An empty circle

I never thought about having a empty circle in side of me. I kind of like the idea of being made of nothing or rather having the very soul of my exsistance defined in one area. I liked the part of the movie about the man saying that All is Budha, ourselves, heaven, earth, trees, and even a dog. This just made me think about some devine beings soul being in a dog. I dont know it was just something that poped in my head and now I cant get it out. I know that is not what he meant.

Talking about deferent ways to meditate day to day in ordinary life was interesting. I never thought about what a half smile was nor had I thought about washing dishes as something that could be a peaceful thing. Thinking about a half smile makes me want to laugh. I have tried to do a half smile when seeing people around campus but I cant do it with out laughing. Maybe I would have better luck with the dishes.

The four Noble truths

I found the four noble truths to be strange in a since but then it started making since. I got to thinking about friends and there hart ache over guys or the desire for one. I found that the noble truths in could be applied to these situations for one's they started thinking of some one else or something else there heat was mended. The idea of letting go of everything that is important to you is scary but I know that in the long run I could do it.

Having no God

I wonder at this. I understand the thoughts of how people are enlightened but having no God puzzles me. I am puzzled at the thought of how they came about this and if there is no God than How did we get here?. On another note I enjoyed the story about Siddartha Gautama today in class.

Life stages

The life stages of Hinduism are fascinating. I think there much like are system to day in the begging. Though are marriages are not arranged and we don't stop going to school at age twenty. They seem to have a simpler life than Americans. Americans are always on the go and never really slow down.

Karma

In class we continued our discussion on Hinduism. While we talked about the interior we discussed Karma. I wanted to know a little more about it so I looked up more meanings of the word. I found out that Karma in Hindu also means the same in Buddhist philosophy. I also found that it could mean destiny or fate. I like the meaning the Hindu and the Buddhist use that the quality of somebody's current and future lives are determined by that person's behavior in this and in previous lives. This makes me wander how many lives can your soul have. It also made me wander who or what I was in a past life. My best friend had a reading done once and found out why he cant put his head beneath water. It all had to do with a past life; in that life he was a young boy in Egypt who was told not to run his pony in the Nile and he disobeyed and was killed by a crocodiles.

Hinduism

I found today's lecture on Hinduism to be fascinating. I especially find it interesting that it is the oldest of the major world religions. The class system is also fascinating. I like to look at old class systems like the ones in the renaissance era.

Nazca civilization

I found the movie to have interesting points on the Nazca people and I wanted to know more about what things had been found. I love Egyptian hieroglyphic so the mummies and art that where found in the burial tombs are also of interest to me. I found this information to be interesting:

Cahuachi was a major ceremonial center of the Nazca culture and overlooked some of the Nazca lines from 1 CE to about 500 CE. Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Orefici has been excavating the site for the past few decades, bringing a team down every year. The site contains over 40 mounds topped with adobe structures. The permanent population was quite small, but it was apparently a pilgrimage center that grew greatly in population for major ceremonial events. These events probably involved the Nazca lines and the giant sand dune of Nazca.

Most of the burial sites surrounding Cahuachi were not known until recently and so present a very tempting target for archaeologists. Their ancient technique of weaving, that the Nazca people developed, has given an insight into how the lines may have been made, and what they might have been used for more than 1,500 years ago.

Class Movie

I found the movie to have helpful and interesting information. However I did find it a bit cheesy. I thought it could have been better outlined and constructed. The movie portrayed things well but I think they could have been more to the events that took place.

Oral Religion

Today in class we further talked about Oral Religions and some of there traditions. I found it interesting that in some cultures women who are married sacrifice themselves when there husband dies. I understand they do this to journey with him to the next life, what I wondered about though was what if they had very young children. What would happen to the children? Can anyone answer this for me.

Literature and Religion

One of the presentations was done on Religion in art and literature. This made me think of William Blake who was a poet as well as an illustrator. I love his illustrations and some of his poetry. Many of his works deal with Religion and his view of it. My favorite poem as well as illustration is The Tiger.

Today we talked a little about Oral Religions. I am fasinated by the Native American Religion. My aunt and uncle go to alot of powwows and they are both adopted members of a tribe. I have been to Oklahoma City once with my aunt to a powwow. There alot of fun and the outfits of the dancers are beutiful. My grandmother has even made ribbon shirts for some of the dancers who are my aunts friends.