Tricky. Isn’t it.

What is religion? Is religion different from spirituality? What is the role of religion in society? How relevant is religion to you personally?

Religion? A word so often heard and used in so many ways. A word so that has been familiarized for us the moment of birth. It has a special place, a special meaning to all of us in its own discrete way. Since the beginning of the history, since time as we know it, the word has appeared, mentioned and talked about. It has been the topic of discussion between wise men, philosophers and the religious. It has been the center of many debates. So many has sacrificed their lives in the name of it. It has ruled the mankind since its creation by it.

Religion? It is the belief in a higher being. The power we turn to in times of need and solitude. The power we turn to in time when we need to consult with our conscience. The power we turn to when in need of forgiveness and harmony. The time when we have no one but the higher power we believe in. The idea, which started when we were kids, that there is a higher power that one day we all have to answer to. The beliefs and guidelines set by society and followed by our parents and now, us. The rules and laws set by it so we can have better understanding of our society, ourselves and where we came from and where we will go.

The moment we started to breath, our parents thanked God for brining them joy and happiness. Before we eat and when we finish, once again we mention the higher being. We learned to thank the GOD, the one and only god from our parents and then at school and our friends. Perhaps we learned some rules and history at church, mosque or synagogues. Our teacher was kind enough, or religious enough to teach us about religion and its origins, where it came from, what and whom should we follow and believe. Perhaps we learned about the rights and wrongs of society and the differences in other societies. The differences that cost millions of live in the course of history; Holocaust is the biggest example. We learned quite a bit about our religion when we were growing up, and then we learned about other religions and their beliefs. Some of us are more tolerant than others when it came to different religions.

The society we live in effects the importance of the religion it exercises and vice versa. In some societies worship is the most important part of the day. Whether you are at work or school, you take time to practice your religious beliefs and turn to god. It could be five times a day, as in Islam; or once a day or week as in Christianity. Religion has been part of the society since the beginning. Not long ago, church had the power to govern the society. The church set the rules of society and its people followed them. It punished the wrongdoers and unbelievers. We have tried to part away from that sort of society and taken that power from church. The separation of church and state in modern societies has changed the perception and beliefs of people in some societies about religion. The church has become the place of worship, a place where you can practice your beliefs and become one with god.

To me, religion is what you belief in your heart, the submission and conviction of one self to all mighty one. I believe that we all believe in that one god. As the societies and people have come along history, each of them have labeled god in their own way and has set rules and guideline that one must follow within that society. The religion in which we were brought in has different name for him and gives us different ways and procedures to worship and turn to Him. Whether god portrayed as a stone or as a faceless almighty old man, he, still is the same god that we all believe in I think at the end, when it is all said and done, there is that one god, the one we turn to in times of need and consultation, that one god we as a human races believe in.

B. Discuss and explain the following terms:

Animism: The original Americans who lived on the northern plains developed a full-grown system of practical animism. The worldview of these early Americans was inextricably knotted with their animist beliefs and methods. Animism is the idea that the things around us are infused with more than mere existence. Animists believe that the hills, valleys, waterways, and rocks are spiritual beings, as are the plants and animals. There are almost as many different remains of useful knowledge as there are practitioners of animism. Although the practice of animism has not always been such Babel of systems as it is today.

Shaman: Shamanism as an ancient religious phenomenon in which the shaman is the great master of ecstasy. Shamanism itself, was defined by the late Mircea Eliade (1907-1986) as a technique of ecstasy. A shaman may exhibit a particular magical specialty such as control over fire or wind. When a specialization is present the most common is as a healer. The distinguishing characteristic of shamanism is its focus on an ecstatic trance state in which the soul of the shaman is believed to leave the body and ascend to heavens or descend into the underworld. The shaman makes use of spirit helpers, with whom he or she communicates, all the while retaining control over his or her own consciousness. Most shamans in traditional societies are men but either women or men may and have become shamans.

Rites of passage: Rites of Passage celebrate important times in our lives. Many such as birth, marriage, and death are commonly recognized, but others are unique to various cultures. Every culture and country has their own rites of passages such as in Judaism. They practice Bar and Bat Mitzvah, Bris and Brit Milah. In Islam, it is customary for the father to hold the newborn baby in his arms and whisper the prayer call (azan) into his or her right ear and the iqamat (the recitation before the actual prayer is performed) into the left ear. The rationale is that the first thing the baby hears is the call to God, thus pointing the way for him or her to the chosen path.

