ESP 1 – Listening htrang.dav@gmail.

com

FOLLOW-UP PRACTICE

The five major world religions

In all times and places in our history, human beings have wondered, "Where did we come from?
What's our place in the world? What happens to us after we die?"

Religions are systems of belief that have (1)___________________ over time in response to these
and other eternal mysteries, driven by the feeling that some questions can only be answered by
faith and (2)_________________ that there is something greater than ourselves, a higher power we
must answer to, or some source we all spring from and to which we must return.

Hinduism

Hinduism means the religions of India. It's not a single religion but rather a variety of related
(3) _____________________________. It dates back five millennia to the time of Krishna, a man
of such (4)__________ that he became known as an avatar of Vishnu, an (5)________________
of the god in human form.

He taught that all life follows karma, the law of cause and effect, and our job is to do our duty, or
dharma, according to our place i n society without worrying how things turn out. When we die, we
are reincarnated into a new body. If we followed our dharma and did our proper duty in our past
life, we get good karma, which sends our soul upward in the social scale. Our rebirth into the next
life is thus determined by what we do in this one. (6)____________________ is called samsara.
It's possible for a very holy person to lead a life with enough good karma to escape the wheel. This
escape is called moksha.

Hinduism teaches that everything is one. The whole universe is one transcendent reality called
Brahman, and there's just one Brahman but many gods within it, and their roles, aspects, and forms
differ according to various traditions. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the
(7)_________________________________________, and Shiva is the transformer, or Lord of the
Dance. Durga is the fiercely protective divine mother. Ganesha has an elephant head and is the
wise patron of success.

Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world. And although most Hindus live in India, they
can be found on every continent, one billion strong.

Judaism

Now, let's travel west, across deserts and mountains to the fertile crescent about 4,000 years ago.
Judaism began with God calling Abraham and Sarah to leave (8)________________ and migrate
to the land of Canaan.
ESP 1 – Listening htrang.dav@gmail.com

In return for their faith in the one true God, a (9)______________________ in the polytheistic
world of that time, they would have land and many descendants. From this promise came the land
of (10)_______________________, but staying in that land and keeping those people together was
going to be very difficult.

The Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, but God freed them with the help of the prophet Moses, who
received the Ten Commandments and later hundreds more. They conquered the Promised Land,
but could only keep it for a few hundred years. Israel sits at a crossroads through which many
armies marched over the centuries. And in the year 70, the Romans destroyed the temple in their
capital, (11)_______________. So, the religion transformed itself from a temple religion with
sacrifices and priests to a religion of the book.

Because of this, Judaism is a faith of (12)_________________________________ tied to the

literature of its history. The many sacred scriptures make up the Hebrew bible, or Tanakh, and
hundreds of written discussions and interpretations are contained in an expansive compendium of
deeper meanings, called the Talmud.

Jews find rich, symbolic meaning in daily life. At the Passover meal, every item on the menu
symbolizes an (13)_____________________________. The importance of growing up is
emphasized when young people reach the age of bar and bat mitzvah, ceremonies during which
they assume responsibility for their actions and celebrate the weaving of their own lives into the
faith, history, and texts of the Jewish people.

There are 14 million Jews in the world today, 6 million in Israel, which became independent
following the (14)______________________ in World War II, and 5 million in the United States.

Buddhism

But now let's go back 2500 years and return to India where Buddhism began with a young prince
named Siddhartha. On the night he was conceived, his mother, Queen Maya, is said to have been
visited in her sleep by a white elephant who entered her side. Ten months later, Prince Siddartha
was born into a life of luxury.

Venturing forth from his (15)_________________ as a young man, he witnessed the human
suffering that had been hidden from him and immediately set out to investigate its sources. Why
must people endure suffering? Must we reincarnate through hundreds of lives?

At first he thought the problem was attachment to material things, so he gave up his possessions.
He became a (16)____________________, which he discovered certainly made him no happier.
Then he overheard a music teacher telling a student, "Don't tighten the string too much, it will
break. But don't let it go too slack, or it will not sound." In a flash, he realized that looking for
answers at the extremes was a mistake. The middle way between luxury and poverty seemed wisest.
And while meditating under a bodhi tree, the rest of the answer came to him.
ESP 1 – Listening htrang.dav@gmail.com

All of life abounds with suffering. It's caused by (17)_________________ for one's own fulfillment
at the expense of others. Following an eight-step plan can teach us to reduce that craving, and thus
reduce the suffering. On that day, Siddhartha became the Buddha, the enlightened one. Not the
only one, but the first one.

