See January for Primal Religion Synthesis Assignment!

While Mr. Haardt is on Kairos you are responsible for the following:

1) Please read the Hinduism chapter in Smith's World's Religions, and answer the 20 questions listed under Smith Questions.

2) Then, please make a 1st attempt at answering the 4 Ultimate Questions (see Ultimate Questions link on main page) for the Hindu tradition. How would a Hindu answer these questions? Please write 3-5 sentences for each.

Add these to the 20 Smith questions for a total of 24 questions. For Ulimate Question #4, answer the main question and use the sub-questions as guides, you do not have to answer each sub-question for #4.

These questions are due Monday, Feb. 11th. Please use the class time in the Library to work on these. You can NOT do all of this over the weekend, so please pace yourself!

Namaste - the divine in me honors the divine in you!

1) You are asked to read the Hindu section in Novak , which will be due our 4th meeting this week: Thurs, 2/14-4th pd & Fri, 2/15 -6th pd . Please read the introductions to each section, they are short and add some good additional information to what you read in Smith.

Please read selections from Vedas, Upanishads, Baghavad-Gita and Grace Notes.   See Novak link for questions... you must answer # 11, 12, 27-29 (5 questions) & then choose any additional questions under each sub-heading (Vedas-2, Upanishads-2, Gita-2) + any additional 1.

Total = 12 Questions!

1) Hindu Final Synthesis is due at our 2nd meeting next week, Tues - 4th, Wed - 6th, as we will be seeing speakers on Monday. Please look over Hindu Final Synthesis on main page and prepare your essay for next week.

2) If you are absent, then you will need to write it on your own as a single person or as a couple, your choice, unless you have paired up with someone already.

3) Please report to Orradre on Monday for our guest speakers.

4th period - Holocaust Survivor Helen

6th period - Sudan Speaker - Lloyd Sacks

1) We begin the Buddhist tradition this week. Please read the Buddhist chapter in Smith and answer the 30 questions listed. This is the longest chapter in Smith and the most questions. So please pace yourself. Questions will be due from Smith on our 1st meeting next week - Monday, March 3rd.

2) Please make sure you bring your Novak book and a print out of the questions you plan to answer - Buddhist Section - to class on Wed March 5th! You will have to complete your Novak questions in class and turn in to the Sub by the end of class.

For Monday 8/25

1) Read over syllabus yourself and prepare any questions you may have.

2) You are to write a 1-2 pg short essay (350-700 words) responding to these questions: (typed, 1 1/2 spaced)

• Are you a spiritual person?
• Are you a religious person?
• Do you believe in God? Explain your answer.
• Describe your major influences that have determined your religious orientation today.
• Conclude with 1 or 2 questions you have about God, other religions, and/or spirituality in general.

3) Please bring in 1 photo or 1 object fromyour summer experience. We will share in class on Monday.

4) Bring all books to class, so I can check that you have everything.

For our 2nd meeting, please begin reading The Human Condition by Thomas Keating, OSB. Please read the inside sleeves, foreword, introduction and pgs. 7-12 of the text. I will check to see that you have highlights and/or underlines in your text. Please make any notations, using PNI or another method, so you can share with the class.

For our 3rd meeting, please read through pg. 28.

Answer these questions to help guide you:

1) What is deification?

2) What is the false self?

3) What happens to the false self when we allow the Divine to come through us?

4)"Contemplative prayer begins to make us aware of the divine presence within us, the source of true happiness." Explain what Keating means by this.

5) Read pgs. 27-28 carefully....Our theme for this year is "Finding God in All Things" - how does Keating explain God's presence? Does this resonate with you or not?

6) Respond to anything else you read in your own words....

For our 4th meeting, please finish reading The Human Condition and answer the following questions to prepare for discussion:

1) What does Keating have to say about anxiety and annoyance?

2) What are the emotional programs for happiness?

3) "Spiritual Awareness is designed by God to become our normal awareness." How does Keating make the case for this? What do you think?

4) How does overidentification with family, nation, thoughts, emotions, attachments & aversions keep us from seeing that we are in God's presence all of the time?

5) Respond to anything else you read in your own words....

