Asceticism

established in that state of utter freedom from movement of thought, resorting to the silence of deep sleep. Rama: Sir , I have heard of silence of speech, silence of the eyes and other senses and I have also heard of the rigid silence of extreme asceticism . But what is the silence of deep sleep? Sage Vasistha: Rama, there are 2 types of munis (a sage who observes Mauna or silence). One is the rigid ascetic and the other the liberated sage. The former forcibly restrains his senses and engages…

Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen tells the life story of a 12th century nun blessed with visions from God. A gifted healer, composer, and writer, Hildegard von Bingen (Barbara Sukowa) worked to fulfill her visions and share her findings with the world. She also labored to improve the lives of the women under her care. Even with her faith and many talents, Hildegard is shown to possess the same flaws as all humans. Despite these faults, Hildegard worked to bridge the gaps between…

novel: “A physical shortcoming could produce a kind of mental excess. The process, it seemed, was reversible. Mental excess could produce, for its own purposes, the voluntary blindness and deafness of deliberate solitude, the artificial impotence of asceticism.”(63) Just like Bernard, Helmholtz has a deformity that makes him question the caste system which threatens its power and shows proof of how both characters criticize the quality of their lives in respect to the relation of power and…

With the emergence of Bhaktism in South Asia, Hindus started to show their love for Hindu deities through poetry and other forms of art. Bhakti is an intense emotional love for a personal god. It favors an immediate experience of the divine. This trend leads to the creation of major Hindu devotional groups: Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism. All three major groups are unified within the realm of bhakti/devotion; however, each group is distinguishable through their belief system, traditions,…

Grego-Romans World Philosophies Response The Epicurean Epicurean’s beliefs were of this world. They were not only in this world but of the world materialistically. Their views of the universe, nature, and space were materialistic. They believed all matter consisted of atoms. To them, atoms were eternal, indivisible, with a form that had size, shape, weight, and motion. Since atoms comprise all of nature, they function as stated by natural law. Based on this belief, creation and purpose in…

According to Peter Harvey, the eightfold path helps Buddhists avoid pleasure and harsh asceticism. By eliminating extremities, the cessation of dukkha occurs. The eight elements are grouped into categories based on wisdom, moral virtue, and meditation. These elements can be separated into two levels, the ordinary or the noble. The eightfold…

The Perspective of Salvation throughout the World Religions Growing up in a Baptist home, weekly service was common. As a young child, the practice of going to church seemed to be just something that you did to go give thanks for what you had, pay your respects to God, to confess your sins and pray for things that you needed or wanted. As a teenager, I had no desire to continue the weekly trips to church. Once I turned 18 and moved out of my grandparents’ home I did not attend weekly…

1. There is a difference between material and nonmaterial culture, and just as they are written, that is what they are. To further explain, take material culture for example. Material; material culture deals with the physical objects within a society that was created by its people. This can be anything ranging from a home to a simple tool such as a screw driver. Anything that has to do with the culture’s physical aspect that can determine the society’s perspectives and the behaviors of those…

One of the topics that was discussed in the chapter of Mormonism was polygamy. The founder of the Latter-day Saints is Joseph Smith, who was a polygamist himself. As a result, this influenced Mormons to become polygamist themselves because their founder was one as well. However, only men could take multiple wives whereas women could only have one husband. When the United States government threatened to take away the assets from Mormon churches the Latter-day Saints agreed to compromise with…

Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama in the sixth century before common era; Gautama proposed it as a middle way between extreme asceticism and worldliness. Gautama taught that people are bound to life by desire and craving, and the only way to break free of that bond is to stop desiring. Buddhism, unlike Hinduism, does not sacrifice to, or worship gods. Buddhists believe that release…