Hinduism and Buddhism
The concept of God
It is first of all necessary to establish what is meant by the term "God". This term is used to designate a Supreme Being endowed with the qualities of omnipotence and omniscience, which is the creator of the universe with all its contents, and the chief lawgiver for humans. God is generally considered as being concerned with the welfare of his human creatures, and the ultimate salvation of those who follow his dictates. God is therefore a person of some kind, and the question whether such an entity exists or not is fundamental to all theistic systems.
In contrast to this notion of a personal God some modern theologians have interpreted the term "God" as representing some kind of abstract principle of good. This view was first developed in the ancient Indian Upanishads where God is equated with an abstract principle, the Brahman. The ancient Indian philosophers could entertain such a view because they also had a theory of karma, which really does away with the need for a personal God. Buddhists too have a theory of karma, which is different from that of the Hindus, and which even more unequivocally dispenses with the need for a deity. The use of the term "God' to denote an abstract reality by monotheistic theologians who have no theory of karma is difficult to justify, consequently this is merely a device to explain away the contradictions that arise from the notion of a personal God. In fact the actual practice of theistic religion proceeds as if God is a real person of some kind or other.
Buddhism
Buddhist gods
Buddhism has 33 Gods the most potent one of them all is Indra. It is Buddhist beliefs that the gods and spirits are with us persistently. The mountain Meru can be compared with mount Olympus of the Greek gods. Buddhists believe that on top of this sacred mountain are the 33 gods with Indra as their principal. Buddhism primary principal is moral strength and exercises. It is concluded in three regions. The first is the principles of lust, which belongs to the realm of animals, humans and various divine essences. The realm of the gods consists of six levels, which are the liberation of material desires. The subsequent region compromises entities that are born in the dominion of the Braham gods liberated from lust and wishes, they constitute a term of embodiment. They divide in four stages wh...
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...e if one means by originality an idea or an utterance not found previously in any creed or philosophy, or never before inculcated by any moral and spiritual leader, then surely you cannot find it anywhere. Neither Abraham nor Moses nor Jesus nor Buddha nor Muhammed said anything that could not be found either in the religious tradition in which they were born or in creeds and philosophies in other times and places.
Many of the great moral teachers often make a direct reference to others, and even if they do not, one can relate their ideas to something that has gone before.
To Pernilla
Thank you for being patient and I apologize for not turning it in the day I was to. Enjoy your trip.
Sources:
Internet
www.hinduweb.com
www.islam-guide.com
www.buddhanet.com
CD-ROM Encyclopedia
Websters concise interactive Encyclopedia
Printed in 1996 by Merriam-Webster
Microsoft Encarta Uppslagsverk 2001
Printed in 2001 by Microsoft Corporation
Books
Religions for Today
Authour: Roger Whiting
Stanley Thornes Publisher Ltd
Printed in 1991
The New Webster’s International Encyclopedia
Revised Edition
1998 Edition and published by Trident Press International
Throughout the world, most people believe in some type of god or gods, and the majority of them understand God as all-good, all-knowing (omniscient), and all-powerful (omnipotent). However, there is a major objection to the latter belief: the “problem of evil” (P.O.E.) argument. According to this theory, God’s existence is unlikely, if not illogical, because a good, omniscient, and omnipotent being would not allow unnecessary suffering, of which there are enormous amounts.
Hinduism and Buddhism have different similarities and are in some ways connected to each other. Some of the practices of the two religions are similar in various ways and there are several examples to show this.
The theistic view states that there is in fact a creator of the universe and he does intervene in our lives. It is more logical to assume that there is a “force” that had to start the whole
Religion is defined as "the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God" . There are many recognised religions of the world, which all teach its followers to live life "the right way", whose definition varies according to the religion itself. They have some beliefs and practices that distinguish themselves from each other. Some examples are differences and similarities of Buddhism and Islam.
Buddhism is currently the fourth most popular religion in our society today, following Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Its major ideologies are based on the philosophies of Siddhartha Guatama, also known as “Buddha”, who began his teachings in 598 BCE at the age of 35, according to Buddhist texts. A Buddhist’s foremost aspiration is the obtainment of Bodhi, or enlightenment through meditation and Anapana-sati (awareness of the breath). Buddhism shares many ideologies with India’s Hinduism and Yoga such as non-harming, non-violence, and self-awareness. In many instances, people regard Buddhism as a way of life rather than a religion, for it has no clear belief in the idea of a God or Gods. Its structure is built upon a hierarchy much like Christianity where superior orders such as Lamas or the Dalai Lama are said to be chosen by nature through the process of reincarnation rather than by a council like Christianity’s Pope. Though these “higher level” Buddhists are rare (not everyone is a reincarnation of an ancient Buddhist “priest”), all are permitted to follow “The Middle Way” either as a Buddhist monk or the simple attendance of a weekly teaching session from time to time. Throughout the last few hundred years the Buddhist population has blossomed into a healthy 381,611,000 and over fifteen different sects including Zen, Mahayana, and Theravada.
