Analysis of Buddhists Concepts - Assignment Example

Explain and evaluate the notions of Karma, Samsara, and Nirvana. According to Karma, actions and thoughts have consequences. What we do and think would come back to us. If we do good, then good will come back to us. Samsara is a cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Man is in a continuous cycle of Samsara until he achieves Nirvana. Nirvana is the ultimate aim for Buddhists where the desire for all material things ceases to exists. All of these are important Buddhists concepts and are interrelated. 2)      Explain and evaluate the Hindu ideas of Brahman, atman and reality. According to Hindu ideas, Brahman is the soul of the world while atman is the soul of an individual. There is only one reality and that is Atman is Brahman which means that individual soul is ultimately connected with the soul of the world and they co-exist together. All would have an effect on the other. Thus individuals need to work together in order to attain not just a harmonious world soul but also individual soul. 3)      Explain the Buddha’s four noble truths. Is he correct in his view? According to Buddha, there are four noble truths. Firstly, there is suffering the world. Secondly, these sufferings arise from certain actions that humans take in their lives and these can be avoided. Lastly, they can be avoided by following the following the Eightfold Path which requires selflessness. However, I do not think that he is correct. Even if a person becomes selfless, sufferings cannot be avoided. There are sufferings created by nature such as earthquakes, tsunamis etc. and the loss resulting from these cannot be avoided even if one becomes selfless. 4)      Explain and evaluate the “Eight Fold Path”. Is this a reasonable philosophy for life? As per the Eightfold path, one can avoid suffering by applying the right view, aim, speech, action, living, effort, mindfulness and contemplation. One should have the right direction and aim in life. This requires keeping in focus the aim of existence which is to achieve Nirvana. this can only be achieved through the right actions and speech. Our actions and speech should be free of lying, corruption and deceit. We should make an effort to follow such an life and should also contemplate on our actions and speech. This is a reasonable philosophy since it defines an ethically and morally strong philosophy for life. 5)      Explain the connection or relationship between Tao, Yin, and Yang. Tao is the natural order of the world. The natural order of world is perfect balance and harmony and when humans remain in harmony with the natural order, then it gives rise to Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang represents opposing forced in the world. Tao advocates that both Yin and Yang are kept in perfect balance in the world. A forceful change towards either Yin or Yang would disrupt the Tao. 6)      Explain and evaluate Lao Tzu’s notion of effortless non-striving. Lao Tzu advocated the principle of effortless non-striving which requires that a person develop harmony with nature. He should allow nature to move on its natural course and ensure that everything remains in place. It is when humans strive to do something, they disturb the course of nature. This then has negative impacts on the natural order which is harmful for both humans and the natural order of things. 7)      Explain and evaluate Confucius’s principle of Mean. Confuciuss principle of Mean suggests that we should adopt the middle way in lives. One should avoid extremes and attempt to live in moderation. For example, a person should not over eat neither should he starve himself but rather eat in moderation. The same goes for all other actions in life. 8)      Explain and evaluate the views of Murasaki Shikibu and the role and status of women. Murasaki Shikibu was a Buddhist would rejected Buddhas teachings that women are less moral than men. She claimed that women were equal to men and that they could also achieve the state of Nirvana. However, even Shikbu did not offer complete freedom and empowerment to women. She said that women could enter the Western Paradise but only when they were reincarnated as men. Shikibu further claimed that women can challenge karma to gain control over their own lives.  9)      Explain and evaluate the argument of St. Anselm for God’s existence. St. Anselm argued that there is not greater being as God that can be conceived . Since the existence of God exists only in ones imagination, therefore God exists in imagination. And if God can exist in a persons imagination, he can exist in the real world. 10)      Explain and evaluate Guanilo’s objection to the ontological argument. Guanilo objected to the ontological argument by arguing that this argument can vouch for the existence of many other things that are not possible in the real world. One can argue about the existence of many concepts that are not grounded in reality. For example, one can imagine unicorns but that does not mean that they exist in the real world. If unicorns cannot be brought into existence by the ontological argument that God cannot be said to exist on the basis of this argument. 11)      Summarize and evaluate St. Thomas Aquinas’s Five Ways. St. Thomas Aquinas used the Five ways to prove the existence of God. The first proof is from motion. Motion is all around us and it is transferred from one object to another. It cannot be created on its own and neither can it be destroyed, therefore motion must have originated from somewhere. The origination point is God. The second proof is from efficient cause. Everything has a maker including coffee, pens, tables etc. and therefore humans also have a maker. The third proof is from necessary vs. possible being. Nothing can from nothing and therefore there must have been something that led to the world. The fourth proof is degrees of perfection which states that we have degrees of judging everything and to compare everything, we need to have the perfect being. The perfect being can only be God. The fifth proof is that every natural thing around us is designed. Our hands, our feet, our entire internal system are designed and for them to be designed, there must have been a designer. This designer is God. 12)      Leibniz claims that this is the “best of all possible worlds”. A) Why does he say this? B) Do you agree with his assertion? Leibniz claims this because he constructs an argument based on the fact that evil is necessary in order to truly understand, define and appreciate good. If there was no evil, then we would take good for granted. For example, if there was no famine or draught in the world, we would not truly appreciate the value of food. I agree with Leibnizs assertion because it is only when we live in bad times that we begin to appreciate our good times. 13)      Explain and evaluate Friedrich Nietzsche’s claim that “God is dead!” When Friedrich Nietzche says God is dead, he does not mean that he was once alive and now he is dead. Rather he argues that there is no plan to the world. The world has not been constructed on the basis of a plan designed by God. The plan that people talk about is only in their own minds and imaginations. 14)      Explain and evaluate the views the views of William James regarding religious belief. William James stated that the existence of God cannot be entirely proved and neither can it be entirely disproved. If God does exist, then not believing in him would result in being thrown in Hell at the time of resurrection therefore it is better to believe in him because believing in him would not harm us in either this life or the life after death. 15)      Explain how it is possible that your religious views are right and yet everyone else’s (expect those who believe as you) are wrong. Most people argue that their religions views are right because religion basically reinforces the belief that our religion is right and those who follow another religion are wrong. People belonging to our religious views further this belief by pointing out reasons why our religion is the right one. But in all this, we fail to understand that people from other religious also have their own reasons to support their religion. Work Cited Barnett, Dan, Philosophy: The Power of Ideas, 6th Edition, Mc Graw Hill, 2008, Print. Read More