Religious Experience Essays (Examples)

Discussion

According to theorists such as professor of Religion Michael H. Barnes (2003), a tremendously wide range of different religious beliefs and thought on religion (both across contemporaneous cultures as well as among cultures existing at different historical periods) is exceptionally useful for evaluating the literal truth of specific beliefs in any particular society. On the other hand, it may be possible to strip away those differences that are impossible to reconcile to reveal a more general fundamental religious perspective or tendency that exists as a common natural theme throughout humanity, with specific societal differences more akin to harmonics on the same chord rather than to different chords altogether (Barnes, 2003).

That view is sharply contradicted by several renowned authorities in so-called "hard" sciences, including neurobiological theorist Daniel Dennet, the late paleontologist and evolutionary biologist, Stephen J. Gould, and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. According to their view, any similarity among…

African-American Religious Movements

The African-American religious experience went through a period of "…extraordinary change" in the years between I and II (Fulop, et al., 1997, p. 314). Several "sects" and "cults" worshiped in storefront churches, moving from "mainline churches" into organizations that had political, fraternal and "benevolent" approaches to spirituality. But as to mainline Black churches, between 1926 and 1936, the Black Baptist movement grew from 3.2 million to 3.8 million and hence by 1936 the Black Baptist congregation had become the largest Christian church affiliated with the African-American community; indeed, 67% of "all Black Church members" were connected to the Black Baptist movement (Fulop, 315). This growth within the Back Baptist faith was partly due to the decrease in Black membership of the African Methodist church, the Churches of Christ and the Churches of the Living God (Fulop, 315).

Nation of Islam: allace D. Fard came to the United…

Experiencing the Sacred

Compare St. Teresa's experience of the spiritual marriage with both Muhammad's Night Journey and the Buddha's Enlightenment. The focus should clearly identify similarities and differences.

Teresa of Avila, Muhammad, and the Shakyamuni Buddha all had intense spiritual experiences. Their experience can all be classified as numinous and ecstatic, because they each surrendered their physical selves to experience union with a spiritual dimension. They were each subsumed by their spiritual experiences, imparting either fear or joy. Moreover, each of these individuals made a great impact on religious, philosophical, and spiritual teachings.

There are some distinct differences between these three figures, though. The obvious differences are cultural, geographic, and temporal. St. Teresa of Avila is the most modern of the three figures. She lived during the 16th century in Spain, and her upbringing was steeped in Catholicism. Muhammad lived during the 7th century CE, nearly a thousand years prior…

Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know -- And Doesn't," Prothero claims that "Americans are both deeply religious and profoundly ignorant about religion." The professed religiosity of most Americans belies a lack of actual knowledge about religion. As Prothero puts it, "They are Protestants who can't name the four Gospels, Catholics who can't name the seven sacraments, and Jews who can't name the five books of Moses," (p. 30). Most Americans, according to Prothero, are unable to distinguish a Muslim from a Sikh, and cannot even name the five major world religions beyond Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.

Religious ignorance has very real consequences, other than being a simple embarrassment. As Prothero points out, religious ignorance led Americans to target any man wearing a turban after September 11. Religious ignorance is a sign of a broader xenophobia and general ignorance about cultures, people, and history beyond American borders. The consequences…

Hinduism and People

Unlike most religions which ask their practitioners to prescribe to a designated set of behaviors wherein they shall all behave uniformly, Hinduism bears the motto that "People are different." Most religions begin from a dogma which is a written interpretation of what the creators of that religion state their God or Gods want from the followers of that religion. Because of this, the religions are slow to evolve and more or less stagnant. According to J.N. Nanda, "Hinduism is not limited by the view of a single founder, a single holy man or a single holy book" (106). That is to say, those that practice Hinduism understand that there is no one type of person. Individuality, by its very definition states that people will have singular ideas and singular personalities. There is no one type of person living in the world, just as there is no one…

Religious Service Reflection

My chosen observation was of the Jehovah's Witnesses, a fundamentalist Christian organization. I have never known very much about them other than the fact that they have a community ministry, offering their pamphlets from door to door. They are often ridiculed for their beliefs against traditional celebrations such as Christmas, Halloween and birthdays. I know people who believe that they are a cult; however, I do recall a boy from elementary school who was a Jehovah's Witnesses. He did not salute the flag or participate in holiday parties with the rest of the class. He was nice, stayed to himself a lot and was a very good student. I was always a bit curious about him and thought I'd try to learn more.

As a Christian, I have always been skeptical of the Witnesses because of what I viewed as their extreme and improper beliefs. By chatting…

This ritual takes place on the eighth day after birth and the ceremony itself involves both religious and surgical elements and may be performed by a surgeon of a specially-trained Mohel who has both surgical and religious knowledge. After the circumcision is performed, a festive meal almost always follows as a symbol of thanks to God and to the prophet Abraham.

One of the most complicated religious rituals of Judaism is the ar Mitzvah for boys and less frequently, the at Mitzvah for girls. These words mean "the son or the daughter of the commandment and mark the coming of age of a male or female child" (Harvey, 325) who is then seen as an adult and is responsible for observing the commandments set down by Moses and to fill adult roles in the congregation of the synagogue. This ritual traditionally occurs on the Sabbath following the child's thirteenth birthday…

Despite the articulation of this as a social function of religion, the relation that an individual has with his or her society cannot be postulated. By so doing, the religious power justifies deprivation and social injustices by rendering non-competitive and scarce goals. This notion further asserts that these goals are unimportant on matters of inequality and exploitation. eligion does this by making conditional policies in providing solutions to social issues, but does a disservice to individuals; hence preventing its role of bring positive change in the society (Hamilton, 2001).

