Reflecting on The Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago

Although religions today take on many shapes and forms, and may seem so dramatically different from each other, in order to study and understand these religions, their similarities must be identified. This paper will first present a definition of religion that will connect to all religions at the simplest base. Then this paper will examine the common practices and experiences that are present in both the primary religions of the world, as well as the indigenous religions. Finally, this paper will discuss the issues that are critical to the academic study of religions.

The common ground of religions in the world is that they claim the existence of god/gods who holds the power beyond human ability. Each religion explains its existence in their own unique ways and implement it to people’s lifestyle. The film, 330 Million Gods, seeks to understand the Hinduism way of explanation. This documentary mainly focuses on the Hindu concept of divine, religious practices, and the stages of life. Also, the documentary illustrates how Indian lifestyle blends into its religion in the big cities – city of Benares and rural areas – village of Bhith Bhagwanpur. The most interesting points of this film presents to me are the idea of many gods with different sets of ability, how the Hindus practice the religion, and the concept

Within many known religions, the devotional practices has been known to acquire great importance. The essence of practicing what you preach has scolded many religious groups, introducing true beliefs, righteousness, and a wider connection to the supreme being . In the book entitled “ Living religions” by Mary Pat Fisher, clarified and firm descriptions were introduced about religious rituals. Surprisingly; the author utilized small parts of modern concepts, limiting the reader from a full comprehension of religious practices today, therefore; I will only discuss the basic and traditional rituals. To elaborate; in this paper, I will be providing an opinionated but also, comparative description of the major practices and rituals that undergo in both the Abrahamic and indigenous religions.

The first theme of Youngblood’s book is Monotheism. A basic understanding that makes the reader aware that God is ‘…God, and there is no other” (Isaiah

Identify one Christian community living or serving in a Hindu context. Analyze the principles and practices of the group in light of key Hindu beliefs and practices.

Hinduism, the world’s oldest religion, is the third largest religion in the world after Islam and Christianity with close to one billion followers. The followers of the religion are called Hindus and are mainly located in India, and their place of worship is a temple. The religion doesn’t have any one specific founder, however,

peculiar sounds it was noted in that during prayer they also broke out in uncontrollable laughter and

Religion is one of the most controversial and complex concepts created and practiced throughout the ages. Those who do not have much knowledge about religion may believe that every belief, ritual, practice, and god is the same. Fortunately, this is not true and there is a vast amount of differences among eastern and western religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity. In essence, this paper should discuss the differences between eastern and western religions regarding the path to god, judgement day, and the nature of worship.

(they dismantle the circle and alter). Other rituals include: dedication, initiation, handfasting, parting of ways, wiccaning, and funeral ceremonies.

The practices involved getting water from the pool of Siloam and pouring some out; the other practice involved a lighting ceremony where four candelabras that contained golden bowls would be filled with oil and then lit. Each day of the feast a sacrifice would be made. Sacrifices would be made with bulls, rams, lambs, and goats. Some of the sacrifices made were the burnt offerings would be made for sin, meat offering would be made for fellowship, and drink offerings would be made for rejoicing. Prayers would be recited during the feast and the people would hear about God’s providence and provision to the people of Israel during their

Hinduism - stands for the faith and the way of life most of the people who live

(309). This goes hand and hand with speaking. “Thus the profane are barred from speaking to sacred beings or even speaking in their presence” (309). A tribe of people in central Australia called Arunta do the same rite. “Among all the Arunta, there are moments in the grand ceremonies when silence is obligatory. As soon as the churingas are displayed, talking stops; or, if there is talking, it is in a low voice and with the lips only.” (309). In addition to sacredness, words can be sacred as well. There are certain words that people are not allowed to hear. For example, women are not allowed to listen to ritual songs but they can listen to bull roarers from afar. Unexpectedly, negative cults have brought out “a positive and highly important influence upon the religious and moral nature of the individuals.” (314). Durkheim says that it has something to do with “the barrier that sets the sacred apart from the profane, man can enter into close relations with sacred things only if he strips himself of what is profane in him.”

On Sunday, February 21, Billy and I joined Arjun's father in his trip to the Hindu temple in Orlando—we had to wake up earlier than usual for a Sunday but it was for good cause. We arrived at the temple in Orlando just before 10AM for a prayer service that was difficult to

Hindu and Buddhist cultures are both rich in religion and expressing their faith through art. The Buddhist culture was formed by Buddha who went out to discover the causes of pain and suffering. Once Buddha realized what the cause was, he provided a set of four guiding principles know as the “Four Noble Truths” that are exercised in Buddhism (Kleiner, p. 13). The Four Noble truths are “Life is suffering, the cause of suffering is desire, one can overcome and extinguish desire, the way to conquer desire and end suffering is to follow Buddha’s Eightfold Path…” (p. 13). These truths are expressed in the following of Buddhism and commonly carried out through art. Buddhism is practiced throughout Southeast Asia and southern India where

Religion was at most often marked in masks and sculpture. Masks were used in many ritual ceremonies to embody spiritual forces. Geometric and