You may be asking yourself right at this very moment, "What is 'Upanishad?'" and "How do I pronounce that strange-looking word?" and those would be good questions. The second question is simpler, so let's start with that. If you were to ask google translate how to pronounce it with a Spanish accent, it would sound a little like oo-PAWN-ee-Shawd.
This little exercise we just did, in itself, was interesting - just because the name is written doesn't mean I know how to communicate how it sounds to you without depending on our oral skills.
This is my attempt at recitation
This video is a recording of my recitation of part of one of the Upanishads, which can be found in Michael Nagler's translation of ancient Hindu scripture. Through reading some of the Upanishads, I learned that this ancient Aryan civilization believed wealth would not lead to happiness, and that eternal happiness comes through recognizing that we are all part of a Self. As Yajnavalkya tells his wife, Maitreyi, in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, "Everything is loved not for its own sake, but because the Self lives in it."
I was nervous, my palms sweating as I swallowed the knot in my
throat. You can do this, I told
myself. Just keep calm. But it‘s hard
to keep your cool when your entire 5th grade class is staring at
you. I closed my eyes, opened my mouth, and the words just started to flow.
When I first read that my assignment included the Islamic culture in the Ottoman Empire, I was ecstatic! Not only have I been taking an Islam and the Gospel class here at BYU, but I genuinely have always had a great curiosity for Middle Eastern culture.
Today, I’d like to focus on one specific text that relates to oral knowledge and mnemonics in the Ottoman Empire: the Hadith. First, it’s important to understand that Islam was the ideology that solidified and centralized the entire civilization. I would be amiss if I did not mention the key figure of this religion the Prophet Muhammad. According to Islamic belief, one day while meditating in a cave, this illiterate merchant had a vision in which the angel Gabriel commanded him to read. He replied “I cannot.” The angel then proceeded to thrust his arms upon as if in desperation and again commanded him to read. Eventually, Muhammad reached enlightenment and in the years after wards he received revelations which are now known as the Qur’an. What’s interesting is that because Muhammad was illiterate, he orally communicated his messages from God to his people and have scribes copy down word for word what he wrote (sounds like Joseph Smith).
Now, my key text source is known as the Hadith, which differs from the Qur’an in that it specifically focuses on the traditions of Muhammad. In a way, it’s structured like the four gospels in the New Testament in which details about Christ’s life and exemplary actions are revealed. An example of a typical Hadith is as follows:
“Narrated Ibn 'Abbas: Allah's Apostle was the most generous of all the people, and he used to reach the peak in generosity in the month of Ramadan when Gabriel met him. Gabriel used to meet him every night of Ramadan to teach him the Qur'an. Allah's Apostle was the most generous person, even more generous than the strong uncontrollable wind (in readiness and haste to do charitable deeds).“ (Hadith 1.5)
Just as Christians try to emulate Jesus, Muslims try to emulate Muhammad. What’s interesting about the Hadith is that its very structure is based on a process known by a type of mnemonic called isnad. Isnad refers to the chain of authority in which these traditions were passed down. One man would hear the words of the prophet, then recite them to another, and then to another, and so forth: almost like a massive game of “telephone”. Now, don’t think this cause for illegitimacy; these authorities well educated in the intense oral study of the Hadith known as ilm-al-rijal. What I find truly remarkable is that they spent so much time critiquing and studying these traditions all in the name of preserving their religion. Such devotion is rarely paralleled elsewhere in the world.
One of the more famous Hadiths or traditions that I’m sure we’re all familiar with in the Islamic is called the adhan—the call to prayer. Here’s a short video clip of a typical adhan:
The call to prayer symbolizes unifying Islams worldwide to set aside time from their daily lives and turn towards the Holy City of Mecca and pray to God. This dedication to prayer is repeated 5 times a day without hesitation by a typical Muslim. In a way, the adhan exemplifies the essence of oral knowledge. Through words and music, earnest testimonies of God's, or Allah's, greatness are transmitted and edify all who listen.
