ISL week 1 MAJOR WORLD RELIGIONS PERSPECTIVES ON THE NATURE OF HUMAN BEING

The Nature of human beings:An islamic view By Marwa El-Naggar

ONE of the many beauties of Islam is that it gives us a kind of outline for our identity. However, rather than imposing a constricting framework through which we can move, it creates a strong foundation on which we can build. This outline is to be taken by us and then filled out and internalized, each with his personal eccentricities and special traits that make each of us individuals. If we contemplate the nature of the human being as Allah created him, we realize that Allah has given us the tools and potential of becoming the happiest, most peaceful, and most fulfilled of His creation. The wisdom of Allah is manifest in the creation of man. So what is this wonderful creation? What makes a human being? In the Islamic worldview, the human being is a multi-dimensional creation. If we were to draw a parallel between the Islamic view on human nature and art, we can say that Islam would reject the flat emotionless paintings of the ancient Egyptians, leaning more toward the profoundly human and at the same time quasi-ephemeral paintings of Rembrandt, whose paintings reflect an inner life of his subjects in their faces that seem almost lit by some hidden internal light. To better tackle this subject, perhaps we should go back to the very beginning, the creation of Man. In the Quran, Allah says: And among His signs is this that He created you (Adam) from dust, and then behold, you are human beings scattered! (30:20) In another Surah, we are told that: He created man (Adam) from sounding clay, like the clay of pottery. (Quran 55:14) Although this may at first seem to be somewhat off-putting, triggering questions such as, being created from dust, is man essentially something dirty? but when we elevate our thinking to a higher level, we realize that dust in Islam is not something impure, but is, in fact, a purifier in some cases; when you cannot find water with which to make your ablutions before praying, you can purify yourself with dust in a process called tayammum. In addition, we can also see that the verse in Surah ArRahman describing the process of creation as if it was a work of art. In another place in the Quran, we are told that Allah made every living thing from water (21:30), which is another and more universally accepted medium of purification. We also realize that the Quran gives special attention to the creation of man. The creation of the heavens and the earth and all that is within them are mentioned with examples throughout the Quran.

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Here and there Allah emphasizes on the creation of certain creatures such as the camel, the stars, the bees, the ants, and the spider, among others. However, none of these descriptions take as much care and detail as those related to the creation of man. So what we have in the beginning is a creature fashioned by divine ability of Allah out of the pure and purifying elements of dust and water, both of which are the essence of life out of dust and water comes the clay and soil from which come the plants and trees on which the birds and insects and animals live. The first created human was Adam (peace be upon him). The Quran then goes on to describe the creation of his mate, Hawwa (Eve): O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife [Hawwa (Eve)] and from them both He created many men and women... (4:1) It is important to note that both man and woman came from a single soul, and thereby, neither is better than the other. All of mankind originated from that soul, a concept that leaves no space for discrimination between races, ethnicities, social status, economic situations, and sexes. Man was created pure and sinless. The concept of Original Sin is rejected by Islam. Instead, Allah gives us a fresh start in life. In Islam, there is no absolutist theory of human nature being inherently evil, as some philosophers have suggested. Rather, Allah created us with a fitrah, or inherent nature, which can, if neglected over time, becomes corrupted. The closer a person is to his fitrah the purer he is and the closer he becomes to Allah. This inherent nature includes the belief in One Creator Despite this perfect state into which man is born, he is not burdened with the task of attaining perfection. Allah does not expect us to remain as pure as the day we were born. He, in His infinite wisdom, knows that unlike the rest of His creation, Man was chosen to be given the freedom of choice and will, and therefore, is prone to error. Man can sin and then repent and then sin again and then repent, in a cycle that continues through his whole life. Humans are capable of both good and evil, each depending on the choices that they make. Rather than expecting the impossible, Allah gives us options in which we can return to our original state through the purifying process of repentance. In another verse of the Quran, the special honor that has been bestowed on humans is clearly spelled out: And indeed We have honored the Children of Adam, and We have carried them on land and sea, and have provided them with Al-Tayyibat (lawful good things), and have preferred them above many of those whom We have created with a marked preferment. (17:70) The honor lies not only in the particular attention given to the creation of Man, but also in his role in this life, his destiny in the afterlife, and the multi-partite nature he has been blessed with.

