There have been 100,000 religions {religions}.
In a nonVedic system {Ajivikai system}, selves go through 84,000 births, lives, and deaths, to pass through all stages of being and become human, and then achieve transcendence and release. Actions and demeanors show current being level. Asceticism, virtue, vice, human will, and human acts cannot affect progression of lives. There is no freedom. All things connect.
A Vedanta Hinduism extension {Buddhism} can emphasize compassion and self-denial.
method
Buddhism is a method, a way to heal oneself. People should have pure awareness, have unity, and live in the present. Simple Buddhism has no creed or mythology about this world or the next.
self
People actually have no egos, only body willings, sense qualities, perceptions, and desires.
method
People can control such thoughts, with no need to extinguish them by harsh measures. Through control, people gain freedom from desire and new relation to seemingly outer world. People gain self-composure, serenity, and calmness. Next, outer world disappears, in favor of inner being. People can lose their thoughts and desires and surrender self, to find their inner being. After enlightenment, people no longer need Buddhism.
illusion of the world
The world of things and people is many and transient {illusion of the world}. People are only physical forms, sensations, feelings, judgments, and dispositions. Knowledge categories are only imprecise thing and people groups. In Buddhism, cause ends when effect begins.
mind
Mind is unable to lead people to Truth or express Truth and so is not important. Mind perceives only true-reality projections and so sees world as real and outside self. Mind values things in world. Desires and perceptions lead to ignorance of Truth.
physical relation
Physical objects are all the same in essence. Physical objects can have different relations to other things.
sin
Buddhism has no ideas of sin or guilt.
gods
Esoteric Buddhism has gods.
In Japan, Daibutsu is the Grand Buddha. There is Newborn Buddha. Kangiten Shoten is Sacred Heaven. Jizo is Guardian of the Soul. Kannon is Mercy. Bishamon is Fortune. Fugen is Long Life. Kishimojin is patron of children. Arhan is holy disciple of Buddha. Inary is rice bearer. Oni is Gatekeeper of Hell. Benten is music and arts. Fudo is fire. Emma is Judge of the Dead.
In China, Shou Xing is god of longevity. Guan Yin is goddess of compassion. Duke Guan is god of war and literature. Cai Shen is god of wealth.
holidays
Ashada Purnima is first sermon of Buddha after attaining Mahaparinirvana in Kosi. Full Moon of Vaisakha is birth of Buddha. Vaisakha Purnima honors when Buddha attained bodhi or nirvana.
meditation
Buddhism has meditation styles. Recollection of the Buddha is a method. Vipassana or Insight is about breathing. Loving-kindness is about generalized compassion. Tantric Buddhism Wind mediation is about breath and spirit.
Chag-zôg Tibetan Buddhism meditations include Kargyü-School Great Seal meditations and Nying-ma or Ancient-School Great Perfection meditations. Focused Attention is on object or thought. Open Presence concentrates on object, thought, or image, to get to pure awareness. Non-Referential Compassion is a Loving-kindness meditation, including Sevenfold Causal Instructions, Equanimitous Exchange of Self and Other, and Giving and Taking.
People can have awakening {bodhi, Buddhism}.
In Buddhism, people have connections to, and/or are part of, true reality {Buddha nature}.
People have a conscious state {citta}.
People have belief or false belief {ditthi}.
People have mental pain {domanassa}, including grief.
People can know that no "other" or outside world exists {enlightenment}, only their being. After enlightenment, people no longer need Buddhism. All is void.
Voluntary actions have three causes {seeds of destiny} of destiny {karma, Buddhism}. They depend on former, current, and future acts. Karma can change by choosing different living styles.
Buddhism has three created worlds {lokas}: desires, pure forms with no desires, and no forms. People discover these worlds in sequence by going to deeper consciousness states.
Extinction {nibbana} is the highest goal, to quiet greed, hatred, and ignorance and reach unconditioned state.
World has signs or images {nimitta}.
People can be compassionate, friendly, clear-minded, and calm {nirvana, Buddhism}. Even nirvana itself loses all meaning after it happens. Achieving nirvana is the same as samsara. Nirvana is not a state or heaven.
People can have wisdom or understanding {panna}.
People can have concentration {samadhi, Buddhism}.
In Buddhism, one can achieve serene and mindful mental state {sammapatti, Buddhism} by meditation. It is the highest dhamma.
People can have proper conduct or moral rule {sila}.
People can have mental happiness {somanssa}.
People can have bodily pleasure or happiness {sukha}.
The Pali-Canon Three-Baskets {Tripitka} are for discipline, discourse, and extra doctrine.
Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha {Triple Gem}.
The senses or ways of knowing {Twelve Bases} are internal or external. Internal are eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. External are objects, sounds, odors, tastes, and mental objects.
People can have clinging or attachment {upadana} to ways of knowing, sense qualities, perspectives, rules/rituals, and self.
Sense qualities {upekkha} can be neither pleasant nor painful.
Feelings or sense qualities {vedana} are sukha, dukkha, somanssa, domanassa, and upekkha.
Ignorance causes karma, which causes knowledge types, which causes body knowledge, which causes the five senses, which cause object knowledge, which causes experiencing, which causes desire, which causes grasping, which causes rebirth, which causes decay, which causes death {Becoming Wheel} {Wheel of Becoming}.
Buddhism has devotions {bhakti}.
Path to enlightenment {Eightfold Path} includes right belief or view, resolve, speech, conduct, occupation, effort, contemplation or mindfulness, and concentration or ecstasy. In Buddhism, following Eightfold Path eliminates desire and suffering and breaks the reincarnation chain. Eightfold Path is middle way between materialism and ascetism.
Do not kill, steal, have sexual misconduct, use false speech, or use intoxicants nor become heedless {Five Precepts}.
Contemplate body, feelings, perceptions/thoughts, and consciousness as themselves {Four Foundations of Mindfulness}.
In Buddhism, wheels {prayer wheel} with many rolled-up mantras can spin during meditation.
Mahayana Buddhism has a liberation-from-self method {soteriology}.
In Buddhism, meditation exercises {Insight Meditation} are to develop insight or tranquility and concentration to achieve pure insight and tranquility {vipassana}.
Five causal or conditioned existence parts {Five Aggregates} form being: matter, feelings, perceptions, mental states or thoughts, and consciousness.
Mind {nama} is one of the Five Aggregates.
Matter {rupa} is one of the Five Aggregates.
Buddhism has four statements {Four Noble Truths} {Four Truths}. Existence is constant suffering and sorrow. Ignorance/illusion and desire cause suffering, by grasping existing world. People can suppress suffering by ending desire, ego, illusion, and ignorance. People can reach nirvana.
The middle way {marga, Buddhism} {middle path} is the Eightfold Path that ends dissatisfaction and suffering and liberates. It is one of the Four Noble Truths. According to Buddhism, people should follow the middle path, between worldly desires and harsh asceticism and discipline, and avoid both skepticism and dogma.
People can end {nirodha} dissatisfaction and suffering. It is one of the Four Noble Truths.
Desire/grasping {samudaya} causes dissatisfaction and suffering. It is one of the Four Noble Truths.
Life is dissatisfactory {dukkha} or has suffering. It is one of the Four Noble Truths. All life is dissatisfactory always. Dukkha is one of three truths or marks of existence.
Self is a name only, not reality {anatman} {anatta} {annatta} {no-self}. Self has no permanence and no substance. Anatman is one of three truths or marks of existence.
Material things and all existence are not permanent {anitya}. Anitya is one of three truths or marks of existence.
People can have transformation, enjoyment, and void {Triple Body}. Transformation is all things, events, and forms.
Doctrine {dharma, Buddhism} can mean reality, truth, physical law, physical nature, proper conduct, duty, justice, impartiality, mental state, or cause.
Enjoyment is physical-world compassion or knowledge {karuna, Buddhism}.
Void or Suchness is wisdom, intuition, and knowledge {prajna, Buddhism}.
Buddhist monks {arhat} can have obtained enlightenment.
Thai for Buddhist monk {bhikku}.
Living in the forest {forest-dweller} can remove suffering and defilement.
Older and respected monk {Luang Poh} is Venerable Father.
Thai title for Buddhist monk {Phra}.
Beginning monks {samanera} can take the Three Refuges and observe the Ten Precepts.
Buddhist community or Thailand monk {sangha}.
Buddhist temple {Ambhavan} is in Singhburi, north of Bangkok.
Thai county {Nai Amphur} {Amphur} of province has a sheriff.
Thailand capital {Ayudhya} [1350 to 1767] and province north of Bangkok.
Thai province {changwat}.
Thai ward or province district {amphur} {Tambon}.
ceremonial hall or monastery building {uposatha}.
Thai for Buddhist temple {wat}.
Sects {Buddhist sect} are Lamaism, Mahayana Buddhism, Hinayana Buddhism, Tantric Buddhism, Vajrayana Buddhism, and Zen Buddhism.
Buddhism is a vehicle or ferry {yana} to liberate oneself from desire, through enlightenment.
types
Hinayana Buddhism is the small boat or stricter way. Sri Lanka, Burma, and south India are Hinayana Buddhist or Theravada Buddhist. Mahayana Buddhism is the large boat or more varied way and includes Zen Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism, and Lotus Buddhism. North India, China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan are Mahayana Buddhist. Mahayana Buddhism strengthened as Sakas and Yueh-Chi peoples moved into India. Vajrayana Buddhism is the diamond way or boat. Tibet and Mongolia are Vajrayana Buddhist.
Mahayana Buddhism features an infinite number of buddhas {Buddhology}, some related to heaven and some representing ideals. It has no solitary buddhas {pratyeka-buddha}. Monks do not become enlightened like buddhas, so it has no arhats. People should strive to become buddhas.
Buddhism {Esoteric Buddhism}, derived from Hinduism, can have deities.
Tibet has a Buddhist tradition {Dzogchen}.
Tibet has a Buddhism form {Lamaism} [700] similar to Mahayana Buddhism. Dalai Lama has been divine ruler of Tibet since 1640.
Buddhism {Vajrayana Buddhism} can be the diamond way, boat, or vehicle. Tibet and Mongolia are Vajrayana Buddhist.
The first formal Buddhism {Hinayana Buddhism} was stricter.
monk
Hinayana Buddhism requires a strict program of self-control and effort. Hinayana Buddhism believes that enlightenment requires becoming a monk and following strict law.
self
Buddha said, "All things are without self". Hinayana Buddhists expanded this idea to say that all things and ego are only infinitesimal moments and transient particles. Moment chains and particle aggregations appear as individuals. Nirvana ends delusion that momentary things are real.
Nothing is permanent {doctrine of momentariness} {momentariness doctrine} {Sautranika}, because effects differ. Reality is causes. People's thoughts are separate chains of reality. Outside events can affect thoughts, but thoughts are separate from exterior physical world. Suffering is part of the thought chain, and external physical world does not cause it. Sautrantika School purported to use secret meaning of Buddha's sermons and dialogues.
School {Sarvastivadin} {Realists} was last of early Hinayana schools and believes in 75 dharmas or substances.
Later formal Buddhism {Mahayana Buddhism} is less strict than Hinayana Buddhism.
physical world
The physical world is an illusion or magic show. The physical world always changes and is endless. All physical-world things depend on all others. Physical world is unreal Void.
essence of reality
The quintessence or real in things has attributes and activities. Attributes and activities can change, but quintessence does not change. All things are only such as they are in essence: "thus being thus". Essence has no description, because nothing else can describe it. Essence only describes itself. To people, the essence is the Void, because people cannot know fundamental reality.
knowledge
Real knowledge is not about language, concepts, perceptions, thinking, or world. True reality has no description. People can only experience it or have awareness of it.
schools
Madhyamika School is about the void. Sautrantika School is about realism through representation and causation. Vaibhasika School is about realism by direct experience. Yogacara School is about idealism and subjectivity.
behavior
All things in reality are Buddha things, so all people have Buddha nature in them and should try for Buddhahood. Bodhisattva worship is good.
behavior: method
People must strip away world from one's nature, to reveal Self. The first step toward true reality is to realize the unreality of all that one sees or knows and to resolutely set out to reach true reality. The next steps involve removing these influences from one's life: ending desire, building concentration, and quieting mind's active criticism and attention to detail. Finally, one can enter various states of insight {cosmic consciousness, Buddhism}, in which one feels at one with the universe in mystical state. Mahayana Buddhism allows yoga, Buddhism, Hindu rituals, and asceticism.
Buddha bodies
Buddha has three bodies. Gautama's historical body {nirmanakaya} existed on Earth. Transfigured body {sambhogakaya} exists in paradise. Transcendent cosmic-buddha body {dharmakaya} is identical with ultimate reality.
People have inner being or Self {atman, Buddhism}, which is independent, is imperishable, is unchanging, is not part of physical world, is not a created thing, cannot appear to senses, and cannot appear to will or by willing. Knowledge of this self must guide life.