Conclusion

eligion is responsible for spurring cross cultural and social changes in society. It brings every person into fellowship according to his or her own doctrines and emphasized experiences. eligion does integrate the society, by attempting to relativize individual desires, and fears, in addition to subordinating personal preferences to a conception of harmony. However, from the functional approaches of the society,…

People can be affected by religion in different ways and The Misfit becomes the perfect character to uncover the grandmother's gullibility. She, in turn, is the perfect person to expose his evil nature. This contrast allows O'Connor uses to reveal the delicate nature of man. Somehow, in the midst of everything, the two people bond, leaving the grandmother with a false sense of hope. She believes, because she knows best, that she has transformed his life. She truly believes she can change him. Parini writes that at the moment he shots her, she realizes "they are connected, and through a horrible act of violence she has received a moment of understanding, if not grace" (Parini 231). The showdown becomes one between The Misfit's powerful convictions and the grandmother's shallow beliefs. O'Connor proves with these individuals the importance of being passionate about the right thing. Being passionate about Jesus is good,…

Conclusions

There is no one standard for what is considered right and wrong in the world of American religion. The American religion that exists today may be described as "Agnostian-Secularian" meaning it is made up of multiple faiths, beliefs and convictions, some more Christian based and some more abstract in nature.

By and large the American 'religion' or modern society is varying accepting of people of many different faiths and idealisms. Though the government of this country is somewhat heavily influenced by Christian fundamentalist ideals such as those that Bush emphasizes, the public by and large particularly in the eyes of the media, is much more open and flexible in nature. There are some beliefs that may be considered more 'universal' in nature than others. There is for example an obvious preference among people living in the modern American world to belief in the basic concepts of right and wrong.…

Trees take in carbon dioxide (which includes pollution in the air) and give off oxygen so we can all breathe, and so God's plan can be carried through. The teaching of values, morals, and discipline must be part of the program for a Catholic teacher, and also the involvement of parents brings the school, the Church, the children and the families together in a fellowship of learning and praying.

As was mentioned earlier in this section, involving parents in their children's learning activities is a powerful way to keep our faith strong and growing in the context of education and Christianity. This is particularly poignant because on page 9 of the "Our Catholic Schools" one of the major issues facing Catholic education is the "…inadequate home and parish involvement with schools," and we can mitigate this problem by working closely with children to get them inspired enough so they want…

Of course, it could say that the invisible world is superstition and unreal. It might not exist, or be part of an old system of belief that is primordial. It would see those old beliefs about an unseen realm or the infinite as absurd. But are they? Have they vanished?

Lecture 14: Religion and the Self.

The levels of self are body, mind, soul, and spirit. One sees a similar emphasis here in modern society. The body and mind are valued. Advertisements sell all kinds of products for the body, and health is a huge industry with gyms, sports, and diets. Mind is stressed through education and the way to succeed is to develop your mind rationally rather than be inclined to emotions or use it to experience through insight and intuition a spiritual value. The question is why the layers of soul and spirit are less important. Yes, there…

The strongest argument against the thesis of the experiment relies in the fact that a religious mystical experience is placed on a spiritual rather than medical level and that the spirit is not necessarily determined by the actions of the brain, as a human organ. The spirit includes the way the brain act and the way the heart feels or the behavior of other organs in the body.

For many scientists, including those that have performed the scientific experiment and including people like Tom Roberts, who in his book "Psychedelic Horizons" talks about the benefic effects of drugs on the brain in terms of exploring new states and experience new functions of the body otherwise hidden to the general audience.

For myself and numerous other individuals, the mystical experience cannot be related solely to the functionality of the brain or to the way the entire body is operating. If it…

eligion and Education

eligious development in children and adults alike have been research areas that have historically been of interest to those involved in the developmental psychology arenas such as theorists of religious development, religious educators, and designers of religious education curricula in various settings. However, religious development did not receive a great deal of consideration during the early phases of growth in the psychology or the schools of human behavior and development. Even though the work of Sigmund Freud has been extremely influential in education and psychoanalysis, there are many other eminent psychologists who have made greater strides for humankind by trying to understand the planning and teaching aspects of religious education. This paper, therefore, aims to discuss three such prominent individuals: Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson and Jerome Bruner.

Ironically, behaviorism and psychoanalysis entail some aspects of atheistic presuppositions and therefore create many psychologists who are leaning more towards…

Today, self-inflicted pain is generally interpreted as a form of psychopathology, but within the mystical context, "pain unmakes the profane world with its corporeal attachments and leads the mystics away from the body to self-transcendence," thus pain and discipline elevates the individual into a world of deeper human community (Post). According to Glucklich, pain is even blotted out via a process in the brain known as gate-control that significantly alters biochemistry and consciousness, therefore "intentionally painful manipulations of the body could lead to states of self-transcendence or effacement" (Post).

