05.08 - Intro to Buddhism (Part 2)

In our discussion of Buddhism yesterday, we spoke a little about how Hinduism and Buddhism have a relationship that is similar to that which exists between Judaism and Christianity. Today, we explored this a little bit more. We began this exploration by looking at concepts of morality in the Judeo-Christian tradition. We did this by looking at the songs "Stars" and "Soliloquy" from Les Miserables. See videos, directions, discussion questions, and handouts below.

Click Image to Enlarge

 
Norm Lewis - "Stars" from maremaris on Vimeo.

Click Image to Enlarge

 

[Check back for video. YouTube is currently being difficult]

 Following this, we looked at how both Hinduism and Judaism (and some Old-Testament oriented Christianity) has a strong focus on following rules/laws as outlined by the gods/God. Buddhism and Christianity are religions that came out of these two religions and so share a lot of the same ideas, but tend to place more emphasis on goodness achieved through individual compassion than through adherence to religious rules.

As an example of this we talked about The Lord of the Rings in which Frodo spares Smeagol/Gollum's life and this later proves to be good as Smeagol is instrumental in the destruction of the one ring. Tolkien intended this as a Christ-like action of compassion and forgiveness which later saves Frodo as part of God's plan. Frodo would have been within the right to kill the treacherous Gollum (he could argue it was part of his dharma/duty to make sure the ring was destroyed). This is not to say that killing Gollum is something a Hindu or Jew would advocate though (these religions could argue that Frodo killing Gollum would be a selfish action, not what the gods/God wants). This point illustrates the different approaches to moral questions.

Click Image to Enlarge

Tomorrow, we will begin reading Siddhartha.

Handouts:
Order and Morality in the Western Christian Tradition

Homework:

Complete any Sigurd the Volsung Quiz Revisions.

Complete any missing assignments and revise assignments that scored below a 92.

Keep up to date on your grades through Pinnacle:
In school: 192.168.8.7/Pinnacle/PIV
Outside of school: http://pinweb.lisbonschoolsme.org/pinnacle/pin