Obtaining true awareness of inner self completely changes one's life and is the way to transcend the physical world. Such awareness is realizing that the physical world is an illusion, is purely material, and is fleeting and contradictory. People should show no interest but strive for true reality. Even mind, personality, and subconscious are part of physical world.
In Mahayana Buddhism, people who are about to enter nirvana can stay at pre-nirvana stage {bodhisattva}, out of compassion, to comfort and save other beings. They are completely indifferent and without ego but lead others to Buddhahood. They can resolve time as samsara and eternity as nirvana into one Void or suchness. Virtue causes power. Their potential perfection is still in world and yet is inexhaustible. They take delight, because suffering has ended. They can never relapse to ego state, because they have reached perfection. They value nothing of world and so give away all, without holding back or thought of consequences. They completely devote themselves to others' benefit.
They stay in world to represent compassion of the Void and universe. They are part of the Void and yet themselves. They can move about in the Void timelessly. They have boundless energy and are able to play as the Void does.
Bodhisattva shows the idea that the Buddha has renounced nirvana until all creatures have also attained it. Bodhisattvas embody compassion of all Buddhas.
famous ones
Buddhism has Four Great Bodhisattva. In Mahayana Buddhism, Lotus Sutra and Heart Sutra are about Avalokitesvara, Avalokiteshvara, Guan Yin, or Kannon. Vajrayana Buddhism has Padmapani, Holder of the Lotus. Theravada Buddhism has Lokesvara. Tibetan Buddhism has Chenrezig, Shadakshari, or Lord of the Six Syllables. The Dalai Lama manifests Avalokitesvara.
Ksitigarbha in India, Ti-tsang in China, Jizo Bosatsu in Japan, Earth Store Bodhisattva, or Di Zang in China founded everything. In Ksitigarbha Sutra or Earth Store Sutra, Buddha named Earth Store Bodhisattva the leading Buddhist until time of the next Buddha {Maitreya}. Enma or Yama, King of Hell, is an incarnation and is master of the Six Paths of Hell, Ghost, Animal, Man, Asura, and Deva.
method
Destined bodhisattva gains knowledge by action, to see consequences. He gains knowledge by role-playing. He sacrifices himself. He performs virtuous deeds. He suppresses display and pride. He performs acts that attract good karma and leave no room for bad karma. He acts as if he were bodhisattva already. He transcends and thereafter behaves perfectly by instinct alone. He sees the potential Buddhahood of all things clearly.
The physical world is an illusion {maya, Buddhism}, is purely material, and is fleeting and contradictory.
Bases of both true reality and physical world are unknowable and are void itself {sunya} {sunyata, Buddhism}.
Buddha has Three Bodies {Trikaya Doctrine}. The nirmana-kaya, apparent body, or created body is in time and space. The body {sambhoga-kaya} of mutual bliss or enjoyment is an archetype. Dharma-kaya or Reality body is enlightenment.
A Mahayana-Buddhism school {Avatamsaka}, based on Avatamsaka Sutra, stresses unity and interrelations [1 to 100]. It affected Zen.
Sukhavati {Pure Land School} of Mahayana Buddhism states that faith in the Buddha of Boundless Light or Amitabha can achieve nirvana [1 to 100]. The Buddha of Limitless Light or Life developed and spread in China, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan and is largest sect in Buddhism. The Five Wisdom Buddhas are Amitabha, Vairocana, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, and Amogasiddhi.
Schools {School of the Great Delight} can emphasize love and compassion [800]. School of the Great Delight uses sexual symbolism to show opposing universe properties, such as male and female and Void and Universe. Yab-Yum is the united couple.
People know things either through senses or by inference. Both ways have causal sequences {Vaibhasika} {everything exists school}. Suffering comes from outside world, but it is not enduring, because all events and objects are momentary. Some reality, such as space and nirvana, is permanent. Past, present, and future are real.
Mahayana-Buddhism schools {Yogacara School} {mind-only school} can be monistic.
reality
All things are mental, with no external objects. Things do not grow, extend, have duration, or have succession. Such properties are thought-manifestations. Experience cannot separate from awareness content. The world's creating principle is thought or ideation {vijnana, Yogacara}, not material substance. Thoughts and ego depend on vijnana. Mind contains the potential and the material for all possible thoughts. Thought material is not a thing and has no attributes but is sunya void itself and has suchness.
consciousness
The Void is pure consciousness, thought, reason, and prajna wisdom, as stated in Vedanta.
The eight consciousness types are the five senses, sense consciousness, classifier/discriminator, and stored consciousness of potential forms.
compassion
Compassion is pure reflex of Void. Universe itself is compassion, because its parts manifest the Void.
Individuals surrender ego through love and passion for the principle or God that caused their existence, to become part of the whole and gain happiness {Tantra} {Tantric Buddhism}. Tantra is to ensure happy life on Earth, to ensure one is in heaven after life, and eventually to reach liberation. Tantra uses pleasures of the world to progress higher. People rise through participation, not rejection.
reality
Tantra is return to Vedas. Tantra and popular Hinduism use sacred-word repetition and emphasize the positive side of maya, manifestations in the world. All things are real, holy, and pure. Universe changes are also real. The Void is consciousness, being, and bliss, all together and at once. People are always part of universe as real beings and consciousnesses.
classes
In Tantra, there are no castes, and women can participate.
goddess
Tantric initiates usually devote themselves to the goddess Maya-Sakti, consort of all gods. She is also Mahamaya, the World Illusion, because her power is what sustains physical world.
Initiates worship the goddess in different ways, depending on state. They worship her as bride, if they have rajas. They worship her as mother, if they have tamas. They worship her as servant, if they have sattva.
Initiates repeat mantras: prayers, incantations, and holy words. They make offerings. They envision the goddess in love and devotion. Initiates typically have images of the goddess. Ritual summons the goddess, from deep within. Self-surrender and service to the goddess lead to realization that inner self is the goddess.
unity
In Tantric Buddhism, individuals are not important, only whole. People should do their duty or role in the world, as ritual and service.
Tantric yoga has enjoyment {bhoga} of both joy and suffering.
Tantric rituals often use the five forbidden things {Five M's}: wine, meat, fish, parched grain, and sexual intercourse.
Tantra says release {moksa, Buddhism} is not the highest goal. Moksa is meaningless, because all is Void.
Tantra depends on the idea, "Who seeks nirvana" {nirvana, Tantra}.
Tantric initiates {sadhaka} enjoy bliss in knowledge of goddess.
Acts are religious rituals {yajna}. Tantric rituals often use the Five M's. Sex has a highly symbolic role. All things are divine and pure in Tantrism, even forbidden things. In Tantrism, overcoming seeming darkness of forbidden things releases from guilt and provides full realization.
Zen Buddhism {dhyana} {zen} says that there are many different yogas.
meditation
People can learn to suspend physical and mental responses, such as judgment and analysis, to stimuli. Zazen open meditation is consciousness without response.
no dogma
In Japan, Buddhism has no dogma but emphasizes realizing inner being through meditation and discipline.
school
Buddhism in Japan has Rinzai School.
Zen arts
Zen arts are tea ceremony, flute playing, archery, fencing, ju-jitsu, and brush drawing.
In yoga of pure Self-contemplation {dhyana, Zen}, mind concentrates on one thing.
Understanding or enlightenment can come in altered consciousness states {kensho}.
Philosophical puzzles {koan} about life can have no solution, show that truth changes depending on perspective, or show that there is no truth. "That which can be taken away from you is not worth keeping, and that which cannot be taken away from you, why should you be afraid of its being taken away?" Osho Zen Tarot. "Who am I?" "What is this?"
Religions {Christianity} can emphasize that God sacrificed Jesus to atone for human sins.
holidays
Sunday is holy day. Religious holidays are the following. Epiphany {Fête des Rois} is January 6, the 12th Night after Christmas, when the three kings visited baby Jesus. Candlemas is Mary's purification on February 2. St. Valentine's Day is February 14. Palm Sunday is Sunday before Easter. Easter is resurrection day, on Sunday between March 22 and April 25. Walpurgis Nacht is eve of May Day in central Europe. Eve of St. John is midsummer. Assumption is August 15. All Souls' Day or Day of the Dead, to pray for the dead, is on November 1. Christmas is birth of Jesus, on December 25 or January 6. Holy Innocent's Day is December 28. St. Sylvester's Day is New Years Eve.
People can have charity {agape}, or love of, and respect for, God.
Christians believe that their holy book {Bible} is God's word and guides conduct and faith. The Bible is Christian scripture.
parts
The Bible has Old Testament of Judaic scriptures. New Testament has the following books. The Gospel books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John give accounts of Jesus' life. Acts of the Apostles describes works of the apostles. There are 21 letters to churches, written by the apostle Paul. Revelations describes the Apocalypse.
meaning
The Bible can have four types of meaning. It can be literally true {literal meaning}. It can use allegory to teach {allegorical meaning}. It can have moral truth {tropological meaning}. It can tell about life after death {anagogical meaning}.
Staffs {crosier}| with crook or cross precede abbots, bishops, or archbishops.
God gives everything {God's grace} {grace of God}. People's works alone cannot save them.
In Catholicism, the bishop of Rome is the main bishop, because Jesus designated St. Peter, who became bishop of Rome, church leader {Petrine supremacy}.
People can have personal morality and contemplation {pietism}|.
God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit {Trinity}.
The first humans disobeyed God and, by inheritance, all people carry their sin {original sin}|. Perhaps, people also acquired ability to sin and guilt about sinning.
Catholic Church can give pardons {indulgence}| for sin.
Christianity has a symbol {cross, Christianity}.
Greek Orthodox Church uses a cross {double-beam cross} with two bars.
Lutheran Church uses a cross {Lutheran cross} with circle.
Russian Orthodox Church uses a cross {triple-beam cross} with three bars.
Crosses {Greek cross} can have four equal arms.
God, divines, or saints can change nature's laws {miracle}. Miracles imply suspending or breaking physical law. If universe allows physical law to break or temporarily not apply, much greater physical effects have to happen, over larger regions and times. Miracles imply that non-physical actions can happen. If non-physical actions happen, they have to have physical means to move physical things. Physical means are apparent for observed physical movements.
God impregnated Jesus's mother {Immaculate Conception}, according to the Bible.
Mary received God's message {Annunciation} that she was to have virgin birth of Jesus, according to the Bible.
According to Gospel of Luke, Mary sang a song {Magnificat} of praise after learning from an angel that she was to bear Jesus.
Perhaps, Jesus is god in human body {Incarnation}. Controversy concerns whether Jesus was only god, only human, or both.
According to the Bible, Mary was virgin {virgin birth}. Some Romans had claimed Caesar Augustus was god who had virgin birth, so early Christians used same tactic.
No record besides the Bible exists of Jesus' birthday or conception, but his conception was supposedly on March 25 and his birthday {Christmas} nine months later. December 25 is also consistent with Jesus being six months younger than John the Baptist.
According to the Bible, "wise men from the east" {Three Wise Men} {Magi, Bible} brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Jesus twelve days after his birth. Caspar, king of Chaldea, brought gold. Melchior, king of Nubia, brought frankincense. Balthazar, king of Babylon, brought myrrh. Gospel of Matthew does not mention how many wise men. Perhaps, they were Zoroastrians. Probably, wise men were actually fools or people performing fol-de-rol.
January 6 {Epiphany} is when wise men visited Jesus.
Return to spiritual and bodily life {resurrection, Christianity}| can follow death. According to the Bible, Jesus rose from the dead {Resurrection} and left his tomb after three days, on Easter Sunday. At the resurrection, God will judge people and assign them to heaven or hell. Heaven is where all is pleasant and one sees the face of God. Hell is pain and loss of God.
After revisiting the disciples, forty days after Resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven {Ascension, Jesus}, according to the Bible.
Rites {eucharist}| can simulate the Last Supper.
Churches can elect bishops and abbots {investiture}|.
Patrimony of St. Peter was land {Donation} in Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia that Constantine I supposedly gave to Pope.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse {Apocalypse} are Pestilence, Plague, Famine, and War.
Christians believe that Jesus died to redeem sin of all people who believe in him. He will return to judge everyone {Second Coming, Christ}, when kingdom of heaven will begin on Earth, or Earth will end.
The 11 original disciples, not including Judas, and later converted people {apostle, Jesus}| preached about Jesus.
Gabriel is angel of revelations {archangel, Christianity}|. Rafael and Michael are other archangels.
Scribes and Pharisees {pharisee}| were Jewish priests and officials, whom Jesus scorned.
Mary bore Jesus in a city {Bethlehem, Bible}, according to the Bible.
Jesus rested in a garden {Garden of Gethsemane} {Gethsemane} in Jerusalem, according to the Bible.
Jesus was crucified on a hill {Golgotha, Bible}, according to the Bible.
A stable feeding trough {manger, religion}| was a cradle for baby Jesus, according to the Bible.
Jesus rested on a Jerusalem hill {Mount of Olives, Bible}, according to the Bible.
