed Karna for his pathetic combat prowess, Karna single handedly conquered the entire world and made Duryodhana the emperor. During the Kurukshetra War, Bhishma declared that the Pandavas were invincible. Karna proved him wrong by vanquishing Yudhishthira, Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva on many occasions during the battle. Yudhishthira was mortally afraid of Karna. Despite Parashurama's curse, Karna was able to invoke the Brahmastra albeit with great difficulty. Urged by Krishna, Arjuna beheaded Karna when he was trying to pull his chariot wheel from the mud. Karna possessed the might of 10,000 elephants and was a great master in archery, surpassing even Dronacharya. When Kunti revealed Karna's true origin to the Pandavas, they were completely devastated. Yudhishthira nearly lost the will to rule the kingdom after finding the truth about Karna.

The fifth is always related to God

Arjuna: The third Pandava brother. His name means "of stainless deeds". Arjuna is the son of Kunti and Indra, King of the gods and the god of the sky and war. He was very virtuous and avoided unjust acts. He is known for his singleminded concenteration and his devotion towards Krishna. Arjuna was more fortunate than his brothers as he was the favourite of Bhishma, popular among people, famous among the gods and attractive to women. Arjuna was the favorite disciple of his Guru Dronacharya, who taught weapons. Arjuna is perhaps the greatest and ambidextrous archer and had mastered archery to the highest possible level. He was rivalled by Bhishma, Drona, Karna and Krishna. In those days, archery was considered to be the foremost of all fighting discipline, and Arjuna's mastery over it contributed to his popularity. Arjuna was a complete master archer, a supreme chariot warrior and had also obtained near perfect mastery over almost all divine, celestial and esoteric weapons, along with their secrets of invoking and recalling them. Arjuna spent five years acquiring and mastering divine weapons from Indra and the other gods. Arjuna also acquired the mastery over the rarest and the most powerful weapon, the Pashupata, from Lord Shiva himself. Arjuna and Bhima had conquered the eastern and southern kingdoms. During the Rajasuya Yagna, Arjuna subjugated the northern kingdoms. He defeated the Asura tribes of Nivatakavachas, the Kalakeyas and the Paulomas. Along with Krishna, Arjuna burnt down the Khandava forest. During the Ashwamedha Yagna, Arjuna conquered the entire world. According to Yudhishthira, of all the Pandavas, Draupadi loved Arjuna the most. During the Kurukshetra War, Arjuna slew Bhagadatta, Susharma, Sudakshina, Jayadratha, Shrutayu and Karna. He was the only Pandava brother to know the secret of the Chakravyuha military formation. Arjuna was also skilled in playing musical instruments, singing, dancing and poetry. He taught these skills to his daughter-in-law, Uttara. Arjuna's grandson, Parikshit, succeeded the Pandavas as king. Arjuna's names include Gudakesha (conqueror of sleep), Krishna (dark complexion), Shwetavahana (having white horses yoked to chariot), Sabyasachin (ambidextrous archer), Kiritin (having the Kirit crown), Vijaya (ever victorious), Jaya (victorious), Bibhatsu (civilized warrior), Dhananjaya (winner of wealth), Phalguna (born under Phalguna constellation), Jishnu (unconquerable) and Partha (son of Pritha a.k.a Kunti).

Nakula: The fourth Pandava brother. His name means "the charming one". Nakula is the son of Madri and the Ashwin twin Nasatya. He was attractive, humble, diplomatic and helpful. During the Rajasuya Yagna, Nakula conquered the Western direction. During the Kurukshetra War, Nakula slew many warriors including many sons of Karna. Nakula and his younger twin brother, Sahadeva, were excellent sword fighters. Nakula was also a master of equastrian arts and sciences, skilled in wielding unusual weapons, in chariotry and in riding horses.

Sahadeva: The fifth and the youngest brother of the Pandavas. His name means "equal to a thousand gods". Sahadeva is the son of Madri and the Ashwin twin Dasra. Sahadeva was the wisest and the most mysterious and introverted of all Pandava brothers. Along with Nakula, Sahadeva was also a master in sword fighting. He was also skilled in fighting and taming wild bulls. Additionally, he was a skilled cowherd, capable of maintaining cattle, treating their diseases, assessing their health, milking them and in producing milk products. Sahadeva acquired mastery over the science of Dharma, religious scriptures and other branches of knowledge under the tutelage of the Sage Brihaspati, the preceptor of the gods. During the Rajasuya War, Sahadeva conquered the southern direction, upto the kingdom of Lanka. During the Kurukshetra War, Sahadeva slew the wicked Shakuni and his son, Uluka.

