REL 2011 REL 2011 MIDTERM EXAM Essay 1 Buddhism is essentially an atheistic religion. And yet it is one of the major religions in the world today. How can Buddhism be used to illustrate Durkheim’s and Geertz’s point that religion is really not about “God‚” but about “us‚” that is‚ about human society and culture. In order words‚ in what sense would it be true to say that religion will not go away or disappear (as the radical Enlightenment
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Right Action (Samma kammanta in Pali)‚ is a key truth in The Eightfold Path of Buddhism and greatly impacts the actions of followers. The vital truth of Right Action in the religion of Buddhism is still relevant today due to the fear of gaining negative karma and receiving an undesirable reincarnation. Reincarnation is a common concept in Buddhist and Hindu tradition and it states that‚ after biological death‚ the consciousness of a person can begin a new life in a different body. Karma is an element
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Stephen Ford March 7‚ 2005 At first glance the traditions of Christianity and Buddhism appear very different from each other. One centers around a God that was at one time physically manifest on earth in the human form of his "son" Jesus Christ‚ the other primarily worships a historical figure that gained divine status through enlightenment. This assessment is broad at best‚ especially in the case of Buddhism where the Theravada and Mahayana traditions differ significantly. Christianity also
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the center of Christianity is a poor man who claims to be God. At the center of Buddhism is a wealthy prince who claims he is not a god‚ but a man. In this short space I will compare and contrast some aspects of Christianity and Buddhism‚ knowing that doing real justice to the topic would take volumes of books. Such is the influence of both religions – that a true comparison could take a person’s lifetime. Buddhism starts in India‚ as an offshoot of Hinduism based on the writings of a wealthy
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Michelle King 4A On the outside Buddhism and Hinduism look very much alike. Though they have a common past and share many similar beliefs there are still many differences between the two faiths. Though both religions believe in something greater than themselves‚ Hinduism provides its followers with a set of gods and recognizes the existence of a soul were as traditional Buddhism did not concern itself with worship of gods and did not believe in souls‚ making one group of followers more reliant
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Hinduism and Buddhism are two of the oldest and most influential religions around the world. There are currently over one billion Hindus and 488 million Buddhists still celebrating their religion today. Hinduism and Buddhism are very similar religions for many reasons‚ some of the reasons being their beliefs and origins. Both religions originated in India and are based on similar cultural backgrounds and traditions. Based upon observations and review‚ these religions appear to be more similar
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Buddhism and Islam are both prevalent religions in the world today with Buddhism originating around 2500 BCE in India while Islam began around 700 CE in the Middle East. Buddhism began when Siddhartha Gautama became enlightened and started spreading his teachings of what he learned throughout India. Islam began through the teachings of their main and highest prophet‚ Muhammad. Islam and Buddhism are similar through their beliefs in a founder and a set of ethical standards which they live their life
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As a kid and growing up‚ all of my friends never knew what Buddhism was. Even I barely knew what Buddhism was. All I knew and all they knew was Buddha seemed to look like based off my necklace. This always left the question in my head: What exactly is Buddhism? I began asking my family members what Buddhism was really about and they all responded that Buddhism was a religion. Later to find out is that they never really knew what Buddhism was‚ they were just told that is was a religion and just went
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The Spread of Buddhism in China Buddhism was created in India in there sixth century B.C.E.‚ and later spread to China during the first century B.C.E . In China‚ when people met Buddhism for the very first time‚ people had many mixed reactions. Some people began to accept Buddhism and started practicing it. Meanwhile‚ some people became very critical of the new language‚ and there were those who were indifferent about the religion‚ nor praising or declining. In the readings‚ Documents 2 and 3 show
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Buddhism in America Buddhism first came to America in the late 1800’s from the Europeans. 1893 is the year most often given to the birth of Buddhism in America. It was said to have come over during the first World Parliament of Religions‚ which took place in Chicago The first known Buddhist monk in the Western hemisphere was‚ Allan Bennett. He eventually took the name Ananda Metteya. As Buddhism began to flower in America‚ it began to influence important thinkers‚ who in turn influenced
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