Jesus grew up in a town {Nazareth, Bible} in north Palestine, according to the Bible.
patron saint of maidenhood {Saint Agnes}.
patron saint of Scotland {Saint Andrew}.
patron saint of Scandinavia {Apostle of Scandinavia} {Saint Ansgar}.
patron saint of defense {Saint Barbara}.
patron saint of Italy {Saint Catherina}.
patron saint of music {Saint Cecilia}.
patron saint of travelers {Saint Christopher}.
patron saint of England {Saint George}.
patron saint of Spain {Saint James}.
patron saint of scholars {Saint Jerome}.
Joan of Arc {Saint Joan of Arc} or Maid of Orleans was from France.
patron saint of Austria {Saint Leopold}.
patron saint of Russia {Saint Nicolaus}.
patron saint of Ireland {Saint Patrick}.
patron saint of doctors and nurses {Saint Sebastian}.
patron saint of Poland {Saint Sigismund}.
patron saint of Portugal {Saint Thomas}.
patron saint of female education {Saint Ursula}.
patron saint of Bohemia {Saint Wenceslaus}.
Christian religious belief system {Gnosticism} supposedly provides privileged knowledge of spiritual world. Gnosis (deep knowledge) came from divine being, through medium of Christ, who brought redemption. People have spark of the divine in them and long to leave material world and return to spiritual world. They need knowledge to do this.
spirits
God is unknowable divine being, solely of spiritual world. Spiritual world and beings sprang from thoughts of God. Lesser divinities {demiurge, Gnosticism} of spiritual world created material world and physical motion. However, creation and action are antagonistic to the truly spiritual.
theosophy
Gnosticism included other movements, such as theosophy.
Some early Christians believed that Jesus was person with human nature and did not unite divine and human {Monophysite controversy}.
Jesus was two separate persons, one divine and one human {Nestorian controversy}. There was no Virgin Birth.
There is no original sin, and people can be perfect without God's grace {Pelagianism}.
Christ {chi rho} (CHR).
Jesus, Savior of Man {IHS}.
Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews {INRI}.
Symbols {trefoil symbol} can be for Christian Trinity.
watchfulness, power, wisdom, and understanding symbol {Abraxas}.
Mystic star {Heptagram} is for magic.
creation symbol {Octagram}.
fate symbol {seven-headed serpent}.
stylized sun {sigil of the sun}.
stylized Earth {sigil of the world}.
stylized water and fire symbol {water-fire principle}.
Religions {Confucianism} can emphasize moral practical life and society.
gods
Confucianism added religious elements after Confucius died. Shang-ti is ruler of heaven. Confucius became a god.
learning
Learning's four parts are virtue, eloquence and logic, government, and morals and ethics.
metaphysics
Objects and physical, behavioral, emotional, and social phenomena have numerical principles, allowing study of medicine, psychology, and politics by same principles. The two main ideas are heart or mind {xin} and things or objects {wu}, also expressed as "principle" versus "practical" and "idealism" versus "empiricism". Paired relationships are male/female, order/disorder, or constructive/destructive {yin, Confucianism} {yang, Confucianism}. Things divisible by fives correlate {five phases}. Calendar depended on ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches.
scholarship
Confucianism requires scholarship {Ju School} and studies the Six Classics or Lui Yi.
Matter forms by li and carries desires {ch'i}.
People develop following their natures {hsing}, if nothing interferes. Hsing can be control of ch'i.
Proper conduct {jen}, which varies with relations to other people or things, maintains sympathy or kindness. Filial honor and temperance are good.
People should practice proper behavior {li, proper behavior}, depending on social status. People should treat subordinates as if they were superiors. Li is structures and patterns in nature according to Chu Hsi. Li is structures and patterns in mind, according to Wang Yang-ming. Li pairs with matter to make objects. Li acts to organize matter, desires, and thoughts correctly, according to Tai Chen.
Best ways {tao, Confucianism} to live exist.
People can live in the best way {te}.
People should do their duty and behave correctly using correct judgment {yi}, even if they do not know rules. Yi leads to courage and calm.
Aryans who entered India [-1500] had polytheistic religion {Hinduism}.
truth
Truth cannot use words, images, or things, only personal experience. Finding true reality requires human endeavor.
universe
Universe is product of divine will and desire of the One to become many. The world body contains upper, middle, and lower regions. Upper region {garuda} has multitude of heavens, with celestial musicians, female apsarases, and bird-like atmosphere gods. Heavens have rulers {Indra, ruler}. Souls earn merit and abide in heaven as gods during time between reincarnations. Middle region has man and beasts. Lower world contains Dravidian fertility gods who attend Shiva and Kubera, titans, ghosts, monsters, goblins, and water gods appearing as serpents.
holidays
Saraswati Puja honors Saraswati, goddess of learning and fine arts, on 5th day of new moon in January or February.
Holi is advent of spring, dedicated to Kama, god of love, on full moon in March. People spray colored powders and waters.
Sivaratri honors Shiva, on 14th day of new moon in March.
Janmastami is birthday of Krishna, 8th day of new moon in July or August.
In west India, Ganesh Chaturthi or Coconut Day is in honor of Ganesh, in August or September. In Bengal, Durga Puja is triumph of good over evil, in September or October. In north India, Dussera is Rama's victory over Ravana, in September or October.
Dewali or Festival of Lights is Rama's return from exile, after victory over Ravana, in October or November.
treasures
Hinduism has six treasures. First, mental quiet, then sense restraint, then end to sense qualities, then endurance, then concentration, and then perfect faith. People should master their minds and bodies, to eliminate all outside influences.
life
Hinduism identifies four areas of human life: artha, kama, dharma, and moksa. In Hinduism, life is ascetic, monastic, and meditative. There are periods of praying, yoga, daily rituals, and worship.
life: stages
In Hinduism, life has four stages: student, householder, retirement for meditation, and poor sage. The first two stages require the first three life-area skills, such as living in village and participating in civilization. After performing all duties, finishing raising family, and losing skill in craft, retirement to the forest is third life stage. In old age, people concentrate on self and need skills of the fourth life stage to prepare for death.
duty and reward
In Hinduism, people should do their duty, without need for reward. People should be indifferent.
ritual
In Hinduism, taking part in ritual acts, such as weddings or traditional crafts, gains solemnity and higher sense of life.
One should live one's proper dharma perfectly {Act of Truth}. Perfect faith and wisdom have power to accomplish magic. People gain satisfaction from duty and participating in the Law.
Villages had practitioners {vaidya} of Herbal Medicine {ayurveda}.
religious or meditation teacher {guru, Hinduism}.
health {egg symbol}.
Phallic shape {lingam} is symbol of Shiva.
eternity {lotus symbol}.
Ritual syllable OM or AUM, meaning silence, expresses the four consciousness states in its four Sanskrit letters {OM} (AUM).
The five arrows {Panca Sayaka} represent the five senses. Devi Lalithambika holds five arrows representing the five tanmatras or subtle elements.
Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva {trimurti}.
Hinduism has gods {Hindu gods} {gods, Hinduism}.
Aditi is equivalent to Rhea.
Adityas are twelve minor sun gods who rule the months.
Agni is god of fire or sacrificial fire. Agni in Sanskrit, ignis in Latin, and ogon' in Russian all mean fire.
Ananga is Kama as bodyless, and so is about abstract love.
Asvins or Divine Physicians are Nasatya and Dasra, twin sons of Saranyu, goddess of Dawn, and Surya, god of Sun.
Atman is Self as Creator. Brahma is the Creator.
Brahmanaspati, Brhaspati, or Brihaspati is god of prayer and ritual devotion, and guru to Indra.
Devi is Mother Goddess.
Dyaus Pita is sky or Father Heaven and is like Zeus in Greek, Jupiter in Roman, and Tyr in German mythology.
Ganesa is Lord of Hosts, Shiva's son, guide of the soul, and breaker of the way.
Indra, god of thunderbolt and war, is king of the gods and slew Vrtra. Indra is like Zeus in Greek mythology.
Kala is the Absolute.
Kali is Sakti, the Black Goddess, the Great Power, or the Mother.
Kama is god of Love.
Krishna (black), Dark One, or Govinda is prophet of the Bhagavadgita and is the same as Vishnu.
Kundalini is the primal World Force in selves.
Manu is ancestor of man.
Maruts are storm-beings.
Matsyakanya, Satyavathi Devi, or Anantha Lakshmi is mermaid.
Mitra is god of friendship and alliances. Mitra is like Mithra in Persia.
Namuci is the cosmic magician: "He who does not let go".
Padma is Mother Goddess.
Parvathi or Sakti is consort of Shiva.
Prajapati is life-force itself, the need to create, the need not to be alone, and "Lord of Creatures".
Prithivi is the earth.
Pushan or Puchan is god of meeting.
Rati is mate of Kama and is goddess of sensual delight.
Rbhus are craftsmen.
Rudra is god of storm and wind, and sometimes death as part of Shiva.
Sakti is goddess of time, eternal power, and consort of the gods.
Savitar is sun as life-giver.
Shiva or Siva is god of eternity or universe, the destroyer, the cosmic dancer, and master yogi.
Soma is sacred potion or sacred plant itself.
Surya is sun god. Surya is like Apollo in Greek mythology.
Ushas is the dawn. Ushas is like Eos in Greek and Aurora in Roman mythology.
Varuna is god of the dead and one of the Adityas. Varuna is like Uranus in Greek mythology.
Vac is the word.
Vasanta is Spring.
The sage Vasudeva is father of Krishna and Balarama and had Devaki and Rohini as consorts.
Vayu is the wind.
Vishnu is the preserver, supreme god in Upanishads.
Vishvadevas are all gods.
India clans have an ancestor {Bharata}.
Creator {Brahma} lives one hundred years of Brahma. Brahma created Kumara.
Gods have a king {Indra, king of gods}.
Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanatkumara {Kumara} are four spiritual beings that must be also material.
Ramayana has a hero {Rama}.
King of underworld has a messenger {Yamdoot}.
People are now in the fourth and worse World Age, Kali Yuga, of present time cycle {Hindu ages}.
Each of the 14 eons {Manvantara} has Manu: Svayambhuva Manu, Svaracisa Manu, Uttama Manu, Tamasa Manu, Raivata Manu, Caksusa Manu, Vaivasvata Manu or Manu Vaivasvate, Savarni Manu, Daksa Savarni Manu, Brahma Savarni Manu, Dharma Savarni Manu, Rudra Savarni Manu, Deva Savarni Manu, Indra Savarni Manu. Current eon is the seventh {Vaivasvata Manu}. One mahayuga has four ages {yuga}. One Manvantara has 71 mahayugas. After Manvantara is Sandhi Kala.
The four ages {Yuga} are Kali Yuga or Iron Age [began -3102], Dwapar Yuga, Treta Yuga, and Satya Yuga or Krita Yuga, the last age.
The Word {verbum} is reality {panlinguistic monist}, as both language and world. Sanskrit grammarians developed this philosophy.
Shad Darshanas or Shad Darsanas {Six Systems} {Six Schools} are the six sides of orthodox Hinduism: Samkhya or Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa or Purva Mimamsa [250], Vedanta or Uttara Mimamsa, Vaisesika or Vaiseshika, and Nyaya.
Vedas {Vaidika} {Vedic philosophy} contain search for underlying unity of universe.
many
The physical world contains antagonistic forces, which nonetheless need and depend on each other. Good and evil derive meaning from their differences. Existence derives meaning from non-existence. Thus, all shapes and forms depend on, and relate to, each other.
one
Essence or One has diversified and become dynamic, balanced, and full of opposites. The One can become many and still be one.
body
Vedic philosophy identifies body parts and functions with universe parts and functions. Universe and human has same inner form. Universe and human are parts of unity. People natures and fates link to cosmos nature and fate.
sacrifice
Ritual of sacrifice is about link between universe and human.
personality
Vedic philosophy searches for the basis of personality. People have motivation, have animation, sustain themselves, and have inner nature. Knowing true and real Essence can bring power, magic, courage, peace, happiness, eternal life, and/or strength. By going inward to inner consciousness, people can escape from fear, pain, and death in world.
gods
Gods possess knowledge of true Essence and so have power. Gods possess powers of self-transformation or self-transmutation but only in certain ways and into certain forms. People can personally contact these powers through gods and thus gain powers themselves.
Hinduism {Agama Hindu Dharma} can be in Bali and among Tenggerese people of east Java.
Hinduism has an important book {Bhagavadgita}.
detachment
People should do all things as duties or rituals {detachment, Hinduism}, because everything is deterministic. People should not do things to reach goals or satisfy wants. People should not act as agents. People should do and think only of act itself, not of consequences or effects. People should keep on acting but should act selflessly. Austerity, alms, and offerings are duties and should not have feelings of sacrifice, pride, or reservations.
self
Self is the same as the One. Bodily changes, feeling, will, desire, rewards, or punishments should not affect Self.
transformation
All things are only temporary, formed by transformations of the One in playful dream-like foreordained games, dances, or illusions. Divine power produces all things by its transformations.
unity
The One is Creator, Maintainer, and Destroyer of universe. The One is indifferent to humans and all desires and attachments.
karma yoga
Yoga of Selfless Action {karma yoga} concentrates on one's inner Self, because One and Self are same thing. Because all arises from the One, people should surrender to, and merge with, the One. People should do their duty and perform the work of the One in the world.