For Tuesday

1) Please read pgs. 1-15 in Smith's World's Religions.  Be sure and notice the art, photos, and images, important part of these traditions!

Then summarize in bullet points Smith's approach to "religion". We will go over in class.

2) Click on the Link for Baraka on the website under Intro & Primal Peoples, and look over the questions and summary of Baraka. This is the film we will watch on Tuesday & Wednesday of next week.

Have a great weekend!

1) Please read Ch IX on Primal Religions in Smith.  You need to answer the questions on the website listed under Smith Questions.  The Primal Religion section is the 1st section.  These are due our 2nd meeting next week, 9/11-4th, 9/12-6th.   See me with any questions.

2) We will begin watching Baraka today and tomorrow. Please click on the link on my website to get some more background on the film. For Monday, 9/10, you are to write 1.5 -2 pg (500-700 words) typed reflection response, incorporating 3-5 of the 12 questions listed at the link. Please TYPE, 1 1/2 spaced, 12 pt font and please print on both sides if you can. The printers at SI print on both sides.

Please note, 1) is due at our 2nd meeting, 2) is due Monday, though you have 2 nights and a weekend night to work on them. Please pace yourself accordingly.

1)Due our final meeting this week, Thursday - 4th period, Friday, - 6th period: Please read sections of Primal Religions chapter in Novak (The World's Wisdom - read a sampling under each heading), and answer 1st 3 questions, then choose 1 from each subheading, and any additional 2 for a total of 10 questions answered.  See the Novak Questions link, as this will make more sense to you looking at that. You do NOT have to type your questions, just make them neat and easy to read. 

1) Please read links in preparation for our viewing of the film Whale Rider.  This is about the Maori of New Zealand.  I will not require you to write a summary of the readings...please read for background, as you will be lost in the film otherwise!  This should not take you long.   You will enjoy this film!

2) Please see below for Final Synthesis assignment. You should at least click and view the Vision Quest link on the main page in prep for next week.

http://www.whaleriderthemovie.com

(CLICK MOVIE, THEN CLICK SYNOPSIS, feel free to poke around further if you like!)

http://www.haro-online.com/movies/whale_rider.html

http://www.movienet.com/whalerider.html

You will write your 1st Final Synthesis assignment this week for our 1st tradition(s) - Primal/Indigenous Traditions. Please go to the Vision Quest link on the main page and you will see the directions there.

This will be due Monday, Sept. 24th.

Mr. Haardt will be away on Kairos Wed-Friday. Your homework due Monday, 10/1, will be to finish the Hindu section in Smith, The World's Religions and answer the questions listed under Smith. There are 20 total questions.

You are also to read the Hindu section in Novak , which will be due 4th meeting, 10/4 -4th pd, 10/5 - 6th pd. Please read selections from Vedas, Upanishads, Gita and Grace Notes.   See Novak link for questions... you must answer # 11, 12, 27-29 (5 questions) & then choose any additional 7 questions under each sub-heading (Vedas-2, Upanishads-2, Gita-2) + any additional 1. Total = 12 Questions!

REMINDERS: SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY IS DUE NOVEMBER 15TH! Please plan accordingly. See link on main page if you haven't already done so!

Due 2nd meeting next week - Tuesday - 4th, Wed - 6th http://www.sanatansociety.org/hindu_gods_and_goddesses.htm - Click this link and choose your God/Goddess that you will eventually incorporate into your final synthesis. Many Hindus are allowed to worship their own local God/Goddess who is a reflection of the realization of Atman=Brahman.

After you choose your God/Goddess, type a 1/2 - 1 pg summary and image of your God/Goddess and be prepared to share with the class. Please try to explain the details in your image, like why Ganesha has an elephant head, what is he holding, why does he have many arms etc...?

Enjoy choosing your God/Goddess.

Namaste

Due Thurs - 4th period, Friday - 6th period:

I will give you time in class to work over the next couple of days.

Namaste!

Hindu Final Synthesis

Pleae Print out the Hindu Final Synthesis for you and your parnter!

Work on Final Synthesis and Get Permission Slip signed and returned to Mr. Haardt!

