LESSON 5

ACTIVITY 1 (90 points)

1. Why are Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism considered philosophies?

Answer: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism are considered the “three pillars” of ancient
Chinese society. As philosophies and religions, they not only influenced spirituality, but also
government, science, the arts, and social structure. Though their specific beliefs and teachings
have occasionally been at odds with each other, there has been much room for overlap.
Instead of one tradition taking over and pushing the others out, the three philosophies have
influenced society alongside each other, changed each other, and at times blended together.
Understanding the unique interplay between these three traditions gives great insight into
ancient Chinese society, as well as modern times. (National Geographic, 2016)

a.) How do these philosophies become a religion?

Answer: Three other religions of the Far East include Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism.
These ethical religions have no gods like Yawheh or Allah, but espouse ethical and moral
principles designed to improve the believer's relationship with the universe.
Buddhism originates in the teachings of the Buddha, or the “Enlightened One” (Siddhartha
Gautama)—a 6th century B.C. Hindu prince of southern Nepal. Humans, according to the
Buddha, can escape the cycles of reincarnation by renouncing their earthly desires and
seeking a life of meditation and self ‐discipline. The ultimate objective of Buddhism is to
attain Nirvana, which is a state of total spiritual satisfaction. Like Hinduism, Buddhism allows
religious divergence. Unlike it, though, Buddhism rejects ritual and the caste system. While a
global religion, Buddhism today most commonly lies in such areas of the Far East as China,
Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma. A recognized “denomination” of Buddhism is
Zen Buddhism, which attempts to transmit the ideas of Buddhism without requiring
acceptance of all of the teachings of Buddha.

2. Mahabharata forms one of the pillars of Hindu Dharma and its moral values have a
huge impact on millions of people. 

Among Mahabharata’s seven important lessons, which lesson/ lessons have a moral
impact on you?
Answer: Among the Mahabharata’s seven important lessons, the lesson that have the most
moral impact for me would be “Stand by what’s right; even fight for it”
a.) Why?
Answer: Because in our time, it is crucially important to stand by what’s right just for the
sake of survival alone. It is understandable that it is the one that sets us apart from what’s
right and what’s wrong. Just like “Arjuna was initially hesitant to wage war against his kin.
But Krishna reminded him that one has to stand by Dharma (duty), even it meant going
against one's own family. Therefore, Arjuna had to fulfill his responsibility as a great warrior
of Dharma.” (Prashant Parikh, 1984)

3. Lotus is a national flower of India.

Do you think you have the same characteristics as a Lotus flower?

Answer: Flowers often pick up religious and spiritual meanings because they rise from dirt
and only show their beauty for a brief amount of time each year. The Lotus Flower is no
different from the rest of the blooms used for decorating and religious ceremonies. Few
flowers are as important to Eastern cultures as the Lotus, and each culture ascribes a slightly
different meaning to the flower. Dive into the depths of the Lotus blossom meaning by
looking at every aspect of this fascinating plant. So, I think I have the same characteristic as a
Lotus Flower.

a.) Why?
Answer: It is because in every situation that I came on to, I always rise for the occasion and
conquer the odds even if it is just a slim chance of getting what I want and what’s the best for
everyone I still do my best so that everyone can have the beauty of life.

b.) Enumerate your characteristics same with the lotus flower.

Answer: To start, the lotus has a life cycle unlike any other plant. With its roots latched in
mud, it submerges every night into river water and miraculously re-blooms the next morning,
sparklingly clean. In many cultures, this process associates the flower with rebirth and
spiritual enlightenment.
 With its daily process of life, death, and reemergence, its no wonder that the lotus
holds such symbolism.
Because of these meanings, the lotus is often seen alongside divine figures in some cultures.
 For the Egyptians, the flower represents the universe. In Hindu culture, it is said that
gods and goddesses sat on lotus thrones. And a longstanding Buddhist story states that
 the Buddha appeared atop a floating lotus, and his first footsteps on Earth left lotus
blossoms

4. Paintings and carvings in ancient Indian temples challenge Western ideas of the
relationship of SPIRITUALITY and SEXUALITY says writer and historian William
Dalrymple. Why?
Answer: It is because of The Ajanta murals tell the Jataka stories of the lives of the Buddha
in images of supreme elegance and grace. The artists produced images that subtly explore a
wide variety of human situations, from ascetic renunciation through portraits of
compassionate Bodhisattvas of otherworldly beauty swaying on the threshold of
Enlightenment, through to more earthy scenes of courtly dalliance in long lost ancient Indian
pleasure gardens.
Although the images were presumably intended for a monastic audience, the Buddha tends
invariably to be shown not in his monastic milieu, after his Enlightenment, but in the courtly
environment in which he grew up. Here among handsome princes and nobles, dark-skinned
princesses languish love-lorn, while heavy-breasted dancing girls and courtesans are shown
nude but for their jewels and girdles, draped temptingly amid palace gardens and court
buildings. These women conform closely to the ideas of feminine beauty propagated by the
great 5th Century playwright Kalidasa, who writes of men pining over portraits of their lovers,
while straining to find the correct metaphors to describe them: "I recognize your body in
liana; your expression in the eyes of a frightened gazelle; the beauty of your face in that of the
moon, your tresses in the plumage of peacocks... alas! Timid friend- no one object compares
to you." As the great Indian art historian Vidya Dehejia puts it, "the idea that such sensual
images might generate irreverent thoughts did not seem to arise; rather the established
associations appear to have been with accentuated growth, prosperity and auspiciousness."
That is why the monasteries of Ajanta were filled with images of beautiful women - because
in the eyes of the monks this was completely appropriate decoration. (BBC, 2015)

5. What is the Indian’s concept about the images of beautiful, bare, breasted palace
women?
Answer: 'Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder' is an old cliche: That beauty is a subjective
matter which depends on individual prejudices. If beauty were truly subjective, if it depended
entirely on our perception, it could not be studied. For academic analysis some objective
reality needs to at least be assumed. Without that sense of an external reality beyond
individual caprice (which modern, trendy philosophers often call a referent) there is no basis
for preferring on opinion or interpretation over another.
Such an objective reality can be found in the ideals of beauty. Those complex set of rules each
individual carry in their head, which allows them to distinguish what is attractive to them
from what is not ("I don't know much about art but I know what I like" as it is often
expressed), the personal aesthetic, is not formed in a vacuum. Society, culture, past
experience, all have a role to play in determining what an individual considers beautiful. And
this personal aesthetic does have some coherence, an objective reality, as it is not (though it
appears to be) an entirely personal choice. Instead, it is conditioned by those around you, your
education, the art to which you are exposed, and most importantly the opinion of others. The
exchange of opinion on art allows people to both influence and be influenced so that a
personal aesthetic is inevitably a result of a negotiation within someone's community. And so
many personal aesthetics invariably tend towards a communal aesthetic, a fashion or a trend, a
common ideal of what beauty is, or should be. (Robert Bracey, 2019)

6. Do you agree with Slavoj Zizek's view about our biological body?
Answer: I somewhat agree with Slavoj Zizek’s view about our biological body.
a.). Why?
Answer: It is because when Slavoj Zizek said “Our biological body itself is a form of
hardware that needs re-programming through tantra like a new spiritual software which can
release or unblock its potential.” It is a bit up to a point where it is not completely correct but
as well as it is not completely wrong too.