These ideas can be found in Christianity as well. In the Christian faith, it is believed that there is a perfect being that is eternal, unchanging, has absolute truth, and creates all that is seen in the universe, this being is one they call God.
Man has always found pleasure in expressing himself by creating art. Through the centuries, man’s art has left behind clues and insight that enables the generations of today to understand their ancestors. In particular, historians and artist alike can see what certain Asian sculptures reflect of the culture and religious beliefs of Hinduism and Buddhism. Hinduism is the parent religion to Buddhism; much like Judaism is to Christianity. Despite Buddhism and Hinduism sharing similar philosophies and various idealisms, their respective sculptures also show their differences. There are two important characteristic of the sculptures of these religions. The first is motion versus rest, and second the subject matter. It is these two types of characteristics historians and artist can help use to decipher Hindu and Buddhist sculptures.
The problem of reconciling an omnipotent, perfectly just, perfectly benevolent god with a world full of evil and suffering has plagued believers since the beginning of religious thought. Atheists often site this paradox in order to demonstrate that such a god cannot exist and, therefore, that theism is an invalid position. Theodicy is a branch of philosophy that seeks to defend religion by reconciling the supposed existence of an omnipotent, perfectly just God with the presence of evil and suffering in the world. In fact, the word “theodicy” consists of the Greek words “theos,” or God, and “dike,” or justice (Knox 1981, 1). Thus, theodicy seeks to find a sense of divine justice in a world filled with suffering.
Sir Isaac Newton stated that "every action has a reaction." Therefore every reaction is formed from an action which€in and of itself is a reaction to a previous action. If this theory is followed far enough back, there must be an original action, something that starts all actions, and causes all reactions. Since nothing can cause its own action, because to do so would mean that "it would have to be prior to itself [in this chain of action equals reaction]"(Knowledge, pg133), there must be a starting point, an "initial reaction." This initial action, this uncaused cause, is the being known "god".
If there is truly a God and the maker of this universe did create human beings, then in this perfect world that this perfect God made, I do not just see God’s wholly good but also the bad and ugly. God must not be omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent then and the definition of God is false and the existence of God
One common perception of God is that God is not so much a being, but according to seventeenth century philosopher Benedict Spinoza, that "God is everything, identical to the universe itself." That is to say that God is a part of all humans, all animals, all objects, and all matter in the universe. This particular view is called pantheism, which is literally defined to mean that there is no God, but only the combined forces and laws that are manifested in the existing universe. According to Spinoza, we are each and all an integral part of God, not as individuals or even humanity as a whole but as an integral part of what Spinoza called the "One Substance." He also believed that we are each and all components of some greater being, a being so unimaginably large that we are each nothing more than tiny parcels of matter in that being's blood.
God can be defined as a being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions (1). There are many people that do not believe in any religion. People who do not believe in a religion have no reason for believing in a God. People who do not believe in a God and argue against the existence of God are proving something that is completely false. There is a God for numerous reasons.
It is evident that the view of all religions depends on the existence of a God or gods or on the existence of an omniscience divine being; this notion being most prominent in the Hindu and Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam)). In the west, most philosophical focus has been on different versions of belief. Moreover, the monotheistic view of God until recent times, has been wrestled upon by ancient philosophers in contrast with a polytheistic concept in opposition to skeptic views and primitive naturalistic ideologies. For example, Plato argued that the view that God is singularly good should be preferred to the portrait of the gods that was articulated in Greek poetic tradition, according to which there are many gods, often imperfect and subject to vice and ignorance (Taliaferro, “The Concept of God”). However, the development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam brought about a philosophical enquiry on the view of the idea of theism.
Goodlad, J. I., Sirotnik, K. A., & Soder, R. (1990). The moral dimensions of teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
“Is there a God?” A question every person asks themselves very often. According to various scriptures God is a supernatural being who created the heaven and the earth. The one who created us, each of us very unique. And this God also set us some moral values which helps us lead a good and peaceful life. These virtues are instilled in us ever since our birth by the elders around us. Virtues of kindness, hard-work, sacrifice, love, peace, helpfulness, respect are the basics we are brought up with. We are often told that following the virtues written in the scriptures will help us lead a healthy and prosperous life.