In case you lost the permission slip, please see the link to the right.

REMINDERS:

• SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY IS DUE NOVEMBER 15TH! Please plan accordingly. See link - Spiritual Activity - if you haven't already done so!

• Field Trip to Vedanta Society, on Monday October 22nd. We leave at 12:15, you are dismissed from your 4th period class at 12:10! Click link and review before Monday

1) We begin the Buddhist tradition this week!

You will have Tuesday in class to work on these questions. Please print out the Buddhist section of questions so you can work on them in class!

Please complete the Buddhist chapter in Smith and answer the 30 questions listed by Wed, Oct. 24th. You will turn in what you do complete on Tuesday, Oct. 16th and turn in the remainder on Oct. 24th!

2) Buddhist Novak Questions will be due Monday, October 29th

Please complete questions 25-31 and 1st part of #24 (3 Mark of Existence?), and then choose any 7 not already answered in the Smith questions , for a total of 15 questions. Take this time to read the actual sacred texts themselves and think about what Buddhism is trying to reveal about the human condition (Remember Thomas Keating)

Good Luck and please complete these on time.

For the next 2 weeks that we study the Buddhist tradition, I am going to ask you to do the following:

Mindwatch: Make 1 journal entries/day for the next 2 weeks/5 days/week = 10 days, noting what your thoughts/judgements are of other people: family, friends, different races, genders, cliques, social class, economic class, sexual orientation, general appearances, etc.

You may also note the times when you are not really present to what is happeing...in class, at lunch, at home. Just make an effort to pay attention to the quality of your own presence as you move through the day.

Please do not censor your entries, you do NOT have to include any names. This is an exercise in internal honesty and mindfulness - paying attention to your own mind and its thought patterns. We will explore these journal entries at various times, so keep them with you in your binders. I will collect at the end of the unit, so please keep pace with 1/day.

May you be well (common Buddhst prayer)

1) Please read over the 2 handouts given in class last week:

• Foundations of Vipassana (front & back)
• Our Natural Tendency Is to Awaken (front & back)

Please highlight key passages as you read for discussion the following day.

Then, please answer these questions in 3-5 sentences:

1. How do you create your own suffering/dukkha?
2. How does tanha/craving/aversion play a role in that?
3. At this point, what do you think Buddhists are trying to tell us when they talk about "awakening" as the fruit of spiritual practice?

Try to give a concrete example from your life in #1 and #2...and #3 if you can.

We will discuss for the 1st half of class!

As we study an overview of Tibetan Buddhism and its recent history this week, I am going to ask you to watch a video on your own. This is a conversation b/w Bill Moyers (same person who interviewed Huston Smith) and Pema Chodron - the first American ordained Tibetan nun. Please watch the 1st 20 minutes...more if you want, and the respond to these questions.

1. What was Pema Chodron's life like before she became Buddhist?
2. Why do you think she became Buddhist?
3. How does she describe her understanding of the Buddha's teaching? In relation to suffering, awakening, compassion,& groundlessness.
4. What resonated with you as you listened to her experience?

Please handwrite neatly or type your responses. #3 & #4 should be 4-6 sentences each (1 paragraph).

This will be good preparation for your Final Synthesis.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/faithandreason/watch_chodron.html

For the rest of week, you are to read from Ajahn Sumedho's website - see main page for link. You may choose what interests you. You need to choose at least 2 readings/links. These will help you go deeper into the 4 Noble Truths. Please reference what makes sense to you from these readings in your Final Synthesis. If you are working with someone, I would have each person choose 2 readings and discuss your insights together.

Good Luck...don't forget your Mindwatch...

Buddhist Final Synthesis is due Monday, Nov. 12th

You must staple the Rubric and your Mindwatch to the essay!

1) Taoism Smith Questions are due Thursday, 11/15 - 4th period; due Friday, 11/16 - 6th period.

1) Spiritual Activity is due on Monday, Nov. 19th

2) For Tuesday, Nov. 20th - 4th, Nov. 21st - 6th, Read Taosim section in Novak - the Tao Te Ching chapters. Read 4-5 pages of the Tao Te Ching and then choose 3 that resonate with you and come to class ready to discuss these! This will not take you long, so please come ready to discuss as you will be writing your own chapter of the Tao Te Ching.

