Distinctions

Christianity and Buddhism both place great import on many of the same issues. The two religions are fundamentally opposed to one another on many of those issues, though. Some of these topics include love, freedom, and religious communities.

Love for one another plays a positive role in both Christianity and Buddhism. Both religions encourage it as and include it as a fundamental doctrine. In Buddhism, this concept is often referred to as “infinite compassion”. Thich Nhat Hanh, a “great Buddhist teacher”, states, “In the Buddhist teaching, it’s clear that to love oneself is the foundation of love of other people. Love is a practice.” In Buddhism, he says, love arises from within oneself and the mastery of loving oneself. According to Buddhism, humans are capable of love independently and must consciously strive to love. Christianity takes a polarizing position here. Its doctrine says that love is an unconditional gift from God, made possible by the Holy Spirit and made present by Jesus Christ. Love is not within in Christianity, but rather it is without. Love exists outside of us and is something we participate in. This distinction is important because it indicates the essential difference between what Buddhists consider to be the problem of existence (or rather that the see existence as a problem) and the Christian problem of existence.

The role and definition of freedom are also integral in both religions, but the distinction between Christianity’s and Buddhism’s take on freedom is clear. In Christianity, freedom is used as a means to an end, and the end is to “adhere to Being, and therefore to Christ.” Christians posit that freedom allows us to enter into a pure and simplistic relationship with Christ, free of tampering influences. One could say that freedom allows the Christian to participate in life more fully. The type of freedom described here is a freedom from the structures and systems of power that man creates and an in-tune-ness with one’s desires. Similar, but clearly distinct, is Buddhist freedom. Buddhist freedom also means to be free from the structures and systems of power, but goes further and says that freedom is also a complete uprooting of desire. A “free” Buddhist is not more in tune with his desires, but rather completely removed from them. This definition of freedom plays into the role of freedom in Buddhism: freedom is the end, not the means. Rather than seeking freedom for the sake of helping one achieve greater life, a Buddhist seeks freedom simply to be free. Free from suffering, desire, and the self, and finally embracing the “non-self”.

Finally, religious communities exist in both Christianity and Buddhism to aid men and women on their spiritual journeys, but the type of aid they provide is different. In Christianity, communities make Jesus present in the world. They exist for the purpose of others, both in the sense that each individual member must be as concerned for his neighbor’s salvation as he is for his own, but also in the sense that these communities bring the love of Christ into the world, benefitting people outside the community (evangelization, community service, social relief, etc.). Buddhist communities are quite the opposite. Thich Nhat Hanh harps on the personal benefits of the sangha, such as “the transformation and healing [taking] place more quickly.” He also says that mindfulness, concentration, and joy are more powerful in the sangha, all things used for personal enlightenment. The essence of the sangha is not to care for the journey of everyone else before oneself, but rather to facilitate one’s own journey through membership in the community.

All of these differences are easily overlooked and may even seem superficially insignificant, but they are closely tied to the fundamental difference between Christianity and Buddhism, being that Buddhism views existence as suffering while Christianity views it as an opportunity to take part in infinite truth, beauty, and love in the person of Christ. This fundamental difference is what one must take into consideration when analyzing religions or deciding what religion to participate in. 

Introduction to Buddhism

Buddhist regard Siddhartha Gautama as The Buddha, the primal example of what it means to attain enlightenment. Siddhartha grew up in a royal family and was carefully groomed to lead a royal life by his father. He wasn't allowed to leave the royal estate at all. However, as he grew older to he experienced several forays into the outside world, each time witnessing human suffering, a new concept to him. This led him to contemplate the fundamental question of life, so he set out to find an answer. After mastering meditation under several teachers, he eventually led an ascetic life, believing that he could attain enlightenment by denying the body and flesh, thus freeing the spirit.

Wherever Buddhism is practiced, statues of the Buddha are found, some as large as this one. 

The three jewels of Buddhism are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. The Buddha refers to Buddha himself and his life as a paradigm for one's modern life. It is the root of all sects of Buddhism and the first example of enlightenment. The Dharma refers to the teachings of Buddha, but more specifically the word attempts to represent the truth of reality as experienced by reality. In addition, Dharma refers to teachings that try to express that truth in words. The final jewel is the Sangha. This is the community of spirituality, and more personally, it means the people that olay a role in one's own spirituality, such as teachers or friends.

The Three Jewels of Buddhism sit on top of a lotus flower here, a popular symbol in Buddhism.