In closing, I’d like to express my appreciation for such an amazing culture in which the spoken word has so much meaning. If only we as members of the LDS could pass down the oral messages of the Apostles today; we could further spread the knowledge of God’s goodness and grace half as well as the Muslims.
Sources: The Hadith found at http://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=1&translator=1
Lecture Notes from my Islam and the Gospel class Islam: The Basics by Turner
Before I go into too much detail about the mnemonic "triads" of the ancient Welsh, I want to give a quick background on the people and their origins (which was very confusing and hard to for me to dissect, but this I think this book lays it out fairly clearly). According to A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest by Sir John Edward Lloyd, there are three peoples that make up the Welsh ethnic group:
The Neolithic, or basically the original inhabitants of Wales (The Welsh inherited many of their physical attributes from this group)
The Gaels or Goidelic people, a Celtic group (Greatly influenced the politics and social institutions of the Welsh)
The Brythons or Britons, also a Celtic group (The Welsh language essentialy comes from this people)
Because they inherited their language from the Brythons, the Welsh are considered to be Brythonic people as opposed to Gaelic people like the Irish.
Modern Day Great Britain
Great Britain about 5th Century AD Red=Brythonic Areas Green=Gaelic Areas Blue=Pictish Areas
The Inca civilization was a marvel for a myriad of reasons: their highly advanced architecture, engineering, and farming techniques, the domestication and expert breeding of guinea pigs (cuyes), their numerical system, and their religion. However, probably their most astounding achievement was that they did all of these without a written language.
To us, the idea of a civilization without written words is inconceivable. We rely so much on written language (traffic signs, manuals, accounting, letters, documents, maps, recipes, text books, etc.) that our civilization would literally be inoperable without it. It's amazing to me how such an advanced society could exist without a written language. The Incas had a formal polytheistic religion (Tahuantinsuyu), complex tapestries woven from alpaca wool that served to seal political contracts, musical instruments, and they even performed successful skull surgery... all without a written language.
How did their civilization pass down knowledge from one generation to the next?
The Inca society had special "rememberers" whose specific function was to know and remember certain things about their civilization, and then pass that knowledge on. Probably my favorite example of a "rememberer" is that of the quipucamayoc.
The quipucamayoc were the Incan accountants whose function was to remember how to use the quipu (pictured at the top). The quipu was an instrument used to store huge amounts of information about many aspects of their society. They were like ancient computers-- not only used for storing data, but also used for mathmatical calculation. Everything about the quipu meant something different: the lengths of the cords, the colors, the spacing, the types of knots... everything stood for a different detail or fact. Even though the true interpretation of the quipu died with the quipucamayoc, many people have hazarded a guess at what different patterns could mean.
The spoken language of the Incas is called Quechua. It's interesting what we can learn from their language. They seemed to be peaceful and to dislike warfare: the word for "soldier" is also the same word for "enemy". Agriculture seems to be very important, because there is only one word for "work" or "cultivate".
Here are some other fun words I found:
"Canca"- Sacred bread "Pucara"- Fortress
"Sinchi"- Chief, leader
"Yacarca"- Soothsayer, diviner
"Chasqui"- Relay runner
Even though the interpretation of the quipu has been lost, the language of the Inca survived the expanse of centuries and is still spoken by millions of people today. Recent census reports show that two and one-half million people still speak Quechua, and two thirds of these speak no other language.
It's interesting to me how the language survived intact, but the true interpretation of the quipu was forgotten and lost. What made the Incas decide it wasn't important enough to be remembered? Was it the influence of the incoming Europeans and their knowledge of written language? Was it destroyed along with their society as the Spanish invaded?
Why do we forget or leave behind different aspects of knowledge in our society and in our individual lives? What do we see as necessary to pass down to the next generation?
Summer and I were having a discussion after class, and we thought it might be a good idea to find pride in our Freshmen-ness; other groups might have a diversity of years (and marriages and babies and missions) to give them perspective, but we've got the freshmen force. For that reason, we were wondering if maybe we could vote on keeping the old name, "The Lost Diadem," which is cool, or trying out some play on Freshmen and Refreshments quotes, or something... wait! Hear us out!