Glucklich believes that today's society has lost the capacity to understand why and how pain could be valuable for mystics and members of religious communities, and even for humanity as a whole (Post). Historians of religion have long acknowledged the ubiquitous presence of intentionally painful rituals and practices, and have used this awareness as a key to understanding religious experiences (Post).…

" (Syed, 2006)

The Two Views Debated

Whether one is following the Islamic or the Christian religious dogma, training, or theology the 'key' to the proof is just as suggested by Richard entall in his refutation of mystical experiences is that which is an 'inner' perspective of the individual. The Sufi follow a process referred to as 'Shagal' which is the closing 'off' of the five physical sense of self in order to look and listen 'inward' for a higher voice. In Christianity it is much the same as followers of the faith seek to find the 'inner door' of which Jesus spoke as being the place that the believer would find Him, or He who is "The Way," "The Truth." (Holy ible, n.d.) in the book of John Chapter 10 and verse 9 Jesus states: "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be…

Phantoms in the Brain

Based on the cases presented in the book, do you believe that we have specialized neural circuitry that exists solely to moderate religious experiences? What do you think this area is for? How do you explain the religiosity of those that have unusual activity in this area?

I don't not believe that the neural circuitry exists "solely" to moderate religious experiences. I think it is probable that the area of the brain that is responsible for religious sentiments probably has other duties as well. However, with an abnormally amplified neural circuitry in this region, I think it would be natural to have religious experiences. For example, if this region had anything to do with spirituality, and it was working overload, it would naturally go to the highest spiritual experience -- which is God.

It is easy to image a lower level of spiritual feelings that might…

Religion & Life Cycle

Different religious visions, different life cycles: The religious experience according to Rosenstock-Huessey and the Medicine Rite

Religion has always been the binding force that enabled humanity to create meaning in their lives and maintain unity among them. As a way of expressing spiritual reality, religion is instrumental in providing humanity a way of converting into concrete form (i.e., rituals and religious symbols) the different emotions associated to one's belief in a religion. Perhaps one of the most important functions that religion has for humanity is that it is able to depict humanity as the most important creature that the Supreme Being (or God) had created in the universe. That in our attempt to give meaning and purpose in life, we humans subsist to religion in order to validate that we, indeed, matter the most to God above anything else. This spiritual reality, despite its selfish nature,…

religious tourism and its future potential development, evaluate to what extent the holy sites are important in promoting tourism and how they could be utilized as a tool for further promotion and overall development of tourism industry in the future. The research indicates that there are both strengths and weaknesses related to present day tourism of religious sites in Jordan. The strengths include the presence of some of the most important holy sites including Mount Nebo and the Baptismal Site The weaknesses of the current state of tourism involve the lack of proper services and facilities to attract and retain the presence of tourists in the region. In the future one of the primary goals is to create trails that connect the holy sites together. It is believed that this is needed for both practical and promotional purposes. As it stands such trails do not currently exist.

There are also…

(Casanova, n.d., pp. 10 -- 26)

The Secularization by odney Stark

In the article titled Secularization, Stark (1999) is discussing how secularization is having a dramatic impact upon the society. This is because organized religion has not offered any kind of new or creative ideas in over two hundred years (which are leading to its decline). Moreover, many of the more mystical religions are experiencing similar decreases. The combination of these factors are important, in showing how there has been fundamental shift in morals and values. (Stark, 1999, pp. 249 -- 273)

Evidence of this can be seen with observations from Stark who said, "The day will come when religion has been relegated to memory and museums. This will not have been caused by modernization, and the demise of faith will bear no resemblance to the process postulated by the secular doctrine." (Stark, 1999, pg. 269) This is illustrating how…

religious help-seeking among African-American Christians. The author writes from the perspective of someone who is seeking to increase participation among this demographic in non-religious mental health seeking, and notes that the historical tendency among the demographic is to turn to their churches for "financial, social justice and mental health needs." The churches are poorly-equipped to deal with genuine mental health issues, so this exploration serves the purpose of helping the mental health community to understand how to attract more religious African-Americans to non-religious mental health care.

The paper first examines how and why African-Americans have come to see the church in this role. This initial section has some logical weaknesses, however. The author notes that "religious help-seeking…is a viable option" and that "the effectiveness of counseling provided by pastors appears to be at least comparable to that received by clients of secular mental health professionals," citing "a greater sense of…

Religious Criticism and Idealization of Women in Giovanni occaccio's "Decameron"

In the world of medieval literature, Giovanni occaccio is renowned for his timeless contributions in the form of "Decameron," also translated as "Ten Day's Work." This literary piece by occaccio chronicles the short stories and narratives of ten (10) people who sought refuge from the city that is being affected with lack Plague, a disease that left Europe's developing human civilization to ruin and destruction. "Decameron" is created to provide people with a venue for discussion of the social ills that "plague" the 13th and 14th century society of Europe, particularly occaccio's homeland, Italy. These social ills are parallel to the disease that is ravaging Europe's cities during the lack Plague, and occaccio uses this event to discuss and criticize the dysfunctions that he found to exist in his society. Thus, with this in mind, Giovanni occaccio set out to…