The Threefold Way is the path to enlightenment. Unlike Hinduism, it is not three (or four, in Hinduism's case) separate ways to achieve the spiritual goal. Instead, it is a progressive path. First comes ethics. Education in ethics provides the spiritual and moral basis for meditation, the next step. Meditation is contemplative thinking, and is difficult and rewarding. The goal of meditation is the attaining of wisdom. Wisdom is achieved and accumulated over time, and eventually leads, with contemplation, to enlightenment. 

These three paths here represent the Threefold Way.

The four noble truths are the foundation of Buddha's teaching. First, Buddha teaches that all existence is dukkha, or suffering. Second, he says that our desire is the root of this suffering, because we desire impossible and infinite things which we can never achieve. Third, Buddha says that the suppression and elimination of this desire will supress and eliminate our suffering. Finally, the Buddha teaches that there is a path out of dukkha, such as the Noble Eightfold path. Manchester City lost to Southampton yesterday, moving them farther away from Manchester United. Man U will win the season now, yay.

Come on, you Devils!

In one of his earliest discourses, the buddha taught of a path out of dukkha with eight facets. They are as follows: Perfect Vision, Perfect Emotion, Perfect Speech, Perfect Action, Perfect Livelihood, Perfect Effort, Perfect Awareness, and Perfect Meditation. These eight limbs of spiritual life represent a balanced and holistic approach to the dharma that will allow one to fully and evenly grow in order to achieve enlightenment.

The Noble Eight-fold Path.

Hinduism Review Questions

1. Moksha is an omniscient state of awareness. It is the ultimate bliss and final goal of life, and is the release from the cycle of samsara and the accompanying suffering.

2. Monism. All forms of reality have a common essence in the same way that ponds, lakes, rivers, and oceans all share the common essence of water.

3. Atman- The eternal self, which the Upanishads identify with Brahman; reincarnated with the body from one worldly life to the next until the soul exits samsara through Moksha.
Brahman- The eternal essence of reality and the source of the universe.
Atman is the individual soul and essence while Brahman is the universal soul.

4. The general function of the many Hindu deities is to provide access points for human beings to participate in the eternal reality and life force, Brahman.
5. Samsara is the worldly cycle of rebirth and reincarnation. It states that one's karma stays with the atman, the eternal soul that is reincarnated in this cycle until moksha, which breaks the cycle, is acheived. The cycle of samsara is one filled with struggle and suffering, but moksha is a separation from this suffering.

6. Bhagavad-Gita

7. Karma and Dharma. Karma is the belief that one's actions Build up positively or negatively and carry over from one life to the next.

8. Shudra-servants and laborers
Vaishya-Farmers and artisans
Kshatriyas-Soldiers and government officials
Brahman-priests

9. Because it is Arjuna's duty as a member of the caste system, or dharma.

10. Student-begins at puberty, And requires study of sacred literature
Householder-begins at marriage, concerns pursuing a career and accumulating wealth
Forest Dweller-begins at birth of first grandchild, and is preparation for the fourth stage
Acetic-begins when one is ready and consists of detachment from society and denial of pleasure

11. Sensual pleasure-pursuit of the pleasures of sensual love
Material success-accumulation of worldly wealth
Harmony with Darma-following one's ethical duties based on caste gender and stage of life
The bliss of moksha-the ultimate goal and unification with Brahman

12. 3 paths of liberation
     1. The path  of works - people who like physical activity and go by day to day task of raising a family
     2. The path of knowledge- is the shortest yet biggest path to liberation and and is for those with talent for philosophical reflection
    3. The path of devotion- is for those who have alot of emotion al attachment

13. 3 most important schools of philosphy - Vedanta, Sankhya and Yoga

14. 3 important god or goddess of Hinduism - Brahma the creator, Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer

15. An avatar is an incarnation of a God, similar to demigods in Greek mythology. 

16. The Hindu text most closely associated with Bhakti Marga is The Bhagavad Gita

17. 3 aspects of  Hindu devotional life are household and village rituals, pilgrimages to holy places, and cow veneration.

18. Mahatma Gandhi changed India and Hinduism with his efforts to stand up to oppression by using non-violence and civil disobedience.

19. Significant changes in the caste system have tried to promote economic and social justice, especially concerning the Shudra caste and the untouchables.

20. Sati is the archaic practice of widow suicide, and is concerned with the idea that women aren't worth anything without a man. 

21. A significant development in India has been the split between Hindus and Muslims. The Muslims seceded, forming the nations of Bangladesh and Pakistan. 