Taboo: It is usually a moral restriction placed upon certain actions by authorities (kings, priests, shamans, etc.) of a people, which if ignored will result in specific negative consequences. The term taboo is of Polynesian origin and was first noted by Captain James Cook during his visit to Tonga in 1771; he introduced the term into the English language, from which it achieved widespread. We have some how became familiar with taboos ranging from the very serious, double obligation Geas of the Old Irish prohibitions to the religious systems of Polynesia and Hawaii.  The most familiar taboos surround the forbidden chest, door, or box. We must also watch out for flowers not to be picked, fruit not to be eaten, apple in Eden, perhaps?

Sacred earth: The earth is the most beautiful planet of the universe. Our thinking is that we can dominate and consume our natural environment and resources. The industrial, scientific and technological revolutions have brought with them great advances in man’s understanding of the world. But, paradoxically, this greater understanding has seemingly increased our desire to move away from nature and the laws that govern it. The time has come that we need to think about saving our earth, the spirit of the universe.

Primal time: The primal world is not fragmented but remains whole as a symbolic paradigm of the sacred. There is no perceived division between the physical and the spiritual. The physical can indeed be a channel for the spiritual, as opposed to something “corrupt” that stands in opposition to it. Primal time is better thought of as “timelessness.” In the Western cultures, time is linear. Primal time is not linear but eternal. Eternity simply “is.” This “isness” or “beingness” is the stable, unchanging backdrop within which the gods and ancestors simply “are”.

C. What are the basic teachings of Hinduism? Explain some of the sanatana dharma teachings using the following terms as starting points: samsara, yoga, karma, moksha, puja, varna (caste system).

No civilization anywhere in the world, with the probable exception of China, has been as continuous as that of India. While the civilizations of Egypt, Babylon and Assyria have disappeared long ago, in India the ideas originated from the Vedic times continue to be a living strength. Since Hinduism has had no difficulty in bringing diverse faiths within its ever-widening fold, it has something to offer to all mankind. Monier Williams (1819-1899) in his notable work Brahmanism and Hinduism dwelt on this aspect. The strength of Hinduism, he emphasized, lies in its infinite adaptability to the infinite diversity of human character and human tendencies. The Hindus according to him were, Darwinians many centuries before Darwin and Evolutionists many centuries before the doctrine of Evolution was accepted by scientists of the present age.

Hinduism in terms of religion is not separated from other aspects of life. For Hindus, Hinduism is an inextricable part of their existence, a complete approach to life that involves social class, earning a living, family, politics, diet, etc. Hinduism has no founder, no creed, and no single source of authority. The things most often common to Hindus are a belief in a single Divinity or supreme God that is present in everything, belief in other gods who are aspects of that supreme God, belief that the soul repeatedly goes through a cycle of being born into a body, dying, and rebirth, belief in Karma (fate), a force that determines the quality of each life, depending on how well one behaved in a past life.

Dharma (duty) is at the center of the Hindu way of thinking; with its stress on personal responsibility, the concept gives to Hinduism its particular stress on the centrality of humanity in the universe. The word comes from the Sanskrit word, dhri, which means “to sustain.” It is dharma that sustains the cosmic order (Rita) of the universe. In social organization and the functions and obligations of each social group has in Hinduism a broader justification than mere value; one’s life and the specific obligations incumbent on it are all manifestations in the physical and moral world of the moral order of the universe itself.

During the period in which the Upanishads were written, Hindu philosophers began to develop the concept of samsara in line with other aspects of Upanishad thought. The idea of karma was combined with the idea of death after death, that is, reincarnation, to form the concept of samsara, or the cycle of birth and rebirth. Your actions in this life predetermine the nature of your rebirth; your current life and your moral dispositions have been predetermined by the sum total of actions you have taken in previous lives.

