Syftet med detta examenarbete är att undersöka vilka didaktiska övervägande gymnasielärare gör gällande religionsundervisning i buddhism och hinduism samt vilket material de använder och varför. För att göra detta har vi använt oss utav tre olika teoretiska utgångspunkter som vi anser vara relevant för vår undersökning: representation, religionsdidaktik och eurocentrism Vidare har vi använt oss utav en kvalitativ forskningsmetod – en kvalitativ semistrukturerad forskningsintervju där vi har intervjuat tre lärare på tre olika gymnasieskolor för att för en djupare inblick i lärarnas arbetssätt. Det vi kom fram till var att dagens undervisning är influerat av äldre arbetssätt som lever kvar. Dessa arbetssätt är starkt influerade av den eurocentriska världsbild som annars håller på att avta ute i samhället. Vårt resultat visar även på att undervisningen varierar beroende på lärarnas förkunskaper och att lärare inte gör några särskilda didaktiska överväganden i sin undervisning.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att genom en fallstudie undersöka hur grundskoleelever uppfattar Indien och hinduism. Detta har undersökts genom en analys av resultatet utifrån postkoloniala teorier om orientalism. Jag har även försökt återknyta detta resultat till hur undervisningen i skolan vad gäller Indien och hinduism ser ut. Mitt urval och tillvägagångssätt består av 10 elevintervjuer och 1 lärarintervju. För att uppnå syftet har jag utgått från ett antal teoretiska utgångspunkter som hör orientalismen till, såsom: Eurocentrism, Den Andre, exotism, Västerlandet och vi-och-dem. Undersökningen visar att informanterna till stor del har en väldigt enkel och onyanserad bild av Indien och hinduism. Till viss del stämmer de orientalistiska begreppen in på informanternas uppfattning, däremot finns det knappt några spår av nedsättande värderingar som annars genomsyrar ett eurocentriskt synsätt. Informanternas uppfattning om undersökningsområdet bygger mycket på det som lärts ut i skolan och återspeglar väl det undervisade stoffet.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att ge en förståelse för hur tonårstjejer på landsbygden i Tamil Nadu i södra Indien upplever menstruation. Aspekter som tillgång på information, hygien och traditionella sedvänjor diskuteras. Initiationsriterna som hålls för alla flickor kopplas till ritualteori av Turner, Bell, Rappaport, Staal med flera. En genomgång från det antropologiska fältet ges genom Buckley och Gottlieb. Centralt för uppsatsen är uppfattningar om orenhet och symbolisk förorening som finns inom hinduismen. Detta diskuteras med hjälp av Mary Douglas. Den till huvuddel kvalitativa studien består av intervjuer med fem fokusgrupper, bestående av tjejer i åldrarna 12-25 år, och kompletterande intervjuer med personal på NGO:s och andra med kopplingar till området. En enkkätstudie genomfördes samt en observation. Resultatet visar att tonårstjejer är i stort behov av mer reproduktiv kunskap och att det finns fördelar med att uppmärksamma och samtala kring de traditionella sedvänjorna, eftersom delar av dem upplevs som negativt av tjejerna. Det är tydligt att det finns ett behov för bekväma, hygieniska och hållbara alternativ för kvinnors mensskydd. I uppsatsen presenteras också olika projekt som syftar till att sprida information om menstruation och mensskydd. / The purpose of this thesis is to give an understanding about how adolescent girls in rural Tamil Nadu experience menstruation. Aspects on access to information, hygiene and traditional menstrual customs are discussed. The initiation rite that all girls go through is connected to ritual theory by Turner, Bell, Rappaport and Staal et al. An understanding from the anthropological field is given through the work of Buckley and Gottlieb. Central for the thesis is notions about impurity and pollution, which are discussed with the theories of Mary Douglas. The mainly qualitative research consists of focus groups interviews with girls in the age of 12-25 years and complementary interviews with NGO workers and others connected to the field. A questionnaire study was conducted as well as an observation. The results from the study show that adolescent girls are in great need of more reproductive knowledge and that there could be benefits to further bring up the traditional customs to discussion, since part of them make girls feel uncomfortable. It is seen that there is a need for comfortable, hygienic and sustainable solutions for women´s sanitary protection. Presented in the thesis are also different examples of projects that aim to spread information about menstruation and the use of sanitary pads.

