WK9_Day4 - Javy Galindo

COMPARATIVE
RELIGIONS
HOUR 4
PRESENTATION ORDER
Day 1
• Tibetan Buddhism
• Zen Buddhism
Day 2
• Catholicism
• Buddhism (misc)
• Islam
Day 3
• Hinduism
• Judiasm
• Christianity (Protestant)
OGLALA LAKOTA RELIGION
The Pipe Religion
Groups:
Based on the reading, how would
you characterize the spirituality
described by Black Elk?
OGLALA LAKOTA RELIGION
The Way of the Sacred Pipe
Central Deity:
Wakan Tanka
• Not a “being”, but the totality of
existence.
• Non-manifested: “Grandfather”
• Manifested in nature (i.e. sun):
“Father”
• Symbolized with eagle feathers.
• Everything has a “wakan” (spirit)
• As impersonal force -“wakana” exists everywhere
OGLALA LAKOTA RELIGION
The Way of the Sacred Pipe
Central Concept:
Sacred Hoop
Medicine Wheel or Sun Dance Circle
• Represents connectivity &
interrelatedness of all
people/creatures.
• Represents continual pattern of life.
• Symbol for proper life; life in balance.
• Ecological/Spiritual reality.
• Entering circle is entering “true reality”
OGLALA LAKOTA RELIGION
The Way of the Sacred Pipe
Main Problem:
When Sacred Loop Broken
• Cause?
• Forgetting to live in balance with other living
beings and the natural world.
OGLALA LAKOTA RELIGION
The Way of the Sacred Pipe
Main Solution:
The Sacred Pipe
• Each part represents relation with
animals, plants, earth, people, etc.
• Symbol of “all things” (cosmos)
• Praying with pipe is to pray for
everyone and everything.
• Imbedded within Lakota life and
culture (not to be taken out of
context from other cultures).
OGLALA LAKOTA RELIGION
The Way of the Sacred Pipe
Pipe Given Along with Various Rituals
Sweat Lodge
• Ritual of purification or
renewal in prep of other rites.
• All elements have significance
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Lodge : cosmos,
rocks : grandmother earth
Fire : power of Wakan Tanka
Center pit : center of the universe
• Prayers offered, sacred pipe
may passed.
OGLALA LAKOTA RELIGION
The Way of the Sacred Pipe
Pipe Given Along with Various Rituals
Vision Quest
• First purify through days of fasting
followed by sweat lodge ritual.
• Led by spirit person to isolated,
sacred space.
• No food/water, only blanket and
pipe.
• “Crying for a vision” (lament)
• May request guidance for life.
• Guidance, courage for war.
• Request healing for ill relatives.
INDIGENOUS RELIGION
Indigenous Spirituality in the Modern World?
NEW RELIGION
New Age/Thought Spirituality
A esoteric phenomenon of the western world.
Associated Terms:
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Consciousness
Dream Work or Dream Journaling
Drum Circles
Astrology
Archetypes
Holistic & Integral
Power of Mind, New Thought Movement
When did this phenomenon start gaining speed?
NEW RELIGIONS
Indigenous Spirituality
Eastern Spirituality
Carlos Castaneda
Alan Watts
NEW RELIGIONS
Carl Jung
Abraham Maslow
Collective Unconscious
Humanistic/Transpersonal
Psychology
NEW RELIGIONS
Unity Churches
Founded in 1889 Within the New Thought Movement
New Thought Movement:
• Promotes the idea that God (infinite intelligence) is everywhere.
• All people are inherently divine.
• Our mind (thoughts) has power over our well-being.
NEW RELIGIONS
Unity Churches
Five Basic Principles
1.
God is the source and creator of all. There is no other enduring
power. God is good and present everywhere.
2.
We are spiritual beings, created in God’s image. The spirit of
God lives within each person; therefore, all people are
inherently good.
3.
We create our life experiences through our way of thinking.
4.
There is power in affirmative prayer and meditation, which we
believe increases our awareness of God.
5.
As we live according to these truths daily we become what we
were created to be, living expressions of the image of God,
which Unity calls the Christ.
NEW RELIGIONS
Unitarian Universalist Churches
Seven Principles (Not Credal)
1.
The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
2.
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
3.
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our
congregations;
4.
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
5.
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our
congregations and in society at large;
6.
The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
7.
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a
part.
NEW RELIGION
Unitarian Universalist Churches
NEW RELIGION
Unitarian Universalist Churches
NEW RELIGION
Unitarian Universalist Churches
Founded in 1961 as consolidation of Unitarian and Universalist
Churches in America
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Don’t believe any one religion has all the answers.
Teachings based on wisdom from the world’s religions.
Members: atheist, agnostic, theistic, and everything in-between.
Emphasis based on Judeo-Christian teachings, humanistic
teachings (science/reason), earth-centered traditions.