Editing in Malicks To the onderOne of the interesting approaches Terrence Malick takes to making cinema is that he often wants the viewer to experience the film rather than simply observe it or watch it. He wants the film to have an impact on the viewers emotions, mind, and memory. To accomplish this effect in his 2012 film To the onder, he relies on editing to create an experience for the viewer that is unlike anything else one might have experienced previously in a cinema. Since the film is a story about a European Catholic woman trying to find happiness in her life while at the same time trying to set herself right with God, Malick wants the viewer to experience what this struggle is like for the main character Marina. He wants the viewer to see the world through her eyes, hear her voice, and understand where she is…

Thomas Aquinas created his worldview through a combination of theology and philosophy. He believed that an individual must be ordered toward the right attributes on a daily basis. Attributes such as charity, peace and holiness are all apart of philosophy he called, "Virtue Ethics." He believed that good scriptural theology presupposes good philosophical analysis and analysis. Thomas primarily used philosophy as a medium to discern what we can naturally know about human being and God. As an Aristotelian and an Empiricist, his works were heavily influenced by these streams of thought. Aquinas believed in both supernatural revelation and natural revelation. With natural revelation, Aquinas believed the truths are available to individuals based solely through their human nature and correct reasoning's. With supernatural revelation, he believed that humans could learn the truth only through reading the scripture. The theological virtues of faith, hope and charity and Aquinas believed, were supernatural and…

These values might seem obvious to some, but they are actually values which so many religious institutions may preach, but not practice at all in their religious thought. Ultimately, those who view themselves as spiritual but not religious don't feel that faith can be shoved into scientific or empiricitic frameworks, and these same individuals reject the notion that all is real and can be known: rather these individuals believe that love, kindness, generosity, awe and wonder are some of the most important pillars of life and that it's nearly impossible to put these aspects in a box or encompassed in black and white thinking of certain religious dogmas. Many people who ascribe to this belief system truly do believe that there are secular movements in the world today which have similar spiritual foundations, but that many of these religious movements are just out of touch with those foundations (NSP, 2013).…

Virtual eligious Service

Islam is a religion of great misconceptions and of immense misunderstanding. It was because of this same notion that this religion in particular was of great interest. With all the negative publicity that Islam receives in the media, people only get exposed to the violent extremists that represent a minute minority of this religion. A picture of violence and death is flashed on the television daily, forcing many to create negative misconceptions about Muslims. Their portrayal of how their females are treated is an aspect that has also come under speculation. The media portrays oppressed hopeless females, which induces viewers to think that this is actually true. These are both misconceptions that I had prior to my viewing of the online religious service and research.

Violence and terrorism are shown constantly across the television screen whenever extremist Muslims are depicted. This creates a sense of misconception as…

The interviewed individual is an American female, Leela Smith, aged 53, who spent several years of her life in the Indian city of Kochi, Kerala as a homemaker, adopted an ayurvedic diet that was followed by her entire family, and home-schooled her youngest child. Further, she took training in Carnatic music, learned hatha yoga and Sanskrit, and adopted Kalaripayattu, Kerala's health system. In the year 2002, the whole family returned to the United States, and now resides in Oahu (Editors of Hinduism Today Magazine 2007).

The interviewee, Leela, claims it was in the year 1978 that she had her first taste of Hinduism at age fifteen, at a hatha yoga session held in her neighborhood in San Francisco, California. With time, she grew more interested in yoga, and took to reading about it and its great benefits to an individual's physical and mental wellbeing. She also decided to give up…

Cultural Experience

Description

The event is more a series of events. I went on vacation with some friends to Miami, and while not everything I experienced on that trip would count as a cultural experience, there is little question that there were some very different experiences. There was the visit to the Haitian restaurant, for example, but the event that stands out the most was my visit to Calle Ocho, the old Cuban neighborhood. As Korean student I find it challenging enough to deal with mainstream American culture, but Hispanic culture is completely different again, so this experience provided me with an interesting counterpoint to my usual experiences in the United States.

In this neighborhood, if people can speak English they do not admit it. There are coffee windows where strong, sugary shots of Cuban coffee and cafe con leche are dispensed to passers-by in a hurry. There are old…

NDEs

A near death experience is a collection of cognitive and emotional responses to an encounter with death, whether that encounter is related to a sudden accident or to an illness. The phenomenon has been recorded throughout history, and in various cultures around the world. "Although the term near-death experience…was not coined until 1975, accounts of similar events can be found in the folklore and writings of European, Middle Eastern, African, Indian, East Asian, Pacific, and Native American cultures," (Grayson, 2006, p. 394).

Near death experiences "are described at length in both the eighth-century Tibetan Book of the Dead, and in the 2500-year-old Egyptian Book of the Dead," as well as in Plato's epublic (Talbot, 1991, p. 240). There is also a strong history of near death experience testimony in the literature of Christian mystics (Zaleski, 1987). According to Michael Talbot, author of The Holographic Universe, near death experiences occur…

(Krukowski, 2001) Civil religion and workplace mysticism each change the institutional locus of religious expression from the church, synagogue, or mosque to another public organization- the state or the company. The existence of these different organizations hoists the main question of individuality and perhaps challenging faithfulness.

