GAQ BP 101 - 15th January 2012 (Sunday)

• Listening is important in studying the Vedas. Vedic language is similar to Sanskrit Language not is not same as Sanskrit Language
• Sanskrit is derived from Vedas
• Samhitas (collections)
• Rig -> Praising Songs
• Yajuh -> Sacrificial Formulas
• Sama -> Melodies / Tunes
• Atharvan -> Magical Formulas
• Brahmana hold religious performances and explain about Brahma
• Aranyaka explain about forest practices
• Upanishadas are the secret teachings and disciples must sit down near the teachers to listen to the teachings
• Each of the Veda books are divided into the above 3 divisions - Brahmana, Aranyaka & Upanishads; thus total, there are 12 divisions
• They believe that all these knowledges come from divine revalation by God
• They have strong confidence and believe totally in the Vedas
• Sruti means listening
• Indian philosophy comes from Veda Books
• Kalpa Sutras are not created by God; they are man-made based on rituals
• There are 3 kinds of Kalpa Sutras
• Gr.uhiya Sutra -> rules of ceremonies
• Dharma Sutra -> spiritual & worldly laws
• Sutras -> rules of sacrifices
• Vedanga Veda explains about soul and Brahma
• Veda books talk about God, Varuna, Indra & Agni
• Asvamedha Sacrifice (horse sacrifice) -> this is done when a priest wants to become king
• Rajasuya Sacrifice -> done during the King's coronation and its purpose is symbolic for success in battle for the King
• Sautramani Sacrifice -> Sacrifice liquour to God and the purpose is to fulfill one's wishes
• Sarvamedha Sacrifice -> this encompases giving all to the priest who dwells in the forest
• Agnicayana Sacrifice -> Kill 5 animals and put their heads & body under water; purpose is to show appreciation io Brahmin's practice
• Purushamedha Sacrifice -> Sacrifice a human for wishes to come true
• Parvargya Sacrifice -> make a fake human and cut it
• Soma Sacrifice -> contest of drinking performed by warriors and kings
• Agnihotra -> keep the fire burning from morning till evening and worship the fire
• Darsapurnamasa Sacrifice -> new moon and full moon sacrifice; meant for dead relatives

GAQ BC 102 - 15th January 2012 (Tueaday)

• Joseph Lee gave Hp no. (84698393)
• Went through sent out notes lesson 1
• "Idam eva saccam mongham annam" -> only one truth, the others are false. Buddha say that if you hold onto this view very strongly, there will be no inner peace...

GAQ P 101 - 15th January 2012 (Sunday)

• http://www.bps.lk
• Bhumi - Instrumental plural and ablative plural (long i change to short i)
• Buy New Pali Course I and II
• Avyapada (indeclinable words) divided into
• nipata
• upasagga

GAQ BC 101 - 12th January 2012 (Thursday)

• Set a Question as tutorial homework "Introduce the religious and social condition in the Indus Valley Civillization" (Past Year 2011 Qn) - refer to lesson 1 notes to do this write up
• Himalayan Mountains
• Khyber Pass
• HIndu Kush
• Indo-Gangetic Plains
• Indus River (Arabian Sea)
• Ganges River (Bay of Bengal)
• Southern Peninsula (Ocean Plateau)
• Culture papar also got philosophy and or sociology
• Evidence show by scholars now that there is no Aryan Invasion. BUT WE STILL GOT TO STUDY IT FOR THE SAKE OF EXAMS !!!!
• There are 2 main sources to quote from - Archaeology & Early Rig Veda
• Indus Valley Civilization disappeared ??? how ???? !!! ???
• There are 10 books in the Rig Veda
• Early they describe Aryans in Indus Valley (what kind if practice of the Aryans)
• Later ....
• 550 BC (importance in Buddhism) there were writte Vedas; before that there was only oral tradition
• Brahmin got to exert their authority thus got to have written form of Vedas
• India got 4 periods
• Paleolithic (Before till 10,000 BC)
• Mesolithic (10,000 BC - 6,000 BC)
• Neolithic (6,000 BC - 4,000 BC)
• Metal Age (4,000 BC - ~800 BC)
• Harrappan Civilization was between the Neolithic period and the Metal Age Period
• Harrappan Civillization got 4 periods
• Pre-Harrappan (Nomadic people)
• Early Harrappan (Villages on plains)
• Muture Harrappan (Great City urbanization)
• Late Harrappan (Decline)

GAQ P 102 (Acara) - 10th January 2012 (Tuesday)

• Continued the Bhikkhunikkhandhaka of the Mahapajapatigotami Vattu

GAQ BP 102 - 10th January 2012 (Tuesday)

• Lay Hoon contact (98585777) and email (layhoon48@gmail.com)
• Did course and lesson overview
• Society and culture of ancient India before Buddha is good to understand as it helps to understand the context of His teachings better
• Misunderstandings may occur
• Indus Valley - original inbitants were Dravidians
• Aryan invasion and its significance - may not be Aryans -> shift Blacks downwards - also maybe because of natural disasters?
• Caste system
• 2 main thoughts made the caste system
• Divine will (natural order)
• Purity (emphasize on the purity of rituals)
• Aryans form the top 3 castes
• Lowest Suddas are the Dravidians
• Brahma originated the 4 caste is a belief.
• Ancient Aryan religion is the Vedic religion
• Different stages of religious development
• Polytheism (many gods)
• Henotheism (one god is the most powerful at one time)
• Monotheism (one creator god)
• Monism (universal principle Brahman (soul); unify attman with Brahman)
• Early Vedic period (1500 BC - 1000 BC) & Late Vedic period (1000 BC - 500 BC)
• Samhitas (Vedas) -> Brahmanas (Commentaries) -> Aanyakas (Texts of Forest Truth-Seekers) -> Upanishads (Secret Teachings)
• Sramana movement. Many were ascetics and had wierd practices before the time and during the time of the Buddha (This section is important !!!!)
• Sramanas and ascetics reject the authority of the Brahmins and their cultural concepts

