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.

Belief O Matic
This survey made me well aware of the different views on religion and faith. Many of the answers were to one extreme or the next. Listed below are my results from the survey. Completing this survey I now believe that even though many Americans proclaim one religion, we in fact can follow several. Through stereotypes and prejudice we sometimes criticize religions that are unfamiliar to us. Educating ourselves we will find that many religions have a great deal in common. According to this survey my beliefs are similar to Orthodox Quaker. That came as a complete shock. I always viewed even the word Quaker as being very con formative and rigid. Actually the first six religions are religions that I previously thought were unbearable and unrealistic to live by. After completing this survey I can understand that our views are not worlds apart like I thought.


1.
Orthodox Quaker (100%)
2.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (95%)
3.
Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (94%)
4.
Jehovah's Witness (83%)
5.
Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (81%)
6.
Eastern Orthodox (80%)
7.
Roman Catholic (80%)
8.
Seventh Day Adventist (80%)
9.
Orthodox Judaism (70%)
10.
Reform Judaism (65%)
11.
Liberal Quakers (64%)
12.
Sikhism (63%)
13.
Islam (61%)
14.
Unitarian Universalism (59%)
15.
Hinduism (58%)
16.
Neo-Pagan (53%)
17.
Mahayana Buddhism (43%)
18.
Scientology (43%)
19.
New Age (42%)
20.
Secular Humanism (42%)
21.
Bahá'í Faith (41%)
22.
Theravada Buddhism (41%)
23.
Jainism (40%)
24.
Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (35%)
25.
New Thought (32%)
26.
Taoism (29%)
27.
Nontheist (18%)