Rama

• Hinduism.
• Considered such a just king that Ram rayja ('kingdom or rule of Rama) is the Hindu political ideal.
• The ideal son and husband.

Sita

• Hinduism.
• Rama's wife.
• Has been idealized both for her own qualities and or her relationship with her husband.
• She is swallowed by the ground.

Ravana

• Hinduism.
• The demon king of Lanka who captures Sita while exiled in the forest.
• Killed by Rama.

Krishna

• Hinduism.
• Considered to be the ninth incarnation of the god Vishnu.
• Believes that it is correct to fight for what is right; one must try peaceful means, but if they fail, one must fight or righteousness ('dharma')
• This conversation with Arjuna became the Bhagavad Gita, where he reveals himself as the ultimate diety, a personal god, filled with love for human beings, who incarnates himself periodically to protect them.
• Describes himself as the goal, supporter, lord, witness, refuge, sanctuary, and friend of the human being, as well as the origin, dissolution, and maintenance of the universe.

Vishnu

• Hinduism.
• 'The all-pervasive one' is portrayed as coming to Earth in various forms, animal and human, to rid the world of evil and establish dharma.
• In the first of these incarnations (avataras) he appears as a fish who saves Manu, the primeval man. Story is similar to Noah's Ark.
• Is said to have had 10 incarnations in the present cycle of creation.

Shiva

• Hinduism.
• Emerged as a great god in the post-Upanishadic era like Vishnu.
• Unlike Vishnu, he was not seen as manifesting himself in a series of incarnations.
• The manifold aspects of Shiva's power were expressed in what was perceived as a divine paradox: creator and destroyer, exuberant dancer and austere yogi.

Arjuna

• Hinduism.
• Became to be seen as symbolizing the human soul in quest of salvation.
• Asks Krishna whether it is correct to fight a war (between the Pandavas and the Kauravas although they are cousins) in which many lives will be lost, especially against one's own kin.

Amida

• Buddhism.
• A Buddha of a previous age who before his enlightenment, as a young prince named Dharmakara, took 48 bodhisattva vows detailing his intention to achieve higher enlightenment, to help others and to establish a heaven called the Pure Land.
• Venerated by Pure Land Buddhism.
• Promises to establish heaven for those who epress their desire to be reborn there by thinking of him.

Bodhisattva

• Buddhism.
• In Theravada: a being who is on the way to enlightenment or buddhahood but has not yet achieved it.
• In Mahayana: a celestial being who forgoes nirvana in order to save others.

Shakyamuni/Sidartha

• Buddhism.
• Lived to the age of 80.
• Is venerated for having achieved enlightenment (perfection of spiritual wisdom) and liberation (moksha) from samsara (the cycle of rebirths) after striving through hundreds of previous lives to perfect his 'mind of enlightenment'.
• Fills holes in preparation for the Buddha, but when he arrives, there is one still unfilled so he offers himself as a stepping stone. Buddha does not step on him but rather says he will be a Budda one day.

Buddha

• Buddhism.
• Not an incarnate god, but a human who has fulfilled his spiritual potential.

Confucius

• Confucianism.
• Taught a doctrine of reciprosity and neighbourliness.
• Characteristically speaks of 'Five Relationships': ruler and minister, father ad son, husband and wife, elder and younger brother, and friend and friend.

Ren

• Confucianism.
• Virtue of humaneness.
• Associated both with loyalty (zhong) to one's own heart and conscience, and with reciprosity (shu) - respect and consideration for others.
• Also related to li, a term that is often translated as 'ritual propriety'.

Qi

• Confucianism.
• a.k.a. chi.
• Translated sometimes as 'ether' or 'matter-energy' which belongs to the physical realm 'within shapes'.
• Dynamic.

Li

• Confucianism.
• May be defined as a set of forms or essences, of organizing and normative principles, belonging to the metaphysicial real, 'above shapes'.
• Logically prior to Qi but not chronologically prior.
• Passive.

Devi/Parvati

• Hinduism.
• One of three prominent dieties, a.k.a. Shiva's consort. 'The Goddess'.
• Followers are called Shaktas in reference to her role as the shakti ('power') o her divine consort.
• Sometimes called Devi, most often appears as Parvati, the wife of Shiva.

