Discussion / Reading Questions
Huston Smith
What four things do people
want? 17-24 What are life’s three
limitations? 24 What is the Hindu
perception of mind? 25 What are the four
personality types? 26 What are the four
stages of life? 40 What are the four
stations of life? 43 How do these
stations shape society and conceptions of equality? 43-44 What is a western term for the Hindu term jiva? 49 What is the doctrine of karma?
49 What does the Hindu universe look like?
52 How does this impact Hindu thinking?
On page 52, Smith notes that “more Hindu temples are dedicated to Shiva
(God in his aspect of destroyer whose haunt is the crematorium) than to God as
creator and preserver combined.” Why is
this not necessarily a negative view of reality? 55 Why has Hinduism long been able to accept other religions into
coexistence? 56
What are the Four Passing
Sights? 60 What are the three phases of
seeking enlightenment? 60-1 What are
the features of religion that Smith suggests are common to all religions?
67 How did Buddha react to each of
these? 68 What is the point of the
parable of the poisoned arrow? 68 What
are the four noble truths? 70-71 When
are the four moments when life’s dislocation becomes especially evident?
71 Explain the following sentence: “The
cause of dukkha is tanha.” 71 What is
the assumed preliminary step on the eightfold path? 72 What are the eight steps on the eightfold
path? 74-75 What is the meaning of the
following Buddhist concepts: nirvana
(77), anatta (77), and anicca (78)? What is the image of crossing the river and why is it helpful for
understanding Buddhism? 94-95
What was the social situation at the time of Confucius’ writings? 103 What was the Age of the Grand Harmony and what was the cause of it? 107 When spontaneous tradition loses its power, how do you create stability? 109 What are jen, chun tzu,li, te, and wen? 110-111 What is the point of the idea of “the Rectification of Names”? 110 What are the Five Constant Relationships? 111 Why does Confucian thought focus on social relationships? 113 Why does the ideal embodied in the Five Constant Relationships not inherently lead to domination? 114 What is the Confucian conception of human relations? 114 What do we need to focus on to understand Confucianism as a religion? 116 How have Chinese culture and Confucianism been intertwined in East Asia? 119-121
Taoism
What is the Tao te Ching and how was it written? 124 What are the three understandings of Tao? 126 What are the three approaches to Taoism? 127 What is ch’i? 130 How do the three approaches to Taoism relate to each other? 134 How is water a good symbol for the concept of wu wei? 136 What does Taoism have to say about competition (138), nature (138), relativity (141) and war (142)?
What does the word Islam mean? 146 How are the origins of the three western
religions linked? 146 What was the social situation in which Muhammad was born?
148 What was the reaction of most of
Mecca’s society initially to Muhammad’s message? 151 Why did they react this way? 151
What is the hijra and why is
it important to Islam? 152 How is the
Koran different from other religious texts? 154 Why do Muslims see monotheism as Islam’s contribution to
religion? 157 What implications does
Islam’s perception of Creation have for the religion? 157 In terms of the Day of Judgement, what is
the purpose of life on earth? 158 What
are the Five Pillars of Islam? 160-163
What is the point of prayer in Islam? 162 What is the significance of fasting during ramadan? 163 What is your opinion of Smith’s portrayal of
the status of women in Islam? 166-67
What is do you think about Smith’s argument that “Islam’s record on the
use of force is no darker than that of Christianity”? 168-9
What does Smith argue separates Jews from the many other religions that coexisted with it at its origin? 180 What two traits characterize the Jewish conception of God? 181 What is the lesson Jews derive from creation and the commandment to “have dominion” over the earth? 184 Why is the Jewish perception of historical importance a key part of their religion? 186 Why were the four ethical precepts of the Ten Commandments needed? 188 What are two convictions of Western civilization that are derived directly from the Prophets of Judaism? 189 What was the lesson to be learned from exile to Babylonia and for whom is the lesson intended? 192 Why is the concept of historical progress unique to Western civilization? 195 What is the purpose of rituals? 196 How is God revealed to Jews? 198-9 How is the Jewish concept of the chosen people different from other religions’ concept of the chosen? 200
What made Jesus outlive his time and place? 207 How did Jesus differ from the Pharisees? 209 How is what Jesus said “at radical odds with the usual”? 212 What is the rationale behind these radical admonitions? 213 What two qualities of early Christians helped to spread their religion? 215-16 What intolerable burdens had been lifted from early Christians? 216 What is the difference between the Visible and Invisible Church and how has this resulted in some schisms in history? 217 What is theology? 218 What does the doctrine of Incarceration tell us about God? 219 What is the Christian conception of sin? 220 What are the three aspects of the doctrine of the Trinity? 221 What is the concept of the Church as Teaching Authority in Roman Catholicism? 222 What are sacraments and what is their purpose? 224 How does the Eastern Orthodox Church exhibit its differences with Roman Catholicism? 226 What is the broader meaning of idolatry?
Conclusions
Which of the three answers that Smith gives to how the world’s religions should be placed in relation to each other do you most agree with? 245 What similarities exist across the wisdom traditions in terms of ethics and virtues? 246 What are three perceptions of the ultimate nature of things common to all wisdom traditions? 248