Krishna
In Bhagavadgita, Krishna (Dark One), in human form, persuades prince to return to duty as soldier and leader.
Jayanta [880] wrote Nyayamanjari, about a system {Kusumanjali}. Gangesa [1200] wrote Tattvacintamani about Navya-Nyaya school in Navadvipa, Bengal. Annambhatta [1650] wrote Tarkasngraha. Visvanatha [1650] wrote Karikavali or Bhasa-pariccheda, with commentaries Dipika and Siddhanta-muktavali (Principles of Muktavali).
The Six Systems of Hinduism have an oldest system {Samkhya} {Sankhya}.
duality
World and human nature are separate. The world of matter {praktri, Samkhya} is completely separate from the infinite number of light-like conscious eternal selves {purusa, Samkhya}.
duality: matter
Matter is one thing but manifests itself in three gunas: tamas is inertia or tiredness, rajas is activity or pain, and sattva is harmony, tension, or pleasure.
duality: self
Self that associates with matter binds to the samsara endless round of birth and death. To disassociate Self from all matter, one can follow stages through proper techniques. Yoga can stop mind's spontaneous activities. Mind has ability to transform itself into whatever it senses, feels, or remembers, and always does so. Yoga can end restless transformations, which fix on the unreal. Yoga stills all senses, emotions, and thoughts and instead substitutes concentration on innermost being. Ending restless transformations reveals inner self.
cause and effect
Cause and effect are one. Effects re-form causes.
human body
Body has five senses, brain, life span, strength, breathing, intuition, and ego or consciousness.
knowledge hindrances
Five hindrances block true knowledge. Avidya is ignorance, thinking that conscious mind is and gives truth. Asmita is the idea that ego or mind is true Self. Raja is attachment, sympathy, interest, affection, love, and desire. Dvesa is hate, dislike, and repulsion. Abhinivesa (toward life) is desire to live.
mind
Mind activities include accurate perception through inference and testimony, inaccurate perception, fantasy, sleep, and memory.
organs of action
Humans have five organs of action: speaking, grasping, moving, evacuating, and reproducing. These and the five senses are gates or openings of body to outer world. Intelligence, ego, and judgment make up the "inner organ" that controls these gates.
prana
Five prana spirits or life-breaths are exhaling, inhaling, digesting or equalizing, ascending, and pervading. They maintain the body. Pranas continue after death, carrying previous impressions and nature of being.
self
Self is pervasive in the body, unchanging, eternal, not compound, unmoving, uninvolved, free, uncaused, uncausing, and infinite. Self appears to be alive, as reflected in matter's activity, but it is not. The "inner organ" of one's matter controls the life-process. Person's mind can know the light of the Self, but mind does not associate with Self at all. People cannot realize Self, because mind always distracts. Stopping mind gives clear view of Self.
unconsciousness
Yogis use asceticism, learning, prayer, and surrender of Self to the One to isolate self from world. People disengage selves from all matter and realize their isolation. All motion and action are part of matter and so end. Yogis reverse usual unfolding of matter, which starts with praktri, then makes subtle matter, and then makes actual matter, which has the most tamas. Self finally stands passive and individual, unconnected to rest of universe. People then abide in eternal unconsciousness.
history
Kapila or Bhagavatam wrote Sankhya Sutras and founded a school. Asuri was disciple of Kapila. Pancasika was disciple of Asuri and wrote sutras. Isvara-Krsna [400 to 500] wrote Sankhya-karikas or Sankhya-saptati. Gaudapada [700] wrote Sankhya-karika-bhasya. Vacaspati [840] wrote Sankhya-tattva-kaumudi about Sankhya-karika-bhasya. Aniruddha [1400 to 1500] wrote Sankhya-pravacana-sutravrtti about Sankhya-karika-bhasya. Vijnana-bhiksu [1650] wrote Sankhya-pravacana-bhasya. Sankhya-sara has comments about Kapila's Sankhya Sutras.
The Six Systems of Hinduism include a school {Mimamsa} about Veda liturgy and rituals. The sound of Sanskrit in hymns and repeated holy words, such as "Om", has meaning and is magic.
history
Jaimini [200] wrote Mimamsa-sutras, such as Purvamimamsa-sutra, and founded mimamsa. Sabara Svamin [400] wrote bhasya on Mimamsa-sutras. Prabhakara [650] wrote Brhati about Sabara bhasya. Kumarila Bhatta [700 to 800] wrote Sloka-varttika, Tantra-varttika, and Tuptika about Sabara bhasya. Salikanatha [600 to 700] wrote Prakarana-pancika and was Prabhakara's pupil. Parthasarathi [900] wrote Sastrapradipika (Scriptural Texts on Light). Madhva-Vidyaranya [1350 to 1380] wrote Nyaya-mala-vistara. Laugaksi Bhaskara [1600 to 1700] wrote Arthasangraha.
The Six Systems of Hinduism include a school {Nyaya} about logic and argument.
knowledge
Knowledge has four sources: perception, inference, analogy, and credible testimony. Inference is the only way to true knowledge. Inference is of three kinds. One is from cause to effect. Another is from effect to cause. Third is from perception to abstract principle.
causes
Three cause types are material or inhering cause, formal or shaping cause, and instrumental cause.
syllogism
Syllogisms have five parts: proposition, cause, cause example, cause recapitulation, and proposition restatement {conclusion, Nyaya}. This syllogism type uses the principle of invariable association.
source
Nyaya depends on Nyaya-sutra by Gautama or Aksapada.
history
Gautama, Gotama, or Aksapada [-550] wrote Nyayasutras and founded Nyaya. Vatsyayana [400] wrote Nyaya-bhasya about Nyayasutras. Udyotakara [600 to 700] wrote Nyaya-varttika about Nyaya-bhasya. Vacaspati [841] wrote Tatparyatika about Nyayasutras, Nyaya-bhasya, and Nyaya-varttika. Udayana [984] wrote Tatparyatika-parisuddhi.
The Six Systems of Hinduism include a school {Vaisesika} about atomistic cosmology. All substances, immediate qualities, universals, absences, movements, associations, differences, and inherences are atoms. All knowable things have atoms. All world atoms are fleeting and changing. Soul is not in time or space and so is eternal.
cause and effect
Cause makes something new emerge from itself.
source
Vaisesika depends on Vaisesika-sutra of Kanada.
history
Kanada, Uluka, or Acarya [-600] wrote Vaisesika Sutras and founded Vaisesika or Aulukya. Prasastapada [400 to 500] wrote Padartha-dharma-Sangraha bhasya, which expands on Vaisesika-sutra. Sridhara [991] wrote Nyayakandali. Vyomasiva wrote Vyomovati commentaries on Laksanavali of Prasastapada. Udayana [984] wrote Kiranavali. Vallabhacarya [1000 to 1100] wrote Nyayalilavati mixing Vaisesika and Nyaya. Sivaditya [900 to 1000] wrote Saptapadarthi. Visvanatha [1650] wrote Bhasa-pariccheda and Siddhanta-muktavali (Principles of Muktavali).
The Six Systems of Hinduism include a school {Vedanta} that modifies Vaidika or Vedic philosophy and depends on Upanishads.
schools
Vedanta has many schools, with different monism-dualism positions. Samkara is largest school and is intellectual Hinduism, with no myths, just meditation.
cause and effect
Cause is real, but effect is illusion. Change is illusion.
creation story
Brahman split into male and female and procreated.
enlightenment
The final stage of finding union with Brahman is state of pure rest, with end to mind transformations. People can know Brahman only by intuition. Enlightenment ends need for knowledge or reasoning, which are both illusions. Enlightened people have serenity, dignity, and majesty. They do not act in world. Any lingering karma carries on acts until they complete. They have become like Brahman and continue playing without participating or feeling affected. They are like sleepwalkers, indifferent to all things and actions. They are beyond time and silent.
gods
In Vedanta myths, the god Vishnu dreams. First, Vishnu makes Brahman, creation-principle and all-one, from his world-womb at his navel. Lotus located at navel is dreamed world of Vishnu. Vishnu is the humane preserver.
Rama, Krishna, and Buddha are Vishnu incarnations. Rama married Sita.
Devaki is virgin mother of Vishnu.
Shiva is the destroyer, dissolver, and reproducer.
Gods are only symbols or visible signs of powers, not channels for them.
intuition
People cannot know Brahman by ordinary knowledge, only intuition.
self stages
People find Self and understand true reality by proceeding through stages, using several methods to remove layers that hide the Self. Before starting, people should have good morals: doing good works without thought of reward or punishment, practicing yoga for ability to concentrate intensely, and studying Vedas for preparation.
After getting ready to search for Self by good morals, first method is to study texts and teachings, to use method of refutations to disprove erroneous inferences and analogies. Erroneous inference is that world is dual or plural. Other erroneous inferences attribute qualities or attributes to things. This method teaches that fears and desires are also needless and unreal.
Second method is meditation on Brahman, reflecting on reading. People feel personally conscious of God and know God as omnipotent and omniscient.
Third method is concentration on one thing to end mind's restlessness and end thought. People lose ego and see the identity of all things, because God is in all and in self. This state is pure sattva, with all tamas and rajas eliminated from self.
Fourth method is state of no consciousness, in which subject and object become one, so consciousness merges with Self. People, realizing that even sattva is delusion, achieve state of anonymity, complete loss of Self, and pure being.
suffering
People can accept pain and suffering by knowing that they are temporary and illusory.
unity
Because Brahman is in everything, all things balance and have harmony. Brahman includes all pairs of opposites. Evolutionary or dialectic processes make pairs of opposites. As opposites interact, world emanates from Brahman.
history
Badarayana or Bhasyakara [-500 to -200] wrote the Brahmasutras of Vedanta. Sankara or Iamkara [788 to 820] founded Advaita School. Atreya, Asmarathya, Audulomi, Karsnajani, Kasakrtsna, Badari were early Advaita sages. Bhaskara [996 to 1061] founded Bhedabheda School. Yadava-prakasha or Bhedabheda taught Ramanuja [1000]. Ramanuja [1017 to 1127] founded Visist-advaita School. Madhva [1238 to 1317] founded an Advaita school. Nimbarka [1000 to 1100] founded an Advaita school. Srikantha [1270] founded Saiva-visist-advaita School. Sripati [1400] founded Bheda-bhedatmaka-visist-advaita School. Vallabha [1479 to 1544] founded Suddh-advaita School. Suka [1550] founded Bhedavada School. Vijnana-bhiksu [1650] founded Atma-brahm-aikya-bhedavada School. Baladeva [1725] founded Acintya-bhedabheda School.
The One can manifest as material things, known objectively {adhidaivam}.
The One can manifest as individual self, known subjectively {adhyatman}.
In Vedanta, the 'causal' body can be in silent, dreamless, unchanging, and painless state of bliss {bliss} {ananda}. The blissful state feels conscious.
In Vedanta, Self {atman, Vedanta} is people's inner principle.
veils
Self makes illusory sheaths or veils of consciousness from body, life, and mental processes. These consciousnesses are not the Self, and the Self cannot be object of consciousness.
Actual human body has waking consciousness. Waking state has terror, illusion, pain, and change.
The 'subtle' body has dreaming consciousness and includes the life-force or life-breath {prana, Vedanta}, corresponding to air or breath. It also includes sense qualities or perception. It also includes reason or understanding. Dreaming state has terror, illusion, pain, and change.
The 'causal' body can be in a state of bliss {ananda, Vedanta} or ignorance {avidya, atman}. Both are silent, dreamless, unchanging, and painless. Ignorant state is like death and unconsciousness. Blissful state feels conscious.
Self
Self must remove these veils to reveal itself and go beyond consciousness. Self feels merged with Brahman.
Universal Self {atman-brahman} is inactive, rather than participating in and animating world. It encourages asceticism and monasticism, replacing the life affirming, joyful feeling in Hindu religion. It is the only reality. The rest is pure illusion.
In Vedanta, the 'causal' body can be in a state of silent, dreamless, unchanging, and painless non-consciousness {avidya, Vedanta}.
Ignorant state is like death and unconsciousness. Ignorance is physical-world instances, or universal pervading influence in physical world. In second sense, avidya is Brahman in personal role as Shiva-Vishnu, making life, evolving, maintaining, creating, destroying universe, and pervading all things. Brahman is like the Self, which makes its veils. As soon as people realize either Brahman or ignorance, they lose the realization, as Self merges with Brahman. Ordinary knowledge cannot know ignorance.
