Entry 5

Buddhist Eight spoked wheel

     Christianity, like every other religion has an origin. The origins are not the same for each religion. Contemporary Human Geography gives examples of three of these origins. The first is Hinduism, which originated about 1400 b.c. when Aryan tribes from Central Asia invaded India, bringing with them the Indo-European languages. The second is Buddhism, which originated after the founder took four trips. During each of the trips he began feeling he could no longer live like he was. On the fourth, and final trip he met a monk that taught him about withdrawing from the world. This withdrawal formed the Buddhism religion. The third example is the origin of Christianity, which came from "the teachings of Jesus" (Rubenstein, 2013)


Hindu Ohm Pendant

     The origin of each religion is significant to the foundation of the religion. Hinduism has India, Buddhism has Bodh Gaya.  Christianity has Jerusalem. Each of these places has a huge significance to the basics of their religion. The sites are where the religion came to be. These sites are all as different as the religions and the believes in the religions.

     Each religion has its own representation of the religion . Each symbol has a special meaning based upon the origin of the religion. The Buddhists have an eight spoked wheel a  'Dharmachakra' (Sanskrit)  which "symbolizes the Buddha's turning the Wheel of Truth or Law (dharma = truth/law, chakra = wheel)."("A view on," 2011) The Hindus have a symbol named  “Om”, "which is the first syllable in any prayer. More specifically, Om is used to symbolize the universe and the ultimate reality. Some people say that this symbol represents the three aspects of God: the Brahma (A), the Vishny (U) and the Shiva (M)."(Hindu symbols, 2013)  In Christianity" the cross is one of the earliest and most widely used Christian symbols. In the most broad sense it symbolizes the religion of Christianity. More specifically, it represents and memorializes Christ's death."(Christian crosses, 2004)

     Do we fault the Buddhists or the Hindus for not being a Christian? Just because their religious beliefs are different does not mean their beliefs are wrong. We all do not have the same background or schema that our neighbor does. These differences in our individual lives allow for the differences in our religion to balance. If everyone was the same in every aspect of our lives we would have a boring existence. The variations in each persons lives, the differences we encounter in religion and lifestyles is what makes life exciting.

Christian cross

                                                          

   References:

A view on buddhism. (2011, September 11). Retrieved from http://www.viewonbuddhism.org/general_symbols_buddhism.html
Christian crosses. (2004). Retrieved from http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/symbols/cross.htm
Hindu symbols. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.ancient-symbols.com/hindu-symbols.html
Rubenstein, J. M. (2013). Origins of religion. In Contemporary Human Geography (2 ed., pp. 130-131). Pearson.