Both civil religion and workplace theology do not show the likely clashes and problems often met by employees who are also religious practitioners. Jews, Christians, or Muslims who are workforce of a company may well have grounds to question the customs of their company on religio-moral basis. Workplace theology in a funded organization does not distinguish these possible clashes. Institutionally conveying workplace theology is obviously not identical with permitting individual employees to convey their beliefs and customs at work. This grave outlook of workplace theology should not be realized, as a censure of persons who want to live out their definite religious or spiritual…

Gross and Falk

Women's experience of their individual religious life is often left in the shadows when discussing the progress, or purpose of religion. In a world which has become particularly androcentric, a woman's perspective on spiritual worship often makes it into the public arena of ideas only after being filtered through men's understanding of religious issues. As a result, women's experience of the divine is truly an 'unspoken world' full of rich development and insight, but not considered worthy for public consideration.

For example, when Virginia Woolf wrote A Room of One's Own she argued that any woman trying to find her voice as a writer required an income and a room. ut in the same time, the early 20th century, a religious woman who wanted to write about theology would have found, nor been offered, neither a position nor a place to do so. Theological studies were dominated…

The relationship goes beyond any simple realistic or complex scientific models, because it cannot be explained through the observances of realities around us. Myth and culture can often be on the same temporal level, with one or the other being generated at different times. As such, some of the myths were actually born out of a certain culture, determined by the geographic or demographic realities of the respective culture. In other cases, culture was born out of a myth.

An important element to be analyzed in the differences between religious myths and scientific models is the introduction of variables and the type of variables in each case. The religious myth, especially the creation myths in different cultures, falls into the category of sacred myths. There is always such a distinction between sacred and profane myths or, as Eliade puts it, people "distinguish between sacred myths (cosmogony, creation of the stars,…

As girls were not allowed to lead religious services -- and still aren't in Orthodox congregations -- the concept of the bat mitzvah is less rotted in religious tradition and ceremony. There were often parties held to celebrate a girls entrance into Jewish womanhood, often held in their twelfth year as it was believed (and still is by many people, both religious and secular) that girls mature faster than boys. But these had no real religious significance, and were instead cultural and familial ways to celebrate a girl's coming of age. Today, bar and bat mitzvah's are conducted in much the same way in many reform and conservative congregations.

Another change that has occurred in the modern concept of the bar mitzvah beyond the addition of a major ceremony to commemorate this event, according to Judaism 101 (jewfaq.org), is the level of involvement in the service that many bar and…

The type of atrocity that a religious ideal could cause, I think, became cemented forever for me during the events of September 11, 2001.

Those men operated not only from a sense of devotion to their country, a hatred for the United States, but also from a religious fervor that encouraged them to take their own lives and the lives of thousands of others. This brought home to me that religion, in whatever form, could be not only a comfort, but also a greatly destructive force.

Even if I think of my own religion, Christianity, I am forced to admit the reality of the situation; it has not always been the gentle, caring lifestyle that's so often promoted today. In fact, even today, many Christians use their religious zeal to hurt and destroy. If I think of the past, the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the Salem Witch trials come immediately…

American Religious History

Defining fundamentalism and liberalism in Christianity is hardly an exact science, especially because prior to about 1920 there was not even a term for fundamentalism as it exists today. hile present-day fundamentalists often claim descent from the Puritans and Calvinists of the 17th and 18th Centuries, Puritans were not really fundamentalists in the modern sense. They were not in conflict with 20th Century-style liberals and supporters of evolution and Higher Criticism because those did not yet exist. As George McKenna put it "if there were no liberalism there would be no fundamentalism" to react against it (McKenna 231). Today, about one-third of Americans define themselves as evangelical Protestants, and all Republican Party politicians have to make appeals to the Christian Right (Hankins 1). In 1976 there were at least fifty million 'born again' evangelical Protestants in the United States, and today their numbers may be as high…

Socio-eligious Growth

There are two areas where I believe that socio-religious growth occurred as a result of coursework on campus. These two areas include growth in my (1) understanding of the bible and (2) methods for learning to study the bible.

Socio-religious growth should involve a better understanding of the society we live in and the role religion and spirituality play in our interactions with other members of society. I have learned through study at the university that there are many different ways of viewing the world, some more conducive to interaction and learning than others. My understanding of the Bible has inspired me to take my life in a new direction. It has provided me with an outlet of support and encouragement that I did not realize existed when I started my studies. In addition, I take away from the university an ability to actually understand and learn from…

Sexual and Religious Ideologies of uddhism in North India

uddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world, exceeded only by Christianity, Islam and Hinduism (Robinson, 1982). The uddha, Siddhartha Gautama, founded udhiam in Northern India. When uddha was 29, he left his wife, children and community involvements in order to seek truth and Nirvana. At the time, it was acceptable for men to leave their family and seek spiritual enlightenment.

uddha rejecting both extremes of the mortification of the flesh and of hedonism as paths toward the state of Nirvana (Warren, 1963). uddha spread the belief that in order to live a life without pain and suffering, people are required to eliminate any attachments to worldly goods. Only when this is accomplished will they be afforded peace and happiness. uddhists believe that they must rid themselves of greed, hatred, and ignorance.

uddhists strive to cultivate four attitudes into their…

Bad Experience ith a Priest:

comparison of the Catholicism aspects in Scott's Ivanhoe and Twain's a Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

In reading Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, one cannot deny that the blame for the collapse of Hank's new civilization falls on the Church. Throughout the novel, Twain paints a negative image of the Church and its priests. This negative image can also be found in Sir alter Scott's Ivanhoe. Scott gives us characters such as the confused Templar and the misaligned Prior. Both writers have poor views of religion and this is evident in their unflattering portraits of the corrupt medieval church.