Impersonal spirit, essence, power, or energy is in everything and is unified Self {Brahman}. It is form and is formless. It has no properties {neti neti, Vedanta}. It is Holy Power, true reality, the One, or Essence. It is infinite, is all things, is identical in all things, is immanent in all things, and animates all things. It is creation principle. Primal force makes all temporal objects, events, and phenomena. Vishnu created it in dream. It retains consciousness of itself. It is omniscient and omnipotent. It is the Universal or highest God. All things are Brahman manifestations. Brahman has different degrees or spheres of power. It is rhythmic, cyclic gestures, game, play, dance, or illusion and is of no importance.
mind and world
Physical-world manifestations, including mind and thoughts, and spiritual world, of gods in their realms, will always continue, just as the One itself will continue. People ordinarily perceive the illusions as many separate things, not as the whole. Brahman can transform into any manifestation, and human minds continually transform. All manifestations and transformations are illusions, not true reality.
Self
Underlying both world and mind is higher Brahman or Self, unmoving, unchanging, and serene. The true Brahman remains separate, aloof, impersonal, and inactive. Brahman perceives the illusion as whole, with clarity and serenity {sattva, Vedanta}, unmoved by tamas or rajas. Brahman is cause of the world. Knowledge of Brahman leads to final emancipation. Sages differ about nature of Brahman, relation between individual and Brahman, nature of release, and method to attain liberation.
Previous actions have residues {karma, Vedanta}. Sages can become free from rebirth cycle, but karma causes all others to have endless reincarnation.
People can have consciousness {samadhi, Vedanta} of duality of Self and mind.
In first samadhi, mind sees Brahman, has cosmic consciousness, and feels the power of the One in oneself, but it comes from outside.
In second samadhi, one feels no duality, only complete silence.
Falling into an unconscious state as one begins to lose vision of Brahman can block second state. Distraction by other sense impressions can block second state. Desires, needs, likes, dislikes, or memories from unconscious mind can block second state. Pure enjoyment of first state can block second state, showing that mind still does not have enough discipline.
Books {Upanishads} concentrate on Self and interior world.
Souls transmigrate from one body to another, seeking union with Brahman {Vishnuism}. Brahman dies to give birth to the world, the one becomes many, and then all things die to return to Brahman, the many become one.
People should live ascetic life {yama, Hinduism}. General rules for ascetic life include non-violence {ahimsa}; word, thought, and deed truth and identity {satya, Vedanta}; no stealing {asteya}; celibacy; and possession rejection. Special practices {niyama} can achieve ascetic life: cleanliness, contentment, equanimity, austerity, indifference to desire, study, meditation, and devotion to personal god. Correct yoga body postures {asana} help, as does yoga breathing control {pranayama, Vedanta}.
The Six Systems of Hinduism include a school {yoga} that evolved from Samkhya.
method
Yoga has a meditation method, in eight steps, to bring mind to its essence by removing objective things. Samkhya yoga practice has four levels. The most ancient, simple, and lowest is observance of practices, rituals, and duties. The next level is to be insightful practitioner and have ability to truly concentrate. The next level is to be successful practitioner and to have truly suppressed mind. People reach this level by shedding tamas and rajas, leaving only sattva. Tamas and rajas, as unconscious and ego force, cause all hindrances to true knowledge, as dynamic opposes inert. Last level is to search for Self. This stage happens when one realizes that sattva only reflects Self and true Self is beyond it.
history
Patanjali [-200 to 300] wrote Yoga-sutras and founded Yoga. Sanatkumara and Jaigisavya wrote Yogashastra. Vyasa [400] wrote bhasya on Yogasutras. Tattvavaisaradi [850] wrote Vacaspati Misra, on Vyasabhasya. Yogavarttika [1650] wrote Vijnana-bhiksu, on Vyasabhasya. Bhasvati [1800 to 1900] wrote Hariharananda Aranya, on Vyasabhasya. Sankara wrote Yogabhasyavivarna, on Vyasabhasya. Rajamarttandavrtti [1000 to 1100] wrote Bhojadeva, on Yoga-sutras. Yogasutrapradipika has Bhavaganesa, on Yoga-sutras. Yoga-sutra-vrtti has Nagoji-bhatta, on Yoga-sutras. Yoga-mani-prabha has Ramananda Yati, on Yoga-sutras. Yoga-siddhanta-chandrika (Yoga Principles) has Narayana Tirtha, on Yoga-sutras. Yoga-sudhakara [1700 to 1800] has Sadasiva Brahmendra, on Yoga-sutras.
Stages correspond to body centers {chakra}, lying along spine.
Yoga {Kundalini yoga} can be a method to end sense qualities and suffering by purgation, cleanliness, concentration, and exercises and achieve union with universe, perfect self-knowledge, and isolation from all other souls. Kundalini yoga takes practitioners through stages {Lotus Ladder} from everyday dullness, to sex, to power and achievement, to compassion, to conquest of self and sex, to vision of God, to pure ecstasy.
Yogis can claim prophecy, levitation, astral projection, and other mental skills {siddhi, Yoga}.
Religions {Islam, religion} can say there is only one god, who is merciful but unknowable, and Mohammad is his final prophet. In Islam, Adam ate wheat, rather than the Bible's apple, for his original sin. All adults should pray five times a day, facing Mecca.
Spiritual power works magic {baraka}.
Islam has a symbol {crescent and star}.
prohibited {haram}|.
crescent moon {hilal}.
Mohammad had a vision {Mi'raj} of going to heaven on al-Borak, a winged animal.
Doctrine {ijma} can be that belief of most Moslems is infallibly true.
People can take revenge equal to loss, such as taking eye for loss of eye {Talion Law} {Law of Talion}.
Mohammad said the angel Jibril (Gabriel) revealed text {Koran} {Qurun} to him.
Koran and Hadith have Islamic laws {Sharia} {shari'a}.
All able adults should perform five duties {five pillars of Islam}. Accept and say "There is one God and Mohammad is his prophet." Pray five times a day. Give alms at rate 2.5% {zekat}. Fast in the holy month, Ramadan. Make the pilgrimage, called the Hajj, to Mecca at least once.
All able adults must go to Mecca at least once {pilgrimage}.
People can work for Islam and God, deny temptations and never perform wrongs, or defend Islamic society after attack {jihad}|.
People have practices or ways of living {sunna}.
All adults should give one-quarter {alms} of income for the poor and for Islam.
Practice {din} of religion by prayers is way of Islam.
A heretical Islam branch {Babism} depends on Islam but has a different idea of the Mahdi.
A heretical Islam branch {Bahaism} depends on Islam but has a different idea of the Mahdi. Service to others is a form of prayer. Justice is paramount. Bahaism has no clergy. God's manifestations were Krishna, Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Christ, and Mohammad.
Arab robe {abba}.
head covering {hijab}.
headdress {kaffiyah}.
face veil {niqab}.
keeping women veiled {purdah}.
Friday is holy day {Islam, holidays}.
Akheri-Chahar-Sumba remembers when Mohammad recovered slightly and bathed before he died, on Wednesday of Safar.
Id-e-Milad is Mohammad's Birthday.
Eide-Fetr, Id-ul-Fitr, Id-ul-Fitar, or Eid-al-Fitr is end of the month of Ramazan or Ramadan.
Eide-Mabus or Eide-Ghadir is when Gabriel revealed the Koran, on 2nd day of full moon after Ramazan or Ramadan.
Death of Mohammad.
First Day of Muharram.
Bakr-id, Id-uz-Zuha, or Eid-al-Adha is day of Abraham's sacrifice, on 10th day of last month of lunar year.
Shia
Arba'in.
Eide-Ghorban is day when Mohammad designated Ali as successor.
Death of Ali is in Ramazan.
Muharram or Tenth of Muharram or Ashura is martyrdom of Hassan and Hossein by Shimi, general of Yazid at Karbala, near Babylon, on 10th day of Muharram.
hajj last day {eid al-Adha}.
Ramadan last day {eid al-Fitr}.
pilgrimage to Mecca {hajj}|.
In the holy lunar month {Ramadan} {Ramazan}, in honor of Mohammad receiving the Koran, all adults should not eat, drink, smoke, or have sexual relations during daylight hours.
letters of unknown meaning {Alif Lam Mim} {Alif Lam Mim Suad} {Alif Lam Ra}.
evening or epoch {Asr}.
criterion of right and wrong {Furqan}.
book of the righteous {Iliyin}.
New Testament {evangel} {Injeel}.
Ka'bah is in Mecca {qiblah}.
Koran {Quran}.
People can mispronounce or misunderstand {Raina}.
book of the wicked {Sijjin}.
Torah or Pentateuch {Taurat} {Tavrat}.
watch over us {Unzurna}.
Psalms {Zabur}.
local god Baal {B'al}.
local goddess {Manat}.
help, or local god {Nasr}.
local god {Suwa}.
local goddess {Uzza}.
local god {Wadd}.
local god {Yaghus} {Yaghuth}.
local god {Yauq}.
In Islam, God asked Abraham {Abraham, Islam} to sacrifice his son Ishmael, not Isaac as in the Bible. Nimrod warred on Abraham. Abraham was first prophet of Islam.
tribe {Ad, tribe}.
first man {Adam, Islam}.
apostle of Jesus {Ahmad}.
imam (leader) of Ismaili Nizari Muslims of Ismaili Shi'a branch {Aga Khan}.
Gabriel is angel {archangel, Islam} of revelations. Michael is patron of Israelites. Israfil will sound the trumpet on judgment day. Azrael is angel of death.
Job {Ayub} {Ayyub}.
father of Abraham {Azar}.
theocracy head {caliph}.
People {Companions} went with Mohammad to Medina in the Hegira [622].
David {Dawood}.
Shaitan {devil, Islam}, the Opposer, is far from truth. Iblis, the Wicked One, is without hope.
bad spirits {Efreet}.
pharaoh {Firon}.
good and bad spirits {genii}|.
Persons {hafiz}| can memorize the Quran.
Egyptian in time of the pharaoh {Haman}.
Aaron {Haroun}.
Two angels {Harut} {Marut} were at Babel.
female fairies {houri}| {peri}.
prophet {Hud}.
Abraham {Ibrahim} is the Hanif.
Enoch {Idris}.
Elias {Ilyas}.
faith, man of faith, or mosque leader {imam, Islam}|.
father of Mary {Imran}.
Jeremiah {Irmiya}.
Jesus {Isa}.
Isaac {Ishaq}.
Isaiah {Ishaya}.
Abraham's son, progenitor of Arab people, and second prophet of Islam {Ishmael} {Ismail}.
Goliath {Jalut}.
Fifth prophet {Jesus} of Islam showed new side of God.
archangel Gabriel {Jibreel}.
bad spirits {Jinn} {Deves}.
A man {Joseph of Judea} married the beautiful Zulaikha in Egypt and has admiration in Islam.
caliph {khalif}.
Uncle {Lahab} of Mohammad opposed Islam.
sage {Luqman}.
Lot {Lut}.
Zoroastrians {Magians}.
At world's end, a man {al-Mahdi} {mahdi} will lead the faithful. Jesus will be al-Mahdi when he returns.
king, maker, or owner {Malik}.
Mary {Marium} was mother of Jesus.
archangel Michael {Meekaeel}.
Fourth prophet {Moses, Islam} of Islam received commandments.
Men {muezzin}| shout call to Islamic prayer from minarets.
Moses {Musa}.
People {Muslim} can humble themselves before, and submit to, God. World has one billion Muslims.
Nimrod {Namrud}.
Third prophet {Noah, Islam} of Islam survived the flood.
Noah {Nuh}.
Islam tells that there have been six prophets {prophet}: Abraham, Ishmael, Noah, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad.
A Musa inhabitant {Qaroun} opposed Islam.
Kaaba keepers {Qureaish} {Quraish}.
Sheba {Saba}.
Mandaeans {Sabians} are in south Iraq and Iran.
companions {sahaba}.
prophet {Salih}.
Samarians {Samiri}.
witness or martyr {Shaheed}.
descended from Mohammad {sherif}| {sharif}.
prophet {Shu'aib}.
King Solomon {Solomon, Islam} of Judea has admiration in Islam.
Soloman {Sulaiman}.
Saul {Talut}.
believers in Allah {umma}.
Ezra {Uzair}.
Guide or Ali {Vali}.
John the Baptist {Yahya}.
Jacob {Yaqoub}.
Jonah {Yunus}.
Joshua {Yusha} {al-Yasha}.
Joseph {Yusuf}.
A follower {Zaid} of Mohammad memorized the Quran.
Zacharias {Zakariya} was father of John the Baptist.
Ezekiel {Zul-Kifl} {Zulkifl}.
plain and mountain near Mecca and Mina {Arafat}.
land {Aram}.
A black stone {Hajaru'l-Aswad} is in the Kaaba in Mecca.
first region that Mohammad conquered, near Medina {Hejaz, Koran}.
valley midway between Mecca and Tayef {Hunain}.
mountain in south Arabia {Judi}.
The old sanctuary {Kaaba} {Caaba} in Mecca is pilgrimage goal of Islam adherents.
lake in paradise {Kausar}.
north Arabia goddess {Lat}.