Primal Religions Chaper Review Questions

1. Primal religions are called primal because: multiple gods, belief that humans and gods comprise an interdependent universe, magical music, presence in small villages and tribes, closed system, religion of common people, diverse, Individualistic, animated world of spirits, concern for meaning of the present life, concerned with well-being and death, manipulative strategies such as amulets and shamans, and pursuit of a knowledge of the unknown to aid one's present life. 

2. Tribes, territories, culture (human) and landscape, landmarks, and cave paintings (natural

3. The spiritual essence of the Ancestors

4. A totem is an inanimate representation of the Ancestors, or any primal god. 

A taboo is a rule pertaining to a religious act that allows some to participate in it and/or forbids some from participating in it. 

5. Because they reenact and make present the myths which support the Aborigines' unique world. 

6. They are believed to have been taught to the Aboriginals by the Ancestors. 

7. The young learn essential truths about their world and how they are to act in it

8. Knocking out of the front teeth and circumcision

9.  The western regions of Central Africa

10. Orisha-nla first began to create the world there

11. The Yorubas believe in Olorun, the High God and a hots of Orishas, or lesser deities. 

12. Olorun is the high god of the Yoruba tradition, but he is not involved in human affairs. He is the source of the power of the universe. 

13. The orishas are lesser deities that are involved in human affairs and can harm or help humans. 

14. Esu is an orisha who embodies both good and evil and mediates between heaven and earth. Ogun is the god of iron and of war. 

15. A trickster figure is a mischievous supernatural being. 

16. family and deified

17. facilitating communication with a deity or ancestor

18. It is discerning one's future, and knowledge of one's future is considered essential for figuring out how to live one's life. 

19. between 20,000 and 30,000 years ago

20. It is representative of Native American religion in general because of the culture exchange that occurred on the plains due to a common sign language

21. Wakan Tanka is the supreme God and source of the universe (Lakota)

22. Inktomi is the Lakota trickster figure

23. Four souls depart from a person after death, one of which travels the milky way and meets an old woman who judges it and allows it to continue or sends it back to earth as a ghost

24. Spiritual power that will ensure greater worldly success

25. It is an airtight hut of animal skins and saplings and hot stones in the middle with water on them produce steam that purifies the spirit and body with sweat

26. An animal or force of nature arrives and communicates a vision which is interpreted by a medicine man to reveal a truth about that person's life. 

27. a woman

28. The center of the world. the tree in the center of the sundance hut

29. As a sacrifice to the supreme being. 

30. It occurred in a highly developed civilization with 15 million people, and it was in an urban area

31. Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica

32. Quetzalcoatl

33. He was the priest-king during the Toltec age that provided the Aztecs with a role model for their authority figures.

34. It was the fifth age that would end with a destruction of this age and an end to all time

35. They saw the world as emanating out from one point and emphasized the four cardinal directions and the center. 

36. Because each person was imbued with such powerful cosmic energy in the head and heart

37. They could communicate with the gods and make offerings through language

38. Cortez arrived on the day that Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl was expected to return to Earth and they were thought to be the same person. 

39. The aztecs used to perform a similar ritual to the popular day of the dead

40. totemism, taboo, the trickster figure, the vision quest, and the axis mundi. 

Lakota Sioux

The Lakota Sioux reside in North and South Dakota and Montana today, although they used to roam the plains in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Nebraska, following the buffalo herds.

The supreme being of the Lakota Sioux is called Wakan Tanka, which means "Great Spirit". They believe that Wakan Tanka is the spirit of Inyan, the deity of rock. Was the first of the Gods, and was there when there were no others. He spread himself into a disk with no edges, the earth. The Lakota have a long creation narrative stemming from Inyan that explains the creation of the sun, the moon, the sky, thunderstorms, wind, wisdom, and more.

The Lakota also believe in a pervasive and omnipresent energy called ton. Skan is the name for ton when the energy is active, which is manifested in our reality by motion. Skan is believed to be one with Wakan Tanka, who bestows the soul into each human upon birth with the breath of life.

The Lakota Sioux have a few sacred symbols to represent their beliefs:

Thunderbird:
The Thunderbird, also known as Wakinyan, is the guardian of truth. It nests at the top of the tallest peak in the Black Hills.

Uname:
This symbol represents the earth and wind. The four lines coming from each corner illustrate the four winds of the earth.

Medicine Wheel:
This Medicine Wheel also honors the four directions (with its four quadrants), a key concept in Lakota Sioux mythology. The circle behind the buffalo's head represents the never ending cycle of life, and the buffalo head itself is the locus of reality, or the Heart.