In India, Hindu’s express religious devotion through puja (worship), the act of showing reverence to a god or aspects of the divine through invocations, prayers, songs, and rituals. Yoga for instance is a form of puja, a specific direction for realizing the human potential. The yoga is designed to unite the human spirit with the God who is hidden within our soul. The idea came about so one can leave the surface self-transparent to its underlying divinity. Perhaps through yoga one can achieve the experience of moksha, the freedom from ties and the negative aspects of life. One who has attended true happiness while leading a life is believed to attend Moksha. The goal is to become free of the cycle of birth and rebirth, free of the body and its vicissitudes, free of the sorrow and disappointment of this world.

The ancient culture of India was based upon a system of social diversification according to spiritual development. Four orders of society were recognized based upon the four main goals of human beings and established society accordingly. These four groups were the Brahmins, the priests or spiritual class; the Kshatriya, the nobility or ruling class; the Vaishya, the merchants and farmers; and the Shudras or servants.

These four orders of society were called “varna“, which has two meanings; first it means “color“; and second it means a “veil“. As color it does not refer to the color of the skin of people, but to the qualities or energies of human nature. As a veil it shows the four different ways in which the Divine Self is hidden in human beings.

In ancient India, these divisions were not based on birth but based on qualifications. According to the Bhagavad Gita this Aryan family system broke down in India over three thousand years ago at the time of Krishna. Hence after three thousand years this system of determining natural aptitude has degenerated into the caste system which resembles it now only in form.

D. In your own words describe the stages of life in Hinduism? Describe the stages of life in your own society and discuss your particular place in it. Describe your desired future?

The four stages of the Hinduism are Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sanyas. The first step or stage of life is the student life. The student stays in this stage for about 25 years or until they get married. They are trained to control their senses through austerity and service to the guru. Their main duty is to study and do manual labor around ashram. They live very simple and ordinary life at this stage. Then comes the married life, Grihastha. In this stage there are some warrants for sensing pleasure, but everything is regulated so one can fulfill his desire and yet still become spiritually purified. Wife and husband equally share and do spiritual activities together. They are in a spiritual glory stage, a sin-qua-non for the development of family, a necessary link between the dead past and an unborn future. In the third stage of life, the wife and husband are still together but without any physical contact. The wife stays with the husband nothing more than just an assistant. This is the stage that before they supposed to give up family life and become full time in spiritual life. The fourth and final stage of life is Sanyas. One who decides to move to the fourth stage, he should take the decision after calm and deliberate self-examination and reflection. He then declares his intention to the priests and gurus. He then begs them to be ready to receive his solemn vows with all the customary formalities and ceremonies. In this stage one is supposed to live in solitude. He leaves his wife, families and children.

After studying Hinduism and its teaching and how deep it has grown since the beginning of time, I have discovered the in my society, where I grew up and live half of my life, there were no stages, such as in Hinduism. We don’t have any stages where a man can travel through his lifetime and go through different stages within in. Perhaps, one can choose to become spiritual and find god in solitude and leave his family in search and devotion of God. After gruesome questioning of my parents and bringing up Hinduism and telling them about the stages and so fort, my parents told me that we do not have stages that one can choose or decide to go. Most young adults get married by age 25 and have many children. They stay with their families for the rest of their lives. There is no time or age that one decides to leave family and children for spiritual and religious purposes. I see myself having a family and children where I can live happily with them for the rest of my life. I don’t think that there will be a time or age that I would decide or choose to become spiritual and leave my family for the sake of it. I think my family would be my spiritual gratitude and happiness where I would be thankful to God.

E. Discuss Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths and the Eight-fold path and suggest ways by which we may apply these teachings in our day-to-day lives.

The first sermon that the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) preached after his awakening was about the four noble truths. The first noble truth is that life is frustrating and painful. In fact, if we are honest with ourselves, there are times when it is downright miserable. Things may be fine with us, at the moment, but, if we look around, we see other people in the most appalling condition, children starving, terrorism, hatred, wars, intolerance, people being tortured and we get a sort of queasy feeling whenever we think about the world situation in even the most casual way.

The second noble truth is that suffering has a cause. We suffer because we are constantly struggling to survive. We are constantly trying to prove our existence and our lives. We may be extremely modest and self-delusional, but even that is an attempt to define ourselves. We are defined by our humility. The harder we struggle to establish our relationships, and ourselves the more painful our experience becomes. The third truth is that the cause of suffering can be ended. Our struggle to survive, our effort to prove ourselves and solidify our relationships is unnecessary. We, and the world, can get along quite comfortably without all our unnecessary posturing. We could just be a simple, direct and straightforward person. We could form a simple relationship with our world, our spouse and friends. We do this by abandoning our expectations about how we think things should be. This is the fourth noble truth: the way, or path to end the cause of suffering. The central theme of this way is meditation. Meditation, here, means the practice of mindfulness and awareness. We practice being mindful of the entire things that we use to torture ourselves with. We begin to develop the insight that things are really quite simple, that we can handle ourselves, and our relationships, very well as soon as we stop being so manipulative and complex.