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Allah makes clear from the very beginning that man was created as a khalifah, or vicegerent, on earth. This responsibility was not given to any other creation of Allah. Allah has entrusted Man to cultivate, maintain, and rule the earth. It is his duty to rule with responsibility, and to take care of the earth, using the rules Allah has set down for him in the Quran and through the example of the prophet s over time and the final example of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Man is honored again in the afterlife. On the Day of Judgment, Man is guaranteed the Fairest and Most Just of all judges Allah to weigh his deeds, words and intentions. Man is honored with the promise of Paradise, which is a reward so beautiful that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) described it as being what no eye has ever seen, what no ears have ever heard, and what has never crossed the heart of any human. Islam also respects both the mind and the conscience of man. Many verses in the Quran stress the importance of using the mind when it says: Indeed, We have sent down for you (O mankind) a Book (the Quran) in which there is Dhikrukum, (your reminder or an honor for you, i.e. honor for the one who follows the teaching of the Quran and acts on its teachings). Will you not then understand? (21:10) Pondering, understanding, thinking, are all encouraged. It is mans conscience that leads him to repent sincerely when he has sinned, thereby paving the way for Allahs guaranteed forgiveness. All of these aspects are not taken separately, but are seen as working in a mutually interdependent harmony, each supporting the other toward the goal of achieving inner peace and content in this life and the next. Therefore, man is not seen as a single-faceted entity, but rather as a multidimensional, honored being with a purpose in life and a goal to achieve. He is considered holistically, rather than partially. He is endowed with the abilities and traits which can help him both achieve his mission here on earth and elevate himself through a close relationship with his Creator and attain Paradise.

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Christianity Human Nature and the Purpose of Existence

Christianity teaches that human beings were created good by a loving God. While being prone to sin and in need of grace, they are partners in accomplishing God's plan for existence. Christianity teaches that the universe was created through love by an intelligent power, namely the God of the Bible. Creation was purposeful, not arbitrary, and therefore the universe is not morally neutral, but fundamentally good. In this purposeful creation, everything and everyone is intrinsically valuable. God's design or purpose for creation reflects God's intention that all creatures enjoy perfect love and justice. God works in human history to fulfill that purpose. God created human beings in the divine image, enabling humans to have some understanding of God and of God's vast and complex design. The purpose of life is to love and serve God in order to help bring about God's glorious plan for creation. Reason is a unique gift bestowed by God on humans and enables them to reflect on their own nature and conscience, and from that derive knowledge of God's will for creation. But a complete understanding is beyond human reach. To fulfill the goal of wholeness in an existence perfected by both justice and love, something more is needed. Humans are not expected to accomplish the divine plan alone. The fulfillment of God's purpose depends on God's grace. For Christians, grace is God's freely-given favor and love. Reason is a good gift, sometimes misused for selfish, willful, or prideful purposes. The substitution of selfish ambition for God's will is a condition that Christians call sin, meaning separation or alienation from God. The Christian concept of sin originates in the story of Adam and Eve found in chapters 2-3 of the Book of Genesis, a story that has central importance for Christians. The story relates the creation by God of the first humans, a man and woman. God placed them in a beautiful garden called Eden, which provided for all their physical needs, as well as companionship with each other and fellowship with God. For these first humans, God had but one rule. In the garden stood "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," whose fruit Adam and Eve should not eat. When Adam and Eve later broke the rule and ate the fruit, God banished them from the garden, condemning them and their descendants to a life of hard work, pain, disease, and eventual death, and submitting the earth itself to "bondage." Christians call this humanity's "fall" from innocence. Some Christians believe that these events actually took place, while others understand this story to be symbolic of the human condition. But all Christians tend to view the story as essentially meaningful for all of humanitythat God is in a personal relationship with humans who must decide how to respond to God. They can obey God's will, working together with God to take care of each other and creation, or they can follow their own desires, rebelling against God's will and design.

