Study Questions for Teachers and Students

1. Indian Pantheistic Monism Historical introduction When would you say Indian civilisation began? What is meant by saying that Sanskrit is a member of the Indo-European family of languages? Can you name any other members of this family? Is your language among them? What basic beliefs would an orthodox Hindu be expected to hold? What is the difference in meaning between 'Brahman' and 'Brahmā'? What is the meaning of the terms 'Atman', 'saṃsāra' and 'Moksha'? What is the difference between what Hinduism teaches about the Creator and what Judaism, Christianity and Islam teach? What are the Vedas and the Upanishads? Why are they referred to as Shrutī? Why is Shankara's philosophical system known as 'Advaita Vedantism'? Shankara's Advaita Vedanta philosophy What, according to Shankara, is Ultimate Reality? What is it like? How are we related to it? What are the different implications of these two claims: the universe and all that is in it are emanations out of God himself; the universe and all that is in it were created by God out of nothing. The existence of evil is an insoluble problem for pantheism. Why is that? Common sense tells us that the individuality of our friends is real and...