KEYTERMS

SANATANA DHARMA
• IN HINDUISM, TERM USED TO DENOTE THE “ETERNAL” OR ABSOLUTE
SET OF DUTIES OR RELIGIOUSLY ORDAINED PRACTICES INCUMBENT
UPON ALL HINDUS, REGARDLESS OF CLASS, CASTE, OR SECT.
• IN GENERAL SANATANA DHARMA CONSISTS OF VIRTUES SUCH AS
HONESTY, REFRAINING FROM INJURING LIVING BEINGS, PURITY,
GOODWILL, MERCY, PATIENCE, FORBEARANCE, SELF-RESTRAINT,
GENEROSITY, AND ASCETICISM.
 NIRVANA
 (IN BUDDHISM) A TRANSCENDENT STATE IN WHICH THERE IS NEITHER
SUFFERING, DESIRE, NOR SENSE OF SELF, AND THE SUBJECT IS
RELEASED FROM THE EFFECTS OF KARMA AND THE CYCLE OF DEATH
AND REBIRTH.
 IT REPRESENTS THE FINAL GOAL OF BUDDHISM.
SIMILAR: PARADISE /HEAVEN
 BUDDHA
• WAS A SPIRITUAL TEACHER IN NEPAL DURING THE 6TH CENTURY B.C.
BORN SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA, HIS TEACHINGS SERVE AS THE
FOUNDATION OF THE BUDDHIST RELIGION.
• BORN WITH THE NAME SIDDHARTHA GAUTAMA, WAS A TEACHER,
PHILOSOPHER AND SPIRITUAL LEADER WHO IS CONSIDERED THE
FOUNDER OF BUDDHISM. HE LIVED AND TAUGHT IN THE REGION
AROUND THE BORDER OF MODERN-DAY NEPAL AND INDIA SOMETIME
BETWEEN THE 6TH TO 4TH CENTURY B.C. THE NAME BUDDHA MEANS
"ONE WHO IS AWAKENED" OR "THE ENLIGHTENED ONE."
 GOOD GOVERNANCE
• IS A WAY OF MEASURING HOW PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS CONDUCT
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND MANAGE PUBLIC RESOURCES IN A PREFERRED
WAY.
• THE CONCEPT CENTERS ON THE RESPONSIBILITY OF
GOVERNMENTS AND GOVERNING BODIES TO MEET THE NEEDS OF
THE MASSES AS OPPOSED TO SELECT GROUPS IN SOCIETY.
 CONFUCIUS
WAS A CHINESE PHILOSOPHER AND POLITICIAN OF THE SPRING AND AUTUMN PERIOD. THE
PHILOSOPHY OF CONFUCIUS, ALSO KNOWN AS CONFUCIANISM, EMPHASIZED PERSONAL AND
GOVERNMENTAL MORALITY, CORRECTNESS OF SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS, JUSTICE AND SINCERITY.
• CONFUCIUS'S PRINCIPLES HAVE COMMONALITY WITH CHINESE TRADITION AND BELIEF. HE
CHAMPIONED STRONG FAMILY LOYALTY, ANCESTOR VENERATION, AND RESPECT OF ELDERS BY THEIR
CHILDREN AND OF HUSBANDS BY THEIR WIVES, RECOMMENDING FAMILY AS A BASIS FOR IDEAL
GOVERNMENT. HE ESPOUSED THE WELL-KNOWN PRINCIPLE "DO NOT DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT
YOU DO NOT WANT DONE TO YOURSELF", THE GOLDEN RULE. HE IS ALSO A TRADITIONAL DEITY IN
DAOISM. CONFUCIUS IS WIDELY
• CONSIDERED AS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND INFLUENTIAL INDIVIDUALS IN SHAPING
HUMAN HISTORY. HIS TEACHING AND PHILOSOPHY GREATLY IMPACTED PEOPLE AROUND THE
WORLD AND REMAINS INFLUENTIAL TODAY
 DOMESTIC POLICY
ARE ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS THAT ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO ALL
ISSUES AND ACTIVITY WITHIN A NATION'S BORDERS
SHĪʿĀ IS PLURAL,[1] SOMETIMES SPELLED SHI'ITE IS ALSO USED IN ARCHAIC ENGLISH) IS ONE OF
THE TWO MAIN BRANCHES OF ISLAM. IT HOLDS THAT THE ISLAMIC PROPHET MUHAMMAD
DESIGNATED ALI IBN ABI TALIB AS HIS SUCCESSOR AND THE IMAM (LEADER) AFTER HIM,
THIS VIEW PRIMARILY CONTRASTS WITH THAT OF SUNNI ISLAM, WHOSE ADHERENTS BELIEVE
THAT MUHAMMAD DID NOT APPOINT A SUCCESSOR AND CONSIDER ABU BAKR, WHO THEY
CLAIM WAS APPOINTED CALIPH BY A SMALL GROUP OF MUSLIMS AT SAQIFAH, TO BE THE FIRST
RIGHTFUL CALIPH AFTER THE PROPHE
 SHAMANISM
IS A PRACTICE THAT INVOLVES A PRACTITIONER REACHING ALTERED
STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN ORDER TO PERCEIVE AND INTERACT
WITH WHAT THEY BELIEVE TO BE A SPIRIT WORLD AND CHANNEL
THESE TRANSCENDENTAL ENERGIES INTO THIS WORLD.
 SHRINE

IS A HOLY OR SACRED PLACE DEDICATED TO A SPECIFIC DEITY, ANCESTOR, HERO, MARTYR, SAINT,
DAEMON, OR SIMILAR FIGURE OF RESPECT, WHEREIN THEY ARE VENERATED OR WORSHIPPED.
SHRINES OFTEN
CONTAIN IDOLS, RELICS, OR OTHER SUCH OBJECTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FIGURE BEING
VENERATED.[2] A SHRINE AT WHICH VOTIVE OFFERINGS ARE MADE IS CALLED AN ALTAR. SHRINES
ARE FOUND IN MANY OF THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS, INCLUDING CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, HINDUISM,
BUDDHISM, CHINESE FOLK RELIGION, SHINTO, AND ASATRU AS WELL AS IN SECULAR AND NON-
RELIGIOUS SETTINGS SUCH AS A WAR MEMORIAL. SHRINES CAN BE FOUND IN VARIOUS
SETTINGS, SUCH AS CHURCHES, TEMPLES, CEMETERIES, MUSEUMS, OR IN THE HOME
 BCE
BCE (BEFORE THE COMMON ERA OR BEFORE THE CURRENT ERA) IS THE ERA
BEFORE CE.
THE TERM "COMMON ERA" CAN BE FOUND IN ENGLISH AS EARLY AS
1708,[7] AND BECAME MORE WIDELY USED IN THE MID-19TH CENTURY BY
JEWISH RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS. IN THE LATER 20TH CENTURY, THE USE OF
CE AND BCE WAS POPULARIZED IN ACADEMIC AND SCIENTIFIC
PUBLICATIONS AS A CULTURALLY NEUTRAL TERM. IT IS ALSO USED BY SOME
AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS WHO WISH TO EMPHASIZE SENSITIVITY TO
NON-CHRISTIANS BY NOT EXPLICITLY REFERENCING JESUS AS "CHRIST"
AND DOMINUS ("LORD") THROUGH USE OF THE ABBREVIATION[C] "
 CREED

• A STATEMENT OF A BASIC BELIEF OF A RELIGIONS