The Three Major Religions of Asia - Essay Example

RELIGION It is a question that has troubled billions of people since the dawn of time: how should a person lead a good, meaningful life? There are many theories, but some ideas over the years have been more popular than others. Some people are born into religions where these questions are largely answered for them. They know from an early age what their god tells them is the right thing to do and what is the wrong thing. Others question their faith and try to revise their morality, bringing in parts of other religions or philosophies. Still others have no real faith and try to build a moral foundation out of their personal experience adding rules and content to it as the years go by. A large part of religion is cultural and sociological and it possible to examine religion from this point of view. In this essay I will examine the sociological aspect of religion with a special focus on Asian faiths. I will additionally focus on education in various faiths as education is a sociological keystone. In Asia, many religions exist side by side and contribute enormously to peoples lives and their sense of themselves. To Western observers, these religions can sometimes look very similar especially in how they think and consider the question of education. But the truth is more complex. Each of the major Asian faiths take a very different view of the world and of education. In this paper I will look at three major religions and their various perspectives.             To begin with, what are religious values? Everyone decides for themselves what they believe to be right and wrong, but people are often powerfully influenced by the traditions around them. As one academic says, it is a “highly personal search for ultimate meaning and purpose” (Chickering, 38). Some people have been colonized by other dominant countries and therefore have a slight inferiority complex. Others belong to ethnic and linguistic minorities—facts which influence the way they see the world. Some countries have religions that encourage them to have large families. All this must be taken into account when examining beliefs and how these beliefs shape religion. Beliefs can be summed up as ideas that are held by a large number of people—perhaps not always based on empirical facts. They might be a religion held in common, for example, or an idea of history, which perhaps does not perfectly accord with the facts. These are often powerful motivating factors in a culture. Another important point to consider is how suspiciously atheists and agnostics look upon the idea of spiritual growth as a concept in education. They ignore it at their peril.                To begin with, when considering education and how it is influenced by religion, it is useful to examine the concept of wisdom. In a real sense wisdom is the highest achievement of education. It is only accessible to a few and only after years of rigour. How the major Asian faiths interact with the concept of wisdom is very important when it comes to distinguishing them.               The main difference between the nature of wisdom as described by Buddhism and Confucianism, for example, has to do with metaphysics. For Buddhists wisdom is closely related to spiritual awareness which requires an insight into the cosmos or things beyond our physical world, for Confucians the highest level of intellectual enlightenment was the moral knowledge that came from ethical and orderly living, with each individual fulfilling the roles required of him.                 Buddhists prize wisdom very highly (Murphy, 101). They consider it the goal towards which all practice must be directed. It is required in order to reach enlightenment, which is the highest spiritual state. It requires an acknowledgement of self, a knowledge of the four truths of the world—among them that the world is empty and that there is suffering everywhere—but also requires the ability to put pain out of mind and to focus on the eternal aspects of the world.               Confucius was much more interested in practical life and little time to discuss transcendence and spiritual enlightenment. He was much more considered with ordering lives and polities along ethical lines. Like Buddha however this ordering requires a balance or moderation that looks very dimly on things like self-indulgence (Freedman, 29). The middle path is something that hand in hand with the sort of daily etiquette and responsibility that Confucianism describes as intrinsic to moral knowledge. Both of these Asian philosophies have been enormously philosophically influential. Both took different views on how one achieves the highest levels of knowledge in this world.             Then there is Hinduism. As the Katha Upanishad  says, “He who is possessed of supreme knowledge by concentration of mind, must have his senses under control, like spirited steeds controlled by a charioteer” (HinduWeb). Wisdom and self-control are inter-related. Education is considered by Hindus to be the purpose of life and something one should dedicate their energy and time towards. It is the way to free ones spirit. Devotion to the absolute is key and is one of the yogas to be practiced (Flood, 65). While their are several attendant rituals, the practical application of education is not clearly delineated. As T. Reagan writes in his study of the subject: “the focus and purpose of education is on the spiritual growth and development of the individual, rather than on any particular instrumental goal or objective” (Reagan, 174). In the end it is Confucius who concerned himself most with education in a practical sense.                  He was a great philosopher who thought people who were honest and virtuous should be chosen to guide the multitude. He also believed that a leader must first govern himself, before he would be able to govern other people (Chan, 23). Confucius appeared to have a great deal of respect for the Duke of Zhou and for much of the philosophical ideas about leadership and education mentioned above. Much of his thinking can also be attributed to the disunity undergoing this later period of Chinese history—he wanted to return to unity and peace and felt the traditionalist approach summed up in part by the Mandate of Heaven would be a most useful roadmap. Many of his exchanges at the time “outline the high standards of behavior to which a person needed to conform to be considered a ‘gentleman’ (junzi), standards that demonstrated a moral fitness for exercising authority . . .” (Freedman, 248). Virtue and education are shown to be very important to anyone who seeks to obtain higher office. This shows a number of important sociological values. Of course, all of these principles of leadership and education are as valid today as they were back in ancient China. We tend not to like leaders who lie to us or who have messy personal lives that they seem unable to control or people who have turned their backs on wisdom. We ask out leaders to be role models and make a good example of themselves. Even so, there does seem to be a serious lack of sage kings (and queens) in the world today. Maybe if more people read Confucius the situation might improve.                  The three major religions of Asia can be distinguished from one another. In todays world they have lost some of their force and even been in conflict (as in China). They have different concepts of education and wisdom and how people grow into spiritual awareness. They can be examined from sociological perspectives. The most clearly defined concept comes from Confucianism which has much to say about how education leads to wisdom and leadership. Many of these values should be recognized and embraced by the West.         Works consulted   Brannigan, M.C. (2005). Ethics across cultures: Na introductory text with readings. Boston: McGeaw-Hill.   Chickering. A. W. Dalton, J.C., & Stamm, L. (2006). Encouraging authenticity & spirituality in higher education. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Feuerstein, Georg (2001). The Yoga tradition: Its history, literature, philosophy and practice. Prescott, Arizona: Hohm Press. Flood, Gavin. (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Freedman, David Noel, and Michael McClymond, eds. (2001). “Confucius.” In The rivers of paradise. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co..   Murphy, M.M. (2006) . The history and philosophy of education: Voices of educational pioneers. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merill Prentice Hall Reagan, T. (2005). Non-western educational traditions: indigenous approaches to educational thought and practice (3rd ed. ). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.   “Hindu Wisdom” Retrieved April 19, 2010. http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Education_in_Ancient_India.htm     Read More