We all have a certain believes in what or how we should learn religion.

Religions come in
all varieties from having multiply gods, to having no gods. We can all have our beliefs that we
think are right, but many have others believes are right as well. Just because someone believes in
something differently, then our personal thoughts, does not many they are wrong. It should make
us happy that we are a diverse culture that can unity.
What is religion?
Religions have been in our world since the earliest of times that we have had civilization.
Many religions believe in some sort of god. There are so many believers, who believe in
something they have yet to experience, or have not been given prove of. They have only been
taught about this, causing them to believe it. Doubters come in bundles, who do not believe in a
god, because their life has not been good or they have not needed to believe in a supreme power.
A single definition of religion would be too difficult to agree on or comprehend, but many have
put their input into what they believe religion should be, Jalalul-din Rumi, Paul Tillich, and
Schmidt, all had their own interesting meanings or thoughts of what religion was.
Jalalu'l-Din Rumi was a Turkish poet who was the reason for the Mevlevi Dervish Order
in Turkey, said that there is plenty of different lamps, but those different lamps would give the
same light. How this ties into religion, is because there is a vast variety of different religions in
our world, but those religions will all guide us to the same outcome. The way we look at
religions as being so different from one another, can probably lead us to chaos. To believe one
religion is better than the other is like believing that one lamp has a better light, which in fact
will have the same light, as leading us to our destination. He made a key point that we all will
find our Devine light even if we follow different paths to get to this one light, which we are
searching for.
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Paul Tillich, a German American philosopher, once said that religion was where we try
grasping something, to explain the reason of human creation. Certain actions or events are
followed to answer that one truly significant question of what is the meaning of life. The
meaning of religion to what he was referring to is that since we did not know the way, or how we
were created, we had plenty of questions and created religion as the backbone to our existence,
which made us wonder the true meaning of what life really is.
Another great definition or theory that I found to be interesting was from Schmidt, he
stated that religions were just systems for people to follow a life pattern, which included having
faith, where people found something to speak about which is sacred and what matters to them.
The meaning of this theory is just saying that people, would use religion just to be able to talk
about something that is holy and what truly matters to that one person. The way I see what he
means is that he believes we all look for having something in common. When we join a
community in believing one theory, creating something that truly matters to us.
There are plenty of great theories or definitions of wise people out there which question
the belief in religions, or on the opposite, where the belief in a supreme power is supported. Even
though Jalulul Din Rumi, Paul Tillich and Schmidt made all great points, from being a lamp to
being a backbone. There are many others who believe differently about religion. We should all
follow the footsteps in which we believe is the right way to find out if there is a supreme power.
The question about what life really is and where do we go once we are dead, or the belief in a
supreme power, may go all the way to the extinction of the world. My professor in Anthropology
once made a great question asking, if we believe in a god and we die and either exist or not, we
will see no consequence, but if we dont believe in one and he does exist where would we be?
Which it doesnt hurt to believe in something we dont know.
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Bibliography:
Schmidt, et al. "Religions, then, are systems of meaning embodied in a pattern of life, a
community of faith, and a worldview that articulate a view of the sacred and of what ultimately
matters."
What is Dharma?
The Dharma for the Hinduism stands for duty, justice, religion, values, and what is right
and wrong. The dharma is 5 oral books that one must read, the books are Siksa, Kalpa,
Vyakarana, Nirukta, Chamdas, and Jyotisa. These five books vary from the first being the correct
pronunciation of the book to astrology. The dharma is not only the books, but it is the life Hindus
follow. The dharma varies from karma, jati, and the law to follow.
Karma in Hinduism is not the same as we believe in the western civilization. As if we are
to do a bad action, we will see something affect us later that week. In the Veda the person has to
perform rituals of action, to do action is known as Karma. Not doing these ritual actions, which
is Karma is not following the Dharma, if Karma is not performed then the person or group of
people would be committing a sin of great amount. There are many rituals one can do to help
their future life, but those rituals are not ones that must be done to follow the Dharma. Doing the
rituals said in the Dharma could lead the people to heaven and get a reward from someone that
will help them in the next life. When karma is being accomplished the outcome for the person is
good.
The Dharma focuses much on having good core beliefs. The Dharma explains that one
should follow the conscience. Jati is a different way of saying birth, which follows a little bit on
what the caste system would be, but not all of Jati refers to the caste system, but to all the
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categories of life from the insects all the way up to humans. The caste belief starts from the
Brahmans which are claimed to be the most pure, to the untouchables the ones who are the most
impure. The Dharma influences caste beliefs very strongly. One example of how the caste system
works is that if a man of a higher class marries a woman from a lower class the marriage is okay.
Unlike if the woman marries a man that is not in the same, or higher caste it is not okay.
The Dharma focuses on the laws that people should follow. Just like the caste system,
people most follow the rules of how it works. Also karma doing ritual actions, is good, but not
doing ritual action is a sin. The stage of ones life also affects the laws of the Dharma. The
article states that the Dharma is a universal law that is flexible and adaptable to the different
circumstances and situations the individual or that group is living by. In other words, the Dharma
will adapt to the individual, as they grow old or become ill. The Dharma evolves also depending
on the persons needs at the moment. The Dharmas laws focus on ones ethical behavior,
responsibilities, community service, and awareness.
The Dharma is a set of very complex scriptures that one must follow to reach a better life
path. Karma, the action we do to follow the Dharma must be the biggest part because as the
words definition is action in my interpretation is the action that we do to follow the Dharma
will help us later in life or in our next life. With the caste system one should follow its structure,
one must follow because if one disobeys the caste system then the person is committing a sin.
The Law of Dharma being cosmic order, the belief that the way it is followed is the reward that
we will see, in later future. The Dharma will change depending on our life circumstance so one
must do ones best to follow, so circumstances change.
I believe the religion of Hinduism should just be called Dharma, becausethe Dharma is
the live they choose to follow. Even though many different branches of Hinduism come from
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Dharma. My thoughts are that Dharma is way of life and thought that is implied to all Hinduism
communities.

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