Chelsea Schafer Humanities 10 7 October 2016 The Definition of Religion can be defined as a set of teachings and or writings that are preserved through traditions and are practiced as rituals and beliefs. They give one a compass and guidance towards life. Religion does not have to be written down, it can also be passed on through oral means. These teachings and writings include guidelines on how to perform rituals. These rituals are passed on from one generation to the next in a set of traditions. These rituals are performed for various reasons from a birth to a death. Traditions are what preserve the teachings, ideas as well as the rituals. These guidelines of religion are purely speculation. Human beings have vast questions about life and
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This ritual is done for repairing boats. Although rituals are practiced among all primal religions, each primal religion expresses their own rituals differently than that of the other ones. For the primal religions, they also have a set of beliefs. These beliefs include living in an atemporal time space where we live in an eternal now. With primal religions, everything around them is alive; there is no line that differentiates the animate from the inanimate. “Rocks are alive. Under certain conditions they are believed to be able to talk (Smith p.372).” This sort of belief can be seen in the Aborigines in Australia where inanimate object is considered alive is the Ayers Rock. “Ayers Rock in Australia-they are considered divine (Smith p.376).” These beliefs are all unique to the primal religions. While the way primal religions pass on their traditions as well as rituals and beliefs are unique to them, the overall principles of tradition, ritual and beliefs are not unique to them. Other religions such as Confucianism and Taoism also use traditions, rituals and beliefs convey their religions to their next …show more content…
All three thoughts of Taoism have rituals in common. One ritual is to prolong one’s life. The rituals to prolong life are in the Baopuzi. In this text it “stresses esoteric methods of achieving immortality (Van Voorst p.200) another ritual that is practiced amongst the Taoist is the method of Feng Shui. This ritual was done “to maximize the good effects of Yin and Yang and promote the flow of the life-giving Qi (Van Voorst p.183).” This ritual is also used for graves, alters, buildings as well as furniture. Taoist also have their own beliefs. However, there are differences between the thoughts of Taoism in regards to their views on the power of the Tao. “Philosophical Taoist try to conserve their Te by expending it efficiently, whereas “vitality” Taoist work to increase its available supply (Smith p.200).” Vitalizing Taoist also believe in the ability to extract chi from the environment and by bodily movement. Religious Taoist believe that it is magic that increases their chi. While all of these thoughts in Taoism have their own perspectives on how to maintain and maximize their chi, they all strive for the same
This ritual is done for repairing boats. Although rituals are practiced among all primal religions, each primal religion expresses their own rituals differently than that of the other ones. For the primal religions, they also have a set of beliefs. These beliefs include living in an atemporal time space where we live in an eternal now. With primal religions, everything around them is alive; there is no line that differentiates the animate from the inanimate. “Rocks are alive. Under certain conditions they are believed to be able to talk (Smith p.372).” This sort of belief can be seen in the Aborigines in Australia where inanimate object is considered alive is the Ayers Rock. “Ayers Rock in Australia-they are considered divine (Smith p.376).” These beliefs are all unique to the primal religions. While the way primal religions pass on their traditions as well as rituals and beliefs are unique to them, the overall principles of tradition, ritual and beliefs are not unique to them. Other religions such as Confucianism and Taoism also use traditions, rituals and beliefs convey their religions to their next …show more content…
All three thoughts of Taoism have rituals in common. One ritual is to prolong one’s life. The rituals to prolong life are in the Baopuzi. In this text it “stresses esoteric methods of achieving immortality (Van Voorst p.200) another ritual that is practiced amongst the Taoist is the method of Feng Shui. This ritual was done “to maximize the good effects of Yin and Yang and promote the flow of the life-giving Qi (Van Voorst p.183).” This ritual is also used for graves, alters, buildings as well as furniture. Taoist also have their own beliefs. However, there are differences between the thoughts of Taoism in regards to their views on the power of the Tao. “Philosophical Taoist try to conserve their Te by expending it efficiently, whereas “vitality” Taoist work to increase its available supply (Smith p.200).” Vitalizing Taoist also believe in the ability to extract chi from the environment and by bodily movement. Religious Taoist believe that it is magic that increases their chi. While all of these thoughts in Taoism have their own perspectives on how to maintain and maximize their chi, they all strive for the same