Religious Figures - Term Paper Example

? of the Religious Figures: Mahavira (Eastern Religions) and Abraham (Western Religions) People follow different religions based on their beliefs and upbringing. There are Buddhism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Christianity and many more. In this paper, we will discuss about Mahavira, the preacher of one of eastern religions and Abraham, the preacher of one of western religions. We will highlight the lives and teachings of the two religious figures analyzing their similarities and differences. According to the History, Lord Mahavir was the last Tirthankara of the Jain religion. As per the Jain methodology all Tirthankaras were human beings. They acquired the status of perfection / enlightenment after passing through meditation and self realization. Hence, Jains consider themselves as the perfect human beings. They do not either accept God as their creator, protector and the destroyer of the Universe nor they believe in the destruction of demons (Nagaraja 43). Mahavira was born in 599 B.C. in the Bihar State of India in the King’s house. His followers celebrate his birthday each year as Mahavir Jayanti. The name given to him by his parents was Vardhaman. Being a loving son of his parents, he used to enjoy pleasures and comforts of life in a princely manner. When he attained the age of 30, he gave up all the pleasures of material world and left his family and the Royal abode for good in search of finding solution to the problems of common people and became Monk (Jain & Upadhye 36). After leaving the family and the Royal home, he spent his next 12 years in deep silence and meditation to get rid of the pleasures of life. He did not indulge in any activities that could be harmful for the animals and the birds. In some part of the mentioned period, he lived without food. He found himself quite calm and composed in the face of unbearable sufferings. Due to cited qualities, he earned the fame of Mahavir, which means brave and courageous. During said period, his spiritual power completely developed and comes to the stage of self realization. Such realization in the religion of Jain is known as keval jnana (perfect/enlighten) (Jain & Upadhye 39).  Soon after completion of self realization exercise, Mahavir spent another 30 years of his life to travel in the length and width of India barefooted. During this period, he used to teach people about the truth that he realized. He appraised the people how an individual can enjoy freedom from the cycle of birth, pain, misery, life and death and to achieve the state of bliss for good. This state of bliss is known as nirvana or moksha (Nagaraja 54). According to the beliefs of Mahavir, under the influence of karma, the soul becomes greedy of worldly pleasures (personal belongings and possessions). In his view, worldly pleasures make an individual self centered resulting in more and more amassing of karmas. He used to preach the right faith, right path and good conduct, which played decisive role in freeing the soul from the clutches of karma (Winternitz 107). We cite here three major events of the life of Mahavir a) Conception (Chyavana), an event when his mother conceived him in her womb b) after conceiving him in womb, the mother had fourteen dreams, but as per the belief of Digambar, they were sixteen dreams and c) his birth was the memorable event for his mother and the family alike. According to the belief of Mahavir’s followers, soon after his birth, the King of Heaven took him to the Mount of Meru and celebrated his birthday. The most important event in his life was when he gave up all worldly materials in his possession and took refuge in the ascetic order (Jain & Upadhye 47). The ages of darkness in the life of mankind, gave birth to three great religions namely Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The mentioned religions are deep rooted religions. The said religions made its inroads in the Old Testament patriarch. Abraham used to teach their followers about one God and no more (known as Ibrahim in Islam), was said to be the first who used to teach monotheism (the worship of a single God). Abraham and his children divided into two divine religions i.e. Judaism and Islam. As per the Old Testament, God rewarded Abraham in token of having complied with the rules and the rituals. The Quran says, "You shall be the father of a multitude of nations ... and kings shall come forth from you ... an everlasting covenant throughout the ages ... I assign the land you sojourn in to you and your offspring to come, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting holding." (Moore & Kelle 61) Abraham, according to the historians, had more than one child from more than one wife since his first wife could not give birth due to infertility at that time. Later on, by the miracle of God, Sarah gave birth to Isaac at the age of ninety whereas Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. The sons of Ishmael and the Isaac formed twelve tribes. Abraham was the founder of religion who believed in one God. The God (as the Christians call) for the Jews was Jehovah and for the Arabs, Allah Almighty (Moore & Kelle 64). We should examine the Biblical claim that Abraham was the founder of religion Islam whose believers believe in one God. His father was a trader of handmade idols. He traded the idols with the tribes wherever they went in search of profitable business (McCarter 343). We mention here three major events in the life of Abraham a) Abraham married to Sarah who was unable to give birth to a child. Hence, did not conceive b) at the age of 75, he left his wife Sarah and travelled to Shechem in Canaan and c) after burial of his first wife in Hebron, he married to a woman named as Keturah from whom he had further six sons (Shanks 34). Comparative study of the religions indicates that the Abrahamic religions comprised three religions i.e. Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Other religions faded out with passage of time. Believe in one God by the Abraham eventually turned into current Rabbinic Judaism. Christians are of the considered opinion that Christianity in fact is the continuation of Jewish Old Testament. Christians firmly believe that Jesus is the declared Messiah in the Old Testament and in the subsequent Testament as well. Muslims believe that the scriptures of Jewish and the Christians are amended a number of times, hence they have lost their creditability. However, for Muslims, Quran is the ultimate authority, revealed on Muhammad (PBUH), who is the last prophet of Islam (Thompson 106). As far as the religion of Lord Mahavir is concerned since it is manmade and revolves around his own philosophical thoughts, it is not a Godly religion (Winternitz 112). Lord Mahavir left the world and saw the world as materialistic and useless, however, Abraham continued to be a part of the world, led his life like other human beings (Thompson 104). Lord Mahavir did not have any children as he never developed relationships with any women (Winternitz 106), however, Abraham had wives and children. Abraham preached about the oneness of God while the followers of Mahavira believe in gods and goddesses. Abraham preached that human beings are born only once in this world and there is no rebirth for human beings (Shanks 68) while the followers of Mahavira believe in rebirth of human beings in different forms (Winternitz 107). We all know that the World due to technological advancement becomes a global village. It is the need of the hour that all religious forces should be united to make this world a paradise where everyone lives according to tenets of his/her religion peacefully. If mankind intends to live peacefully, it should change its thought and life style. With the changing thoughts and life style mankind can differentiate between love and brotherhood and love and hate. All major religions of the world promote love, affection and brotherhood. People who believe in Secularism are specifically focusing on amassing of wealth and other worldly pleasures for them to live happily and comfortably. This is their only motive. All religions of God guide the mankind how to meet the present day challenges. Religion of Islam like other religions invites human beings to find out what is in the earth and what is in the sky. In other words the religion supports man and woman to search what is in the Universe. On the other hand religions of all sorts do not encourage illegal and immoral activities in the society. Religions which do not address the human ills would not survive. In the considered opinion of Albert Schweitzer “Western and Indian philosophers must be moving towards a way of thinking, which shall eventually be shared in common by all mankind.” (Smith 193) We should not make religion as a symbol of hatred in the comity of nations. Rather we should treat the religion as a friend of mankind in nourishing the ideal relationship and the spiritual life of humanity. In a number of countries there is no difference between the religion and the politics, religion and the culture and religion and a way of life. Such as in India, Hinduism is a way of life for the Indians. The Islam offers complete code of life for Muslims in terms of political activities, economics and a balanced religious life. However, Christianity varies due to certain interpretations with regard to culture and politics (Smith 195). Study of religions surely provides an opportunity to the researcher to undertake research and carry out an in depth study of religion aims at to find out new and multifaceted disclosures. Such research work, of course will be very well respected. However, teachings of all major religions are appealable since they have the solutions to the problems of mankind. There is no doubt that all religions irrespective of God given or manmade are against the immoral and illegal activities of human beings. Further, we find similarity in the life style and the teachings of Lord Mahavir as compared to the life and teachings of Lord Buddha (Winternitz 92). By all angles, both the messengers were known as the strong advocates of the freedom of expression and the strugglers against injustices done to the poor and the downtrodden. Works Cited Jain, Hiralal & Upadhye, Adinath Neminath. Mahavira his Times and his Philosophy of Life. Vol. 2. Bhartiya Jnanpith, 2000. McCarter, P. Kyle. "The Historical Abraham." Interpretation 42.4 (1988): 341-352. Moore, Megan Bishop & Kelle, Brad E. Biblical History and Israel's Past. Eerdmans, 2011. Nagaraja, Muni. Agama and Tripitaka a Comparative Study of Lord Mahavira and Lord Buddha. Vol. 2. Dehli Publishers, 2003. Shanks, Hershel. Ancient Israel: a short history from Abraham to the Roman destruction of the temple. Prentice Hall, 1988. Smith, Huston. The World's Religions, Revised and Updated. HarperCollins, 2009. Thompson, Thomas. The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives: The Quest for the Historical Abraham. Valley Forge, Pa: Trinity Press International, 2002. Winternitz, Moriz. History of Indian Literature: Buddhist & Jain Literature. Motilal Banarsidass, 1993. Read More