I agree with Buddha’s first two noble truths. True, that the world is a miserable place, it has been and probably, the way the world is going, will be even worse. True, that we suffer, as individuals, as family, as society, and as whole country, we suffer. We have been raised to struggle and are complex. We have been raised to believe that the life will get better and we all live Hollywood style lives. Media ads let us believe that we all will be millionaires and marry model and live in million dollar mansions. But that is not reality, but a mere perception of it. The to the society, in which we live in today, perception has taken over reality and it seems that no one tries to distinguish between.

The path to liberation from these miserable states of being, as taught by the Buddha, has eight points, the eightfold path. The first point is called right view — the right way to view the world. Wrong view occurs when we impose our expectations onto things. It is an open and accommodating attitude. We abandon hope and fear and take joy in a simple straightforward approach to life. The second point of the path is called right intention. It proceeds from right view. If we are able to abandon our expectations, our hopes and fears, we no longer need to be scheming. We don’t have to try to con situations into our preconceived notions of how they should be. Our intentions should be pure and work with what we have. The third aspect of the path is right speech. Once our intentions are pure, we no longer have to be embarrassed about our speech. Since we aren’t trying to manipulate people, we don’t have to be hesitant about what we say. We say what needs to be said, very simply in a genuine way, the simple truth.

The fourth point on the path, right discipline. We need to give up our tendency to complicate issues. We practice simplicity. We give up all the unnecessary and giddy complications that we usually try to cloud our relationships with. The fifth path is right livelihood. It is only natural and right that we should earn our living. Often, many of us don’t particularly enjoy our jobs. We can’t wait to get home from work and resent the amount of time that our job takes away from our enjoyment of the good life. Perhaps, we might wish we had a more glamorous job. We don’t feel that our job in a factory or fast food is in keeping with the image we want to project. The truth is, that we should be glad of our job, whatever it is.

The sixth aspect of the path is right effort. Wrong effort is struggle. We often approach a spiritual discipline as though we need to conquer our evil side and promote our good side. We are locked in combat with ourselves and try to obliterate the tiniest negative tendency. When we see things as they are, we can work with them, gently and without any kind of aggression whatsoever.

Right mindfulness, the seventh step, involves precision and clarity. We are alert of the tiniest details of our experience. We are mindful of the way we talk, the way we perform our jobs, our posture, our attitude toward our friends and family, every detail.

Right concentration, or absorption is the eighth and final point of the path. Usually we are absorbed in forgetfulness. Our minds are completely captivated by all sorts of entertainment and speculations. Right absorption means that we are completely absorbed in now ness, in things as they are. This can only happen if we have some sort of discipline, such as sitting meditation.

Buddha, though born back in 563 BCE, knew and had realized a lot about how people and society work. It hasn’t changed a bit. I agree with his teaching and how we can improve our lives by be simplistic and realizing the truth. But the truth is, the society and time we live in, which is not much different from any other time in the history, (corruption, lies, deceptions, schemes, imposing ourselves onto things), is still the same. We all live in a complex world full of corruption and lies. In order for us to survive in such society, we need to struggle in our jobs, families and lives. The Buddha’s fifth path teaches us how we can be satisfied with our jobs and be happy with where we at and be glad with whatever it is; true, to some point. I will bring one example on this path, since it is very close to this teaching, Enron. There were people who worked for the company all their lives, they put everything into it; and I am sure they were the happiest employees alive. What happened at the end? Some lost all their lives savings. How pure were the intentions of the big Bosses in regards to their employees?

Buddha had great visions and he had realized how society and mankind works. He had his view and he thought people good things about life and their families and jobs. But the truth, regardless of great men like him, remains the same, we, as mankind on this planet earth, from the beginning of time to the end, will never change. I hope someday we will. But I can only hope to see blue moon.