Write a response to the following task in 6 full pages plus endnotes and bibliography of sources in extra pages. Your response requires review, synthesis, reflection, and critical appraisal of the material on Indian religions. Cite sources in your endnotes (and not footnotes) using Chicago Style (see separate doc.) and NOT in the main body of your essay; your own commentaries and citation of passages for illustration, including translated original textual passages, are highly recommended but should be in endnotes as well. Note that an essay consisting of a series of long direct citations does not show as much evidence of engagement as those written succinctly in author’s own words. Your essay should be in font size 12, double-spaced, page number inserted and stapled. About the use of other sources: additional sources may be used after satisfying required readings, etc. However, do not use website sources unless they are electronic publications of legitimate academic books and articles. “Legitimate†here refers to sources that have been reviewed by experts in the field before publication. Wikipedia is an example of a source that you cannot rely on for the purpose of this assignment (or any other academic writing).
You are asked to compare and contrast the concepts and methods of liberation (release from samsara; moksha, nirvana/enlightenment) in Hinduism and Buddhism in India. The following questions and ideas may stimulate and trigger your thinking and help you get started:
What constitutes liberation in each tradition?
How are ordinary existence (mundane world) and person/individual defined or characterized?
How is liberation attained? Differently said, what are the suggested methods of closing the distance between liberation and existence/individual
Did the methods include ideas that rendered liberation more open and accessible to common people? If your answer is yes, what theories and/or
practices are involved?
Anything else that you would like to ask, respond, add?