We could be...
"On a long journey of human life, faith is the best of companions; it is the best reFRESHMEN on the journey (he he); and it is the greatest property." -Buddha quotes
or...
"Love is the greatest reFreshmen in life." -Pablo Picasso
or
"To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect reFreshmen." -Jane Austen
or... he he he...
"Universities are full of knowledge; the freshmen bring a little in, the seniors take none away, and the knowledge there accumulates." -Abbott Lawrence Lowell
Just kidding about that one. :)
"I would assume that you were going to offer me reFreshmen, but the evidence so far suggests that that would be optimistic to the point of foolishness." -Albus Dumbledore
"Silence is reFreshmen for the soul." -Wynonna Judd
I hereby acknowledge that some of them make little to no sense, but what do you think? Should we wear our class status with pride? We were thinking we could vote on it. What do you think?
First off, I really had to put this movie clip from the movie "Wit" with Emma Thompson, about an English professor undergoing chemotheraphy because it is just so great! Also, the main character describes why, to her, language has such power, and why she loves it.
“Deep meaning often lies in childish play.” -Johann Friedrich von Schiller, German poet
I wanted to follow up on my post about the Rubik’s cube because although it may be a relatively new game, the tradition of passing folk knowledge about games is age-old. Games and puzzles have existed to provoke the minds of others and just to have fun. Although this is true, playing games is also a folk knowledge in the way it is passed down and used to connect cultures, families, and friends.
I felt so....dark after writing my post on Secret Combinations that I had to follow up with nice bit about religion and how it also is spread by folk knowledge.
Typically, when religion is brought up, we usually resort to consulting holy books such as the Bible, Koran, Book of Mormon etc. While these print materials may be of great importance, when they are the only sources considered, often times they result in irrational Bible bashes. Often times, we forget the original essence of religion.Think back, way back to when you were a kid, who first introduced your religion or beliefs? Was it a book? Most likely, it wasn’t. More likely it was your parents, or friends.
When you consider ancient times, where print was not readily available. The primary responsibility of keeping religious traditions alive lay within the family. When considering the Bible, the religious traditions of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and so forth were all kept alive, not from books, but from strong family values. This proves that religion is a folk knowledge it must be taught and practiced on a personal level rather than institutions. Also, in the book of Mormon, Helaman’s 2000 stripling warriors obtained such strong testimonies, enough to vanquish the armies of evil, all because simply their mothers taught them (Alma 56:47). The seeds of testimonies begin with the source of original folk knowledge.
Another interesting tid bit I researched was about the early Massachusetts colony in the New World during the mid- 17th century.Due to their unwavering commitment to religion, a large part of their culture centered around the parents teaching their children religion. In fact, in 1642, the colony passed a law that required parents to school children in the Bible and morality. The link to this interesting article is found here: http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2246/Moral-Education.html
Now, I’m not saying that religion can’t be learned from holy books (I love the Book of Mormon), but honestly the strongest religious realizations don’t come from hard copies. Religious truth and traditions are spread when people earnestly share their testimonies, and seek knowledge from the Spirit.
I emailed Prof. Burton and asked if we had to do a blog post this week, and he said there was no specific assignment but we were expected to post about something that pursues the learning outcomes and is relative to the units we are in between, folk knowledge and oral knowledge. I decided to do one last post on folk knowledge, and I decided to go to the list and find the topic I was least interested in, learn and subsequently blog about it, and I thought that maybe then I would gain a greater interest in and appreciation for it. So here goes: Water.
I had a really hard time finding something I thought I was really good at that would also be worth teaching to others. But then it came to me-- CREPES!
If I know how to do anything, I know how to make scrumptious crepes. Not to brag, but I've never had better crepes than the ones I've made with my own hands. With crepes, the technique, handiwork, and texture are more important than the actual recipe. Just choose a generic recipe (like the one below from foodnetwork.com), and then I'll work you through the handiwork.