Scott's portrait of the Prior is not a very pleasant one. Nothing about him seems to be spiritual. hen we first meet him, his costume is basically appropriate for a priest, but it is said to be "composed of materials much…

Civilizations

The topic is religious and social life in the Achaemenid Empire. The purpose of the project is to learn more about this subject and dispel some of the myths in today's media. I will use books on the subject to learn about what this empire was like, and what their religion was like. I expect that I will be able to come to some conclusions about the Achaemenid Empire. Furthermore, I believe that I will demonstrate that the rulers of this empire were enlightened and had a high level of tolerance for the customs of those over whom they ruled.

Purpose Statement

The subject of this report will be the Achaemenid Empire that flourished in ancient Persia, from 550-330 BCE. This empire is interesting for several reasons, not the least of which was its Zoroastrian religion and general religious tolerance. This empire has been cast as villain in popular…

orshipping is typically performed in synagogues that replaced the historical Temple initially meant to provide Jews with a praying location. Jewish religious rulers are called rabbis and they control the many ceremonies and customs that are very important in Jewish religious tradition.

Synagogues appeared consequent to the destruction of the Second Temple by Titus, son of Emperor Vespasian in 70 A.D. Although this is considered to be the beginning of the Jewish Diaspora, it actually began approximately six centuries earlier, at the time when the Babylonians conquered the kingdom of Judea and destroyed the First Temple. Ever since this moment, Jews scattered around the world and are presently located in a wide range of countries. Most of them have expressed a particular desire to return to their traditional home. hile there are presently approximately 14 million Jews in the world, only about five million live in Israel with the other…

Most people who have near-death experiences say they have changed their lives in many positive ways. Blackmore notes, "Again and again NDErs describe how different are their priorities, hopes and fears, after their experience" (Blackmore, 1993, p. l25). Most people say their lives change very positively after they have a near-death experience. One woman said, "Before my experience, I guess I was like most people struggling with a better self-image. But I really experienced how precious and how loved I am by God -- the light -- and I am constantly reminded of that in my daily life" (ing & Valarino, 1998, p. 189). For those who live through near-death experiences, they are meaningful, and many point to a time during the experience when they made the choice to turn back and go on living. In addition, while other memories fade with time, the near-death experience remains vivid and quite…

Diversity Experience the Boys and Girls Club

Diversity Experience: The Boys and Girls Club

There is no other population as vulnerable as children. Often times, the trouble they face is not because of their own immediate actions, but from the actions of the others around them. Yet, they suffer the most. That is why community activism working towards bettering the conditions of the nation's children is so important, and why the work of the Okanagan Boys and Girls Club is so important.

I had the opportunity to attend an event at the local Boys and Girls Club here in Kelowna. The event took place at 2337 ichter St. In Kelowna at the Downtown Youth Centre. This particular Boys and Girls Club works primarily with older groups and families. In fact, other than the Summer Camp Activities, the location's primary focus is older children, mostly teens. The event I attended was…

Hume and Experience

In morals, politics, religion and science, Hume was a conservative empiricist who emphatically rejected all theories he thought of as metaphysical or not based on actual experience and sense perceptions. He did not regard religious and metaphysical theories as scientific, but more like idle speculation, superstition and prejudice. No ultimate original principles existed outside of the mind and perceptions, and this certainly included the concept of cause and effect, which he insisted was derived from the senses and later processed through the mind in the form of simple and complex ideas. Nothing could be known about human nature or any other subject outside of an exact, empirical science, while innate and a priori ideas did not exist. Even his theories of mathematics, logic and the color spectrum were all based on empiricism, and the ability of the mind to reflect, compile and make connections based on repeated…

The writer goes on, "Then I saw a light and everything stopped. It was as if the light communicated to me everything I had done wrong and it showed me what love it" (www.near-death.com). Maybe that "light" was his conscience? Meanwhile, another person who claims to have had a NDE recalls that in 1970 he was a 24-year-old "with serious psycho-emotional problems." Right there at the opening of his narrative any reader with an investigative tendency would wonder how believable someone is going to be who had psycho-emotional issues at 24.

But he goes on, saying the room "was flooded with light from overhead" and he was engaged in a "new dimension of psychic communion" with a hippie couple who had given him the LSD. He went into a "trance" and was "truly" born again, "without even the need of Jesus." If this sounds like a person was on an…

" (Adams et al.)

hat the report went on to show was how a decades long deception was practiced on a race that was viewed primarily as a guinea pig for medical science.

The Tuskegee Institute had been established by Booker T. ashington. Claude McKay had passed through there in 1912 to study agriculture (under the patronage of alter Jekyll, a man who provided the basis for Robert Louis Stevenson's classic horror tale character). Around the same time that Eleanor Dwight Jones was striving to preserve the white race, the United States Public Health Service began the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. hat took place was a forty year analysis of the life of syphilis. The two hundred black men who had syphilis were "deliberately denied treatment" (Adams et al.) in what was just one more step in oppression and callous social engineering.

And at the same time the Tuskegee experiment was…

setting collaborated interacted people experience / beliefs differ . Address initial feelings, feeling change experience.