Ma'an {Madyan} is in greater Syria.
place in or near Mecca {Marwa}.
Mohammad was born in a city {Mecca, Islam}, which is now Islam religious center.
first town that Mohammad conquered {Medina}.
mosque tower {minaret}|.
house of worship or "place of kneeling" {masjid} {mosque}|.
Site {Mount Arafat} of a speech by Mohammad [630] is near Mecca.
valley {Naml}.
town {Rass}.
place in or near Mecca {Safa}.
fountain in paradise {Salsabil}.
land {Samood}.
mountain in east Egypt {Sinai}.
brightest star {Sirius}.
fountain in paradise {Tasnim}.
town {Tubba}.
valley {Tuwa}.
town or Medina {Yasrib}.
tree in hell {Zaqqum}.
in the name of God {Bismillah}.
sayings of Mohammad {Hadith}.
if God wills {Inshallah}.
"There is no God but God and Mohammad is his prophet." {Shahada}.
God {Allah}.
Satan {Iblis}.
Satan {Shaitan}.
Sunni sects {Ibadi Islam} can be in Oman. Jabir ibn Zayd founded it.
Shi'a sect {Ismaili}.
A mystical philosophy {Sufism} {tasawwuf} of meditation and personal union with God comes from Islam. It is a gnostic system, emphasizing divine illumination, rather than behavior. The goal is to attain knowledge of higher reality. Practically, Sufis resist corruption, tyranny, cruelty, and wealth and help the poor and lower classes. Sufis do not turn away from life. They contend that one can learn from painful or hard situations. 40 days is time for mourning or other spiritual intervals.
Sufis {dervish}| need individual teaching to learn techniques. Sufi practices, such as spinning and dancing {whirling dervish}, are to induce autohypnosis.
People can have devotion to God {dhikr Allah}.
People can lose self in God or all-inclusive Self {fana}.
Feeling {haqiqa} of Islam goes beyond Islamic laws.
God is One, who unifies all {La ilaha illa 'Llah}.
Wool {suf} is the cloth worn by mystics. Safa means purity. Suffa is mosque's veranda.
Sufism has seven stages to salvation: repentance, fear of God or abstinence, piety and detachment, poverty, patience or ecstasy, trust in God and surrender to God, and contentment {tariqa}.
Sufism has a style of meditation {zikr}.
Mirrors and polished silver {mirror symbol, Sufism} are symbols that both reflect and contain God.
Moths {moth, symbol Sufism} are souls always moving toward the light of God.
Closed-tail peacocks {peacock symbol, Sufism} are selves that are not yet one with God.
Pearls {pearl symbol} are holders of Truth.
Rubies {ruby symbol} are wealth and happiness.
Water drops {water drop symbol} come from and return to sea, like humans and God.
Wells {well symbol} are Paradise.
Religions {Jainism} can be similar to Yoga and Samkhya Schools of Hinduism but simpler and non-Vedic.
reality
Jainism accepts that world exists. World will end with men at their lowest and world itself bestial.
gods
Hindu gods are for help against disease, disaster, and so on. Idols provide objects for contemplation. Jainism is atheistic.
samsara
People should forget actions, humanity, virtue, and everything, and try to obtain release from the eternal round of birth and death {samsara, Jainism}. Release comes through suffering, compassion, and self-detachment. People should reject the life-force to reproduce and stay alive and instead try to escape from cycles of death and rebirth forever. People should transcend individuality and all details, be free of all action, and have complete isolation from world. To feel no pain or pleasure, no desire, and no will requires intense concentration and endurance.
behavior
Jaina householders should not destroy life. They should not tell lie. They should not use another's property without permission. They should limit possessions. They should vow daily to go only in certain directions and distances. They should not talk or act uselessly. They should not think of sinful things. They should limit diet and pleasures each day. They should be chaste.
They should worship at proper times. They should fast on proper days. They should exercise charity every day by giving money and doing other things.
self
Self permeates the human body. Body hides Self. Soul is not Self. True Self has no personality. Self is just like all other Selves. Self can perceive truth directly.
In one way, selves are permanent. In one way, selves are not permanent. In one way, selves are permanent and then not. In one way, selves are not describable. In one way, selves are permanent but not describable. In one way, selves are not permanent but not describable. In one way, selves are permanent and then not but not describable.
sense
The five senses are brain, life span, bodily strength, speech, and breathing and make up human lives.
soul
People belong to one of six soul types, which depend on karma. Soul can be white or yellow, red or gray, and blue or black. White is highest and purest and least affected by bad karma. Killing is the blackest act.
People accumulate karma depending on their actions, which have goodness, badness, and nature. Acting uses up karma but also brings in more karma. Karma accumulation gives soul color. Goal is to become lighter and lighter in each life. Soul color determines whether people rise or fall in strata of the Universal body. Finally, people hope to be free of all color, and then Self will be clear and omniscient.
suffering
World is full of suffering.
unity
Universe is one human organism and is alive and eternal, as are people's inner Selves. All Selves are an infinite collection (Jiva).
saint
Jainist saints {tirthankara} {Makers of the River Crossing} achieved enlightenment after many reincarnations, through graded ascetic exercises. Saint stories are similar to story of the Buddha and depend on yaksas and nagas.
The saints have gone to the ceiling of the universe and dwell there in perfect peace, omniscient, timeless, without action, and without contact with rest of universe. Jainist saints are mild, ascetic, intellectual, and strong.
In statues, they have standing attitude {dismissing the body}, or they sit yoga-like. Saints have symbols. Jainists should contemplate Jainist saints as inspiration.
clothing
Jaina monks wear white robes or go naked.
Space {ajiva} includes movement {dharma, Jainism}, rest or position {adharma}, time {kala, Jainism}, and atomic matter {pudgala}. Pudgala has six degrees of density.
Truth has many sides, so people should have tolerance and mutual respect {anekantavada}.
The five events {Five Kalyamas} {Kalyamas} are the following. Soul enters embryo. Birth happens. Renunciation takes place. All destructive karma is gone. Liberation happens.
A matter form {karma, Jainism} has eight kinds: to block knowledge or perception, to create feelings, to cause delusions, to determine life length, to make personality or individuality, to make one's family, and to produce obstacles. Karma reduces the powers of Self or adds delimiting things to Self. Karma can enter soul through 42 channels. Souls go through rebirths until liberated from karma.
A mountain {Mount Sammada} sacred to Jainism is a place of enlightenment.
The five Vows {vratas} are Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Aparigraha, and Brahmacharya.
People can take a vow {ahimsa, Jainism} not to kill. All things are alive, and all life has unity, even vegetables.
People can take a vow {aparigraha} to limit possessions and be unattached.
Religions {Judaism} can be about loyalty to one tribal god, by following laws, rituals, and practices.
god
Judaism has only one God. In Judaism, Hebrews (wanderers) are God's chosen people. God commands that people love God and all other people. People should become like God in transcendence. No one can describe God in form or history. God does not state his purposes.
resurrection
Perhaps, at current-age end, God will raise people from the dead to live on the new Earth. In the resurrection, men and women will revert or advance to their optimal age.
sin
Adam and Eve sinned by accepting apple from Tree of Knowledge, causing them to lose Garden of Eden, to have to work, and to have pain at childbirth.
soul
Ancient Hebrews thought of the human being as body animated by God, with no soul, and thought people were mortal. Later, bodies have separate souls, which have life after death.
holidays
Saturday is holy day of Judaism, beginning at sundown on Friday and ending at sundown on Saturday. Purim is in March, when Esther saved Jews. Passover is typically one week before Easter, in April. Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement is in the High Holy Days at end of September. Feast of Booths or Ingathering is at harvest time. Hanukkah is near Christmas.
Jews spread over Mediterranean {Diaspora}, after fall of Jerusalem to Roman Republic.
A six-pointed star {Star of David} {Magen David} {Mogen David} symbolizes Judaism.
Places {synagogue}| are for reading and teaching law.
High priest wears rectangle {Urim vetumin} with 12 metal squares, for 12 tribes of Israel.
Letter permutations {gematria} have hidden meaning.
Jewish mysticism {Kabbalah} has cosmology based on Hebrew alphabet, using Platonist and Pythagorean ideas. Letters are numbers. Letter permutations have hidden meaning {gematria, Kabbalah}. Tetragrammaton is the four-letter name of Yahweh, YHVH. The ten Sefirot are parts of the one God, Ein Sof.
history
Isaac the Blind, Abraham Abulafia of Posquieres [1200 to 1300], Moses ben Nahman or Nahmanides [1194 to 1270], Moses Cordovero [1522 to 1570], Joseph Caro [1500 to 1570], Isaac Luria [1535 to 1572 or 1543 to 1620], Shabbetai Zevi or the False Messiah [1627 to 1676], Giovanni Pico della Mirandola [1463 to 1494], and Abraham Herrara are Kabbalists. Isaac Luria founded Chaverim or Friends.
Adam and Eve lived there {Garden of Eden} {Eden, garden}, and it contained Tree of Knowledge, according to the Old Testament.
Tree {Tree of Knowledge} was in Garden of Eden, according to the Old Testament.
chief priest and second in command to Moses during exodus from Egypt {Aaron}, according to the Old Testament.
first Hebrew {Abraham, Judaism}, according to the Old Testament.
first man or ground in Hebrew {Adam, Judaism}, according to the Old Testament.
Cain {Cain} and Abel were sons of Adam and Eve, and Cain killed Abel, according to the Old Testament.
A man {Daniel} escaped the lion's den when Jews were in captivity in Babylon, according to the Old Testament.
A woman {Esther} saved Jews from persecution in Babylon.
first woman {Eve}, according to the Old Testament.
Abraham's son {Isaac}, according to the Old Testament.
Jacob {Jacob} or Israel, Isaac's son, had 12 sons, for 12 tribes of Israel, according to the Old Testament.
Jacob's son {Joseph} went to Egypt and had a coat of many colors, according to the Old Testament.
After forty years of wandering after exodus from Egypt, after Moses [-1200 to -1100], a man {Joshua} fought at Jericho and led Jews into Canaan (Palestine), the land of milk and honey, according to the Old Testament.
A man {Methuselah} lived 900 years, according to the Old Testament.
Egyptian rulers nurtured a baby {Moses, Judaism}, after rescue from Nile River. He sent plagues on Egypt, led Jews out of Egypt, parted Red Sea, and received Ten Commandments, according to the Old Testament.
A man {Noah, Judaism} built the ark to survive the flood and had three sons, for the three races, according to the Old Testament.
Boaz loved a woman {Ruth}, according to the Old Testament.
early leader and prophet {Samuel}, according to the Old Testament.
The king after David {Solomon, Judaism} was wise and wrote Song of Solomon. He chose true mother of disputed baby by threatening to divide it in half, according to the Old Testament.
Religions {mythology} can be about human-like gods and animals.
Arthur {Arthur}, King Uther Pendragon's illegitimate son, became king by being the only one that drew sword from stone. He received his sword Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake. He established the noble and chivalrous Knights of the Round Table and took Guinevere for his queen.
His nephew or son, Sir Mordred, fatally wounded Arthur in his middle years, and three queens took Arthur to Isle of Avalon, from which he will someday return to save England.
legends
Irish, Welsh, Cornish, and North Breton legends joined to make Arthur, actual Anglo-Saxon invasion leader, into legend. Bretons carried story to Europe.
Arthur had castle {Camelot}.
Lady of the Lake received Arthur's sword {Excalibur}.
A knight association {Round Table} dedicated themselves to chivalry.
Pelles of Astolat's daughter {Elaine} married Lancelot.
Lancelot and Elaine's son {Galahad} was a pure knight.
Arthur's nephew and knight {Gawain} of the Round Table followed the Green Knight and married the ugly lady, who then turned back into princess.
A queen {Guinevere} is King Arthur's wife.
Arthur's good-humored foster brother {Kay}.
Lancelot of the Lake or Launcelot du Lac {Lancelot}, strongest and most-gallant knight, arrived from France as friend to Arthur. Elaine of Astolat was in love with Lancelot, who ignored her. Guinevere and Lancelot became close but not actual lovers, but their affair threw her honor into question. Lancelot married Elaine to end his association with Queen.
Arthur's magician and counselor {Merlin}.
Arthur's nephew or son {Mordred} fatally wounded King Arthur.
Arthur's sister and enchantress {Morgan Le Fay}.
A knight {Parsifal} {Percival} set out to find the Holy Grail, the cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper. Only a pure knight can find it, and it will bring virtue back to world. Either Parsifal or Galahad found it after many adventures.
A knight {Tristan} went to Ireland to bring back Isolde to be bride of King Mark of Cornwall. Tristan and Isolde accidentally drank a love draught, meant for King and bride, and fell passionately in love. Tristan went away but had to return, leading to both their deaths.
Heroes {Twelve Paladins} {Peers} of Charlemagne included Roland, Charlemagne's nephew.
