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Role of spiritual discipline and implications for spiritual formation essay
Humanistic self fulfillment and self realisation essay
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In the “Bhagavad-Gita” there are many lessons to be learned from a Hindu perspective, much of it dealing with fulfilling your destiny and living the life you were meant to, and being the best Hindu possible within your designed parameters. There are many lessons that relate to Christianity and ideas of how one should act. I agreed with many of the teachings and can see benefits to them, one of them being self-discipline. In my life I do try to discipline myself in different ways so I can become closer to God and live a better life. One idea I did not like is that Hindu’s have one purpose in life and are supposed to fulfill their destiny to have good karma so that they will be reborn in a higher position in life. Discipline yourself so that
you will gain knowledge of the world by meditation and by becoming more God like. Krishna gave Arjuna advice about disciplining himself, advising him to give up his ego and attachment to the world. By being selfless and unattached from worldly pleasures Arjuna will become Godlike and live a prosperous, uninhibited life. Discipline is very important in my life, I too reach to become a better person and live life that is unattached from worldly desires. As a Christian it is a goal to become the best person one can be so that after our life is over we can live in heaven eternally. One saying that sticks out to me is “what would Jesus do?” This statement helps people make good disciplined decisions so that they can stay on the divine path in their life. Christians discipline themselves by prayer and by reading scripture. I try to stay disciplined by reading the Bible every night, and act in a loving caring way toward people I am around at any time of the day. I agree that disciplining yourself does make your life better and free from distraction or hurt. In American culture and from a Christian perspective, living the life that you are destined to live whether you like it or not does not really line up. In American culture people constantly push themselves to work harder and to get more out of life and people are never truly satisfied. From a Christian perspective God gave us free will and allows his people to live life to their liking. Krishna tells Arjuna, that the battle between his families must take place, and Arjuna must kill his relatives to live out his karma. If Arjuna does not live out his karma, he will be cycled back through to possibly a worse life after reincarnation. I do not agree with this idea about doing what you are meant based off your caste. I believe that people are given free will and can do anything through Christ who strengthens them. I also believe that if you want something, go work hard and get it; don’t let your current position dictate whether or not you are going to accomplish your goals. Also live the life the life that you want to live, nothing can hold you back. I believe that the book has many helpful teachings about life and how to live. I agree that discipline is very helpful in one’s life and I constantly have to discipline myself so I can live the best life I can. On the other hand I do not agree with the idea that people have to live out their destiny based off what they were given in life. Arjuna was a warrior, he did not like that he had to kill his kin to fulfill his destiny. Arjuna wanted to have his family around and live a different life, but because he was a Hindu, he killed his family in battle so he didn’t have to be recycled back through to learn the same lesson again. I don’t agree with Krishna’s teaching, I think people should be able to live the life they want.
According to document A, “Hinduism was (and is) polytheistic - Hindus believe in many gods…..In this kind of Hinduism, people believed in reincarnation - that people could be reborn into other bodies after they died.” The excerpt shows that the daily life would be affected since Hindus will worship more gods and believe in reincarnation. Moreover, Hindus believed in Karma as well as Dharma. Karma was the good or bad actions that had an effect on the soul in later reincarnations. Dharma was the spiritual duties that one must follow. Now it is evident that beliefs were influenced by religion.
Some of the most prominent aspects of Hinduism are the atman and samsara which is one the clearest distinctions between Hinduism and other religions. When Krishna states, “I have never not existed; nor have you, nor have these lords of men. Nor will we cease to exist, all of us, from now onwards” (Bhagavad Gita, 185), he is referring to the atman or the human soul which is believed to have always existed and will continue to exist. And when he says, “Just as one throws out old clothes and then takes on other, new ones; so the embodied self casts out old bodies as it gets other, new ones” (Bhagavad Gita, 187), he is talking about samsara and reincarnation. It is from this text, where Hinduism gets its defining characteristics. As long as the Gita continues to be relevant in India so will these philosophies. It reinforces the idea of reincarnation, the soul, and duty which shapes the way the Hindus live their lives. The goal for a Hindu is to break out of samsara and achieve Brahman, and according to the Gita, fulfilling one’s dharma is the way to accomplish this. The Bhagavad Gita is significant to Hinduism, because it has helped Hindus identify an ultimate goal and teaches them how to achieve
The well being of people in Ancient China were affected by the philosophies of Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism. According to the graphic organizer, “Confucius taught people to be kind and love mankind. Taoism teaches you to live in harmony and leave nature alone.” This excerpt shows that you should help yourself before others, and live in harmony with nature. The people of India we also affected by the teachings of the Buddha. The Buddha, or Siddhartha Gautama, taught that one should live life to a medium, and live on the middle path, a path not
...ely resembles the dharmic action of the Bhagavad-Gita. The fundamental concept of dharma, or proper conduct, is paralleled in the Analects when Confucius provides many examples of how one can remain morally sound. The reason for moral or proper conduct differs in the two texts; while the Bhagavad-Gita presents proper conduct as a step towards liberation from samsara, serving the individual’s needs, the Analects present moral conduct in order to maintain a properly functioning society, serving the society’s needs as a whole. In Western society the goal of Eastern religions are often compared to Heaven; however, Heaven in Hinduism and Confucianism is not a place one goes to at the end of his or her life. Instead, Heaven in Hinduism is a heavenly realm in which the gods reside, and Heaven in Confucianism is a ruling force that instills and enforces values and morals.
