H O U R 4

COMPARATIVE

RELIGIONS

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 HoopMedicine 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

• 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 SpiritualityA esoteric phenomenon of the western world.

Associated Terms:

• 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

Carlos Castaneda

Eastern Spirituality

Alan Watts

NEW RELIGIONS

Carl Jung

Collective Unconscious

Abraham Maslow

Humanistic/Transpersonal Psychology

NEW RELIGIONS

Unity ChurchesFounded 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 ChurchesFive 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 ChurchesFounded in 1961 as consolidation of Unitarian and Universalist

Churches in America

• 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.