Needing Spiritual Upliftment? Three Pilgrimage Sites to Visit in Asia
Feeling there is something amiss in your religious/spiritual life? Wondering how you can relieve the stress, rediscover your faith and attain spiritual nourishment? Looking to strengthen your religious devotion? Then this calls for you to travel to some of Asia's pilgrimage sites.
If you are adhering to a certain faith, it could be one of those that have its roots in Asia. The continent is the birthplace to three monotheist faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam (all three in the Middle East). It is also home to Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism (in the Indian subcontinent). Confucianism and Taoism long existed in China, and Shintoism is deeply rooted in Japan.
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If you cannot communte, you can arrange for a tour package with one of the many travel agents in the city.
Mashhad (Khorasan Razavi, Iran)
If Jerusalem is the holiest city for the Jews, then Mashhad in Iran is the holiest to the Shiite Muslims. Literally meaning “the burning place of the martyr”, Mashhad is the site of martyrdom of one of the most revered figures in Shia Islam. The Imam Reza shrine (a complex housing the martyr's mausoleum) was later built in his honor. The shrine is one of the many shrines that Shiite Muslims visit for pilgrimage.
Mashhad is easily accessible through air travel, with domestic trips to and from Tehran and other cities and international trips to and from countries including Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh, India)
Varanasi is to Hinduism as Jerusalem is to the Jews. A city along the famed Ganges River of India, Varanasi is the main center of pilgrimage for Hindus from all over the world who come to pray and bath in the Ganges every year. Devout Hindus believe that by bathing or cleansing themselves in the waters of Ganges at Varanasi, they can be absolved of their sins and attain higher birth status at reincarnation, thus driving many Hindus to come to the area for their final journey in life. True to its Hindu religiosity, the city hosts a number of religious festivals every year, most importantly the Maha Shivratri, a feast dedicated to Lord Shiva.
Varanasi is also holy to the
In Hesse's novel, Siddhartha the title character, Siddhartha leaves the Brahmins in search of Nirvana - spiritual peace. The journey he endures focuses on two main goals - to find peace and the right path (http://www.ic.ucsb.edu/~ggotts/hesse/life/jennifer/html). Joseph Mileck, the author of Hermann Hesse: Life and Art, asserts that Siddhartha focuses on a sense of unity developed through Siddhartha's mind, body, and soul (Baumer). Hesse's Siddhartha revolves around three central journeys - a physical, a mental, and a spiritual journey.
The Pilgrimage of Grace was a religious uprising in York, England which started in late 1536 and finished in early 1537, where people lead by Yorkshire lawyer Robert Aske staged protests and demonstrations in opposition to King Henry VIII’s dissolution of monasteries and break from the Catholic Church. This rebellion was mostly aimed at Thomas Cromwell, who was Henry’s High Chancellor; and many of these marchers influenced Cromwell’s policies. The participants of the Pilgrimage of Grace had a goal to reinstate the Catholic Church, and a concern of the economic impacts caused by losing monasteries; those who opposed the movement had a goal to punish leaders and anyone associated with the movement and a political concern of losing power for
Whenever I thought of Buddhist I saw bald men or women with orange robes, white socks, and brown sandals. Obviously, not the older woman with gray hair that was now facing me and the other twenty congregants in the meditation room. She was obviously the leader.
