19. Laozi is the famed Chinese philosopher and founder of Daoism. Daoist nuns look out a window of Beichan Temple in Qinghai Province, China. The temple was build in the Northern Wei period (386-534).
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22. Giant Humming bird, Nasca Culture, south west Peru, ca. 200 b.c.e – 200 b.c., wingspan 900 ft. This geoglyph was created by scraping away the weathered surface of the desert and removing stones. The giant hummingbird is one of 18 bird images pictured on the Peruvian plain.
23. The largest of the Caral pyramids, a site of religious rituals, near Lima, Peru ca. 2627 b.c.e .
India’s earliest known civilization was located in the lower Indus valley, in an area called Sind – from which the words “India” and “Hindu” derive.
The lively female dancer pictured here, is one of many objects that reflects India’s mastery of the lost-wax method of working bronze.
and established a set of societal divisions that anticipated the caste system. India developed the most rigid kind of class stratification, which prevailed until modern times. By 1000 b.c.e. four principal castes existed: priests and scholars, rulers and warriors, artisans and merchants, and unskilled workers. At the very bottom of the social order lay those who held the most menial and degrading occupations. They became known as Untouchables. The classic language of ancient India was Sanskrit. Introduced by the Aryans
THE TWO MOST POPULAR GODS – Shiva and VISHNU Shiva ( / ˈʃɪvə / ; Sanskrit : शिव Śiva , meaning "auspicious one" ) is a major Hindu deity , and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti , the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine.God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything which happens in the world and is the main aspect of life.Yet one with great power lives a life of a sage and Mt.Kailash. [2] It describes Vishnu as the All-Pervading essence of all beings, the master of—and beyond—the past, present and future, one who supports, sustains and governs the Universe and originates and develops all elements within. Vishnu governs the aspect of preservation and sustenance of the universe, so he is called 'Preserver of the universe'. The Vedic period (or Vedic age ) was a period in history during which the Vedas , the oldest scriptures of Hinduism , were composed. The Vedas ( Sanskrit वेद véda , " knowledge ") are a large body of texts originating in ancient India . Composed in Vedic Sanskrit , the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism . Upanishads are philosophical texts considered to be an early source of Hindu religion. More than 200 are known, of which the first dozen or so, the oldest and most important, are variously referred to as the principal, main ( mukhya ) or old Upanishads.
The Law of Karma states that the collective spiritual energy gained from good deeds determines one’s physical state in the next life. In Hinduism , Brahman ( ब्रह्मन् bráhman ) is the one supreme, universal Spirit (also known as brahmajyoti for impersonalists of advaita vedanta school) that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. [1] Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead [2] which is the Divine Ground [3] of all being.
Samsara is the wheel of rebirth which means the soul is reborn from one life form to another. People may be reincarnated at a higher or lower level of existence depending on their karma from their present life. People may be reborn as plants or animals or they may be elevated to a higher caste as a human. Death is not final for Hindus as they expect to be reborn many times. Karma & Dharma Karma: “action” or “deeds” Every action produces a Justified effect based on its moral worthiness. Karma determines all the particular circumstances and Situations of one’s life. Dharma: ethical duty based on the divine order of reality. The word is the closest equivalent to “religion.”
Samsara is the wheel of rebirth which means the soul is reborn from one life form to another. People may be reincarnated at a higher or lower level of existence depending on their karma from their present life. People may be reborn as plants or animals or they may be elevated to a higher caste as a human. Death is not final for Hindus as they expect to be reborn many times. Karma: “action” or “deeds” Every action produces a Justified effect based on its moral worthiness. Karma determines all the particular circumstances and Situations of one’s life. Dharma: ethical duty based on the divine order of reality. The word is the closest equivalent to “religion.”
Facing the prospect of shedding thee blood of his own kinsmen in the battle to come, Arjuna seeks to reconcile his material obligations with his spiritual quest for selflessness. Kishna’s answer to Arjuna is a classic statement of resignation- represents the essence of Hindu thought as distilled from the Upanishads. Although probably in existence earlier, The Bhagavad-Gita was not recorded until some time between the 5 th and 2 nd cen.b.c.e. Without meditation, where is peace? Without peace, where is happiness? The winds turns a ship from its course upon the waters: The wandering winds of the senses cast man’s mind adrift and turn its better judgment from its course, When a man can still the senses I call him illumined.
