Summary Of Thich Nhat Hanh's Living Buddha, Living Christ

How can one religion have all the answer for all the different people in the world? In many prevalent religions the “universal truth” is used to provide justification for domination and superiority. The truth proved that the system of belief “had all the answers”. This provided the need to convert others to their religion to ensure the safety of their soul, but it soon became to be used as a tool in the authority over other cultures. Not all cultures believe in a universal truth, Buddhism actually identifies that it does not have the universal truth.

It also became an agent of mental and practical liberation to the oppressed peoples and of economic development to the disadvantaged peoples. “Engaged Buddhism” is defined by the intention of Buddhists of whatever sect to apply the values and teachings of Buddhism, especially compassion and love, to the problems of society in a nonviolent way, and are motivated by concern for others’ welfare, and is served as a channel to express their own Buddhist practices. So, “Engaged Buddhism” is neither a new Buddhist sect nor does it belong to one of the established sects. This engagement is not detached from Buddhist spirituality, but it is a modern phenomenon to express their Buddhism spirits and values to the problems of society (King, The Social Ethics of Engaged Buddhism, 2005). On the other hand, the reason of emergence of “Engaged Buddhism” was similar to the third problem Taixu discovered as I mentioned above.

Personally, I believe that this is a sign of maturity and self-esteem. If a person is confident in themselves and really believes in what they are talking about then it is okay if others disagree, but if you wish for others to be supportive of your views then I believe that means that you are uncertain about them and need clarification. When Ray and Japhy are talking about Buddhism, Ray tells Japhy that he does not believe that Zen Buddhism is truly a form of Buddhism, but rather he is a “Serious Buddhist” because he is working towards something in his life. “That’s because they want them to realize mud is better than words, boy.” (Kerouac 13) In this quote despite the age difference between Japhy and Ray, as Kerouac refers to himself in the book, Japhy still calls him boy, typically not a very flattering and endearing term, especially when used to address someone of a younger age than yourself. Japhy is pointing out to Ray sometimes the most simplest thing that you never would expect to be the answer is actually the best way in going around to solving the problem or question that has been presented to you.

Simply professed, I believe Jesus is God. In the Gospel of Matthew 1:22-23, His Divine identity is revealed to his biological father Joseph as the fulfillment of the messianic prophecy spoken in the book of Isaiah 7:14. Traditionally, the divine qualifying attributes such as: his “sinlessness” or his “teachings” pointed to define his divinity. The two can points can easily be diminished by identifying Jesus as an “extraordinary individual”. His death alone, offers very little affirmation of his divine nature, due to claims of Jesus simply being a political victim or martyr.

Though it may be crazy to believe that a religion will make people work hard, play sports, treat others kindly, and persevere through obstacles. Each religion has beliefs, history or parts that seem “crazy”. Christians believe that there is a god who listens to everyone’s prayers and makes changes to the world just for them. Jewish believes in fasting (no food or water for a period of time). Hinduism believe gods/goddess’s come to earth at crucial times.

Indian Buddhist practice mediation as form of self-awareness, which in turn is much more simplistic. While, Buddhist do not believe in Brahman, the practice of meditation is considered a vital part of the religion. One observation includes the obvious goal of attachment in Hinduism as opposed to the complete detachment sought out by Indian Buddhist. Historically it cannot be denied that from one religion came the birth of the other, so in a sense despite their very different characteristics they are ultimately

Many Christians believe that the first sin, caused by Eve, is why women have pregnancy pains, why men have to labor, and why people have to die, with no eternal life. The new founding’s made by scientist and philosophers thought that there could be other “realistic” reasons on why things like such happened. The Enlightenment Era was revolutionary because the people were finally finding their voices. Instead of basing their day to day lives off of religion, they grew a curiosity for intellect. Certain people who were Deist believed that there was a God and that he created all life, but He was not involved in every little thing that transpired in their daily operations.

In contrast, the Beowulf from the movie lacks the humility shown in the epic. Instead, he attributes all his victories to himself. Nowadays, people attribute any accomplishments to themselves and they have also become more individualistic. Although people still believe in God, they are not as appreciative and they do not acknowledge that through his grace and power, they overcome obstacles in their lives. On the contrary, people take credit for their own victories but question God during times of great struggle and tribulation.

Many years had passed since people thought the world was ending. They thought the world was ending because the Mayan calendars had said so, but their calendars were obviously not one hundred percent accurate. Many missionaries had gone all over the world and they had lots of success. Although they had success there were people who still did not believe in the one and only true God. There were still people who thought that there was no God and it was stupid to think that there was a God.

Like Hinduism, Buddhism has a manifold collection of sacred writings. Unlike Hindus, Buddhists are not bound to the Veda, or to the entire collection of Buddhist writings. Tables listing Buddhist scriptures help us understand the impossibility of large numbers of people mastering all the scriptures… In practice, Buddhist groups focus their attention on a few volumes, sometimes basing their central doctrines on one sutra.” (Matthews: 144) According to Hindu and Buddhist scriptures both believed in karma and reincarnation. Both religions have a common goal of life to attain nirvana or salvation, although they adopted different paths to reach their goal. Buddhism denies the authority of the Vedas and dislikes animal sacrifice, while Hinduism

In today 's culture, many think that there is no more room for other beliefs other than secular beliefs, which then brings up the idea of resurrection and eternal life. It is believed that the explanation of resurrection is inconsistent. They believe that Jesus was not the son of God, but a normal human being with no divine right, who died for humanity 's sins (Neusner). Secularists turn to logic and rational thinking when trying to solve problems that involve society or humanity, as human beings that are capable of deciding and managing their own social, economic, and political matters. Whereas groups with a scared basis turn to a supreme being for guidance or answers.

The 'Lord Buddha ' is not a divine figure. If so, he would be in total opposition to his message and ideals. Some branches of Buddhism consider the Buddha as a God, but this is not the norm, most well Buddhism is dedicated to the search for the path of salvation achieved following the four truths that are reached suffering, identifying the origins of suffering, its cessation, and the way to follow to obtain the spiritual status of karma. The ideal is to achieve a full State of karma. This means a rich inner life, with a sense of prosperity, beauty and wisdom.

This language can’t be faked or changed as it fits the human. this language eliminates the need for the missionaries, because all humans have it where every they go.” (Paine, 1794, P.100-101) Andrew took to this a little kindlier, however, he responded with, “So if the bible is false how can Job and Psalms 19 be right. They have no proof, and a human copied them from revelation from God. How can they be correct?” Thomas responded with, “You are one of these heathens? You believe that they are correct?

Almost all Americans have heard the phrase “separation of church and state.” However, fewer realize the magnitude of the phrase. Contrary to some people’s beliefs, the majority of the Founding Fathers were deists or had a belief in a God who created the universe but does not interact with it. They understood how religion could ruin governments and needed to be separated in their new nation. The Founding Fathers purposefully left out religion from all government documents and never mentioned the Bible or other religious text while creating the United States. Ken Ham is the CEO of Answers in Genesis and is a leader in the Christian creationist movement; he writes many articles on the Answers in Genesis website.

Some of the major differences can be seen in the ideas of origin and the meaning of life. In today’s society, as a whole, most do not believe that the world was created because various gods were fighting or because a monster of chaos was destroyed. In a modern, Christian worldview, we believe God created us and the earth and that He genuinely cares for us. For us, the meaning of life is similar in the idea that happiness is a goal; however, we find meaning in what we do and how we impact others. The Mesopotamians on the other hand never gave much evidence to support the idea that they were invested in the people around them and making their lives better along with their own.