Custom «World Religions» Essay Paper Sample

Personal Assessment: The principle of Ahimsa or non-violence has taught me that everything and anything can be resolved through peaceful actions and negotiation.

Unit 6

1.b. Siddhartha Gautama was born from a rich family and his parents were both king and queen of the land. But then, he sought a life where material wealth is not important and hence, he lived a life departing from any form of worldly activities and wealth.

1.c The four passing sights are an old man; a sick man; a corpse; and an ascetic. These four sights have enabled Siddhartha to pursue his greatest spiritual journey.

1.d The stages of Siddhartha`s enlightenment are comprised of suffering, determination and passion to find the truth of man`s existence.

1.e The enlightenment of Siddhartha happened under the Bo Tree. After meditating for 49 days, he was able to finally achieve the greatest insight for suffering and the ways to eliminate it.

2.b Buddha was a very determined, patient and passionate person. He did everything within and beyond his capability to know the four noble truths about life.

2.c The most striking character of Buddha is the determination to find the truth without giving-up and not until the truth is found.

3.b Authority, Ritual, Speculation, Tradition, Grace and Mercy are the 6 aspects that are always present in most religion.

3.c Buddha preached about the absence of the 6 aspects of religion in his teachings. Hence, it made the 6 aspects out of hand and out of line in relation to the teachings of the Hindu.

3.d It was directed to individual. It is important that in the journey to attain religious freedom one is given the right to believe what he wants and to ensure that he is able to find the truth.

3.e Empirical, scientific, pragmatic, therapeutic, psychological/existential, egalitarian and individual.

3.f The most important characteristics is psychological as it helps in understanding the well-being of a human, attitudes and shaping of values.

Unit 7

1.b Suffering, pain and discontent are some of the synonyms for the word.

1.c The six moments are birth; pathology of sickness; the bitterness of our ruin; phobia of death; to be tied to what one dislikes; and to be separated from something or someone you love.

1.d The five Skandas are form; feelings; perceptions; will or volition; and consciousness. These Skandas are an aggregation of the very individuality of humans affected by dukkha.

1.e Desire, craving and thirst are the synonyms for the axiom Tanha.

1.f Tanha can be described as cravings for existence, sensual pleasures and non-existence.

2.b The preliminary step is the right view. It is important in such a way that it will enable any person to see things and understand the same the way they really are.

2.c The 8 steps are the right view; right intention; right speech; right action; right livelihood; right effort; right mindfulness; and right concentration.

2.d The 5 precepts are: do not kill; do not steal; do not indulge in sexual misconduct; do not make false speech; and do not take intoxicants.

2.e The enlightenment of Buddha is more of a new mode of experience as it changed all the knowledge that has been instilled in the mind of Siddhartha since he was a young child. It is like erasing a memory of what life should be and replace it with new and fresh understanding of the world and everything about humanity. The perception of things and life as well as everything that is being felt has definitely been changed after the enlightenment of Siddhartha Gautama.

2.f The four noble truths are the most striking teaching. It is the reality of what the people and the society are looking for in their lives. It connotes what people are scared from as well.

Unit 8

1.b Nirvana is the state where a person has freed himself from any form of suffering.

1.c The doctrine of Anatta and Atman is almost the same. It both pertains on the fact that not all things are made for one self. Neither I nor Mine must be used and in so therefore doing, there is no need to cling on the earthly world.

1.d Anicca is defined as the cycle of life and death of every person under the Buddhist teachings. Dukkha, on the other hand, is defined as the state of being disturbed through suffering. Anatta is defined as the absence of the permanent soul of every person.

2.b Yana is used in the concept of spiritual journey and path of a person.

2.c Theravada is known to be the teachings of the wise. It is preferred because of the fact that it is the wise elder of the religious community that is being sought for advices.

2.d Some of the differences between Theravada and Mahayana are the rituals. There are only very few rituals in the Theravada but there are many in Mahayana. This is because of the cultural differences of the members. Bardo is not taught in Theravada but is taught in Mahayana.

3.b Zen  and Ch’an both connotes the concept that enlightenment can be achieved through meditation. Dyhana is a profound form of religious meditation. These 3 teachings are all categorized to involve profound meditation as part of the religious practice.

3.c Zen is connected to Gautama in the sense that it is through meditation that he attained enlightenment which is the very gist of the teachings of zen.

3.d Zazen is a form of meditation where the disciple will sit in a room with his legs crossed and eyes wide open. It is where all the logical thinking capacity is suspended to attain relaxation.

3.e Koan is the stage where a person meditating is actually gaining some spiritual awakening.

3.f Sanzen is the art of studying Koan.

3.g Satori is a form of spiritual awakening that is achieved through Zen.

3.h Zen outlook can be summarized into the quest for spiritual awakening through meditating only when the person doing it is ready to release all the negative energy in the body, mind and soul to attain the perfect state of relaxation.

3.i The most striking feature of the Zen practice is the actually reality that a person can achieve awakening in its most relaxed state of being just like what Buddha did.

Unit 9

1.b Vajrayana is a concept that defines and gives emphasis on a swift path to freedom or liberation. It speaks of liberating oneself by identifying to the suffering of other people.

1.c Tantra is commonly associated with spiritual practices and rituals that use in worshipping.

1.d Tibetan Buddhism claims that nirvana can be achieved in a single lifetime only and it can be achieved through the utilization of the energy of the human make-up for a spiritual journey.

1.e The main place of sexuality in Tantric Buddhism is considered to be the sacred sex.

1.f Dalai Lama is significantly considered as the reincarnation of spiritual leaders.

2.b Reverence for a single founder where the teachings are derived from and the image of crossing- a metaphor used to describe Buddhism.

2.c The main differences are primarily consist of the language used to write the teachings and the ceremonies being conducted to perform worship and various rituals.

2.d The three jewels are the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.

2.e Regardless of whether the spiritual leaders travel near or far, they all came into believing and in unison with regards to the teachings of Buddha.

3.c It cannot be denied that Buddhism has influenced India in a lot of ways. It seems that even the other religions are rooted and founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama.

3.d The most influential aspect of Buddhism to me is the 4 noble truths. It will definitely help in the attainment of a peaceful live and an inspiring guide to living a good life.

Unit 10

1.b The culture of the Chinese is not founded on the teachings of Confucius so he was not really the author of it. However, he is one of the cornerstones of it and hence he aided and helped in the transmission and dissemination of such culture for the world to see.

1.c In Chapter 4 of the book, Huston Smith said that Confucius “texts were made mandatory disciplines for Chinese government officials.” This means that he is indeed a great man.

1.d Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do.

1.e Confucius is a noble man, intellectual and a believer.

2.b Social anarchy has been the main source of interminable warfare wherein the amount of chivalry has degenerated through the continuous war among the states.

2.c The utilization of intelligence in order to keep the tradition intact even in the passing years and the process of determining how far the tradition will be served.

2.d Self-consciousness and the individualism are the two most contagious things when social coherence fails. The growth of these attitudes will not be in anyway help in the society.

3.b The caution is all about the realists mechanisms of penalties and rewards.

3.c The Realists’ solution is all about force.

3.d The cause of major calamities in the world is partial love among the people in the society.

3.e Mo Tzu believed that there should be uniformity of thought among the people in order to ensure social harmony. Thoughts should be controlled as well in order attain harmony.

3.f Force is the solution in order to attain social harmony in the world governed by anarchy. Every misgivings and wrong actions must be punished and those who do good things must be given rewards (Realist). The problem with the present day is the lack of love. Partial love is not going to work out. There should be universal love and people need to control their thoughts in order to compromise and solve the problems in the world (Mohist).