This qualitative study explores Second Generation South Asian American (SG SAA) Hindus' ideals, values, and meanings associated with gender, and how these ideals affect their attitudes towards unwanted sexual contact of women/girls. SG SAAs are an understudied population that report high levels of stress due to bicultural identity issues and ethnic discrimination, and yet are unlikely to display help-seeking behaviors. This study explores some of the cultural factors behind this phenomenon, particularly in terms of topics such as unwanted sexual contact (including sexual harassment, coercion, incest, and rape). Using an internet-based convenience sampling method, the researcher collected data using an anonymous online questionnaire with multiple open-ended questions. After using qualitative data analysis software, the researcher interprets and discusses the results by drawing on psychological and anthropological literature on gender in contemporary Hindu culture, identity in diaspora, and cultural/structural violence. The researcher explains how the results reveal the participants' internalized messages about women's value and expectations, particularly in regards to sexuality and family roles. Expected to be independent as well as submissive, modern as well as traditional, female SG SAA Hindus are faced with impossible expectations that erase their subjectivity and silence their voices. The negative ramifications of this are explored, particularly as the participants' describe the messages they learned about Hinduism and the blaming of female victims of sexual abuse. The study contextualizes SG SAAs in terms of contemporary Hindu cultures, and illuminates the ways that certain Hindu gender role expectations and attitudes have oppressed women, punished victims of unwanted sexual contact, and perpetuated cultures of silence, secrecy, and shame. The researcher calls for re-interpretations and re-visioning of contemporary Hindu cultures, not only to end alleviate cycles of abuse, but also to address this population's unique bicultural identity issues. Future research and widespread education is needed to explore the clinical implications of this study, and to develop culturally specific interventions for this silenced population.

No description available.

<p>The Bhagavadgītā, the most popular religious text of Hinduism, has become the social and political gospel of India in the Twentieth Century. What is attempted in this study is an examination of the Hindu religious consciousness as reflected in the various recent interpretations of this religious text. In this, we have examined the writings of Twentieth Century national and religious leaders of India and their reinterpretations of the age-old Hindu concepts of dharma, karma and mukti. The main line pursued is to discern the attempt by the moderns to integrate dharma and mukti and to render the message of the Gītā relevant to the problems of contemporary India. We examine this attempt by these national leaders against the background of recent ideologies such as nationalism, socialism and secularism that have made deep inroads into the sub-continent. The "counter-ideologies" (à la Harry M. Johnson) that sprang up from the new interpretations of the Gītā by national leaders such as B.G. Tilak, M.K. Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo and others are examined in depth. The modern commentators also attempt to relate the teachings of the Gītā to the needs of a modern secular society, and in particular to the problems of religious pluralism which confront modern India. These commentators however, did not limit the relevance of this text to India, but have been eager to point out its relevance for a wider humanity.</p> <p>This study aims to be both descriptive and critical. I have sought to describe what modern Indian thinkers selected as essential to the tradition and have also sought to understand their determination to come to terms with not only spiritual but also national and social issues. It is clear that they understood that reconstruction work in India could not be envisaged without giving it a basis in religious tradition which in their mind was most succinctly represented by the Bhagavadgītā. The writer after critical study, has come to the conclusion that these commmentaries taken together have successfully pointed out the significance of the Bhagavadgītā as a text that can accommodate varieties, and as a text which, without losing the clarity and rigour of its central spiritual perception, can provide legitimation, for the social and political forces that underlie a secular state.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No description available.

The French Benedictine monk Henri Le Saux (Abhishikt.ananda) sought to establish an Indian Christian monasticism, emphasizing Hindu ad1•aitic experience. He understood advaita as both nondual and non-monistic. Using phenomenology and comparative philosophy. this thesis explores his understanding and experience of advaita, comparing it to both traditional Hinduism and neo-Vedanta, as well as to Christianity and Zen Buddhism. Abhishiktananda's description of his experience is examined in relation to perception, thinking, action. ontology and theology. Special attention is given Lo comparing the views of the Hindu sages RamaQa Maharshi and Gnanananda, both of whom influenced Abbishiktananda. Abhishiktananda believed that advaita must be directly experienced; this experience is beyond all words and concepts. He compares Christian apophatic mysticism and Hindu sannyiisa. This thesis examines his distinction between experience and thought in relation to recent philosophical discussions. Abhishiktananda radically reinterprets Christianity. His affirmation of both nonduality and non-monism was influenced by Christian Trinitarianism, interpreted as an emanation of the Many from the One. Jesus' experience of Sonship with the Father is an advaitic experience that is equally available to everyone. Abhishiktananda believes that the early Upanishads report a similar experience. A monistic interpretation of advaita only developed later with the "dialectics" of Shankara's disciples. In non-monistic advaita, the world is not an illusion. Using ideas derived from tantra and Kashmir Saivism, Abhishiktananda interprets mayii as the .fakti or power of Shiva. He compares .fakti to the Holy Spirit. Abhishiktananda distinguishes between a pure consciousness experience (nirvikalpa or kel•ala samudhi) and a return to the world of diversity in sahaja samiidhi. Ramar:ta and Gnanananda make a similar distinction. Sahaja samadhi is the state of the jf11anmukti, the one who is liberated while still in the body; it is an experience that is referred to in tantra and in Kashmir Saivi.\'m . Abhishiktananda never experienced nin•ikalpa samiidhi, but he did experience sahaja sam&lhi. The appendix provides one possible synthesis of Abhishiktananda's understanding of advaita using the ideas of C. G. Jung. / Religious Studies / Thesis (D.Litt. et Phil.)