Living in a 'different' world

I like to believe that all people are united by their similar background and by the fact that they tend to enjoy a particular set of values in addition to the values they have been taught to respect. However, upon interacting with Fullara, an Indian friend of mine, I came to see life from a completely different perspective. I was initially impressed with how I was previously inclined to associate individuals coming from certain environments with stereotypes relating to them.

The first few times we went out together we discovered that we had a great deal of things in common and that we were not as different as we initially believed. However, as we became closer and as we almost came to see each-other on a daily basis I realized…

Interview of 70-year-Old oman

Psychological and Religious Development

This paper represents the results of an interview with a seventy-year-old Caucasian woman named Elma Rose. Research includes her personal background, life experiences and crossroads as well as her beliefs concerning marriage, family and lifestyle.

Elma Rose was born April 13, 1934 in the small Appalachian town of Abingdon in the northwestern corner of Virginia. The youngest of eight children, she now has one surviving sister. Elma Rose has been widowed twice and currently lives alone. She has four children, ten grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Her parents were devout Catholics of middle class status who instilled an appreciation of education in their children. However, as Elma Rose explains, this did not mean that she and her siblings all graduated from college or even from high school for that matter. In fact only two brothers graduated from college, while three, two sisters and…

"

(Einstein, 1954)

The other universal concept shared among so many human religions relates to the fate of the individual (or of the individuals spirit or "soul"). Judeo-Christian religious traditions generally teach that a soul survives physical death and the eternal fate of that soul is substantially determined by the behaviors and choices of the individual in life (agan, 1997). Eastern religious traditions generally reflect a more general belief in the cycles of life and in multiple successive lives sharing a fundamental kernel of identity even if not exactly in the same form of soul as described in Western religions (Armstrong, 1993). Contemporary objective moralists would (again) suggest that any energies or thought in life about perpetual existence in another spiritual form of any afterlife is a waste of time.

ources Consulted

Armstrong K. (1993). A History of God. London: Heinemann.

Egner RE and Denonn LE. (1992). The Basic Writings…

Eastern religions, on the other hand, conceive of much broader definitions of God and deemphasize any direct relationship between individuals and God, in addition to allowing for multiple Gods.

Other religious beliefs reject any supposed consciousness of a supreme being, conceiving God as representing nothing more than fundamental elements of the natural universe and objective principles. In that sense, in addition to increasing awareness and specific knowledge of other religions, the study of religion also introduces an entirely foreign concept, at least from the perspective of students socialized in any of the Western religious traditions. Specifically, the broadened understanding of different religious frameworks raises the possibility that the highest form of spirituality possible in human life is the complete acceptance of our absolute aloneness in the world and the relative meaninglessness of human concerns in a universe that may very well be finite in existence as well as entirely godless.…

" (2009) Oguejiofor states that there is no understanding "exept if there is misunderstanding, a negativity that beomes the originative instane of hermeneutis…" (2009)

Oguejiofor writes that Senghor's onept of negritude is entered on the misunderstanding or misrepresentation of the Afrian and his heritage, a situation that has sine imposed enormous burden on all aspets of his life." (Oguejiofor, 2009) Oguejiofor states that negritude has been desribed "…as a philosophy of soial ation" and states additionally that in the view of Senghor "negritude was 'a weapon of defense and attak and inspiration." (2009) Speifially Senghor sates that negritude is the "sum total of the values of the ivilization of the Afrian world, it is not raialism, it is ulture." (Oguejiofor, 2009)

Oguejiofor writes that negritude as a philosophy "has the advantage of 'reognizing the situatedness of our lived historiity as the proper objet of refletion for Afrian philosophi thought. (Salhi…

The Catholic Church in ome came to represent the leadership from which Christian doctrine emerged, and it is that doctrine that forms the basis of the Christian identity. As the basis of Christian doctrine is that Christ, the Savior of mankind, was conceived of the Holy Virgin Mary, who delivered unto the world the Son of Christ. It is here that the religious identity that takes a side in abortion resides: that life begins at conception. For if that which is conceived of the womb can be aborted at will, then that is contrary to the notion of life that born with the conception of the Son of God in the womb. Thus, in the Holy Mother, the womb is sacred, as is that which is conceived therein (Jacoby, Kerry N., 1998, p. 27).

The pro-choice position is not the opposite view, but one absent religious doctrine. It condenses the…

Gleanings: Readings at the Intersection of Culture and Faith

Women, Midlife, and Leadership.

In Gleanings: Readings at the Intersection of Culture and Faith, Catherine Wallace suggests that several factors in contemporary society combine to make midlife a pivotal period in the lives of women today, much more so than in previous generations. First, Wallace points out that increases in human health and life expectancy in the last century have added so much time to the average life span that it amounts to the equivalent of an entire second adulthood. For example, she recalls her thoughts at her son's college graduation that she is thirty years older than her son but that much younger than her mother, who is herself, active and vibrant in her eighties.

Second, Wallace argues that simultaneous social changes in the way that women are perceived and in the rights and norms that typically shape their adult…

This particular notion of reconnection with lost loved ones helps many people recover from the loss of loved ones. On the other hand, those who do not believe in religion or in any gods might argue that such beliefs are delusional and actually interfere with a more realistic acceptance of death for what it actually is. Nevertheless, it is difficult to argue that religion provides a valuable coping mechanism for many people in connection with death, irrespective of whether or not it is actually an accurate representation of reality.