The main sacred location of this religion and people is called Pe' Sla. The Pe' Sla is located at the center of the Black Hills in South Dakota and is considered to be the center of the universe in Lakota Sioux mythology. In the fall of 2012, private owners of the area attempted to auction off the area but pressure from media and the Lakota Sioux forced the sellers to make a deal with the natives.

The Lakota have a plethora of gods, but a few stand out above the others. Obviously, Wakan Tanka is the most notable because he is the spirit of the first god, Inyan, who represents the earth. Inyan's son, Iktomi, is a trickster god that taught the first humans their ways and customs, but also causes discontent and symbolizes defiance. Inyan also created the aforementioned Wakinyan, which represents contradiction and contrariness and is the god of truth. The Wakinyan is shapeless (although pictured in the form of an eagle) and terrifiying, striking down liars with bolts of lightining. Heyoka is the alternate personality of the bipolar Wakinyan, combating evil and fostering good among people and growth among nature. Tate is the god of the wind, a hugely important factor in the Lakota people, and Tokapa was the first man, sent by God to teach the humans how to live.

The Lakota Sioux carve fetishes from stone to symbolize various spirits and confer good fortune. One such carver, Delbert Charging Crow, carves bears that carry crystal for good health, arrowheads as direction finders, and beads for luck. He goes through a long and intricate ritual with each stone that he plans to carve prior to beginning the actual carving process, and the meaning of the finished piece relies heavily on the type of stone and the animal chosen. Here are some Lakota fetishes:

The Lakota do have medicine men, which play a shamanistic role in Lakota culture. They guide men and women on vision quests, or journeys intended to reveal a truth about life and reality to the one going on the quest. The medicine man spiritually prepares the candidate in the time leading up to the quest and helps the candidate take part in a ritual involving a sauna-like lodging and profuse sweating intended to purify the participant. Then, the participant retreats to a remote spot in the wilderness and endures the elements for a few days with no food or water. Usually towards the end of the journey, the candidate has a vision and reports it to the medicine man upon returning, who then interprets the vision and explains it to the participant.

Another interesting ritual performed by the Lakota, the sun dance, is communal in nature as opposed to the individualistic vision quest. The sun dance is performed by an honored and honorable leader at the beginning of the summer and occurs in a lodge built specifically for the dance. This lodge has a cottonwood tree at its center, representing the locus of the universe and the supreme being. Dancing, music, and self-mutilation are all integral parts of this ceremony performed in glorification of the life-giving powers of the sun.

I have some pieces of Lakota art in my home, interestingly enough:

Terms and Definitions

Introductory Unit

Heart – The center (locus) or the human person

X and Arrows – diagram describing how Christianity is the only religion in human history that claims that the divine comes down to reality to save man (as opposed to man attempting to ascend to the divine)

Desire – an external want or longing that a person has that originates from an uncontrollable cause

Reality – the state of the world as it really is rather than as you might want it to be; the quality possessed by something that is real

Ontology – the metaphysical study of the nature of being and existence

Being – the state or fact of existing

4 truths – I did not create myself; I have impossible desires; I have limited powers; I expect to be happy.

Anointing of the Sick

Original sin – sin inherited by all descendants of Adam

Viaticum – the Eucharist as given to a person near or in danger of death

Presbyters - An elder or minister of the Christian Church

Extreme unction - A former name for the sacrament of anointing of the sick, esp. when administered to the dying

Stations of the cross - a devotion consisting of fourteen prayers said before a series of fourteen pictures or carvings of Jesus’s passion

Who may administer? - Every priest, and only a priest, validly administers the anointing of the sick.

Who may receive? - The anointing of the sick can be administered to a member of the faithful who, after having reached the use of reason, begins to be in danger due to sickness or old age.

Reconciliation

Penance – The punishment undertaken in token of penitence for sin

Confession- A penitent privately admitting his or her sins to a priest

Forgiveness – the pardoning of one’s sins and starting anew in Christ

Conversion – 1. The act or an instance of converting or the process of being converted. 2. The fact of changing one's religion or beliefs or the action of persuading someone else to change theirs.

Ten Commandments –

1.Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

2.Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

3.Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

4.Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

5.Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

6.Thou shalt not kill.

7.Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8.Thou shalt not steal.

9.Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Empathy - The ability to understand and share the feelings of another

Venial Sin - A relatively slight sin that does not entail damnation of the soul

Matrimony

Declaration of nullity - In the Roman Catholic Church, annulment is a canonical procedure according to the Church's Canon Law whereby an ecclesial tribunal judges whether the bond of matrimony in a particular case was entered into validly.

