Eastern Religion Short Answer Exercise
Concepcion De Los Rios
Hum/130
April 23rd, 2015
Professor: Lindy Williams

1. If someone were to ask you about the concept of eternity in each of these religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism) how would you answer? Eternity here refers to the goal in the end of all things. For example, what do Buddhist hope for?)
Hinduism- Hindus have no concept of rebellion against a holy God. There is no clear plan of salvation in Hinduism. Moksha (Freedom from infinite being and final realization of the truth) for the goal of existence. Belief that the goal of life is for the soul to merge with God. A person must live repeated lives or reincarnation called samara before the soul can be liberated (moksha) from the body. Hindus hope and strive to eventually be free from the cycle of reincarnation.

Buddhist- for Buddhist there is only ethical living and meditative appeals to exalted beings for the hope of perhaps achieving enlightenment and ultimate-Nirvana meaning no one will have to go through a number of reincarnations to pay off his or her accumulations of karmic debt.

Confucianism-Confucian system, a divine being does not have a significant role; his philosophy is a man-centered and relies on self-effort. Confucius occasionally mentions the “Mandate of heaven” He appears to interpret this to mean the natural law or moral order within things. Men must seek to live within this order. One must be careful not to violate the will of heaven. Three key principles are emphasized in Confucius’ teachings; the principles of Li, Jen and Chun-Tzu. Jen is the fundamental virtue of Confucian teaching. Jen is the virtue of goodness and benevolence. Jen makes a moral system. The third important concept is Chun-Tzu, the idea of the true gentleman. The gentleman displays five virtues: self-respect, generosity, sincerity, persistence, and benevolence. His relationships are described as the following: as a son, he is always loyal; as a father, he is just and kind; as an official, he is loyal and faithful; as a husband, he righteous and just; and as a friend, he is faithful and tactful. If all men would live by the principles of Li and Jen and strive to the character of the true gentleman, justice and harmony would rule the empire. Daoism- is a religion that cares about life. They believe that “everything with form contains Dao”, and that every living thing has the right to develop according to its nature. Have compassion towards all things, extend kindness and love to the wider world, and do not hurt the living with your hands. This virtue and will bring you heaven’s blessings. What you wish to accomplish will be successful, and there will be hope for you to achieve immortality. (Last updated 2009-09-17)

2. How would you explain the nature of God in these different faiths? (Monotheistic, polytheistic, ect.)
Monotheistic-because monotheistic is founded on the idea that there is only one god; it is common for believers to also think that this god created all of reality and is totally self- sufficient without dependency on any other being what so ever. Most monotheistic tend to be exclusive in nature, this means they don’t simply believe in and worship a single god; but they also deny the existence of the gods of any other religious faiths.
Polytheistic- the belief in many gods. Belief in many divine beings, who typically have to worship or if malevolent, awarded off with appropriate rituals; has been widespread in human cultures. Sometimes above the many gods a polytheistic religion will have a supreme creator and focus of devotion, as in certain phases of Hinduism.

3.List the perceptions you had about the eastern religions from week 1. After each tradition write “true, false, in-between” and then using outside sources please explain how the perception has changed since week 1. If it has not changed, please elaborate on why.
Buddhism- it is a religion in India……..TRUE…….My perception of this