World Religion

3rd Quarter
I. Worldview
1. What is Worldview?
 A set of presuppositions (assumption which may be true, partially true, or entirely false) which we
hold (consciously or subconsciously) about the basic make-up of the world. (p.6, World Religion
by Zukeran, 2008)
 Charles Colson: “It is simply the sum total of our beliefs about the world, the “big pictures: that
directs our daily decisions and actions”. (p.6, World Religion by Zukeran, 2008)
 A particular way of ordering the realities of one’s worlds (Deped Curriculum on World Religion
and Belief System)
2. Major Worldviews (Zukeran, 20068)
 Theism
o Belief in a personal God
 Naturalism
o Material universal is all that exist
 Pantheism
o God is an impersonal force mad up of all things in the universe; God is the universe, the
universe is God
II. Religion
1. Define Religion
 Religion as a social reality
 Etymology: religion came from Latin word “religio” which means “conscientiousness” or may be
related to religare which means “to bind test”
 Substantive
o What constitutes a religion
o Belief and practice assume that existence of supernatural beings (Davie, 2004)
 Functional
o Emile Durkheim said: “it is a unified system of belief and practices relatives to sacred
things … things set apart and forbidden … which unite into one single moral community”

Religion Vs. Theology

 Ano tingin ng tao sa God  Ano tingin ng God sa tao

Religion Vs.
Spiritual
 Belief in someone else experience  Having your own experience
 Expressly stated; organized belief system  Belief within all individual
 External focus, formal structure  Internal focus
 Goal; salvation through one truth; one right  God; determine common principle, value and
way ethics
 Differentiates between group of people who  Belief about what is God, true and beautiful
believe what only their truth is absolute  Unites people

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2. Philosophy of religion
 Is a way to study religion through a more critical approach. It aims for objective in analyzing the
nature of a belief system
 The purpose of religion is to control yourself, not to criticize others- Dala Lana
 Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as face and by the rules as useful
– Seneca
3. Element of religion
 Effort to elevate to a higher dimension of existence
 Ritual
 Sacred spaces
 Framework of transcendent belief
 Text or scripture
4. Culture of the religion where major religions started
 Islam
o Middle east culture; patriarchal, tribal, related to trade and conquest
 Judaism
o Jewish culture that is highly tied to Torah (Law of Moses)
 Hinduism
o Related to early culture of Indians, founders are unclear
 Buddhism
o Related to Indian culture, an off-shoot of Hinduism
 Christianity
o Related to Jewish and middle east culture
III. Religion: The Good and the Bad
1. Effects of religion
 James L. Griffith a psychiatrist, identifies three related purpose that religion serves:
o It helps ensure group security
o It helps build and strengthen the individual sense of self as being worthy, and competent
o It helps reduce personal suffering, for self and other
2. Religion and Historical Events
 First Olympics
 Crusade
 Age of Exploration
 World Trade bombing 2001
 EDSA
IV. Hinduism
- “Hinduism is not just a faith. It is the union of reason and intuition that cannot be defined
but is only to be experienced” – Radhakrishnan (The Bhagavad-Gita)
 Hinduism in a nutshell
 When and where: Founded by Aryans, 1500-500 BCE
 gods: 33 million gods and Bhagavad-Gita
 Key text: Vedas, Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita

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 Doctrines: Dharma (duty), Kama (Pleasure), Artha (Wealth), Moksha (Liberation), Brahman,
Atman, the Identification of Brahman and Atman, the Four Yogas (Yoga of Knowledge, Yoga of
Work, Yoga of Devotion or Love, and Yoga of Psychological Exercises)
 Issues : Gender Inequality, Caste System, Poverty

There is an underlying, This sense of order is

rational order to the universe acknowledged when we
perform sacrifices to the gods

