“Religion is a system that proclaims an unseen order, and that our ultimate good lies in aligning ourselves with the unseen order.”
Buddhism
The truth in how the unseen order in Buddhism is the structure of human reality. It is the truth about ourselves and the truth in which we are as human beings. The truths in ourselves will often be unseen or unidentifiable often because our minds are distorted. As humans, we have these natural distortions and have a hard time seeing things in a clear perspective. Buddhism does assert that a supreme goodness does lie within a harmoniously level of adjustment within ourselves to see this hidden truth in which we would not see normally. In Buddhism, there is a path that is laid for harmonious adjustment and what it does consider is the truth in regards to the reality in our minds. In Buddhism life is regarded as a unity of spiritual and physical. Manifestations of the spiritual, the seen and the unseen are all a part of the same universal law of life. These manifestations of our spiritual and physical lives are one and of equableness. Buddhist meditation consists of developing a capacity in our minds to rest and not be disturbed, on singly a perception of an object. Secondly, Buddhists meditation aims at the understanding of the true nature of things. Insightful meditation is about understanding the nature of the world and letting go.
Bhagavad Gita 3.33
Even the wise man acts
In accordance with his inner nature
All beings follow their
“Religion deals with daily living as well as the ultimate source, meaning and goal of life.”
“There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations; and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.”
Buddhism is seen as a way of life rather than a form of religion that needs to be closely followed and constantly practiced. The idea of “enlightenment” carries through one’s entire lifetime in an attempt to reach nirvana, which is an end to all suffering. A person’s lifetime is spent being faithful and relying on karma to eventually achieve nirvana and enlightenment, in which people embark on the path of awakening. The awakening is a very crucial aspect of the Buddhist religion, as it was Buddha’s own personal awakening and understanding of how the world works, in which he passed it on to be believed and understood by others. It’s closely related to other religions in the way that rebirth and reincarnation are the beliefs surrounding the idea of the afterlife, however Buddhism in particular is an anatta tradition, or ‘not-self,’ which often sets it apart from other religions.This complex ideal entails that one’s external self, consciousness, feelings
I agree with him in that the primary employment of religion now is to change our serious sentiments of fear, ghastliness, and supernatural happiness into ecstatic religious feeling. The pessimistic emotions here included are strongly individual: the self feels little, wiped out, and unnerved, and religion's cure includes utilizing their exceptionally savagery and abundance to break them free from the self. We should live in time, which implies that we should be liable to possibility of mortality. The great questions of life, the overwhelming, fearsome riddles that encompass our lives, need to do with the way everything comes to be and passes away, and everything is subject to time and chance and
"This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it." - John Adams
Religion is a cultural system of behaviors, practices, world views, ethics, and social organization that relate humanity to an order of existence (Dictionary). With more than 84% of the world affiliating with religion, religion permeates the fabric of our existence by it’s influence on legal systems, nation’s policies, and moral standards (Religion stats). Making up 23% of the world population, the Muslim religion is divided into two sects: Sunni and Shi’a. The separation of the Muslim religion is the longest and largest division in the history of Islam (BBC). Furthermore, the split of religions is exemplified through the characters in The Kite Runner. Amir, the main character and narrator, describes religion as a part of every day life in
Buddhism is the most prevailing religion in Asia with about 379 million followers. Buddhism believes in following the “Enlightened” path, which is to live life serenely and without desires. This action was very challenging to accomplish, but it allowed you to associate with yourself internally. Buddhism impacted the world by expressing the belief of the 4 noble truths, offering the idea of reincarnation, and to follow certain traditions in physical appearance. The 4 noble truths were the main components in following the “Enlightened” path by explaining how the suffering is caused by people’s desires and that they need to release those to feel free. Reincarnation led other people to believe that when you die, your soul would be born into a new life, which gave the thought about other “realms” that may exist. Also, the physical appearance of Buddhists/monks was different because they would wear clothes that helped them see their natural beauty.
“Religion is meant to teach us true spiritual human character. It is meant for self-transformation. It is meant to transform anxiety into peace, arrogance into humility, envy into compassion, to awaken the pure soul in man and his love for the Source, which is God.” (Radhanath Swami)
Beguines is a religion, unlike Buddhism which is more a philosophy, although some may feel that Buddhism is a religion. Both pray to a higher power, Beguines prayed to a god and Buddhism prayed to a higher power, both do not believe in violence and both are very spiritual. A group of woman started Beguines because they wanted to find a way of life without men, without being bound by vows. Beguines did not live in a convent nor were they nuns if they decided to go out into the world they were allowed if a woman decided to wed, they were allowed; Although back at that time they were not enough men to marry. They supported themselves by working manual labor or teaching their children about the spiritual world. Buddhism is a method or a way of
Spirituality and religion hold different values and truths depending on your personal beliefs. Being religious is a belief or practice that contains certain values one should follow. When looking deeper into religion you can find spirituality which is the part of religion that effects our spirit and soul, it is not tangible. “The Sacred within” is spirituality and pertains to God dwelling inside of our heart and soul. When looking at “the sacred within” there are certain senses that we can tap into so, we may obtain that sort of spirituality. Through solitude, silence, imagination, and nature, we can have a better sense of spirituality.
“Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world, as it is the spirit of spiritless conditions.”
“The greatest tragedy in mankind’s entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion. “ Arthur C. Clark
“religion consist of a set of things which the average man thinks he believes in and wishes he was certain of”. What I feel like Mark Twain was saying we may say we Christian but we are not really sure if god exist. We believe he does and wish we had more proof. I believe there comes a time where we once doubted if god really exist. I know we have proof by what’s written in the bible but sometimes people want more. I think as human we have self doubt even if we don’t want to. I agree with Mark Twain because we have our beliefs and who or what we believe in, but there always a time where we doubt if someone really exist. I pray and read
Religion has been a powerful force in human history. Mankind has longed and searched for the answers to its purpose, the reason for being and the possibility of life after physical death. They reasoned that an afterlife would be a place of accounting and reckoning for the life they lived on earth. Religious belief systems seemed to give the answers as to how to prepare for the afterlife. Religion became the means of giving answers to those basic yet deep-seated questions of both life and death. Religion provided a format of rules and laws for conduct and treatment toward others based on the desires and wishes of a god or gods that people envisioned, imagined or invented. Religious belief systems have been a powerful force for good and bad...good in the sense that it provided a measure of individual behavior and order in society for the wellbeing of the whole, but bad in the sense that men of ambition who craved power and control over others would often use religion as a tool of manipulation and fear. A casual glance of history tells us that complete civilizations have been built, grown and maintained around elaborate religious systems, ancient Egypt being a prime example.
What is religion? Each person’s definition of religion is different. Each person’s faith is different. This is a question that has been asked for centuries, and regardless of the answer given there is no right or wrong answer. Religion can be defined as a group of people who have shared beliefs who feel their life has purpose or meaning. This feeling or belief that their life has meaning can come from outside of themselves, as well as within. Taking this one step further, these shared beliefs put into action in the form of worship, can be easily identified because they happen regularly. It can be said the Primal religions were in fact not religions. Some may argue Confucianism is not a religion. Others may say Taoism is not a