Ingredients: 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk (preferably whole) 2 eggs 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon melted butter (plus more for cooking crepes) 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Personally, my favorite crepe toppings are cooked frozen blueberries (in their own juice, with just a pinch of sugar) and whipped cream.
The directions online say to "put the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Gradually whisk in the milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Cover and let chill in the refridgerator for about an hour."
Heat an 8-inch skillet or pan on medium-high heat. Melt a bit of butter in the middle, swirling it around as it melts so that it covers the whole pan.
Now here's the tricky part: ladle the absolutely LEAST amount of crepe batter into the middle of the sizzling pan. Pick up the pan by the handle and, using gravity, manuever the batter around the pan until the batter covers the pan in an extremely thin layer. You'll only want to leave the crepe for, like, twenty seconds... just until the crepe turns a golden color... you don't want to burn it. Being very gentle (you might need two utensils), turn the crepe over and cook.
I just came across this in a textbook reading I have for English, and it was pretty cool. It's by this African-American female professor and feminist, Gloria Watkins, who goes by bell hooks in her writing, about women's concerns with teaching Women's Studies in a university setting. Read more about bell hooks here.
Kelly learning a "3 Point stance" (thanks to Tanner
for his help)
If I thought I was out of my comfort zone learning to braid hair, I can't imagine what these girls were feeling learning how to play football. It's interesting that in today's world of tolerance and gender equality, football remains one of the few sports with no womens' teams at the high school or collegiate level. Why is this? Do we assume girls are weaker than boys and can't handle the physicality of football? Are we afraid to let them compete in any form of football besides "Powder Puff" games or the "Lingerie Football League"? I wanted to break these traditions and teach girls how to play low down, gritty, real football.
Have you ever heard of Feliks Zembdegs, Nipat Charoenpholphant, or Che-Ting Chu? Well you should have because they are currently the top 3 ranked Rubik’s cube solvers in the world. 5.66 seconds sounds pretty intense, right? And so this is the tale of my quest to solve a Rubik’s cube.
Hold one, two, three, four and one, two, three, four, and turn open fan and pose! That was basically the essence of my teaching experience today. I started ballroom dancing in junior high and ever since then dance positions, rock steps, and pivots have been etched into my subconscious.
Recently at BYU, I’ve been taking a Latin style ballroom class and currently we had learned a rhumba routine. It’s a slow, smooth, romantic, that requires methodical foot dragging and subtle hip twisting. So I called up one of my female partners and we organized a time to teach a few of our friends the basic steps.
We met in the activity room of our dorm, I tuned some Michael Buble and we proceeded to demonstrate “new yorkers”, “fans”, and “la cucarachas”. Slowly, our friend’s faces dropped with confusion, but yet their eyes lit with anticipation to learn how to dance. My partner and I first taught them how to walk to the rhythm. Rhumba is interesting because you don’t start on beat one as you would in swing or cha-cha: you start on beat two and pause on beat one. At first our friends were confused, but gradually s they figured out how to keep the beat and move in time with their partners. I was so proud! There’s a great satisfaction to teach a skill to others. They most likely will forget the steps by tomorrow but nonetheless, they will carry that knowledge of ballroom dance for the rest of their lives.
Its interesting to switch from the vantage point of the learner to the teacher. What’s even more surprising are the similarities between the two. The most striking similarity is the amount of humility required. If a learner is prideful, they risk missing critical information and the teacher is rendered useless. When a teacher is prideful, them the learner gets annoyed and the transfer of knowledge is disrupted.
I was grateful to have another teacher their helping me out. She knew skills, such as the lady’s steps, that I couldn’t teach.With the combination of her knowledge, we were both able to teach more effectively than we could have alone. Knowledge doesn’t have to be taught via one person, sometimes tag-team teaching is more effective. Like our civilizations class. The two-person teaching method really invigorates the learning atmosphere.
Ballroom dance is a folk knowledge that creates strong bonds between two people. When two partners nail a routine, there’s a sort of mutual excitement and sense of companionship. I will always relish my ballroom dancing knowledge, and hope I can have more opportunities to teach others so that they can have that same connection I’ve felt.
