Religion gives people hope. Sounds like a very stupid reason, but many people feel lost and scared in such a big world. Having a seemingly organised and "logical" way of explaining it for them can comfort people. Without religion we would have no charity, no missionary work and no morals to base our lives upon. All that would be left would be a world corrupted by selfishness, hate and anarchy and every person who denies religion brings us a step closer to that dark world.
In the Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra, he says that Buddhism has been, for many centuries and Buddhism is divided into two main religious groups Mahayana Buddhism and Hinayana Buddhism. The Hinayana is an orthodox school which sticks to the letter of the buddha’s teaching. On the other hand, the Mahayana, shows a more flexible attitude, believing that the spirit of the doctrine is more important than its original formulation(Capra 83). From the article given, I found two things that I attracted to, which is the Buddha’s way of teaching and the way the Buddha finds its awakening.
According to Fritjof Capra, “The Buddha was not interested in satisfying human curiosity about the origin of the world, the nature of the Divine, or similar questions. He was concerned exclusively with the human situation, with the suffering and frustrations of human beings. His doctrine, therefore, was not one of metaphysics, but one of psycho- therapy. He pointed out the origin of human frustrations and the way to overcome
Is there a god? This is a question that all types of people regardless of their religion have been asking for hundreds of years. If there is, why did the holocaust happen? Why is North Korea in the totalitarian state they are in now? These hypothetical questions can not be answered 100% correctly, however people from different religions have different explanations as to why god/god’s let bad things happen. This begs the question, is religion a worthwhile and beneficial practice for humans? The answer to that question is yes, religion is a worthwhile and beneficial practce for humans.
Religion provides hope for those who are hopeless. It aims to welcome those who are alienated and feel that their life has no purpose. Religion served the same function in the Middle Ages and Renaissance as it does today. However, religion was embraced more during the Middle Ages by desperate
Buddhism originated in the early Fifth century BCE, from the teachings of Siddhartha Buddha (Fisher, 2005). Plagued by the desire to help end human suffering, Buddha reached a state of pure enlightenment showing him the way to end earthly suffering. Through meditation, people can control the desires of their human nature. By gaining control of our desires we can end our suffering. He taught his wisdom to all that wanted to learn. After his death, three main forms of Buddhism emerged; there was the Theravada’s, the Mahayana’s, and the Zen Buddhists (Fisher, 2005). For the sake of this report, the local Buddhist
I am a third-year student at Seton Hall University and I am writing to you with great enthusiasm regarding the internship opportunity with the non-profit organization, the National Urban League. I learned about the position during my winter break, as I wanted to use my leadership and interpersonal skills in working for a well-respected organization that dealt with issues that I consider important, which is improving African-Americans lives.
The book “Physics of the Impossible” was written by Japanese American theoretical physicist Michio Kaku. Kaku generally writes books about physics or physics related topics. Among his three New Work Times best seller, Physics of Impossible is one in which Kaku utilizes discourse of theoretical advancements to acquaint themes of basic material science with the reader. In this book, Kaku represents physics in various ways so that the reader understands the significance of physics and implement in his/her life. Kaku makes many references to physics by utilizing popular culture references, especially to books and films, for example, Star Trek, Back to the Future, Flash Gordon, The Fly, The Invisible Man, and more. Kaku utilizes these cases to
Every person has their perspective about how they see the world. But, religion generally helps guide individuals towards a positive path even though they might have different views. However, many of today's conflicts are caused by the different views from religions. Even if there were one religion, that wouldn't make this world any more peaceful because not EVERYONE can agree on one and would still have their different views.
The word “impossible” has been a controversial topic discussed for years by people who just explain why there is nothing more we can do. In the book, Physics of the Impossible, Michio Kaku takes multiple ideas and concepts from recent books or movies and he discusses how each of them could or could not exist in the future. Kaku is a theoretical physicist who attended Harvard after winning a scholarship there (preface xi). His passion for science began young in life when he entered and won a science fair, which was his inspiration (preface xi).
Macbeth, a play by william shakespeare shows how greed for power and wealth can lead to the destruction of oneself. The play's main character, Macbeth is not satisfied as a thane in scotland should be. The force of ambition leading him to assassinate king Duncan to become King of scotland, while unexpectedly destroying himself. Throughout the play many examples are shown of Macbeth’s irresistible thirst for power.
Freud illuminates with slight sarcasm how convenient religion is in it's ability to rectify all the trials and tribulations of life for us. "Everything that happens in this world is an expression of the intentions of an intelligence superior to us, which in the end, though its ways and byways are difficult to follow, orders everything for the best." (Freud, 23) The existence of this divine creature who creates justice for us ensures that the masses will not stray from the laws and beliefs of religion and society for fear of being judged by this entity. Religion is also valuable to civilization for it's ability to explain death. Thanks to religion, death became something other than simply the termination of a life. Death stopped being the end and was recasted into the role of a doorway to another existence. As though knowing that the continuation of life were not enough, religion furthers it's own appeal by promising that the afterlife will be better than life on Earth. The afterlife itself also serves a function as well. A desire to gain entry into this afterlife will cause many of the masses to renounce their instincts.
The Mahayana and Theravada schools, while both following the Buddhist belief, have different understanding of the religion and the idea of Buddha The Buddha is the founder and leader of this religious tradition whose teachings make up the key Buddhist beliefs. The stimulus piece would be interpreted in a different manner for each Buddhist school, while also holding some similarities. While both Buddhist schools agree upon the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, interpretation and how they are applied differ in certain areas of Gautama 's teachings (Dickson, 2004). Traditional Theravada is described as ‘classical’ Buddhism as it is more ancient and
Today’s religions have aided both personal and international peace. It has given hope to people and has helped some deal with difficult situations. Religions give some people purpose to life, and an explanation as to why things are the way they are. Praying can give some peace of mind to those who are dealing with problems in life.
Often times in our society we take one another for granted and treat each other with cruelty. Some of the times our best communication with one another is constant war, fights, and brutality to one another. Religion on the other gives us the opportunity to set aside our differences and come together as one. In order to do that we must believe religion works and set all concerns to the god or gods. Religions have become beneficial because it make things certain but also to put our uncertainty to the superior. Which means god will provide. Another way you or others can see this being affective is putting trust in the god and god’s. Back in the Early Middle Ages moving to the Dark Middle Ages, life was brutal and not choosing what religion you belong to makes it even harder for the individual. You had to believe and set aside your difference with religion.
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.
They became the cornerstone of many earlier and later civilizations. Even today many countries, especially those in the Middle East, have religious leaders who work with the government to enact laws and “guide” the spiritual aspect of the lives of their citizens. Unfortunately, with such strong beliefs and convictions can come conflict. This conflict can be on a small scale, such as discrimination against those who don’t share the same beliefs to full-scale war which was the case in the first Crusades. In more recent times we have seen mass genocides of people based in part on religious beliefs such as the annihilation of the Jews during the Second World War. Today we see it played out in acts of terrorism, jihads. Religion is a powerful tool that can be used both to help and enrich the lives of people or used as justification for intolerance against others.
I have come to know of religions other than my own, and each has different ways of worship. By taking the time to learn the different religions of the world has helped me with understanding what others believe. In learning of others beliefs will help me in recognizing the way they dress, act and respond. Religion runs deep in different cultures all over the world, and with many it is sacred, symbolic, and law. Religion brings people together in time of need such as deaths, destruction or pain, also in celebration of birth and marriage.