Egypt had mythology {Egyptian mythology}. Ancient Egyptians thought that the god that created the universe created them directly, from nothing. Nature depended on gods' intentions. Gods spoke, were intelligent, had human passions, and were moral. At death, a great mechanical balance weighed heart against feather of truth to judge people.
Supreme deity {Amun} {Amen} is god of life and reproduction.
God {Anubis} conducts the dead to judgment.
Archfiend {Apep} {Apepi} tried to stop Sun from rising.
sacred bull {Apis}.
god of silence {Horus}.
Earth goddess {Isis} {Hathor} is sister and wife of Osiris and mother of Horus.
Heaven is arched body of sky goddess {Nut}, and stars are her jewels.
The god {Osiris} of Sun, Nile, warmth, life, and fruitfulness is regularly reborn as the calf Apis. His symbol is ram or cow.
sun god {Ra}.
ruler of Tartarus and god of medicine {Serapis}.
The prince of evil {Set} {Typhon} killed Osiris.
God {Thoth} of wisdom, learning, language, and number has ibis head or baboon head.
At beginning was dark and formless universe {Chaos, mythology}. Then Love appeared.
Mother Earth {Gaea} {Gaia} is mother of Titans and Giants. She was Terra {Terra, mythology} in Roman mythology.
Heaven or sky god {Uranus, Greek and Roman god} {Ouranos} was ruler of universe before Titans. He was father of Titans, Giants, and Cyclops. He was Caelus in Roman mythology.
Monsters {Cyclops}| had one eye. Uranus and Gaia had Brontes, Sterops, and Arges.
Uranus and Gaia had Cottus, Briareus, and Gyges. After Cronus castrated Uranus, Gaia received Uranus' genitalia residue and bore Giants {Giant, mythology} {Gigantes}: Agrios, Alcyoneus (leader), Aristaios, Clytius, Damysos, Enceladus, Ephialtes, Eurytus, Gration, Hippolytus, Leon, Mimas, Otus, Pallas, Peloreus, Polybotus, Porphyrion, Theodamus, and Thoon.
Giant {Antaeus}, who was invincible while touching ground, lost to Hercules, who lifted him up.
From the sky god Uranus and the earth goddess Gaia (Gaea) (Terra) came Titans {Titan, mythology}. The six females were Tethys (ocean), Theia (light), Phoebe (moon), Mnemosyne (memory), Themis (justice or law), and Rhea (earth). The six males were Oceanus (oldest, river, Tethys), Hyperion (sun, Theia), Coeus or Koios (intelligence or philosophy, Phoebe), Crius or Krios (ram, Eurbia), Iapetus or Iapetos (mankind, mortality, mountains, Clymene), and Cronus (youngest, agriculture, Rhea) in Greek mythology (Saturn in Roman mythology). Saturn ruled in the Golden Age. Hyperion had a son, Helios (sun), and two daughters, Eos (dawn) and Selene (moon). Coeus had daughters: Leto and Asteria. Iapetus had sons: Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius. Oceanus had a daughter: Metis (intelligence). Crius had sons: Astraeus, Pallas, and Perses. Cronus and Rhea made the Gods. Their three daughters were Hestia, Demeter, and Hera. The three sons were Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus.
Titan {Atlas, mythology} bore world on shoulders.
Greek Titan {Cronus} ruled Golden Age, until his son Zeus overthrew him. Kronos was father of the Gods. He is Saturn in Roman mythology.
The female creation-principle {Metis} in early Greek myth became bisexual later as Metis in Greek mythology or Phanes in Roman mythology. Later it became only male as Phanes.
Titan {Prometheus} created men and gave them fire. Zeus bound him to a rock. Hercules saved him.
Greek Titan {Rhea} was queen during the Golden Age and was mother of the Gods, Ops or Opis in Roman mythology, and Cybele in Phrygia.
Roman Titan {Saturn, giant} ruled the Golden Age, until Jupiter overthrew him. He was father of the Gods. He is Cronus in Greek mythology.
From Chaos and Love came the original gods {Greek and Roman gods} {gods, Greek and Roman}. Male Heaven or Sky was Uranus or Ouranos. Female Earth was Gaea or Gaia. Uranus and Gaea made the Titans, including Cronus and Rhea.
From Cronus and Rhea came the Gods: female Hestia (Greek) or Vesta (Roman), female Demeter (Greek) or Ceres (Roman), male Dis or Hades (Greek) or Pluto (Roman), male Poseidon (Greek) or Neptune (Roman), male Zeus (Greek) or Jupiter (Roman), and female Hera (Greek) or Juno (Roman).
Hera and Zeus produced male Hephaestus (Greek) or Vulcan (Roman), male Ares (Greek) or Mars (Roman), female Aphrodite (Greek) or Venus (Roman), male Hermes (Greek) or Mercury (Roman), female Artemis (Greek) or Diana (Roman), female Athena (Greek) or Minerva (Roman), and male Apollo or Apollon.
Twelve gods {Twelve Immortals} dwelt on Mount Olympus: female Demeter (Greek) or Ceres (Roman), male Poseidon (Greek) or Neptune (Roman), male Zeus (Greek) or Jupiter (Roman), female Hera (Greek) or Juno (Roman), male Hephaestus (Greek) or Vulcan (Roman), male Ares (Greek) or Mars (Roman), female Aphrodite (Greek) or Venus (Roman), male Hermes (Greek) or Mercury (Roman), female Artemis (Greek) or Diana (Roman), female Athena (Greek) or Minerva (Roman), male Apollo or Apollon, first female Hestia (Greek) or Vesta (Roman) and then male Dionysius (Greek) or Bacchus (Roman).
king of the winds {Aeolus}.
Roman god of medicine {Aesculapius}.
Phoebus Apollo {Apollo} is Greek and Roman god of light, prophecy, truth, healing, archery, and music. His cult was at Delphi and stressed reason, harmony, and justice.
Greek god of War {Ares}. He was Mars in Roman mythology.
Roman god of Vine, Inspiration, and Madness {Bacchus} and son of Jupiter and Semele. He was Dionysius in Greek mythology.
Roman god of Love {Cupid} is a baby with bow and arrow. He was Eros in Greek mythology.
Greek god of Vine, Inspiration, and Madness {Dionysius} and son of Zeus and Semele. Cult of Dionysius was about nature, ecstasy, and passion. Women Maenads participated in winter rituals. He was Bacchus in Roman mythology.
Greek god of Love {Eros}. He was Cupid in Roman mythology.
king of underworld or underworld itself {Hades}. He was Pluto in Roman mythology.
Greek messenger god {Hermes}, god of commerce and markets and guide of the dead, is thieving, shrewd, and cunning. He was Mercury in Roman mythology.
God of good beginnings {Janus} has two faces.
Supreme Roman god {Jove} {Jupiter, Roman god} is king of sky, rain, and storm clouds. He had many children. He was Zeus in Greek mythology.
Roman household gods {Lares} are ancestor spirits.
Roman god of war {Mars, Roman god}. He was Ares in Greek mythology.
Roman messenger god {Mercury, Roman god}, god of commerce and markets and guide of the dead, is thieving, shrewd, and cunning. He was Hermes in Greek mythology.
god of sleep {Morpheus}.
Roman ruler {Neptune, Roman god} of sea loved horses and carried trident. He was Poseidon in Greek mythology.
Merry, noisy god {Pan, god} with goat horns and feet, lived in wild places and played reed pipe.
king of underworld {Pluto, Greek god}. He was Hades in Greek mythology.
Greek ruler {Poseidon} of sea gave horses to men and carried trident. He was Neptune in Roman mythology.
God {Proteus} foretold the future and changed his shape.
Roman sun god {Sol} and Greek sun god {Helios}.
god of boundaries {Terminus}.
sea god {Triton}.
God {Vulcan} of fire is an armorer and smith and is ugly, lame, kindly, and peace-loving. He was Hephaestus in Greek mythology.
Supreme Greek god {Zeus} is king of sky, rain, and storm clouds. He had many children. He was Jupiter in Roman mythology.
Greek goddess {Aphrodite} of love and beauty was mother of Eros. She loved Adonis. She was Venus in Roman mythology.
Greek goddess of moon, hunt, wild animals, and darkness {Artemis}. She was Diana in Roman mythology.
Greek goddess {Astraea} of justice helped men in Golden Age.
Greek goddess of mischief {Ate}.
Pallas Athena {Athena} is Greek goddess of city, civilization, handicraft, agriculture, wisdom, and justice. She was goddess of Athens, with temples on Acropolis. She was Minerva in Roman mythology.
Greek goddess of the dawn {Aurora}.
Roman goddess of corn and harvests {Ceres}. She was Demeter in Greek mythology.
goddess of history {Clio}.
Greek goddess of corn and harvests {Demeter}. She was Ceres in Roman mythology.
Roman goddess of Moon, hunt, wild things, and darkness {Diana}. She was Artemis in Greek mythology.
Zeus' wife {Hera} is Greek goddess of marriage. She was Juno in Roman mythology. Hera is courage.
Roman goddess of marriage {Juno} is Jupiter's wife. She was Hera in Greek mythology.
Roman goddess of city, civilization, handicraft, agriculture, and wisdom {Minerva}. She was Athena in Greek mythology.
goddess of righteous anger {Nemesis}.
Greek goddess of victory {Nike}.
Girl {Psyche, Roman goddess} loved by Cupid became goddess of the soul.
Roman goddess {Venus, Roman goddess} of love and beauty and mother of Eros loved Adonis. She was Aphrodite in Greek mythology.
Roman virgin goddess {Vesta} of hearth, home, and family. She was Hestia in Greek mythology.
Achilles, Aeneas, Agamemnon, Ajax, Hector, Hercules, Odysseus in Greece or Ulysses in Rome, Paris, Perseus, Priam, and Troilus fought at Troy {Greek and Roman heroes}. Castor and Pollux are the Gemini twins.
The greatest Greek warrior {Achilles} in Trojan War killed Hector. He had protection from harm because he had dipped in River Styx, except for his heels. He died by arrow in the heel from Paris.
Trojan {Aeneas} loved Dido of Carthage, descended into Hell to find his father, and then founded Rome.
Greek commander {Agamemnon} at Troy killed his daughter Iphigenia to get to Troy. His wife, Clytemnestra, killed him on his return from Troy.
second-greatest Greek champion {Ajax}.
Twins {Gemini}, protectors of sailors, are the heroes Castor, for horsemanship, and Pollux, for boxing. They are sons of Jupiter, as the Swan, and Leda.
Priam's son {Hector} was the best Trojan warrior. He died at the hands of Achilles.
Greatest Greek hero {Hercules} {Herakles} performed 12 labors in penance for killing his wife while he was mad.
Greek hero {Odysseus} of Odyssey, same as Roman Ulysses, was wise and clever.
Priam's son {Paris, myth} judged Aphrodite fairest, causing Hera and Athena to be angry. When Helen was promised to him, he stole her and caused Trojan War. He killed Achilles by shooting arrow in his heel.
king of Troy during Trojan War {Priam}.
Priam's son {Troilus} loved Cressida. Achilles killed him.
Roman hero {Ulysses, myth} of Odyssey, wise and clever, was same as Greek Odysseus.
Centaurs, Cerberus, Charybdis, Chimera, Cyclops, Fauns, Gordon, Griffin, Harpies, Hydra, Medusa, Minotaur, Pegasus, Satyrs, Scylla, Sirens, and Sphinx {Greek and Roman monsters}.
Bellerophon, while riding Pegasus, killed a monster {Chimera}.
The king of the serpents {Cockatrice} {Basilisk} killed with one glance.
Roman goat-men {faun}| can live in wild places.
Monsters {Gorgon}, of which Medusa was one, with wings and snaky hair, caused men to turn to monsters if they looked on them.
half eagle and half lion {griffin}|.
Argonauts routed smelly, flying creatures {Harpies}.
Nine-headed creature {Hydra} grew two new heads if anyone chopped off head. Hercules killed it.
a Gorgon {Medusa}.
Theseus killed a half bull and half man {Minotaur} imprisoned in the labyrinth.
Birds {phoenix, myth}| can rise out of own ashes.
giant Indian-Ocean bird {roc}|.
Small reptile {salamander, myth}| did not burn in fire.
Goat men {satyr}| lived in the wild.
Circe changed maiden into monster {Scylla}, which attacked Jason, Odysseus, and Aeneas.
Winged lion {Sphinx} with woman's breast and face asked famous riddle.
Slim horses {unicorn, myth}| have one long horn.
two-legged winged dragon {wyvern}|.
Adonis, Amazons, Andromeda, Antigone, Argonauts, Calypso, Cassandra, Charon, Circe, Daedalus, Daphne, Dido, Dryads, Electra, Europa, Eurydice, Helen of Troy, Hero, Icarus, Leander, Medea, Midas, Naiads, Narcissus, Pandora, Penelope, Phaedra, Plutus, Psyche, Pygmalion, Sisyphus, and Tantalus {Greek and Roman people}.
