Religion Mid-year exam Flashcards
Religion Nature
“In Religion and Society, religion is defined as a community organised around beliefs related to ultimate reality (god) and the consequent beliefs, practices, principles and codes for behaviour”
Religion Purpose
No religion wants to divide us
- Moral compass
- Discipline
- Meaningful life
- Understanding
- Be part of a community
- Framework for living
- Identity
- Spiritual fulfilment.
Role of Religion
- Structure in the morning, praying
- Shabbos- reflection time
- Helping others
- Regularly talks through ideas, no form for a person with wisdom to talk to you about how you are? Religion communicate ethics
- Gather people around and tell them to be nice to each other.
- Australia: Tv, entertainment, cafes. Safety for people religious place
- See each other as human being
9 aspects of Religion: Beliefs
Particular beliefs an adherent of a Religion believes, in terms of God, Gods, spiritual rituals, meaning of life etc. In Christianity, they believe in the central belief of that Jesus is Son of God. Judaism belief in one God, Islam believe in Allah their God.
9 aspects of Religion: Sacred Stories
Sacred stories are stories that people turn to, to glimpse the transcendent, to conserve a faith tradition, to be authoritatively guided, or to address life’s big questions. Sacred stories shape and guide lives and are often ‘revealed’. Sacred stories bind communities. Judaism - Noah’s ark, Exodus from Egypt, megillat Ester
9 aspects of Religion: Spiritual experience
- A transformation experience
- Relationship, connection with the religion is impacted
- Experiences may be positive or negative.
- A moment that just happens that draws you closer to the beliefs of your religion.
- Spiritual awakening
- Connect to god, take time out of your day to experience spirituality. Focus on the beliefs.
- A moment for a change of consciousness.
- Experience of positive or negative - God is punishing you, purim faced the genocide, literal genocide. Yom kippur- fast, get rid of all his sins. Leads you to a spiritual experience
9 aspects of Religion: Texts
Sacred books of religion, that adherents read.
Islamic Sacred Text: The Quran and Hadith
Jewish Sacred Texts: The Tanach, Mishnah, Talmud and Midrash
9 aspects of Religion: Ethics
Moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity
9 aspects of Religion: Social structures
Include family, religion, law, economy and class. Social structures in christianity.
1)Pope 2)Cardinals 3)Archbishops 4)Bishops 5)Priest 6)Catholics. Catholic church believe in the trinity - Father - son - holy spirit = one god all the same thing
9 aspects of Religion: Symbols
The representation in visible form of ideas, beliefs, actions, persons, events,
Christianity (cross) = he suffered so we did not have to.
Buddhism: dharma wheel
9 aspects of Religion: Rituals
A religious ritual is any repetitive and patterned behavior that is prescribed by or tied to a religious institution, belief, or custom, often with the intention of communicating with a deity or supernatural power.
Islam = go to the Hajj, pilgrimage, five prayers a day.
Buddhism = meditation. Mandala, time of meditation, then destroy it to remind them of impermanence, things end, meaning for their life, reminder, life rushes by like a dance or lightning beauty doesn’t last forever, find middle ground, do not be attracted to superficial things. Beliefs, artifacts, the process and what is doing are both teachings.
Monotheism
The doctrine or belief that there is only one God, like Judaism, Christianity, Islam
Atheism
Disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or Gods.
Agnosticism
A person who believes that nothing is known or proved of the existence or nature of God.
Science
The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
Secular
Not connected with religious or spiritual matters
Worldviews
A particular philosophy of life or conception of the world
Religions in Australia
No religion (30.1%) Protestantism (23.1%) Catholicism (22.6%) Orthodox Christian (2.3%) Other Christian (4.2%) Islam (2.6%) Buddhism (2.4%) Hinduism (1.9%)
Story of Buddhism
Started with a buddha, lived before Jesus, born into a wealthy family, wanted to have a perfect life, left kingdom, gave up all possessions, wondered the world for 6 years, learn the wisdom of the street, realise it was not the way to reach perfection, not pursuing wealth and luxury, stuck by what he discovered / woke, he thought people to not be obsessed with his possessions.
Four people he meets , kept away from all dissatisfaction
A sick person, old man, dead man, satisfied homeless person who is meditating = life is suffering, inevitableness of Dukkah, impermanence. Solution = person who is meditating, don’t run from suffering, learn to accept it and live in the moment, mindfulness, stop desire things, attachment, give up on your cravings, motivated
Story of Muhammad
Muhammad was the prophet and founder of Islam. Most of his early life was spent as a merchant. At age 40, he began to have revelations from Allah that became the basis for the Koran and the foundation of Islam. By 630 he had unified most of Arabia under a single religion.
The 3 Jewels = three things to achieve enlightenment
Buddha - the teacher, life of a buddha is the possibilities that this is truth, mentor or guide, teacher.
Dharma - the teachings, teachings of buddhism, the method of retaining englitenment, what the Buddha taught, of the ways to achieve it, almost like a recipe
Sangha - the community buddhist followers, the kitchen, the community of monks, people trying to achieve enlightenment, cannot be able to do it on their own, need appropriate context. The cycle of rebirth. Continuous circle of life, death, rebirth, depends on actions, Determines level of rebirth, aims to end the cycle of rebirth.
Karam
‘what goes around comes around’
The environment you create is the environment you have to live in
Actions have consequences
Actions - seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation
The three signs of being
- Dukkha (suffering)
Everything is suffering
Nothing is life is absolutely perfect - Anicca (change)
Impermanence
Nothing lasts
Like mountains constantly change all the time - Anatta
‘No soul’
People are made of five parts - body, feel things, can think, have ideas and beware of things.
Rebirth - birth, illness, death, rebirth called samsara
letting go, embracing nothingness.
The four noble truths
- The first noble truth
“Dukkha happens everywhere all the time”
Everything in the world is dukkah, nothing is perfect \
To live is to suffer
Every life has kamma
Suffer from the person’s previous life
- Second noble truth Greed and selfishness Selfishness is the cause of suffering Being reborn is seen as selfish, try to break this cycle. Craving for things Tanha - attachment
- The Third noble truth Greed and suffering can be stopped When you no longer want anything and can see beyond yourself End dukkah Freedom is nirvana What you are is not longer important
- The fourth noble truth
To end suffering is follow the eight noble path
“Middle way”
Showing people how to live to reach Nirvana
