Moksha: Equating versus Relating

I had multiple students point out that I haven't posted anything in 10 days.

I make no apologies.  Teaching takes a lot of time.  :)


We're moving from Gandhi and the Indian independence movement into the study of Hinduism.  (This seems like a natural progression since Gandhi was Hindu.)

One of the (minor) struggles I've had in teaching is getting students to relate, but not equate.  And sometimes, I don't even want them to relate two things - but they do.

Many of my students are Christians.  Many of those who aren't Christian are at least familiar with Christianity because they live in Northern Indiana.

So, when they hear about avatars: Hindu gods that come to earth in the form of humans - many draw comparisons to the Christian belief in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.  But Christians wouldn't say Christ was an avatar - they would say he is God (or the Son of God.)  Maybe students could relate the two, but definitely don't equate the two.

In Hinduism, Shiva is the destroyer.  In Christianity, Satan is the destroyer.  But Shiva is not Satan.  In Hinduism, Shiva is not even evil.  Here, I'd like students to neither relate, nor equate.

Christians believe in heaven.  Hindus believe in Moksha.  Moksha is not heaven.  Again, noting the similarities is fine.  Equating them is not.

When I hear students equate, it usually sounds something like this, "Oh... so Moksha is the Hindu heaven?"  Or "Oh... so Shiva is the Hindu version of Satan."

No.

Moksha is the Hindu afterlife, but it's not the "Hindu heaven."

Maybe, if I have time tomorrow I'll give you a better description of Moksha.

If you want extra credit for reading and discussing the blog, write a couple sentences telling the difference between relating and equating.

Have the adult you read the blog with sign the paper.

Turn it in tomorrow.

Reincarnation - Google Drawings

Although we're now disucussing the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict, we spent some time yesterday figuring out how google drawings work.  I'm sure there will be a lot of ways I could use them in class.  As with everything, there's a lot of potential - if I could just figure out how to access it.

Students could make diagrams, flowcharts, posters, etc... from various topics we've studied throughout the year.  I had them start off with the reincarnation cycle.  I didn't take it for a grade, because we were figuring it out together.

Some students shared with me what they did.  I'll put those up here for you to look at.  Tell me what you think.

If students want extra credit, they should have read and discussed the blog with an adult.  Which of the diagrams do you like the best?  Why?  What are the strengths and weaknesses of each one?  If you were in class today, you could tell them a little bit about the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict.

Write down your thoughts from the conversation on a scrap of paper.  Have the adult you read and discussed with sign it.  Then turn it in tomorrow for extra credit.

It took Gandhi (and the Indian National Congress, etc...) a long time before they gained independence from the British.  I'm not expecting to fully understand google docs or drawings overnight.  But I want to be sure to use whatever tools I have at my disposal in order to be the best teacher I can be.

  (As long as those tools are genuinely enhancing the education of my students.)