Oracle {Delphi, myth} was for Apollo.
protectors of suppliants {Eumenides} {Fates}.
just pursuers and punishers of sinners {Fury} {Furies} {Enrinyes}: Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megara.
Bellerophon rode a winged horse {Pegasus}, to kill the Chimera.
Aphrodite loved a beautiful youth {Adonis}.
Adventurers {Argonauts} sailed to get Golden Fleece under Jason, in the ship Argo.
Boatman {Charon} ferries the dead across River Acheron.
Labyrinth architect {Daedalus} flew out of the labyrinth on manmade wings.
Greek son {Deucalion} of Prometheus and his wife Pyrrha were the only survivors of the flood. He cast behind him his mother's bones, stones of Earth. These became human beings. Hellen was their daughter, and she had sons: Ion, Aeolus, Dorus, and Achaeus. Thus, Hellenes began, with the four tribes Ionians, Aeolians, Dorians, and Achaeans.
Daedulus' son {Icarus} soared too close to Sun, as he flew on waxed feathers, and drowned.
Leader {Jason} of Argonauts married Medea.
He {Leander} loved Hero.
Bacchus granted a wish that everything he touched turned to gold to a king {Midas}.
King of Crete {Minos} was at Cnossus, his capital.
A youth {Narcissus} scorned maidens, and gods punished him by making him love himself, so he pined away and became a flower at death.
His father Laius, King of Thebes, ordered him {Oedipus} killed when he was a baby. A peasant found him, and he grew up to slay his father unknowingly, solve the riddle of the Sphinx, marry his mother, and become king of Thebes. Gods revealed his unknowing misdeeds to him after Thebes suffered famine and pestilence, and he tore out his eyes.
Agamemnon's son {Orestes} killed his mother and her lover, because they had killed his father. Furies pursued him until Athena pardoned him.
Gods killed mighty hunter {Orion} and placed him as star constellation.
Great musician and singer {Orpheus} sailed with Argonauts and saved them from the Sirens. He went to Hades to get back Eurydice but failed when he gazed back at her.
He {Perseus} killed Medusa and married Andromeda.
Roman allegorical figure {Plutus} represents wealth.
Sculptor {Pygmalion} created statue and fell in love with it.
Man {Sisyphus} forever rolls stone up hill in Hades, because he betrayed oath to Zeus.
Man {Tantalus} sits in pool in Hades but cannot drink or reach the fruits near him to eat.
Odysseus' son {Telemachus}.
Athens' king {Theseus} killed Minotaur, established democracy in Athens, and married Phaedra.
women warriors {Amazons} from Caucasus.
Perseus saved a daughter {Andromeda} of Cassiopeia from a sea serpent.
Oedipus' daughter {Antigone} buried her brother in defiance of Creon, and Creon put her to death.
Minos' daughter {Ariadne} gave a thread to Theseus, so that he could go in and out of the labyrinth.
Nymph {Calypso} loved Odysseus.
Agamemnon received as gift prophet {Cassandra} from Troy. Her fate was that no one believed her.
Witch {Circe} turned men into beasts. She did not get Odysseus but then helped him get to Hell.
Maiden {Daphne} loved by Apollo changed into laurel tree.
Founder {Dido} of Carthage loved Aeneas.
tree nymph {dryad}|.
Agamemnon's daughter and Orestes' sister {Electra}.
Zeus, in the guise of bull, carried off a woman {Europa}.
Wife {Eurydice} of Orpheus, who had gone to Hades to recover her, had to return to Hades because she looked back.
The three Graces {Graces}, Splendor, Mirth, and Good Cheer, represent grace and beauty.
Paris, Priam's son, carried off the wife of Agamemnon {Helen}, causing Trojan War.
Leander swam the Hellespont to her {Hero} every night, until he perished.
Priestess {Medea} of Golden Fleece in Colchis helped Jason get it and married him.
The nine daughters {Muses} of Zeus and Mnemosyne are: Erato {goddess, lyrics}, Euterpe {goddess, music}, Thalia {goddess, comedy}, Melpomene {goddess, tragedy}, Terpsichore {goddess, dance and choral song}, Urania {goddess, astronomy}, Clio {goddess, historical and heroic poetry}, Polyhymnia {goddess, hymn}, and Calliope {goddess, epic}. Calliope's son was Orpheus.
water nymph {naiad}|.
After the Golden Age, gods created the first woman {Pandora} from man. She opened a forbidden box, letting out all bad things, but she also let out Hope. Alternatively, she opened treasure box letting all good things escape, except that Hope remained.
wife of Odysseus {Penelope}.
Pluto carried a daughter {Persephone} of Demeter to Underworld, but she can return to Earth's surface every spring and so is maiden of Spring.
Theseus' wife {Phaedra} loved her stepson Hippolytus and killed herself.
Pluto carried a daughter {Proserpine} of Ceres to underworld.
Singers {siren}| lured sailors to their deaths on an island.
muse of dance {Terpsichore}.
Aegis, Augean Stables, Caduceus, Delphi, Eleusinean mysteries, Elysian fields, Golden Age, Golden Fleece, Gordion Knot, Halcyon Days, Labyrinth, Lethe, Lotus, Meander, Olympus, Pandora's Box, Pillars of Hercules, Styx, Tartarus, and Trojan Horse {Greek and Roman things}.
People must cross river {Acheron} of woe to get to Hades.
Food {ambrosia, gods}| of gods gives immortality.
Labor of Hercules diverted river to wash stables {Augean Stables} clean.
Mercury's magic wand {Caduceus}.
Savage animals {centaur, myth}|, half men and half horse, include Chiron, friend to man.
Dog {Cerberus} guards the gates of hell.
A whirlpool {Charybdis} is next to Scylla.
Religious celebration {Eleusinean mysteries} honors Demeter.
Blessed place {Elysian fields} in Underworld is for the good.
Fate {Fate} controls men's destinies and deaths.
Roman spirits {genius, god}| attend all people and places.
A time {Golden Age} of peace and happiness was in Italy, when Saturn ruled.
Fleece {Golden Fleece} was sought and obtained by Jason and Argonauts, with the help of Medea.
Complicated knot {Gordian Knot} was in oracle's temple in Phrygia. Whoever untied it was lord of Asia. Alexander the Great hacked it open.
For seven winter days {Halcyon days}, sea is calm.
Daedalus built a maze {Labyrinth} to hold the Minotaur.
River {Lethe} of Forgetfulness is in underworld.
Sweet flowers {lotus, myth}| make one forget all longings.
River {Meander} in Phrygia had many twists and turns.
drink of gods {nectar}|.
home of Greek and Roman Gods {Olympus}.
Hercules put rocks {Rock of Gibraltar} {Pillars of Hercules, myth} at mouth of Mediterranean Sea during his tenth labor.
From December 17 to December 23, a feast {Saturnalia} commemorated reign of Saturn over Earth in Golden Age.
River {Styx} of the unbreakable oath is one of the three rivers of Hades.
Deepest part {Tartarus} of hell holds Titans and Giants.
death {Thanatos}.
Large wooden horse {Trojan Horse} left by Greeks for Trojans contained Greek soldiers, who attacked after the horse was brought inside Troy.
west wind {Zephyr}.
Scandinavia had mythology {Norse mythology}. Gods were Odin, Thor, and Loki. Main goddess is Freya.
sea god {Aegir}.
Norse gods {Aesir}.
Odin's wise son {Balder}.
goddess of love and beauty {Freya}.
A giant's son {Loki} hated the Good. Loki killed another god with a stone.
The All-Father {Odin} {sky god} was chief god, gained wisdom by losing eye, and gave man runes and mead, both for poetry. Odin is northern name, and Woden is southern name.
Thunder God {Thor} was strongest Norse God, possessor of thunderbolts and hammer. Thor struggled with the World Serpent, pulled it out of sea, and killed it with his hammer. He also fought many-headed giant. He had red beard, which when it shook caused storms. He also had sacred ring, symbol of law and order. Throwing hammer of Thor replaced ax as weapon of sky god. Swastika was symbol of sky god. Thor was God of Justice.
Armed and mounted Norse virgins {Valkyries} were daughters of gods, selectors of the slain, attendants to Odin, and servants at Asgard.
Freyja and Freyr were chief gods in an earlier race {Vanir} of gods.
southern name of chief Norse god {Woden}.
Brunhilde, Sigurd, and Siegfried were people in Norse legends {Norse people}. Sigmund the Volsung, Hadding, and Harold Wartooth were Odin's heroes. Sigurd the Volsung killed dragon. Two birds warned him of the dragon's brother, a treacherous smith. He roasted the dragon's heart, burned his thumb, and thus sucked inspirational dragon's blood. Someone murdered Sigurd.
The hero Siegfried saved Valkyrie {Brunhilde} {Brunhild} and loved her.
Sigurd's brother {Gunnar} died in a snake pit, when King Atli took revenge.
giant {Hymir}.
Hero {Ragmar Lothbrok} slew dragon. His sons captured England.
Volsung's son {Sigmund} had a sister, Signy, who saved him from death. He then avenged himself on the murder of his father and brother.
A hero {Sigurd} {Siegfried} rescued Brunhilde from fire and married Gudrun. The wrath of Brunhilde killed him, and then she killed herself.
home of gods {Asgard}.
Twilight of the Gods or downfall of gods {Götterdämmerung}.
Fates {Norns}.
Earth will face destruction in the future {Ragnarok} {Ops} {Twilight of the Gods}.
Magical inscriptions {rune, Norse}| were for protection.
Icelandic magic sign {torshamarr}.
The home {Valhalla} of dead Norse heroes is a room of Asgard.
An ash tree {Yggdrasil} was between heaven, Earth, and hell. Mimir was well at one root. Odin drank of it to gain wisdom.
Religions {Shintoism} can be animistic and be Japan's indigenous religion. Shinto rituals are about purification. Sun goddess is the greatest god and is ancestress of emperors.
Shinto has festivals {bon} for ancestors.
One should practice purification {harai}.
good spirits {Kami}.
Monotheistic religions {Sikhism} can follow Hindu practices and emphasize devotion to God and love of people. Sikhism rejects castes and church leaders. Sikh means student or learner.
clothing
Men have uncut hair all over body {kesh}, wear full-length cotton underwear {kaccha}, keep short knife {kirpan}, have comb for long hair {kangha}, wear steel bracelet {kara}, and wear turban.
holidays
Vaisakhi is new year's day, in mid-April, and is a holiday honoring Gobind Singh.
number of Sikhs
World has 20,000,000 Sikhs, 2% of India's people.
House of worship or "gateway to the guru" {gurdwara}.
Nine gurus {guru, Sikhism} came after the first, Nanak. Gobind Singh was the 10th and last Sikh guru.
Sikh warriors can be lions {Singh}.
In Taoism, the way or path {tao, Taoism} is the mystical underlying principle of all things. It is transcendent, as ultimate reality. It is immanent as universe itself. It is the order in people's lives, as serenity and grace. It emphasizes simple living with no desires, much contemplation, and few activities. Spontaneity, naturalness, and openness have value. In Esoteric Taoism, tao is psychic power of societal links and so relates to mysticism. In popular Taoism, tao relates to magic. Many secret societies in China are Taoist.
Creative quietude {wu wei} is yielding to tao.
Male {yin, Taoism} and female {yang, Taoism}, philosopher and king, Heaven and Earth, or creating and destroying forces exist in necessary pairs {yin-yang, Taoism} {yang and yin} {yin and yang}. Yang is unbroken lines, and yin is broken lines. They must have balance. Yang and yin cause movement, cycles, and opposites. Nothing can be permanent or dominant for long. Because all values are relative, even contrary things share identity.
Religions {Zoroastrianism} can be about good, as the sun god and light, versus evil, as darkness. Zoroastrians number 150,000, with 60,000 in Iran.
gods
Zoroastrianism is basically monotheistic. Ahura-Mazda or Ormuzd has fire as symbol, created the universe, gave ox as holy animal to man, and leads gods {Amesha Spentas} of goodness. Angra Mainyu or Ahriman is Destructive Spirit, who leads the evil ancient Persian gods {daevas}.
light
Light or good and darkness or evil are the two universe principles and are always in conflict. Their war causes all motion. Good and evil forces are equal, but good will win at universe end, and paradise will come.
people
First man was Mashya, and first woman was Mashyana. Yima saved the animals from the flood. His successor Thraetaona had three sons, and Airya, Sairima, and Tura divided Earth.
saints
Before Zoroaster, the three saints were Vivanghant, Athwya, and Thrita. Zoroaster or Zarathustra founded the religion [-630].
Zoroastrians {Ghebers} are in Iran.
Zoroastrians {Parsee} {Parsi} are in India.
Holiday of shortest daylight of the year {Chelleh} {Yalda} is approximately December 21 in Persia.
Holiday of first day of autumn {Mihrgan} is approximately September 21 in Persia.
Holiday of first day of spring {Nowruz} is approximately March 21 in Persia.
Holiday of fire discovery {Sadeh} is approximately January 30 in Persia.
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Date Modified: 2022.0225