I visited the Mid-American Buddhist Association, they are a part of the three schools in Northern Buddhism. These schools are Elder teaching, modern Buddhism, and Depant, or strict Buddhism. They are different from other Buddhist communities because they all speak different languages and they all have different cultures which coexist peacefully. I went to Mid-America Buddhist Association with a classmate Angelique Failor, and the address is 299 Heger Lane Augusta, MO 63332.We went on November 12 and we got there around 11:00 a.m. and we stayed until about 12 p.m. We also went back on Sunday, November 13 and we got there around 10 and stayed till 12. Before we entered the Meditation Hall we took our shoes off , and then Master Jiru greeted us. He took us to a sitting area where we could ask him questions. He talked a little bit about their history, and let us ask what we needed. He told us that the land was cleaned in 1995 and the first structure that was build was the Meditation Hall in 1997.The Buddhist community is 15 minutes away from Saint Louis and it is now 17 years old. The community built around the Buddhist have been there at least 10 years based off of the Victorian style homes. Theses Buddhist are funded by a Buddhist community started on Washington University’s- St.Louis campus. Master Jiru actually is from Thailand but lived in New York before coming to Missouri. They believe they are the most diverse Buddhist community because they have many different
Many of today’s most popular religions did not originate where the majority of their religious followers live. For example, Hinduism is one of the oldest major religions and it was created somewhere near or around the Indus Valley (which is now modern day Pakistan). Another example is Christianity or Christian Orthodox. This religion originated in the eastern section of the Roman Empire. Eventually both of these religions, along with their customs and beliefs, became popular amongst other people, cultures, and even nations, therefore spreading across the
Spiritual disciplines will prepare us for our journey in Christ. I feel if understanding correctly, the classical Christian Pilgrimage remind us that we all have issues requiring regular examination. In chapter eight, the classical Christian Pilgrimage tells us we are at different stages on the path of wholeness in Christ. However, in my thoughts some areas of our Christian journey we may be doing well, but in other areas we have not touched at all. Not to mention, these are the place we are not ready or capable of handling yet, however, as we mature in God and He knows what we can handle, then we are awakened. God awakens us to our true selves which have not been completely revealed. In reality, once we reach maturity to God, he reveals all that is hidden deep inside of us (the real us/you). By the same token, he let us see the inner behaviors, attitudes, desires, in fact how we measure up in them being Christ-like. I feel the awakening stage deals with the comfort of being set free of these issues that are holding us back also causing detours on our path to wholeness in Christ. Equally, the threat is being afraid to see who we really are; also how far from Christ-like we really are. We must first be awakened from our separation also alienation from God (Mulholland 79-82).
"Two Fishermen" examines the use of the death penalty within the justice system. Share your
A.Attention grab : Iran, also known as Persia, has one of the oldest cultures in the world with its history going back to 4,000 BC, it is home to more than 75 million Persians who practice the same culture and speak the same language Persian, or also known as Farsi.
A pilgrimage is a good time in which someday could spend a lot of time
that Mary told Bernadette to find a spring. She did and in 1862 it was
Albert Einstein once said, “the religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal god, avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all natural and spiritual and a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.”# Many great minds like Albert Einstein have converted or become Buddhists. Many people from the west are turning their attention towards Buddhism because of the Buddha’s simple way to life and the lack of worship or prayer to a divine being.
I was always fascinated in the Buddhist religion and this class assignment was a great opportunity for me to take advantage of my curiosity. I decided I would visit a Buddhist center. With the company of my mother, I went to the Diamond Way Buddhist Center in Miami. According to my interview with the Buddhist that instructed the meditation service, every Monday and Friday they have a meditation service for the 16th Karmapa meditation from 8:00pm to 8:30pm. This center is part of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism (Anonymous). Upon arriving, I realized that it was in someone’s home. Many Buddhist offer their homes for Buddhist centers and are unpaid for their services. However, they do accept donations. Before entering the house,
Buddhism is religion that is based off of peace and spirituality taught by the teachings of Buddha, also known as Siddhartha Gotama. Many who follow its teachings believe Buddhism to be more of a way of life or lifestyle choice rather a religion. Buddha is not a god, but one man that taught his followers a path of enlightenment from his experiences and values. Buddha’s main teachings were the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. The Four Noble Truths were teachings about suffering, pain, disease, happiness, loneliness, and aging. It explained why we as humans can overcome certain obstacles in our lives by looking at the more spiritual side of things such as “Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own
that of a river. If you've seen a river you'd have seen that "the water continually flowed
Buddhism arose in northern India in the 6th century BCE. The historical founder of Buddhism, Siddharta Gautama (c.560-480 BCE) was born in a village called Lumbini into a warrior tribe called the Sakyas (from where he derived the title Sakyamuni, meaning 'Sage of the Sakyas'). According to tradition Gautama's father, Suddhodana was the king of a small principality based on the town of Kapilavastu. His mother, Queen Maya, died seven days after Gautama's birth. Following the death of Maya, Suddhodana married Maya's sister, Prajapati, by whom Gautama was brought up in great luxury and sheltered from the harshness of the outside world.