It is a gathering place for the religiously learned and their disciples. The Ganges River - Falling from its source of Vishnu’s feet onto Shiva’s head and out from his hair, the water of the Ganges is sacred enough to purify all sins
Warrior tribe that developed first urban culture and calligraphic script; ruled by divine right Put into practice world’s first administration system based on the ideas of advancement based on achievement Famous for their bureaucracies and intricate testing systems for bureaucrats.
The jade disks placed on the body of the diseased, may have served in cosmic talismans that ensured protection form evil and decay.
Disney movie – mulon The book of changes - A guide for interpreting the working of the universe, consists of cosmological diagrams on which diviners were able to predict the future and advise others on the inevitability of change. The book of changes - is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts . [1] The book contains a divination system comparable to Western geomancy or the West African Ifá system; in Western cultures and modern East Asia, it is still widely used for this purpose. the text was re-interpreted as a system of cosmology and philosophy that subsequently became intrinsic to Chinese culture. It centred on the ideas of the dynamic balance of opposites, the evolution of events as a process, and acceptance of the inevitability of change.
One of China’s major religions indigenous to the country. The primary belief is in learning and practicing “The Way” (Dao) which is the ultimate truth to the universe.
Daoism as a religion didn’t really flourish until hundreds of years later around 100 AD, when Taoist hermit Zhang Daoling founded a sect of Daoism known as the Way of the Celestial Matters. Through his teachings, Zhang and his successors codified many aspects of Daoism. Unlike Buddhism, Daoists do not believe that life is suffering. Daoism believes that life is generally happy but that it should be lived with balance and virtue. The two religions often butted heads when both vied to become the official religion of the Imperial Court. Daoism did become the official religion of the Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD), but in later dynasties it was supplanted by Buddhism. In the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) Daoists attempted to gain favor with the Yuan court but lost several debates against Buddhists in 1281. As a result, many Daoists texts were burned.
Chinese found harmony and order in the regularity of the seasons and the everyday workings of nature. Yin/Yang, this principle which ancient Chinese emperors called “the foundation of the entire universe,” interprets all nature as the dynamic product of two interacting cosmic forces, or modes of energy, commonly configured as twin interpenetrating shapes enclosed with in a circle
On the plains of southwestern Peru, archeologists have found a number of earthworks in the shape of geometric figures, insects, animals, reptiles, and birds. Crated by removing surface stones to expose the yellow soil beneath, these enormous images are only fully visible from very far above, while their exact function remains the subject of speculation, it is likely that they served as calendars designed, like Stonehenge to mark seasonal celebrations and help ancient farmers determine dates for planting crops.
Not unlike the ziggurats of Mesopotamia. The largest of Caral’s pyramids, the size of four football fields, boasts a wide steep stairway leading to a ceremonial atrium and fire pit. This type of stepped pyramid, the spiritual focus of a larger ceremonial complex, prevailed for centuries in the civilizations of the Olmes, maya , aztec, and Inca cultures, the last of which flourished some 3000 years in Peru. There are striking similarities between the ziggurats of Mesopotamia, and the stepped pyramids of the Americas. Whether both served similar purposes and whether there exists any historical link between the two, remain as matters of speculation.- those who ascended the steep stairway of these sacred mounds saw themselves as moving closer to the heavens.
Around 1200 b.c.e., Meso-America was the site of one of the largest and most advanced cultures: that of the Olmecs. They were called “Olmecs” (“rubber people”) by the Aztecs, because of the trees that flourished in their region. Probably to honor their rulers, the Olmecs carved colossal stone heads weighing some 20 tons . Because they wore helmets it was once theorized to be ballplayers, it is now generally accepted that these heads are portraits of rules, perhaps dressed a s ballplayers.
Under the Qin and Han Dynasties, China’s empire developed independently of the Roman Empire.
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