Philosophers of Eastern Religions
Does anybody have any answers to the question of what is our purpose? Is there life after death? What do we need to accomplish while we are alive? What is real or moral? Is there a God? These are main philosophical questions that the human race has been trying to answer. Religion is an explained philosophy and be it divine or a practice, it is a way of life. It is not surprising to see that religion of the Eastern World had a few people stand out as important intellectuals. Sankara, Ramanuja, and Madhva were great intellectuals that interpreted the Upanishads, the philosophy of Hinduism, and taught their own interpretations. Buddhism started with Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, and later, Nagarjuna, a follower of Buddhism, offered his philosophy. (Oxtoby) Together, their teachings have been trying to answer the main philosophical questions as a basis for human faith.
In Hinduism, Sankara taught a form of thought called the Vedanta philosophy. Sankara's main position is that the soul of humans, atman, and the Ultimate Reality, Supreme Being, or God, Brahman, is non-dualistic. Each is a separate reality but tied together. "The deepest part of our being, is one with the essence of the world" (Radhakrishnan 507). Sankara also believed that ignorance was just illusion or maya. The absence of maya can be learned through the Brahman. (Basham) Moksa is knowledge that maya is illusion and to be free from it, one must learn truth. The way to learn truth is through devotion and ethics. (Radhakrishnan) Once a person knows the truth, then the life cycle of reincarnation or samsara ends. "The soul redeemed from reincarnation return[s] forever into the Brahman at the end of ...
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Religion in Afro-Eurasia from 1300-1500CE faced challenges as people focused on humans rather than God during the humanist movement. Scientists, philosophers, mathematicians and artists narrowed their efforts to finding problems, solutions, inventions and inspiration from humans and science rather than God and religion. This took power and support from religious leaders that had previously been using the feudal system to their advantage by treading on peasants as a means of success. During 1300-1500CE Western Christendom suffered plague and famine. In 1315, Europe faced a seven yearlong famine which killed millions. Subsequent to the famine was the Black Death lasting from 1347-1351. In just a matter for four years, the plague in Europe was responsible for the death of 25 to 50 percent of Europe’s population (428). Those still alive after these grueling conditions were unlikely to
The five Eastern religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto have some similarities when it comes to the their beliefs on death. Hinduism and Buddhism both believe in karma and reincarnation, while Daoism and Shintoism revolve their beliefs around nature. Confucianism chooses not to focus on things we do not know, so their beliefs on death are limited. In deciphering the different beliefs on death associated with each religion, it is important to understand the different belief systems and their origins. While some religions merged the views of the other religions, some came from the views of an originating founder. Each religion has their own view on life after death and whether or not their followers should be concerned
As time advanced so did thought, and slowly more and more complex ideas regarding the purpose of life emerged. All of the earliest civilizations had great thinkers who tried to unravel the mysteries of life. Like most religions, philosophy became something composed of multiple interpretations. Philosophers pondered the most important life questions, each taking their own stance, and providing numerous significant realizations.
In the world, there are five major world religions, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. In the past few classes, I have been exposed to and absorbed a tremendous amount of information on the religion of Buddhism. According to the dictionary, Buddhism is a religion of which originated in India, was founded by the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, and teaches that life is full of suffering caused by desire and that the way to end this suffering is through enlightenment that enables one to halt the endless sequence of births and deaths to which one is otherwise subject. Buddhism is a way of finding peace within oneself. It is a religion that helps it’s believers to find the happiness and contentment us humans seek. One thing I found
Religion, “part of the human experience that has to do with a god or gods, a higher power, or the ultimate values of life” (Cason & Tillman 6-7), is one of the most controversial and interesting subjects for humanity. It has been around for as long as anyone can recall and they have difference and similarities in their founders, beliefs, and history. Religion has served to give some sort of a meaning to life and everything around it. In modern society, some religions have grown and expanded significantly. These larger religions have been classified as world religions. In addition, these world religions have been split into two categories known as Eastern and Western religion.
I will now examine what it means to be religious with a critical enquiry into Buddhism, Hinduism and
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.
Throughout the history of humankind, man has always searched to find answers to the many existential questions. Numerous different religions and denominations have developed around the world over time. Though, most wonder about the origin and purpose of our existence. Buddhism was founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama about 2,600 years ago in India. After he had experienced that everyone was subject to “birth, sickness, death, and old age”, he tried to find a way to break from the cycle of rebirth (Bloom).
I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we all are seeking something better in life. So, I think, the very motion of our life is towards happiness (Dalai Lama & Cutler, 1998, p. 15).