Shankara

• Hinduism.
• An important early interpreter of Vedanta.
• For him, reality is non-dual (advaita): the only reality is Brahman, and this reality is indescribable, without attributes.
• Posits three levels of reality: human beings believe life is real, but while we are sleeping, we also believe that what happens in our dreams is real and only when we wake up do we discover that the dream is not reality.

Brahma

• Hinduism.
• A creator god, NOT Brahman.
• A relatively minor diety.
• Each day and each night of Brahma lasts about 4,320 million earthly years.
• One year of Brahma consists of 360 such days and nights, and Brahma lives for 100 years.

Brahmo Samaj

• Hinduism.
• Organization which actively promoted monotheism, rationalism, humanism, and social reform.
• Established in 1828 by Ram Mohan Roy in Calcutta to discuss the nature of Brahman as it appears in the Upanishads.

Ram Mohan Roy

• Hinduism.
• (1772-1883)
• He did not accept the Christian view of Jesus as the son of God, he believed that Christ's ethical teachings were compatible with Hinduism, and wrote a book on the subject entitled The Precepts of Jesus: The Guide to Peace and Happiness.
• Often called the father of modern India.

Patanjali

• Hinduism.
• Has Yoga Sutras, the classic yoga text (a collection of short, aphoristi fragments) are attributed to him.
• His yoga system is a system of moral, mental and physical discipline and meditation with a particular object, either physical or mental, as the 'single point' of focus.
• Described as having eight limbs, or disciplines.

Mencius

• Confucianism.
• Says that the sense of right and wrong is common to all, and is what distinguishes us from animals.Explains evil as the product of contract between an originally good nature and its wicked environment.
• Perfectibility of human nature is rooted in the union of heart and mind, a concept expressed in Chinese by the word xin.
• Book of Mencius: suggests an evolutionary shift in the understanding of the divine.

Xunzi

• Confucianism.
• Believes that evil is inherent in human nature.
• Sometimes appears to reduce Heaven to the laws of nature.
• Book of Rites: shows evidence of Xunzi's influence.

Five Relationships

• Confucianism.
• Ruler and Minister, Father and Son, Husban and Wife, Elder and Younger Brother, Friend and Friend.
• The responsibilities are reciprocal. A minister owes loyalty to his ruler, and a child owes filial respect to a parent, while the ruler must care for his subjects and the parent must care for the child.
• Each of the Five Relationships is clearly hierarchical.

Filial Piety

• Confucianism.
• The principle of respect for one's parents in the Chinese tradition.

Guru Nanak

• Sikhism.
• (1469-1538)
• One of the North Indian 'poet-saints' associated with the Sant tradition.

Orisha

• Indigenous.
• The 401 lesser gods in the Yoruba traditions of West Africa.

Olodumare

• Indigenous.
• The lord of the heavens.
• Yoruba tradition.
• Reigns but does not rule.

Ali/Ani

• Islamic.
• Muhammad's son-in-law who was believe by the Shi'a to have been appointed as his successor.

Chukwu

• Indigenous.
• An infinitely powerful, undefinable, indefinable, absolute supreme deity encompassing everything in space and space itself.
• Is a supreme God represented by the sun.

Dalai Lama

• Buddhism.
• 'Ocean of Wisdom'.
• Became the rulers of Tibet rom the time of the fifth Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (1617-1682).
• Traditionally, the Dalai Lama is thought of as the latest reincarnation of a series of spiritual leaders who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others

Zhu Xi

• Confucianism.
• Most prolific author among the Neo-Confucians.
• Commentaries on the Four Books.
• Most important contributions concerned the philosophy of the Great Ultimate (Taiji or T'ai-chi) which emphasizes the interrelatedness of humans and the cosmos. Describes the Great Ultimate as the most perfect li.

Laozi

• Daoism.
• 'Old Master'
• For him, god is energy.
• Disposition he recommends is expressed in Chinese by the term wuwei which signifies action without overaction, without attachment to action, without artificiality.

Zhuangzi

• Daoism.
• Laozi's follower.Dao is seen as the principle underlying and governing the universe.
• Resembles a collection of essays that draw freely on a parable and allegory, as well as paradox and fanciful imagery.
• Makes plea for spiritual freedom which can be achieved only by embraing nature itself, in the Dao.