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
Premium Religion Buddhism Philosophy
magazines‚ advertisements have become a major part of our lives. We are constantly evolving in order to keep up with the people around us; this same concept applies to religions. When people hear the word‚ “Buddhism‚” most people think about a bald man sitting in a room meditating. However‚ Buddhism has changed over the years just like everything else in our daily lives. Physical representations play a key role in the Buddhist religion in various ways. Each representation may have a different meaning
Premium Buddhism
understanding. The core element of Buddhism is the Experiential Dimension‚ as the ultimate goal of all Buddhists is to attain Enlightenment or Nirvana. The other aspects of the faith all concern the achievement of this experience. However‚ in stating this‚ the other dimensions are still important to Buddhists but exert less significance. The Experiential Dimension of Buddhism is essentially the most important of all the dimensions as the core belief of Buddhism concerns obtaining the experience
Premium Buddhism Gautama Buddha
Contrast Buddhism and Christianity What is the best religion in the world? It is the question that everybody argument. Each country has its own culture with different religions. That’s why there are many religions in the world‚ such as: Buddhism‚ Christianity‚ Islam‚ Judaism‚ and Hinduism. Each religion has its own featured‚ so nobody can’t choose which one is the best religion in the world. Religions are different in a lot of ways‚ for example‚ the places that they are popular. Christianity and
Premium Buddhism
Permanence of Impermanence Imagine a snowflake falling down from the heavens‚ from at least 3‚000 feet above the ground to eventually land on some foreign surface unbeknownst to the flake. The plight of this single snowflake depends on many things – will this flake collide with other falling flakes? If they collide‚ will they stick together and form a larger mass of snow – or will they bounce off each other and maybe alter each other’s form due to the force of the collision? Or‚ if the flake does
Premium Buddhism
members of the highest caste‚ the brahmins‚ may perform the Hindu religious rituals and hold positions of authority within the temples. JAINISM The founder of the Jain community was Vardhamana‚ the last Jina in a series of 24 who lived in East India. He attained enlightenment after 13 years of deprivation and committed the act of salekhana‚ fasting to death‚ in 420 BCE. Jainism has many similarities to Hinduism and Buddhism which developed in the same part of the world. They believe in karma and
Premium Buddhism Hinduism
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
Premium Buddhism Meditation
Worldview The Absolute As Nichiren Buddhism mention‚’Buddha’ is a term in Sanskrit words‚ which means the one who is awaken. Buddha has no fixed or essential appearance of how He look like and it become the reason why peoples should not idolize the Buddha and pray on it as what Buddhism in India does. To Nichiren Buddhism followers‚ they believe that Buddha exists inside everyone‚ and they seek for god inside their life. In fact‚ Life is Buddha‚ Buddha is life. (活即佛，佛即活). The problem of Humans
Premium Buddhism Gautama Buddha Nirvana
Theoretical: Buddhism seeks a “Middle Path” between indulgence and asceticism by exchanging greed‚ hatred‚ and delusion for transcendent happiness (p. 196-8). Doing so ends the cycle of arising and passing away as the individual reaches nirvana. While Buddhism is typically seen as a non-theistic religion‚ one tradition (Mahayana) does parallel Christian theology in that their belief in a previous Buddha’s power allows them access to the “Pure Land” (p. 223).There are three vehicles (traditions) in
Premium Buddhism Gautama Buddha Religion
Nacirema When I read Body Rituals Among the Nacirema by Horace Miner the first time‚ I couldn’t imagine how a culture could behave this way and live their daily lives following these rituals. They believed that their bodies were ugly and its natural tendency was to debility and disease. They devoted much of their time trying to prevent these characteristics After observing the Nacirema customs‚ I found it to be crazy that they had shrines with a box or chest built into the wall full of magic
Premium Human Culture Sociology