The ole of Grief Counseling

Sometimes, people have a particularly hard time coping with the loss of loved ones, especially in circumstances where that loss is unexpected (such as the loss of a child), where it occurs much earlier than is ordinarily the case, or where the survivors actually witnessed the traumatic death of a loved one. Understandably, all of these…

Asiatic eligions

Discuss changes in the religious culture between 1750 and present day in at least one country from each of the three regions of Asia we have studied (East Asia, South Asia, and South East Asia)

Changes in modern Asian religions: Japan, India, and Thailand

Buddhism is a religion which began on the Indian subcontinent but which has spread across East and Southwest Asia. Its portability as a religion may partially be explained by its ability to blend with other religions and folk traditions. For example, the two dominant religions of Japan have historically encompassed Buddhism and Shinto: two different religions that most citizens profess to one degree or another. A common phrase "born Shinto; die Buddhist" highlights the comfort with which both of these religions exist side-by-side. However, Buddhism in Japan has been undergoing some notable changes in recent years.

Buddhism has been practiced in Japan for 1,440…

Amish are a long-standing religious sect, created in the 17th century after the first Amish broke from the Mennonite Protestant tradition because of "what they perceived as a lack of discipline among the Mennonites" (The Amish: History, belief, practices, 2011, eligious Tolerance). The original Amish were of Swiss and German extraction. Many migrated to the U.S. In the early stages of the sect's formation, settling in Pennsylvania, and gradually branching out into New York, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri Ohio, and other states where they still reside today. No Amish remain in Europe. "The faith group has attempted to preserve the elements of late 17th century European rural culture. They try to avoid many of the features of modern society, by developing practices and behaviors which isolate themselves from American culture" (The Amish: History, belief, practices, 2011, eligious Tolerance).

The Amish used to be farmers, marking the culture as 'pastoral' in…

country has been experiencing a religious "war of words" for several decades now. Some Democrats were caught completely off guard by it when most of the swing voters voted for Bush instead of Kerry, giving Bush the Presidency. Surveys and polls done afterwards revealed that those voters, the ones who won the election for Bush, were opposed to the Iraq war, but saw Bush as representing the one thing that was more important to them than whether we were at war or not: moral values. Actually the movement to make the Presidential race a moral one has been going on for decades, galvanized by the shift in this country in the late sixties and early seventies regarding both sex and drug use. The Roe V. Wade decision by the Supreme Court became a rallying cry, and that issue has been important in every Presidential election since. This time, the issue…

Both Taoism and Buddhism encourage meditation as a means by which to liberate the mind and achieve emptiness. One of the Buddhist practices that encourages emptiness is mindfulness meditation, or vipassana. However, there are numerous specific methods that be used during the meditation practice. Some are more Tibetan in origin as those espoused by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and the Vajrayana tradition. Other meditation practices are like those I learned at the Hsi Lai Temple, which combine Ch'an (Chinese Zen) Buddhism with Buddhist humanism. Taoism, unlike Buddhism, also offers ancillary spiritual practices such as Tai Chi and Chi Gung. The teachings of Buddhism and Taoism go neatly hand in hand.

Therefore, I am continually growing from becoming more open to spiritual teachings. The spiritual journey is like a flower blossoming. I do not believe that religious dogma or ideology are necessary, and in some cases they can be harmful. As Chogyam…

ethnic, racial, and religious group is subject to stereotyping from others. This means that there are terms and ideas prescribed to a group of people based on certain characteristics that makes assumptions on those individuals because of these assumed characteristics. Stereotypes are rarely if ever based upon true characteristics but upon archaic and prejudicial ideas. There are both positive and negative stereotypes, but even ones that seem to compliment the specific group are still offensive because they give all individuals in that group the same characteristics, denying the people their individuality. Stereotypes are some of the most prevalent and ingrained ideas within the society. Even people who understand the fallacy of stereotyping and do not believe in them are aware of the terms applied to certain groups and may find themselves buying into some of them on a subconscious level. This is because these ideas have become conditioned into the…

A gratefully accepted and began attending the family meetings regarding this upcoming event. Apparently there had been previous meetings but I was only made aware of the event as part of this project so I got to go to the final four meetings.

he first thing that happens during this event is that the girl renews her commitment to God and to the church before her family and friends and congregation members.

he ceremony is serious with bells ringing and music playing at the church which can be decorated for the event.

In the case of this family the church was decorated with white satin and ribbon and flowers. On addition when the church part was over there were a dozen white doves released into the sky as the girl made her way outside among the onlookers.

Following the church service the family throws a large party. It was explained…

Between 1618 and 1648, there was an outbreak of war which was mainly caused by the struggle between a militant Calvinism and a militant Catholicism in fact it was referred to as the "last of the religious wars." Furthermore, prior to, all through, and after this three decades war, a sequence of civil wars and rebellions hit Europe. All this events and problems greatly affected Europe economically, socially, and even politically and actually qualify to be categorized as crises.

Question 2:

For the period of the 16th and 17th centuries, the European society did not respect women at all since they considered them inferior to men both mentally and morally thus were directly linked to witchcraft during the witchcraft craze. To make it worse was the fact that these low estimates were not just held by the witch hunter but also by the elites such as lawyers, theologians, and philosophers.…