QMRThe Pandavas[edit]

Yudhishthira: The eldest Pandava brother. His name means one who is steadfast even during war. He is the son of Kunti and Dharma, god of virtue, justice and morality. Though he lacked the characteristic combat prowess of a Kshatriya, Yudhishthira was one of the most virtuous men, skilled in the duties of a king, and was steadfast in the path of Dharma. He was a good king who along with his brothers, founded the prosperous city of Indraprastha. In consequence of Krishna's machinations and also by the conquest of the world by his brothers, Yudhishthira became the Emperor of the world. He performed two Ashwamedha and one Rajasuya sacrifice. Yudhishthira learnt to control the dice from the Sage Brihadaswa and became good at playing chess. His other names are Ajatshatru (without enemies) and Dharmaraja (admired for virtues).

Bhimasena: The second Pandava brother. His name means "of terrible might". He is the son of Kunti and Vayu, the god of air and wind, who is known for his might. Bhima has the physical strength and prowess equal to 10,000 powerful bull elephants and very athletic. Bhima was very aggressive and prone to anger. Of all the brothers, he opposes Yudhishthira for his questionable decisions opposing common sense in the name of Dharma, although Bhima is very loyal to him. Bhima was devoted to his family and was the natural protector. He was a master in wielding the mace. Bhima was also a powerful archer, having fought Drona and Ashwatthama and even defeated Karna on several occasions. Additionally, Bhima was also very skilled in diverse areas of warfare, including wrestling, charioteering, riding elephants and sword fighting. Along with Arjuna, he went on expeditions to conquer the kingdoms in eastern and southern directions. During the Rajasuya Yagna, Bhima subjugated the kingdoms of the eastern direction completely. Bhima slew Krishna's most dangerous enemy, Jarasandha in a wrestling bout and the Matsya commander, Kichaka for molesting Draupadi. During the war, Bhima was most famous for slaying the hundred Kauravas and King Duryodhana himself. He was also skilled in chopping wood, cooking, culinary arts and sciences. Bhima's other name is Vrikodara (wolf bellied).

Timing of childbirth

Further information: Preterm birth and Postterm pregnancy

Stages of pregnancy term

stage starts ends

Preterm[47]

at 37 weeks

Early term[48] 37 weeks 39 weeks

Full term[48] 39 weeks 41 weeks

Late term[48] 41 weeks 42 weeks

Postterm[48] 42 weeks

In the ideal childbirth labor begins on its own when a woman is "at term".[49] Pregnancy is considered at term when gestation has lasted between 37 and 42 weeks.[48]

Events before completion of 37 weeks are considered preterm.[47] Preterm birth is associated with a range of complications and should be avoided if possible.[50]

Sometimes if a woman's water breaks or she has contractions before 39 weeks, birth is unavoidable.[48] However, spontaneous birth after 37 weeks is considered term and is not associated with the same risks of a pre-term birth.[51] Planned birth before 39 weeks by Caesarean section or labor induction, although "at term", results in an increased risk of complications.[52] This is from factors including underdeveloped lungs of newborns, infection due to underdeveloped immune system, feeding problems due to underdeveloped brain, and jaundice from underdeveloped liver.[53]

Babies born between 39 and 41 weeks gestation have better outcomes than babies born either before or after this range.[48] This special time period is called "full term".[48] Whenever possible, waiting for labor to begin on its own in this time period is best for the health of the mother and baby.[49] The decision to perform an induction must be made after weighing the risks and benefits, but is safer after 39 weeks.[49]

Events after 42 weeks are considered postterm.[48] When a pregnancy exceeds 42 weeks, the risk of complications for both the woman and the fetus increases significantly.[54][55] Therefore, in an otherwise uncomplicated pregnancy, obstetricians usually prefer to induce labour at some stage between 41 and 42 weeks.[56]

QMR"The greatest cluster of Neoplatonic themes is found in religious mystical writings, which in fact transform purely orthodox doctrines such as creation into doctrines such as emanationism, which allow for a better framework for the expression of Neoplatonic themes and the emergence of the mystical themes of the ascent and mystical union.[51]" Islamic philosophers used the framework of Islamic mysticism in their interpretation of Neoplatonic writings and concepts. Parviz Morewedge gives four suppositions about the nature of Islamic Mysticism:

The Unity of Being

"An inherent potential unity among all dimensions of world-experience."

The Mediator Figure

"The mediation between finite man and the ultimate being."

The Way of Salvation

"Knowledge is embedded in the path of self-realization." Passing trials advances one through stages until transcendence.

The Language of Symbolic Allegory

"Mystical texts are often written in the allegorical language of tales."[52]

Quadrant Model of Reality

Monday, February 22, 2016

Quadrant Model of Reality Book 22 Religion

No comments:

Post a Comment