THROUGH SACRIFICE, WE In the sacrifice, we learn our

MAINTAIN THE ORDER OF lace in this order and the right
THE UNIVERSE way to live

 3 Major text of Hinduism

 Vedas
- The oldest and most important is the Vedas (in 4parts)
- First in the form of oral histories
 The Bhagavad-Gita (400 BCE)
- It is perhaps the most famous, and definitely the most widely-read text of ancient India
 The Upanishads (400 BCE)
- Focus on: 1) Meditation and 2) Religious instruction with a guru
 3 Major gods of Hinduism
 Brahma the creator
- The Vedas depict Brahman as the Universal Soul
 Vishnu
- The preserver
 Siva
- The destroyer
 Karma and Reincarnation
 Reincarnation is the belief that the soul repeatedly goes through a cycle of being born into a
body, dying and being reborn again in a new body
 Karma a force that determines the quality of each life, depending on how well one behaved in
a past life
 Hinduism says we create karma by our actions on earth. If you live a good life, you create
good karma. If you live a bad life, you create bad karma
 Moksha
 Each time a Hindu soul is born into a better life, it has the opportunity to improve itself
further, and get closer to ultimate liberation
 This liberation is called Moksha
 One attains Moksha When one has “overcome ignorance”, and no longer desire anything at
all
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 The ones who reach this state no longer struggle with the cycle of life and death
 The way to get to Moksha is to not create any karma
 Hindu Life Goals
 Hinduism is about the sort of life one should lead in order to be born into a better life next
time and ultimately achieve liberation. There are 4 legitimate goals in life:
- Dharma (appropriate living)
- Artha (the pursuit of material gains by lawful means)
- Kama (delight of the senses)
- Moksha (release from rebirth)
 Hindu Duties
 Each Hindu has 4 daily duties:
- Revere the duties
- Respect ancestor
- Respect all beings
- Honor all humankind
Caste System in India
 Brahmins – Priest
 Kshatriyas – Warriors and Rulers
 Responsible for leadership of the people
 Vaisyas – Skilled Traders, Merchants
 Shopkeepers who sell products
 unlike the Shudra who sell services
 Sudras – Unskilled Workers
 Each subgroup of this caste performs a specific service
 Jobs include gardeners, potter, and clothes washers
 Dalit/Pariah – Outcast
V. Buddhism

 When and Where: Founded by Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 B.C) in NE India (Nepal)
 Sacred space: Temples
 Key Text: Tripitaka, Sutras
 Sects: Theravada, Mahayana
 god: Buddha
 Doctrines: The Four Noble Truth, The Eight-fold Path
 Issues: Engaged activism, Tibet invasion, territory conflict in Mainland Southeast Asia

Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 BCE)

 Born in NE India
 Raised in great luxury to be king
 At 29 he rejected his luxurious life to seek enlightenment and the source of suffering
 Lived a strict, ascetic life for 6 years
 Rejecting this extreme, sat in meditation, and found nirvana
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 Became “The Enlightened One” at 35
However, many materials comfort I bring into my life, they cannot protect me from the pain
of suffering
The total denial of material comforts and the life of asceticism does not protect me from the
suffering either
Each person needs to find a balanced moderately discipline lifestyle that takes account their
individual circumstances
FIND THE MIDDLE WAY

Buddha, The Enlightened One

Buddha came to reject two notions off his day: Eternalism and Nihilism
The Middle Way: All things are interconnected!
Pratitya Samupada – mutual dependence, nothing has a permanent or independent existence
The Three Marks of Existence
 Anicca- Everything is impermanent and subject to change
 Dukkha- “suffering”, existential frustration, nothing in life gives us complete satisfaction
 Anata- Because everything is constantly changing, nothing has a fixed self or essence
There can be an end to suffering from the eternal Cycle
 Dukkha- The truth of suffering
 Samudaya-The truth of the origin of suffering: DESIREy
 Nirodha- The truth of the ending of suffering: NOBLE EIGHT-FOLD PATH
 Buddha’s Four Noble Truth:
 Life has inevetible suffering
 There is a cause tour suffering
 There is an end to suffering
 The end to suffering is contained in the eight-fold path
 The Noble Eightfold Path

1. Right intention (free your mind of evil) 5. Right livelihood (respect life)

2. Right view (know the truth) 6. Right effort (resist evil)

3. Right speech (say nothing that hurts other) 7. Right mindfulness (control your thoughts)

4. Right action (work for the good of other) 8. Right concentration (practice meditation)

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