They define a state which is beyond the ordinary which can only be characterized by achieving a particular spiritual state. It is notable that Moksha is a common belief in the Hindu religion and it describes a state where one’s soul connects with god’s soul. On the other hand, it can be noted that Nirvana can be obtained by individuals who detached themselves from sin. However, it is clear that both require an individual to remain steadfast in their pursuit for spiritual liberation while abandoning the earthly life and desires. Reincarnation is a consequence of life that moksha and nirvana believers wish to avoid in order to overcome the suffering in the death and rebirth cycle, samsara. Hence, the practices have more similarities that
Hinduism is one of the world’s major religions that evolved from the Vedic religion of ancient India. Hinduism has branches that contain several sects. The major branches are Vaishnavism and Shaivism. These sects rely on their own set of scriptures but their focal point is the ancient Vedas. The philosophical Vedic texts, from the Aryans, involved the Upanishads in searching for knowledge on how the human beings would escape reincarnation. Hinduism has a cosmic principle Brahman, whereby they believe in rebirth after death. Hinduism emerged around the beginning of Common Era then coexisted within Buddhism for several centuries (Clearly, 2013). It spread to Southern India and parts of Southeast Asia from the Northern India. The basic teaching of Vedanta is the belief that the human being is neither confined in the body nor mind but the spark of God within the soul. Most Hindu’s practice bhakti as a way to worship and follow their deity. Rather than live of fear of their deity, bhakti focuses on being connected with the...
India’s three primary religions; Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism are all responses to the Aryan religion of Brahmanism. The Aryans came into power in Indian around 1000 B.C.E., and as their political influence spread, their religious beliefs followed in its wake. Two fundamental beliefs of Brahmanism are samsara and karma. Samsara deals with the cyclical nature of the soul and how death only brings rebirth into a new form. Depending upon the tally of a person’s good and bad deeds, which is considered karma, determines whether or not the next reincarnation will be an improvement or a disappointment. However, if one were able to completely understand that life was actually an illusion and that the only way to escape the endless cycle of reincarnation was to realize that reality is unchanging one could ascend above the endless cycle of birth, life and death. According to the Aryan priests, those that transcend the cycle of life will become one with Brahman and enter into an eternity of blissful non-being.
Religion is an ever-growing idea that has no set date of origin. Throughout history religion has served as an answer to the questions that man could not resolve. The word religion is derived from the Latin word “religio” meaning restraint in collaboration with the Greek word “relegere” which means to repeat or to read again. Religion is currently defined as an organized system of beliefs and practices revolving around, or leading to, a transcendent spiritual experience. Throughout time, there has yet to be a culture that lacks a religion of some form, whether it is a branch of paganism, a mythological based religion or mono/polytheistic religion. Many religions have been forgotten due to the fact that they were ethnic religions and globalizing religions were fighting to be recognized, annihilating these ancient and ethnic religions. Some of these faiths include: Finnish Paganism, Atenism, Minoan Religion, Mithraism, Manichaeism, Vedism, Zoroastrianism, Asatru, and the Olmec Religion. Religion is an imperative part of our contemporary world but mod...
Religion is a guiding light that shines into all factors of life. It builds one’s character and personality, and affects one’s perspective on his surroundings. Religion wears many hats, as it can range from a loosely set philosophy to a strict, taxing code of conduct. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s religion was a non-traditional one which emphasized self-reliance (Rowe 5), individuality (St. John 6), and the natural goodness of man (Jue 7). He saw religion as a relative, personal set of beliefs which can change and vary widely between practitioners, and even within one person over a period of time. In fact, Emerson began his religious journey as a Calvinist in Harvard’s School of Divinity, then held a career as a minister of a Unitarian church in Boston (Leude 1). His beliefs as a Unitarian were similar to his Transcendentalist philosophies (1), discovered soon after his resignation as a minister. When analyzed from a biblical perspective, Emerson’s literary works clearly reflect the influences of eastern religion and mysticism in their depiction of nature as well as God, the human spirit, and religion.
"In Hinduism, salvation is achieved through a spiritual oneness of the soul, atman, with the ultimate reality of the universe, Brahman. To achieve this goal, the soul must obtain moksha, or liberation from the samsara, the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. As a result of these basic teachings, Hindus believe in reincarnation, which is influenced by karma (material actions resulting from the consequences of previous actions), and dharma (fulfilling one's duty in life)"(Teachings and Beliefs, 2004, par. 1).