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The story illustrates the Christian belief in the inevitability and universality of sin. Throughout their lives, people will pursue their personal interests instead of seeking to serve God and follow God's will. Some believe in the doctrine of original sin, following Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, who theorized that the rebellion of the first human parents is physically passed on to all human beings from one generation to the next. Others believe that sin originates with Satan, who first tempted Eve and now preys on humankind, seeking souls to devour. Many contemporary Christians seek ways of understanding sin separately from the story of Adam and Eve, believing that we must take responsibility for our tendency to sin and the harm it does to our loving fellowship with both God and each other.

Christianity teaches that everyone is equally prone to sin and so it focuses not only on human behavior, but also on human nature. In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote that "there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:22-23). Even though there can be a considerable scale of wrongdoing in sinful human activity, a person's sin does not make him or her less valued by God; everyone is equally a candidate for redemption.

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Life and the Environment: A Buddhist Perspective By Daisaku Ikeda

[Daisaku Ikeda, Seikyo Shimbun] The Buddhist doctrine of the oneness of life and its environment (Jpn. esho-funi) focuses on the human being as part of the vast physical universe. Mutually interrelated, the subjective life entity and its environment operate together in a creative way. They are one, or as the original Chinese characters indicate, they are two without being two. The vast space-time continuum of the internal spiritual life of the individual corresponds to the outer universe of the phenomenal world. It pulsates with limitless energy manifest in many different forms--compassion, love, wisdom, reason, emotion, desire, impulse and so on. Each instant, this energy bursts forth to interact with the external universe, creating a new self and a new world. When the inner universe exists in dynamic harmony, life energy is transformed creatively into compassion, love, wisdom and reason. But when the inner universe has lost its essential rhythm, that energy takes negative, aggressive, domineering forms like greed and destructive impulses, which convert the inner life into a desolate wasteland. External desertification of the planet corresponds precisely with spiritual desertification of the inner life of human beings. Human relations with nature are part of the complex nexus of relationships between human beings and between the self and its inner life. The egoism of human beings whose internal environments are polluted and desolate inevitably manifests itself in domination, deprivation and destruction in the external environment. To complete the cycle, an impoverished, desolate external environment upsets the rhythm of the internal universe, thus giving further rein to egoism and greed. But since the ecological system of the planet, human social relations and the individual inner life are all mutually connected, the harmonizing powers of compassion and wisdom can effect a transformation that becomes a basis for solving the complex of global problems. Humanity and nature, human society and the inner universe are all intimately interrelated, and the life force of human beings is always the main axis of reform for all three. The 13th-century Buddhist teacher Nichiren says, "The ten directions are the 'environment,' and living beings are 'life.' To illustrate, environment is like the shadow, and life, the body."

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Humanity's Purpose One theory of evolution holds that humanity enables the universal life force to be aware of itself. Humanity stands at the pinnacle of the process of material, chemical and biological evolution that has been taking place for more than 10 billion years since the Big Bang, which contemporary thought holds to have been the origin of the universe. The course of spatiotemporal phenomenal development initiated by the Big Bang produced our Earth, and the evolution of humanity gradually enabled the universe to be aware of itself. Human life enables the universe to be aware of itself, as human beings are the life form capable of perceiving the rhythmical laws operative in the natural ecological system--specifically the law of cause and effect--and of being aware of the ultimate nature of life itself. Therefore human beings have the task of contributing to the creation of value in the evolution of life through their understanding of the dynamics of the universe and the interrelationship of life and its environment. We might say that the universe itself has imparted to humanity the mission of protecting the complex ecological system of the Earth and of contributing to the creation of value within the biosphere. Consequently, if a sense of this lofty mission orients all of our scientific technology, social systems, politics and economics, we will discover the most truly human--in the best sense of the word--approach to solving our environmental problems. A Contributive Life Human beings live in diverse ways based on different types of values. We can allow egoism and greed to drive us into actions that harm others and destroy the ecological balance. At the same time, we are capable of leading altruistic, compassionate and wise lives. In Buddhist terminology, the way human beings ought to live and act in order to fulfill this mission entrusted to us by the universe is called the compassionate way of the bodhisattva. People in the bodhisattva state confront the problems of life and society for the sake of the happiness of others as well as themselves. Their lives are grounded in a profound sense of purpose. From the enlightened perspective of Buddhahood, life's most fully realized spiritual potential, they perceive the dignity of the lives of all beings as they grow and develop in the vastness of the phenomenal world unfolding in space and time, and they react in an ethical and sympathetic way not merely with human beings, but also with the whole ecology of life. Controlling egoism and delusion, they are motivated by the desire to create value in the lives of others and in the global biosphere, regarding this as the supreme way of living. Revolutionizing our own lives and society along the lines of the bodhisattva way of life promises hope for the future. People of the bodhisattva frame of mind are aware of the world and

