Religion..................

Religion & spiritual beliefs


We study different religious faiths in order to understand other people. Many people have strong religious convictions, and it would be impossible to understand them without first understanding their beliefs.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are monotheistic faiths practiced by about half of the world’s population. Monotheism refers to the belief in one God. The faiths are often called western religions to distinguish them from the eastern religions practiced primarily in Asia. While western religions are centered on the belief in one God, many believers of eastern religions seek to find enlightenment by looking within themselves. Hinduism and Buddhism are popular faiths in India.

 

The relationship of India with other religions is integration, whereas the relationship of western towards others is opposition. The uniqueness of Indian culture is its composite and pluralistic nature. In no other part of the world has religious and cultural plurality co-existed and cross-fertilized each other so creatively. While Christians fought their denominational wars in the western hemisphere, Indian Christianity remained free from confessional conflicts and sectarian tensions. Togetherness is the essential character of our way of life. It is this spirit of togetherness that welcomes and blends diverse elements that seem disparate outside of that framework. This mytho-spiritual character of the Indian ethos has never failed to mystify western observers. India is a spiritual-cultural unity-in-diversity that can host the different and the contrary. On the other side, the West degraded religion into a theatre of conflict. The great battle between Christianity and Islam and a thousand battles within Christianity were fought either within Europe or on account of Europe. Christianity, in particular, suffered gross distortions on account of its domestication in the western culture.

The main differences in the beliefs of India and western world are that, in India the belief is “The true key is inside. What is valuable – is the inner world of the human being and his natural ability to control and develop it. The way ahead – is through self-development (inside intervention)”, whereas in western world it is “The main values are success and happiness that can be achieved in different ways, but rarely through developing ones inner strength. The majority of the criteria for success and happiness have outer nature (money, faith, popularity, etc.). The way ahead – is through active outside intervention.”

"Happiness lies in virtuous activity, and perfect happiness lies in the best activity, which is contemplative." – Aristotle