Polygamy - The practice or custom of having more than one wife or husband at the same time.

Divorce - The legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body

Fidelity - Faithfulness to a person, cause, or belief, demonstrated by continuing loyalty and support.

Nuptial blessing - Prayers for the blessing of a couple being married, especially of the bride

Natural family planning - any of several methods of family planning that do not involve sterilization or contraceptive devices or drugs

Abortion - The deliberate termination of a human pregnancy

Holy Orders

Diocese - A district under the pastoral care of a Christian bishop.

Vicar - A representative or deputy of a bishop

Synod of Bishops - A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application.

Ecumenical council - a synod of the whole church.

Infallibility - The doctrine that the pope is incapable of error in pronouncing dogma.

Imprimatur - An official license by the Roman Catholic Church to print an ecclesiastical or religious book.

Dalmatic - The dalmatic is a long wide-sleeved tunic, which serves as a liturgical vestment

Stole - A strip of fabric used as an ecclesiastical vestment, worn over the shoulders and hanging down to the knee or below.

Baptism

Defn – Initiation into the church and birth into a life with Christ

Matter – Water

Form - I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Catechumen - A Christian convert under instruction before baptism

Concupiscence - Strong sexual desire; lust.

Conditional baptism – a baptism in which the validity of the original baptism is in doubt

RCIA process- avenue to converting to Catholicism, culminating in the baptism\

Confirmation

Defn - The rite at which a baptized person affirms Christian belief and is admitted as a full member of the church.

Matter - Hand on the person and anointing him with chrism (blessed oil)

Form - Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Minister – Bishop

Fruits of the Spirit – Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Gifts of the spirit – understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, fear of the lord, wisdom

Pentecost - The Christian festival celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus after his Ascension, held on the seventh Sunday after Easter

Chrismation - A rite in the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches that is comparable and similar to confirmation in the Roman Catholic Church

Eucharist

Defn - The Christian ceremony commemorating the Last Supper, in which bread and wine (Jesus) are consecrated and consumed

Transcendence - Existence or experience beyond the normal or physical level

Transubstantiation - The conversion of the substance of the Eucharistic elements into the body and blood of Christ at consecration, only the appearances of bread and wine still remaining

Tabernacle - An ornamented receptacle or cabinet in which a pyx or ciborium containing the reserved sacrament may be placed in Catholic churches, usually on or above an altar

Consecrate - At the Mass, the act of transforming bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. 

Matter – wheaten bread and wine

Form - This is my body; for it is written: Whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke, and gave to his disciples, and said: Take and eat, This is My Body

Designated minister - priest

Call to Holiness

What does it mean to say, "if I need something, I chase after it if it goes away"?  How does this relate to the "Universal Call to Holiness"?  What do you think this quote implies for the everyday Catholic?  What do you think it means to "say who Christ is" without shame?

To say this is to profess a commitment to fulfilling the need for this "something". This "something" is, in this case, holiness. The human race has a need for holiness because Jesus tells us that holiness is the avenue to an everlasting relationship with God in heaven. Of course, we have a need for this everlasting relationship because it is the only thing that can fulfill our infinite desire. Humanity was separated from holiness, or holiness "went away", when Eve gave in to Satan in the garden of Eden. Original sin bifurcated man from his creator. Because we are separated from Him yet we have an infinite need for him, if we are seriously committed to fulfilling this need, we must answer our call to holiness. We must "chase after" God, aided by the undeserved gift of his grace and mercy. 

For the everyday Catholic, this quote has should embody the larger picture of his or her life. This quote should remind us that we are called to be holy, not just when it suits our worldly desires, but all the time, because we are separated from God all the time. This constant attempt at holiness should manifest itself not only through the act of saying "yes" to God and professing faith, but also through the actions of the believer. The call to holiness must be carried out into the world, effectively making Jesus present on this Earth. 

To say who Christ can refer to a verbal description of him and his life, but I think, in this context, it refers to a life lived in Christ. As Christians, we are called to say who he is through our actions every day ranging from small, lonely, ineffectual actions all the way to important, life-altering decisions. This emulation of Christ is associated with shame because Christ is radically opposed to the nature of society and the systems of power created by humanity. The man who lives in Him will likely be ridiculed or rejected by the world. This is only natural, for the the man in Christ will not be of this world; he will be of Christ. To shamelessly say who Christ is means living in Him, against the world, with pride and zeal.