PLEASE BRING 2 SANDWICHES OF MEAT & CHEESE TO ROOM 209 ON WED, 11/28 FOR THE THURSDAY MORNING COMFORT RUN

3) For Tuesday, Nov. 27th - You are asked to write Chapter 82 of the Tao Te Ching (there are 81 chapters in the Tao Te Ching).  I would highly recommend that you immerse yourself in a natural surrounding that will inspire thoughts of the Tao, "the Way", some have called it the "the Watercourse Way", the "Way of least resistance".  If you ever watch water in a river or stream, do you notice how it effortlessly finds its way, this is what the Taoist sages have seen and of which they speak.  So, after finding a suitable place, write a minimum of 10 lines, maximum of 20, describing the Tao, in nature, in human relationships, in you, all of the above, just run with it..., you may also talk about other Taoist concepts, yin/yang, wu-wei, chi, etc….   It would be ideal if you started with 5-10 minutes of meditation.  I want you to write more from your heart-mind and less from your intellectual-mind, more from the Pooh-mind (as in Winnie the Pooh) :)

Please refer to the Tao Te Ching chapters in Novak for guidance.

PLEASE BRING 2 SANDWICHES OF MEAT & CHEESE TO ROOM 209 ON WED, 11/28 FOR THE THURSDAY MORNING COMFORT RUN

1) We begin Islam this week.  Given the nature of this tradition and the very poor coverage of this wisdom tradition in the media, it is very important that you read and read carefully. 

2) Thus, you are to read Chapter VI in Smith on Islam and answer Smith Questions on Islam...Answer #1-10 and #29, then choose 9 others of your choice, for a total of 20 questions!  DUE Monday, Dec, 3rd!

1) Read Novak Chapter Seven: Islam...Remember read selections of each...Qur'an, Hadith, Sufis, Malcolm X.

Then answer Novak Questions, #1-10, #32, and choose any additional 3 for a total of 15 questions.  This is your final set of questions!!!

Due: 3rd meeting - Wed - 4th pd, Thurs-6th pd

1) Novak Questions due 3rd meeting, see above.

" "A human being is a part of a whole, called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." – ...who do you think said this...?

From Science to God chapters are as follows:

1 - Ch. 3

2 - Ch. 4

3 - Ch. 6

4 - Ch. 7

5 - Ch. 8

6 - Ch. 9

Each person will prepare a written outline with key terms/distinctions and a summary of the chapter in your own words and using some direct quotes from the text.

This is due Thursday - 4th period & Friday for 6th period. 6th period will discuss it on Monday as we have a guest speaker on Friday. Please complete for Friday as you already have the Islam Final Synthesis due Monday!

If you have questions, list those, but please take care to present this information as clear as you can, you are responsible for your group's learning the material. You need to make 3 copies of your outline -- 1 pg, typed, 1 1/2 spaced, easy to read (use bullets, outline format). You will turn in your copy to me at the end of class. You will have 3-5 minutes to share your summary, so please rehearse what you are going to teach your small group.

We will conclude our study of the World's Widsom Traditions this week.

In preparation for your Final Essay due on Tuesday, Dec. 18th, please review the link. It's also on the main page of the website.

Also, please read Smith's Final Examination pgs. 244-249.  Please bring your book to class as we will discuss what he says tomorrow, Tuesday..  Please answer these 3 questions in your notes for our discussion. 

1) How does Smith deal with the relation between religions?

2) What wisdom do these Wisdom Traditions offer the world?

3) Given our pluralistic, modern world, what is our response going forward in the complex times we are living in?

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO BE AT THE EXAM, IN ORRADRE CHAPEL ON Tuesday, Dec. 18th, 10:20-11:35. We will share our essays on that day after a period of meditation.

It has been a pleasure working with all of you this semester...I hope you have deepened your own view of the world, yourself, and the role spirituality plays in the life of human beings.

Namaste & Peace be with you...Mr. Haardt

Go Cats! Go Skins! And may Redskin Sean Taylor rest in peace.