A large amount of ancient texts contain themes relating to violence, power, and war, while others, such as The Bhagavad Gita and Confucius’ Analects, focus on individual and collective development through a series of selfless acts. The two texts provide an in-depth system of duties and learning created to provide direction for the betterment of the self, as well as society as a whole. The Bhagavad Gita places a greater focus on the duties of individuals that must be fulfilled to achieve an enlightened state with the divine forces. Contradictory consequences are presented for those who choose to act in an egotistical manner and deny their duties. Confucius’ Analects, on the other hand, places its main focus on collective development and responsibility
The teachings of Hinduism derive directly from the Vedic religion of India, which explains why Hinduism focuses so much on sacrifice and pleasing the many gods (Bulliet 186-187). Hinduism gives four different goals a person should accomplish to achieve spiritual fulfillment and Moksha. These paths, known as the four yogas, include Karma-yoga, Jhana-yoga, Raja-yoga, and Bhakti-yoga (Smith). Karma-yoga is the way of action that a person can attain by following the discipline of action that comes from the Brahman (Bhagavad- Gita 1292-1293). The second path known as Jnana-yoga is the way of knowledge, which a person attains through the discipline of knowledge (Bhagavad-Gita 1292). The third path of Raja-yoga is the way of asceticism, which a person attains when they do not have desires or possessions (Bhagavad-Gita 1295-1296). The final path of Bhakti-yoga is the way of devotion that a person can achieve by having undisturbed devotion to Krishna (Bhagavad-Gita 1300-1301). Overall, Hinduism teaches people to rely heavily on each other, the scriptures, and on the
...onsibility in life which is decided by the caste they are born into. However, living amongst other people, one’s soul might become “forgetful of the Lord” which leads to “[attaching] itself to pleasure” which would make it “bound” to the wheel of the universe. For a soul to escape this cycle birth, death, and rebirth, it is necessary to connect with this god. The Hindu people believed that “by uniting oneself with him…one ceases to be ignorant” and this means “Birth, death, and rebirth will be no more.” This credence of rebirth and karma highly influenced the way the Hindu society developed.
Hinduism is one of the world’s major religions that evolved from the Vedic religion of ancient India. Hinduism has branches that contain several sects. The major branches are Vaishnavism and Shaivism. These sects rely on their own set of scriptures but their focal point is the ancient Vedas. The philosophical Vedic texts, from the Aryans, involved the Upanishads in searching for knowledge on how the human beings would escape reincarnation. Hinduism has a cosmic principle Brahman, whereby they believe in rebirth after death. Hinduism emerged around the beginning of Common Era then coexisted within Buddhism for several centuries (Clearly, 2013). It spread to Southern India and parts of Southeast Asia from the Northern India. The basic teaching of Vedanta is the belief that the human being is neither confined in the body nor mind but the spark of God within the soul. Most Hindu’s practice bhakti as a way to worship and follow their deity. Rather than live of fear of their deity, bhakti focuses on being connected with the...