GAQ P 102 (Dolly) - 5th January 2012 (Thursday)

• Gave her email (dollygohhl@gmail.com) and Hp No. (93366070)
• Talked about Tipitaka and settled printing of notes to LJ and Simon Fong
• Anguttara Nikaya and Maha Vagga 

GAQ BC 101 - 3rd January 2012 (Tuesday)

• Gave Email (haoxiang004@gmail.com) and Hp No. (96660471).
• Rough outline of course
• Indra Valley Civilization (Social, Economic, Religious)
• Aryan Invasion (Social, Economic, Religious)
• Vedic Literature - Early Period & Late Period
• 6th Century BC
• Challenges to Brahmanism
• Buddhism and the 6 Hieratical Teachers
• Know some of classmates by name and liaised with LJ to send lecture notes to us most probably by herself

GAQ BC 102 - 8th January 2012 (Sunday)

• Gave Name and email (namarupa@live.com.sg).
• Brahmana Culture and Samana Culture.
• History cannot escape from origin of Buddhism – this will be done for the 1^st few weeks.
• The culture section is something like the diploma syllabus.
• Kamma topic related to Buddhism.
• University in Holland emphasizes on learning rather than passing all exams and not having the passion for learning.
• Lokiya -> mundane
• Lokuttara -> supramundane
• Early Buddhism refers to Theravada and the Pali Tipitaka justifies this.
• There are 3 schools of Buddhism.
• Explained about “Hinayana” this term which is low, base and vulgar. In 1950, there is a conference in Sri Lanka and they decided to request the Mahayana tradition to stop using Hinayana to refer to Theravada.
• Money is an issue with monastics and it is the 10^th novice precept and it was the main cause for the 2^nd Buddhist Council.
• Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American Jewish Theravada monk. He came to Singapore preciously and requested the Singaporeans or people to stop the practice of giving monks $$$ as dana.

GAQ BP 101 - 8th January 2012 (Sunday)

• 5000 BC to 3000 BC Pre-Buddhist Indian Thought
• Aryans from Europe and Iran had the God and Creator God concept
• They brought religious beliefs to India
• No definite time frame
• The Latin word “Devs” means god
• “Diu” is the Sanskrit term for god; meaning of “Deva” is “to shine”
• Godhead i.e. CEO of the Gods is a concept in Europe
• Mitra is a Vedic god
• There are 4 Vedas
• People use “yaj” to respect gods.
• India use “mithra” while Europe use “mitra”
• Out of fear and insecurity and respect of natural phenomena -> this is the origin of religion
• Sky Gods – Varuna (creates everything; his eye is the sun), Mitra
• Midair Gods – Indra, Marut
• Earthly Gods – Agni (fire), Soma
• The politician at that time created so many gods i.e. 33 Gods and ascribed everything to gods.
• Indra is the War God and Varuna is for moral values and is responsible for morality. Indra however has no moral responsibility.
• Gods arise from man-made concepts and natural phenomena.
• The rituals to gods has simple beginnings but later became more complex
• Parjanya is the god of clouds
• This religion gradually developed into a philosophy.
• R.ta is the natural order of things and systematic rituals to gods are important
• Anr.ta is in Aryan language and means untruth, while r.ta means truth
• If people have righteous behavoiur, they believe that gods will be happy
• Varuna is omniscient and knows everything
• Gods wanted to relate to humans and vice versa
• Humans relate to gods and thus the soul concept came to existence. To connect humans to god, they believe that god gave them a soul for that purpose
• Faith turned into a belief
• There are 4 Vedas (book of knowledge) – Rig, Yajua, Sama, Atharvan
• The 3 Vedas are when Atharvan is omitted from the above listing 
• At first it was an individualized religion, later it became an organized religion
• Pathavi is Pali for earth, while Pratavi is Sanskrit for earth
• The Trimurti is – Brahma (Create), Vishnu (Maintain) & Esuara (Destroy) – the world
• Important to remember Indra and Varuna
• There are instances of paired up gods e.g. – Sky & Earth, Day & Night, Sun & Moon, Dawn & Dusk etc…
• Visvakarman is the God of world architect and planning.
• Pajapati is lord of creator
• Saddha is Pali for faith, while Sraddha is Sanskrit for faith
• Apsaras are nymphs
• Gandharva are forest gods
• Enemies of gods are Asuras a.k.a. demons

GAQ P 102 (Acara) - 3rd January 2012 (Tuesday)

• Started on Cula Vagga of the Vinaya Pitaka
• Bhikkhunikkhandhaka - Pathamabhanavaro - Mahapajapatigotamivatthu
• Pali and English version first 2 sentences
• Told LJ he will email her the word document of this to her for her to disseminate to class

GAQ P 101 - 8th January 2012 (Sunday)

• Get New Pali Course II
• Went through syllabus and paper and the page 1 and 2 of Handout 1