Ancient World Religions and Philosophies

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Ancient World Religions and Philosophies Buddhism rejects the idea of immortality of life and Gods. The founder of Buddhism Siddhartha Gautama was an Indian aristocrat, also referred to as the Buddha or the Enlightened One. After Siddhartha’s death, his followers made him a God into eternal life. Buddhism is the third largest membership of its faith after Christianity and Islam. This belief was highly democratic and like Christianity no one was excluded. Anyone (male, female, young, old, the rich or the poor) can follow in the Four Truths and the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path was to allow spiritual bliss whereas, Nirvana simply demanded “The Right,” the right way to; ideas, thought, speech, actions, living, efforts, consciousness and meditation. Buddhism’s popularity stems from the “democracy of spirit.” Buddhism split into two major branches: the Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. Theravada Buddhism is the strict version of Buddhism as is the life of a Catholic priest; they live their life in a monastery (Sangha), whereas, a Catholic priests and Nuns live in a Rectory. Both men and women can partake in nirvana; the purest form of Buddha’s teachings. The Mahayana Buddhism is more liberal than its counterpart. Theses followers believe that there are many Buddha’s not just the founder himself. So in fact Buddhism can be either polytheistic or monotheistic depending on who you talk to. Christianity developed with Jesus of Nazareth (6 BCE- 29 CE). He was born during the reign of Augustus Caesar. He practiced Christianity from 26 CE to 29 CE. He was the Son of God and the Redeemer of all Mankind. The Romans viewed him as someone “rocking the boat” with what was already a nation of the religiously obsessed. Eventually h... ... middle of paper ... ...four religions and philosophies, and as a Catholic, I have come to realize that any religion; whether you believe in their ways, beliefs and practices or not, is fine, as long as people believe in something. What good is life if you have nothing to look forward to in the next life? The way we live our life and the obstacles we must overcome is only a test for the afterlife, whatever that may be. A test; where your heart is, how you conduct yourself and where your soul will end up when the body goes to its final resting place. I have my own vices and thoughts concerning some of the beliefs, but the bottom line? Whatever makes your life worth living and what an individual believes is the most important facet of life, for the well-being of man-kind. Bibliography Adler and Pouwels, (2012), World Civilizations, 6th edition, Wadsworth Inc, ISBN-13: 978-0-495-91300-9

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