The Buddhist plan is called the Eightfold Path, and though it is not easy to follow, it has pointed
the way for millions to enlightenment, which is what Buddhahood means, a state of
(18)___________________________________________. From the time he got up from under that
tree to the moment of his death as an old man, the Buddha taught people how to become
enlightened: right speech, right goals, a mind focused on what is real, and a heart focused on loving
others.

Many Buddhists believe in God or gods, but actions are more important than beliefs. There are
nearly a billion Buddhists in the world today, mostly in East, Southeast, and South Asia.

Christianity

2,000 years ago in Judaism's Promised Land, Christianity was born. Just as Hindus called Krishna
"(19)________________________," Christians say the same thing about Jesus, and Christianity
grew out of Judaism just as Buddhism grew out of Hinduism.

The angel Gabriel was sent by the God of Abraham to ask a young woman named Mary to become
the mother of his son. The son was Jesus, raised as a carpenter by Mary and her husband Joseph,
until he turned 30, when he began his public career as the living word of God.

Less interested in religiousness than in (20)_________________, Jesus healed the sick in order to
draw crowds and then taught them about his heavenly father - affectionate, forgiving, and attentive.

Then, he would invite everyone to a common table to illustrate his Kingdom of God, outcasts,
sinners, and saints all eating together. He had only three years before his (21)__________________
got him into trouble. His enemies had him arrested, and he (22)_________________ by Rome in
the standard means by which rabble-rousers were put to death, crucifixion. But shortly after he was
buried, women found his tomb empty and quickly spread word, convinced that he had been raised
from the dead. The first Christians described his resurrected appearances, inspiring confidence that
his message was true. The message: love one another as I have loved you.

Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus in December at Christmas, and his suffering, death, and
resurrection during Holy Week in the spring. In the ceremony of baptism, a washing away of sin
and welcoming into the Christian community, recall Jesus's own baptism when he left his life as a
carpenter. In the rite of Communion, Christians eat the bread and drink the wine blessed as the
body and blood of Jesus, recalling Jesus's (23)_________________.

There are two billion Christians worldwide, representing almost a third of the world's people.
ESP 1 – Listening htrang.dav@gmail.com

Islam

Islam began (24)___________ years ago with a man of great virtue, meditating in a mountain cave
in the (25)________________. The man was Muhammad. He was visited by a divine messenger,
again the angel Gabriel, in Arabic, Jibril, delivering to him the words of Allah, the one God of
Abraham.

In the next few years, more and more messages came, and he memorized and taught them. The
verses he (26)__________ were full of wise sayings, beautiful (27)____________, and mysterious
metaphors. But Muhammad was a merchant, not a poet. Many agreed the verses were indeed the
words of God, and these believers became the first Muslims.

The word “Muslim” means one who surrenders, meaning a person who submits to the will of God.
A Muslim's five most important duties are called the (28)____________:

- Shahada, Muslims declare publicly, there is no other God but Allah, and Muhammad is his final
prophet;

- Salat, they pray five times a day facing Mecca;

- Zakat, every Muslim is required to give 2 or 3% of their net worth to the poor;

- Sawm, they fast during daylight hours for the lunar month of Ramadan to strengthen their
willpower and their reliance on God;

- Hajj, once in a lifetime, every Muslim who is able must make a pilgrimage to the holy city of
Mecca, rehearsing for the time when they will stand before God to be judged worthy or unworthy
of eternal life with Him.

The words of God, revealed to the prophet over 23 years, are collected in the Quran, which literally
translates into "(29)_______________." Muslims believe it to be the only holy book free of human
corruption. It's also considered by many to be the (30)_________________ in the Arabic language.

Islam is the world's second largest religion, practiced by over one and a half billion Muslims around
the globe.

Religion has been an aspect of culture for as long as it has existed, and there are countless variations
of its practice. But common to all religions is an appeal for meaning beyond the empty vanities and
lowly realities of existence, beyond sin, suffering, and death, beyond fear, and beyond ourselves.