forrest
07-23-2009, 10:58 PM
Humans have always been attracted by life's mystery: its origin, meaning, and finality. The author of Shvetashvatara Upanishad asks: "Whence are we born? Whereby do we live, and whither do we go?" (1,1). Consequently, not only Hinduism, but all religions need to give an answer to the fundamental questions concerning creation, life, and death.
What is the human being? According to pantheist religions, a small part of the Ultimate Reality locked up by the illusion of physical experience. According to Theravada Buddhism, nothing but an illusion, a temporary combination of five aggregates, none of which is ultimately real. Dualistic religions, like Gnosticism and Manicheism, state that humans are spiritual beings originated in another world, a kind of angels fallen into a miserable bodily condition. According to monotheistic religions, the human being is a person created in the image and likeness of God.
What is humanity's present condition? Have we fallen from the created status as a result of sin, defined as a moral barrier against our creator? Or are we rather a product of the periodical manifestation of the Ultimate Reality, and thus ignoring our true spiritual nature? Do we have a soul that predated our birth or not? Is our personal character illusory, or do we keep it for a further existence? Is our destiny limited to this present existence, or do we inherit an eternal one, and if eternal, is it personal or impersonal, conformed with the character of the creator or absorbed into the impersonal nature out of which all things emanated? These are some of the aspects that define the human condition in the world’s religions. Closely related to how human nature is defined are the values we pursue in life and the kind of relationship we have with our neighbors.
Comparative Religion - The human condition in world religions (http://www.comparativereligion.com/man.html)
What is the human being? According to pantheist religions, a small part of the Ultimate Reality locked up by the illusion of physical experience. According to Theravada Buddhism, nothing but an illusion, a temporary combination of five aggregates, none of which is ultimately real. Dualistic religions, like Gnosticism and Manicheism, state that humans are spiritual beings originated in another world, a kind of angels fallen into a miserable bodily condition. According to monotheistic religions, the human being is a person created in the image and likeness of God.
What is humanity's present condition? Have we fallen from the created status as a result of sin, defined as a moral barrier against our creator? Or are we rather a product of the periodical manifestation of the Ultimate Reality, and thus ignoring our true spiritual nature? Do we have a soul that predated our birth or not? Is our personal character illusory, or do we keep it for a further existence? Is our destiny limited to this present existence, or do we inherit an eternal one, and if eternal, is it personal or impersonal, conformed with the character of the creator or absorbed into the impersonal nature out of which all things emanated? These are some of the aspects that define the human condition in the world’s religions. Closely related to how human nature is defined are the values we pursue in life and the kind of relationship we have with our neighbors.
Comparative Religion - The human condition in world religions (http://www.comparativereligion.com/man.html)