World Religion – CANNOT USE INTERNET AS A RESOURCE

The religions we have learned so far include Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, and you are now learning about Confucianism. 

 

Answer only three out of the following four questions (you will not get extra credit by answering all four). You should answer with no more than a few paragraphs for each. I will not count the number of words, but I will be grading you on: 1) how well you grasp the concepts, and 2) how much thought and reflection you put into your answers.  So, answer each question as richly as possible.

 

 

 

Question 1:

 

In casual discussions about religion, many of us encounter someone who claims that all faiths focus upon a God. In this course, we examined two religions which explicitly reject the idea of a creator deity: Buddhism and Jainism. Choose one or both of these religions, and outline what the followers of this religion see as the focus of their spiritual lives. You may want to Include the ideas of samsara and karma in your answer (which pertain to both religions). You will definitely want to describe the importance of liberation from rebirth if you choose Jainism, and the similar concept of nirvana if you choose to outline Buddhism. In addition, please answer the following questions: Has learning about such non-theistic religions in this course altered your understanding and appreciation of religion? Even those raised within one of these faiths may have an opinion about this.

 

 

Question 2:

 

In the first week of this course (and the first chapter of the e-text), we learned of a distinction between transcendent and immanent ideas of the divine. A god that is depicted as transcendent is beyond or above nature, while an ultimate reality that is depicted as immanent is within or underlying nature. It is often proposed that God, as understood within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, is depicted as mostly transcendent (although we will see that the mystics of these religions often provide an exception to this). But the concept of Brahman from the Hindu Upanishads and the Tao from Taoism are radically immanent. Choose either the Upanishads (from Hinduism) or Taoism. First, describe, to the best of your ability, this religions interpretation of the divine. Include in your description how this divine or ultimate reality is found within, or identified with, all of nature. I addition, answer the following questions: Have you ever thought of the divine in this kind of fashion? Do you think an immanent picture of the divine is preferable to a transcendent one? Why or why not?

 

Question 3:

 

Each of the great world religions has something to say about human nature. We have seen that Hindu scriptures claim that the true self is not our physical body, but the atman or eternal soul, and that this soul is part of brahmanthe unchanging ground and source of all existence. On the other extreme, we have seen the Buddhist concept of anatta or no-self, which dismisses the concept of an eternal soul, or even an I or me that abides underneath the flux of our experiences. Taoism rejects the artificialities of society and prizes the natural personwhat the Tao Te Ching proudly describes as an uncarved block. Most forms of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam accept the idea of a soul, but one that is created by, and not identified, with God. There are mystics within the Abrahamic religions which claim otherwise, but this is something we will see later. Out of all of the pictures of human nature we have discussed so far, which do you agree with the most? That you happened to be born in a particular religion is not a good enough answer, I want you to think about this question! Explain your answer in as much detail as possible.

 

Question 4:

Religions are not just doctrines, they are pathsrules or principles for how we should live. A perusal of the faith traditions we examined throughout this course bears this out, for we have witnessed Krishas instructions to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita (Hinduism), the doctrine of ahimsa (Jainism), the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path (Buddhism), the Khalsa and the symbolism behind the five Ks (Sikhism), the stress on living in harmony with the Tao (Taoism), and the Five Cardinal Relations and the Rectification of Names (Confucianism). Choose at least one of these teachings, either in whole or in part. I would prefer that you choose from a religion that you were not raised in. Then, outline how this teaching instructs us on how we should live.  Finally, answer one of the following questions: How do these teachings or practices compare with those from your own religion or culture?  If more people adopted the practice, would society improve?

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