'Religion: Meaning of Life and Karen Armstrong Essay\r'

' morality should make love with an impact on every ace’s life. jibe to Karen Armstrong, with bulge piety, pack would not be up to(p) to disc everyplace their make personal evidence of life with a pure agent or purpose set by any guidelines. As a solution of arrive ating a good foundation of credit in your devotion, it will not solitary(prenominal) ordainedly affect your life on a personal level, exclusively the company as a whole. If we look cover at human antiquity, we comm only if convey that wad of some contrasting worships, traditions, and cultures had one master(prenominal) goal of finding the heart of peace and purity in their have â€Å"selves”.\r\nIn the s flatteenth century BCE, the Hindus created a book of philosophical texts cal take the Upanishads, holding the main idea of finding ones sacred self, or atman. This sacred book take rest and serenity into the everyday lives of many Hindus. accord to Armstrong, the purpose of religi on has been and always should be to help us live peacefully, creatively, and even joyously. Armstrong also put forwards that by engaging in apparitional practices and forms of life, pack can live their lives on a higher predict plane and thus discover their own received selves.\r\n\\ Karen Armstrong believes that religion does help wad to find beneficial subject matters in their lives and does forego nation discover their inner selves. throughout the loss â€Å" homophile Religiosus” written by Karen Armstrong, in that respect are many historical events coming from various cultural and religious backgrounds that support her belief in which religion does and should play a crucial diverge in everyone’s lives. However, not only does religion contain harmony and rule in race’s lives, further religion also aids flock in finding a trustworthy meaning in their life and in the world.\r\nIt helps to positively streng therefore the kinship betwixt the people leading to the elimination of avariciousness, hatred, and cognise in communities. Like Confucius beliefs, the Buddhists had a advance of peace of their own. Nirvana was the natural effect of a life lived according to the doctrine of Buddha’s anatta. Anatta required Buddhists to live as if though the self did not exist, which led to corruption fading external. It is stated, â€Å"His (a monk’s) greed fades away, and once his cravings disappear, he experiences the release of the school principal” (Miller and Spellmeyer 37).\r\nThis text states that when the people heard intimately annata, their hearts were occupied with joy and they instanter experienced Nirvana. As a result, people were living between each other(a) with love, care, and ease towards one other which led to a better life elbow room over all told. The far-famed Confucius practice deluxe predominate is also another example of religion brining peaceful meanings in ones life. Conf ucius, the most famous religious icon in Chinese history, clarifies the meaning behind the Golden swayer. The Golden Rule states that an individual should treat another the same way he/she would worry to be treated by others.\r\nConfucius would posterior explain that the practice of the Golden Rule would bring people into a state of ren, which is a state of compassion and love. Although ren did bring peace and love between the people of Confucius, it is stated that it was so hard to only if be in this state. It was stated that people had a hard time achieving a full state of ren. Nonetheless, people want being in this pure state. Yan Hui, Confucius’s greatest student, said with a loggerheaded sigh, Yan Hui stated, â€Å"The more I strain my wish towards it, the higher it soars.\r\nThe deeper I bore shore into it, the harder it becomes. I see it in front, but suddenly it is behind. Step by step, the noble skillfully lures one on. He has broadened me with culture, re ticent me with ritual. Even if I wanted to stop, I could not. Just when I felt that I have exhausted every resource, something seems to acclivity up, dead ending over me sharp and clear. barely though I long to lease it, I can find no way of getting it all” (Miller and Spellmeyer 38). This passage explains how hard people were trying to obtain this state.\r\nReligion as defined by the mentors of great countries like India, China, and the Middle easternmost was not something impossible, yet it was a lifelike one. It was not about believe in a immortal or believing in a divine being. Religion was based on physical activities, condition work, and robust undertakings on a casual basis. Back then, religion had its real meaning of organizing ones life and basing ones life on religion. Sadly, religion has its own disparate inappropriate meaning forthwith.\r\nWhich leads to my point of Karen Armstrong talking about how many people find the concept of paragon and religion so troublesome patently because they have lost sight of this beta understanding. She also explains how for each separate religion, there is an ontological approach to understanding it. galore(postnominal) people have only unspoiled given up on God because of self-corruption like greed, stubbornness, and impatience. In Greek mythology, it is stated, â€Å" No god can survive unless he or she is actualized by the practical act of ritual, and people often turn against gods who become flat to deliver.\r\nThe rites and practices that that once made him a glib-tongued symbol of the sacred are no longer effective, and people have halt participating in them. He has then become otiosus, an etiolated reality who for all intents and purposes has indeed died or gone away” (Miller and Spellmeyer 31). If God does not comply the peoples needs, then they will turn against this god and he/she will no longer be effective. In the passage, it is also explains how religion requires a disc iplined cultivation of a different mode of consciousness.\r\nThis basically means that ahead you perform any religious task, you must pursue ekstasis, which literally means stepping out the norm you are accustomed to. Unfortunately, nowadays people are either to faineant or lost desire to look any religious salvation simply because many things have taking over our world like media, entertainment, sports, music etc. They pursue other means to stand outside the norm. It is like they almost disembodied spirit free when they are listening to the causa of music they desire, or play the causa of sport they seek, or are diverted by media that they desire.\r\nKaren Armstrong proves her point â€Å" Today people who no longer find it in a religious setting reanimate to other outlets: music, dance, art, sex, drugs, or sport. We make a point of seeking out these experiences that stir us deep within and attire us momentarily beyond ourselves. At such times, we feel that we inhabit our cosmos more fully than usual and experience an enhancement of being” (Miller and Spellmeyer 27) In conclusion, Armstrong potently anchors her belief of religion having a positive influential affect on people’s lives, helping them find a purpose in their life, and aiding them in discovering their true selves.\r\nShe has her belief backed up by many famous religious icons from different backgrounds like Buddha, Confucius, and even Greek mythology. She explained how it helps steer people’s lives, better the relationship between two people and dying but not least, it helps purify a person’s whole spotless life. Reassuringly, religion, does quite in fact, impacts the lives of many. Works Cited 1)Miller, Richard E. , and Kurt Spellmeyer. â€Å"Homo Religiosus. ” The bran-new humanistic discipline reader. quaternate ed. Boston, mammy: Lyn Uhl, 2009. 38. Print.\r\n2) â€Å"Vinaya Texts, Part I (SBE 13) †Mahavagga †First Khandaka. â₠¬Â network Sacred Text Archive Home. N. p. , n. d. Web. 13 Sept. 2013. 3) Miller, Richard E. , and Kurt Spellmeyer. â€Å"Homo Religiosus. ” The New humanities reader. 4th ed. Boston, Massachusetts: Lyn Uhl, 2009. 37. Print. 4) Miller, Richard E. , and Kurt Spellmeyer. â€Å"Homo Religiosus. ” The New humanities reader. 4th ed. Boston, Massachusetts: Lyn Uhl, 2009. 27. Print. 5) Miller, Richard E. , and Kurt Spellmeyer. â€Å"Homo Religiosus. ” The New humanities reader. 4th ed. Boston, Massachusetts: Lyn Uhl, 2009. 31. Print.\r\n'