Tag Archives: philosophy/religion

Bhartrhari

Posted on May 16, 2025 | Leave a comment

“Bhartrhari: (570?-650) Indian Hindu philosopher, poet, and grammarian. He was of noble birth; according to legend, he made seven attempts to renounce the world for monastic life before eventually becoming a yogi and moving into a cave near Ujjain. His Vakyapadiya is his major work on the philosophy of language. Also ascribed to him are three collections of poetry, each containing 100 verses: Shrngara-shataka (on love), Niti-shataka (on ethics and polity), and Vairagya-shataka (on dispassion). His Bhatti kavya (‘Poem of Bhatti’) demonstrates the subtleties of Sanskrit.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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The Weekly Text, 16 May 2025, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Week III: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Mohandas Gandhi

Posted on May 16, 2025 | Leave a comment

This week’s Text, for week three of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2025, is this reading on Mohandas Gandhi with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet.

I think it’s safe to assume that I needn’t belabor the world historical importance of the man the world knows by his honorific, Mahatma.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Assassins

Posted on May 2, 2025 | Leave a comment

“Assassins: A small Islamic sect. For two hundred years,  it terrified Europe with its secret murders. It was founded by Hassan-i-Sabbah near the end of the 11th century. From the impregnable mountain stronghold of Alamut in Persia and later from the Syrian stronghold of Masyad, the Assassins harried the Crusaders and their rival Islamic sects, remaining unbroken in power even by the great Saladin. They were finally destroyed in the 13th century by the Tatar prince Hulagu and, somewhat later, in Syria, by the Egyptian Sultan Baybars.

The name Assassins is derived from hashish, a drug made from hemp, with which, according to tradition, the victorious Assassins were rewarded upon their return from successful depredations. The secret of their long reign of terror was the absolute obedience that the young men of the sect were required to give to their leaders. The name of the sect soon came into the language of Europe as a synonym for murder.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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Shah Wali Allah

Posted on May 2, 2025 | Leave a comment

“Shah Wali Allah: (1702/3-1762) Indian Islamic theologian. He received a traditional Islamic education, and after a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1732 he remained in the Hejaz to study theology. Living in a time of disillusionment following the death of Aurangzeb, he believed that Muslim polity could be restored only though religious reform that would harmonize Islam with Indian’s changing social and economic conditions. He was steadfastly monotheistic but otherwise much more liberal than most Islamic theologians that had preceded him. His best-known work is The Secrets of Belief. His synthesis of theology, philosophy, and mysticism so reinvigorated Islam that it became prevalent among Islamic scholars in India until the 20th century.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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Agastya

Posted on May 2, 2025 | Leave a comment

“Agastya: In Hindu mythology, the legendary sage and pioneer in the epic age of the Aryanization of south India. Supposed to have been born in a jar, Agastya is also known as Kumbhayoni, or ‘jar-born.’ Legend says that he presented to his pupil Ram the invincible bow and inexhaustible quiver of Vishnu. According to another legend, as he was walking one day with Vishnu, the insolent ocean asked the god who the pygmy (the ‘jar-born’ dwarf) was that strutted by his side. When Vishnu replied that it was the patriarch Agastya, who would restore earth to its true balance, the ocean contemptuously spat its spray in Agastya’s face. Agastya, in revenge, drank it dry.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

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The Weekly Text, 2 May 2025, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Week I: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on Karma

Posted on May 2, 2025 | Leave a comment

May, as the cognoscenti are aware, is Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Island Heritage Month, which, for the purposes of blog post headers of reasonable length, has been shortened to Asian Pacific American Heritage Month for this website.

Let’s begin this blog’s observation this year with this reading on karma with its accompanying vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. Karma is, of course, an important concept in Indian religions.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Cultural Literacy: Humanist

Posted on April 25, 2025 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the humanist as, well, a human concept. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of two long, compound sentences–yes, you will probably want to shorten them for striving readers–and three comprehension questions.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Cultural Literacy: Individualism

Posted on April 17, 2025 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on individualism. This is half-page worksheet with a three-sentence reading (the last one is longish, which may need to be shortened) and three comprehension questions.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky

Posted on April 17, 2025 | Leave a comment

“L(ev) S(emyonovich) Vygotsky: (1896-1934) Soviet psychologist. He studied linguistics and philosophy at the University of Moscow before becoming involved in psychological research. While working at Moscow’s Institute of Psychology 1924-34, he became a major figure in post-revolutionary Soviet psychology. He studied the role of social and cultural factors in the making of human consciousness; his theory of signs and their relationship to the development of speech influences such psychologists as A.R. Luria and Jean Piaget. His best-known work, Thought and Language (1934) was briefly suppressed as a threat to Stalinism. He died of tuberculosis at 38.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

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The Weekly Text, 18 April 2025: A Reading and Comprehension Worksheet on the Second Great Awakening

Posted on April 17, 2025 | Leave a comment

The other morning, one of my favorite shows on National Public Radio, On the Media ran a repeat show on Christian Nationalism, the latest scary manifestation of religious lunacy in the United States. The guest, Matthew Taylor, explained well this latest manifestation of what is basically a form of aggressive Protestant cultural militancy with something of a long history in this country.

So, now seems like a good time to post this reading on the Second Great Awakening along with its attendant vocabulary-building and comprehension worksheet. And if you are so inspired, you might familiarize yourself with the term “Burned-over district.”

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

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