“Religion as defined by the great sages of India…it did not require belief in a set of doctrines, but rather hard, disciplined work, without which, any religious teaching remained opaque and incredible” (Armstrong 51). The profound history of Hinduism contains important fundamental elements that play a major role in the daily life of its followers. Hinduism is famously known as one of the oldest religions in the world, which is widely embraced and composed of three prominent attributes: spiritual, tradition, and the caste system. The combinations of these three attributes in the Hindu belief system add rich tradition and deepen cultural meaningfulness and experience that uniquely defines the Hindu system of beliefs
Hindus have no intellection of rebellion against a holy God. They believe that there is no clear plan of salvation in Hinduism. Their purpose for living is moksha. One exercise Hindus perform to cleanse their souls is Yoga and meditation. Yoga and Meditation was taught by gurus to gain moksha. The majority of Hindus live in India. That is over nine hundred and fifty million in India and another twenty million in Nepal. Indonesia and Bangladesh have an estimate of fourteen million. Hinduism is also known to be different from other religions because of it being multifarious in its traditions. They practice a variety of amalgamation rituals. This amalgamation was traditionally called Santana Dharma. Santana Dharma is a universal law which is the kind of life the ten commandments is for Christians. It is a way of living for them and is a form of freedom to follow ones own path to becoming the conclusive being. Unlike Christians, Hindus have more then one God. Brahma is the creator god and is the most important of the gods. He has four heads and four arms. Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge and the wife of Brahma. Shiva is the
The Hindu religion holds on to the idea that beliefs are what determines ones thought and attitude about life, which also directs a person’s actions. It’s the actions of a person that creates their destiny. Christianity follows in a similar pattern as a person’s actions and attitude towards life will have an effect as a Christian. While the Hindu’s believe in one Supreme Being they also believe in the laws of karma and reincarnation. There is one very important similarity between Christianity and Hinduism. The Hindus as well as the Christians share the belief that no religion teaches the only way to God’s salvation and that all religious paths are facets of God’s light, equally deserving of understanding and tolerance.
The Bhagavad-Gita teaches many things, and amongst these, morality and moral law are developed for the Hindu religion. What Krishna, the primary Hindu god, declares in this somewhat epic poem to be the "basis of good in this world" (stanza 3, pg. 620 of text) is for people to take action. Action, as he goes on to state, is within the very nature of our beings to do. Krishna even states that "without action you even fail to sustain your own body" (stanza 8, pg. 620 of text). Thus, Krishna feels that action is very important and key. To take this concept as a relation to ethics, Krishna tells Arjuna, the warrior he is talking to in this poem, that "Action imprisons the world unless it is done as sacrifice; freed from attachment, Arjuna, perform action as sacrifice!" (stanza 9, pg. 620 of text). Thus, Krishna is prescribing that, in order for an action to be considered good, the good that he already declared to be the basis of all good in the world, one must detach himself from the action being performed and perform the action sacrificially. The detachment aspect is incredibly important to Krishna, for he proclaims that in "performing action with detachment, one achieves supreme good" (stanza 19, pg 620 of text). By doing this, Krishna believes that the world is preserved, for other people will follow the warrior's actions and imitate them in their own lives. A leader, such as a warrior or king, "sets the standard for the world to follow" (stanza 21, pg. 621 of text), as Krishna says and thus must take whatever action is necessary for the world to not be destroyed, to set examples of goodness and right in his own actions. By separating himself from these actions, thus becoming detached, he can achieve this. Another main reason that Krishna feels detachment is necessary is this: "You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty." (Bhagavad-Gita 2.47). Thus, so long as one does not profit from his own actions, the action itself is good. And, this is Krishna's prescription for leading a life of morality and duty is the moral law to follow in order to achieve this.
When Christians first encounter the idea of creating a spiritual discipline, some almost instantly become overwhelmed with anxiety because they must perform well for God to please Him and get to heaven. I was once one of them and to a point, I still think that way. However, the more focus on the relationship with Jesus and nothing else brings about the desires to want more in terms of spiritual growth. Desires however, do not last if disciplines are not met with a genuine commitment to maintain a fervent relationship with Jesus. For my rule of life, I will pencil in daily life disciplines that fit in the season of life that I am in currently so that God can work in me and I can become Christ like. First, I will commit fifteen minutes to daily prayer with God. Second, I will commit fifteen minutes to daily scripture reading. Third, I will commit to lead, encourage and support my wife by living out the vows that we both agreed to with God. Fourth, I will commit myself to my family in raising my two
Hindu mythology has interesting theories on how the Earth was created and the reincarnation of people, Hinduism is very different to many other mythologies and has some unique key features that make it stand out from the rest. History tells that there are over 330 million gods in Hindu mythology. There are six main gods in Hinduism. Hindu’s have an interesting belief of what happens to them after death, the afterlife Hindus believe in must be met by accomplishing a goal. Hinduism is a unique belief in many gods, the life cycle and reincarnation of its people.
Hinduism is regarded as the world’s oldest organized religion, but it’s also a way of life for much of India and Nepal. Unlike other religions, Hinduism allows and encourages multiple paths to the divine. There is no single founder and no single scripture, but is rather a conglomerate of diverse beliefs and traditions. They are often understood to be different means to reach a common end. But this acceptance of variety makes it difficult to identify religious tenets that are specifically Hindu. Still, there are some basic principles common to Hinduism that are essential to one's approach to life.