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therefore feel deep concern for everything in this biosphere--even beings concealed from them by distance in time or space. Bodhisattvas live for the sake of the future, which they strive to anticipate through compassion and wisdom. They work to amplify the creative vitality of life and to ensure that science, technology and our social systems are shaped and utilized for the well-being of future generations--the as yet unborn emissaries of the abundant life energy of the universe. A mass movement of wise, compassionate people who keep posterity always in mind could build a society that respects human dignity and prizes creativity in our scientific, economic and legal systems. The birth of such a society would signal the dawn of a brilliant century of life.

ISL week 1 MAJOR WORLD RELIGIONS PERSPECTIVES ON THE NATURE OF HUMAN BEING

Hinduism Human Nature and the Purpose of Existence Hinduism is in many ways a profoundly structured religion that presents what sometimes appears to be a highly rigid understanding of human existence. Within that structure, however, human beings are always free. PATHS (MARGAS) Karma marga Path of action Vedas Jnana marga (especially ritual action) Upanishads Bhakti marga Bhagavadgita Path of knowledge (meditation and analysis) Path of devotion (especially towards Krishna) Hinduism articulates several different, overlapping paths, or margas for humans to follow. Although these paths may seem to be inconsistent, and even contradictory, fully developed Hinduism holds that they are in fact three different, and sometimes overlapping, means to fulfill the same religious goal. In the earliest layer of Hinduism, the purpose of life is quite straightforward: humans are to perform the proper sacrifices to the gods. The Vedas emphasize that the life of the householder is the most exemplary model for humans. One should do one's societal duty (which later becomes worked out as the caste system), bear children (especially sons), and, essentially, live a proper life. This is known as the karma marga, the path of action, particularly ritual action. VEDAS Emphasize one's duty as householder UPANISHADS Emphasize asceticism (disregard material world)

The Upanishads significantly challenge this worldview. The sages responsible for these texts reject the Veda emphasis on the life of the householder and the primacy of sacrifice to the gods. They argue, instead, that there is a higher reality beyond the human realm, Brahman. Human beings can ultimately become one with this higher reality, but only if they change how they see and behave in the world. Specifically, the Upanishads hold that people must renounce the trappings of the world and embark on a life of asceticism. In this way, they can train themselves to disregard the things of the material world, which only lead to grasping and attachments, and thus the creation of karma. If one meditates on the true nature of the self (the atman), one can realize that everything

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that one thinks of as the self, as "I," is in fact no different than Brahman. One can thus learn to be in the world in such a way that one is not attached, and thereby not creating karma (although still acting). When one dies, one is free of karma, and thus not reborn; instead, this person is release from samsara. This is moksha, which literally means "release," but which really refers to ultimate salvation, union with Brahman. To attain this state of karma-less being, one must, through meditation and intense philosophical analysis, develop the proper knowledge of the true nature of the self. This path, as most clearly laid out in the Upanishads, is known as the jnana marga, the path of knowledge.