Death is one of the few certainties in life. It comes to all of us, but the way in which we deal with it will vary according to a range of social and cultural factors. Based on my mother's experiences since being widowed, this dissertation has undertaken a qualitative research method to examine how Hindu widows express their mourning in their context, thereby defining their experiences of widowhood. The aim of this dissertation is to give voice to the mourning experiences of Hindu widows. By examining these constructions of mourning experiences, one is able to gain an understanding of grief from a cultural perspective, which may serve as a guide for professional counsellors and academics in their endeavours to provide much needed support and understanding for bereaved Hindu women. The epistemological framework is social constructionism. In this study five Hindu widows were interviewed with the intention of providing readers and fellow researchers with insight into their narratives, and the data was hermeneutically analysed. The participants' stories were interpreted and categorised into themes. This study allowed for elaborate and detailed descriptions about Hindu widows' experiences to surface, with the view that this study will broaden the way Hindu widowhood is thought of. Analyses reveals that within patriarchal society, Hindu widows appear inadequately prepared for their widowhood. As a result they experience financial, emotional and psychological difficulties, which make adjusting to widowhood a challenge. The perspective this study hopes to argue for is broader, inclusive, collaborative engagement and thinking in respect of Indian widowhood / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

This dissertation is a missiological evaluation of the challenges presented to Christian faith by reincarnation. Owing to the far-reaching theological implications of reincarnation, I have made use of an analytical grid to structure the research. It consists of seven sections, namely God, anthropology, ethics, hamartiology, soteriology, theodicy and history. This grid has been used to examine reincarnation as espoused in the Bhagavad-Gita (chapter 2) , as propounded by the well-known Hindu Swamis Vivekananda and Prabhupada (chapter 3) , and in the responses of four Christian theologians (Geddes MacGregor, John Hick, Vishal Mangalwadi and Edmond Robillard) to reincarnation (chapter 4) . There are many individuals within Western society who are attracted to reincarnation. My concern is to evaluate whether the Christian church can incorporate reincarnation in its religious worldview. In chapter 5, I give an evaluation of this question from a Reformed theological perspective. / Hierdie verhandeling is 'n missiologiese beoordeling van die uitdagings wat die leerstelling van reinkarnasie aan die Christelike geloof hied. As gevolg van die verreikende implikasies van reinkarnasie, gebruik ek 'n analitiese raamwerk om vorm te gee aan die· ondersoek. Hierdie raamwerk bestaan uit sewe onderafdelings, naamlik die beskouings oor God, mens, etiek, sonde, verlossing, teodisee en geskiedenis. Hierdie raamwerk word gebruik om die leerstelling van n!inkarnasie te ondersoek soos wat dit aan die orde kom in die Bhagavad-Gita (hoofstuk 2), in die geskrifte van die twee bekende Swamis Vivekananda en Prabhupada (hoofstuk 3) , en in die reaksies van vier Christenteoloe (Geddes MacGregor, John Hick, Vishal Mangalwadi en Edmond Robillard) op reinkarnasie (hoofstuk 4). Daar is heelwat mense in die Westerse samelewing wat aangetrokke is tot reinkarnasie. My vraagstelling is om te evalueer of die Christelike kerk re'inkarnasie in sy godsdienstige wereldbeeld kan opneem. In hoqfstuk 5, gee ek 'n beoordeling van hierdie vraag uit 'n Gereformeerde teologiese gesigspunt. / Christian,Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)