Judaism

I found the key points of Judaism to be the following:

*No dogma

*No formal set of beliefs

*The actions you make are far more important than beliefs.While reading I found that Judaism does not solely focus on abstract cosmic concepts.
For the most part the Jewish believe that prayer should be focused on God an nothing else. There is one Torah and never will there be another. They believe the messiah will come and the dead will be brought back to this life.

Questions:
1. In the Jewish faith if the dead is believed to be resurrected what happens to their past souls?

2. If Jesus was said to be Jewish than why is he not accepted among his very own? (I experienced many conversations with people of the Jewish faith yet and still I do not understand why Jesus is not accepted.)

3. What are the 613 commandments given by God in the Torah?

Tao & Wu wei

Tao- a form of reality. In beliefs of Taoism Tao is the foundation of life.

Wu Wei- perceived as a form of intelligence, it is action with no stress. The side illustration is an example of the non doing concept. The practitioner is moving along with his opponent instead of going against his attacks.With this concept effectiveness comes with no activity. To be more effective no work needs to be done.

If I lived my life according to the Wu- Wei principle my life would be stress free. I would be more calm and understanding. I would probably see things in a totally different aspect. I definetly would not be so rushed for various outcomes. I think I place to much emphasis on trying to get the outcomes I want to achieve in life. I often worry about the " end result." If I could make myself believe that to be effective takes no action I would be a better person emotionally and physically. Living life and making no effort would be virtually impossible at this point. I am so accustomed to living this fast paced life struggling to climb that ladder of success. If I attempted to follow this principle at my current age I would feel as if I am complacent and an underachiever.

Tao Tzu Vs Confucius

"Students at Mercy College we thank you for your very warm welcome at your learning institution and in your country. I am Lao- Tzu and here besides me is Confucius. We hope you find our beliefs to be of interest and hopefully of great value. I will begin by summarizing the meaning of life from the point of view from Taoism. Taoism virtually attempts to find one's natural place."
" And what about Confucianism? Do we strive for something else"
" That is not what I stated I am just briefing the students on general concepts Taoism views as meaningful to life."
"Well Confucianism believes highly in education through modeling which actually brings about a better quality of life. We use traditions to help society return to a state in which they belong. We do not focus on violence. We strive on tradition.
"That sounds wonderful but we look into nature for questions to our answers. We believe that nature will tell us where we belong."
"That sounds okay Tao Tzu but we ultimately view heaven as a model for us to live on Earth. We believe that our society will be more effective if there is a hierarchy in place. The Emperor must be the leader and the people of society the followers.
" It seems to me Confucius that we both have played a major part in China's history. We both value the quality of life and aspire for society to value life as well."

BUDDHISM OCTOBER 9th

In this community many of the people are immigrants. They have traveled to this country in hopes of a better life. With this goal in mind it is not uncommon to find individuals having two full-time jobs. Many of the children come to America entering ESL classes. They feel left out and behind from the general population.For these immigrants determination has driven them to endure...sometimes the impossible. Very similar to my parents, obtaining financial freedom is a major priority. In the journey to financial freedom some individuals may become tempted to due wrong. Selling drugs and prostitution are always methods some people resort to for "fast money". This struggle to do good vs fast money can be torture for some families. Despite the temptation provided you will find many people very much into the church. Their spiritual being maintains their lifestyle. According to the four noble truths of Buddhism all life is full of suffering, pain and sorrow.The cause for suffering is the desire for things that are really illusions, such as riches, power and long life. The first two of the noble truths describes how money can cause destruction in lives if it is given great importance. Many people from the community could allow their lives to be influenced by negativity. But they do not. This is not to say that wrongful doings does not exist, it does.However generally the population of people are religious, spiritual and believe in a higher being.

HINDUISM....... adapting to a changing society?

Hinduism a religion is often viewed as complex by many outsiders. Hinduism stresses unity and diversity so it is no wonder that the religion adapts to a changing society. Hinduism has a great number of deities.This religion has many forms of worship. Is that a result of Hinduism adapting to a changing society? This is very possible. Because there is no single founder in Hindu religion it originated from variety of ideas and beliefs. It grew from the vedic traditions. Although the religion may adapt as a whole the spiritual force called Brahman is unchanging. There are many gods and many priests. Hinduism adapting to different people's needs developed Gautama Buddha, a new religion that spread through India and other Asian countries. Both religions focused on spirituality and moral duties.

September 18th JAINISM

I chose Jainism because it serves as an example that religion is continuously expanding. Jainism is a new religion that grew out of the Hindu traditions. It was founded by Mahavira around 500 B.C. Jainism grew from a desire to emphasize in meditation and self-denial. I thought this was a perfect example to prove the previous statement that there really is one religion. As societies modernize, religions branch out to accommodate the needs and lifestyles of the population. The people who followed this religion( called Jains) carried brooms to sweep the ground in front of their feet in order to avoid accidentally harming a living being. Though it sounds relatively easy does anyone know how to actually start a new religion?

George Bernard Shaw

" There is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it" If I were told this statement last year I would have totally disagreed. But after reading the text, magazine articles and completing the Belief O Matic survey, I agree 100%. Many people uphold their religion as if it is the one and only religion that will bring salvation. Because they lack religious education and keeping an open mind they limit themselves from learning about other religions. I am an excellent example of what being closed minded can result in. If you research the various religions one will find great similarities. Although there are several names, all religions believe in a higher being. All religions operate to serve that higher being. Some may believe the higher being is spiritual, others may believe (He) was human and then became a spirit. Many religions place limitations on wardrobe and accessories because they want the essential focus on that higher being. Not on the individual.I believe religion itself was founded under one domain and from there branched off as the population expanded and experienced different facets of life. The similarities among religion are present because at one time there was only one religion.