Religion and Rituals in Hinduism

As an Indian and as a Hindu it is our inherent nature and attitude to boast over our religion and rituals to celebrate with. We Hindu have several ceremonies to observe in different seasons. Different individuals have also different option and choice to practice his own way for celebrate the rituals. Some people observe one or two day fasting and meditate whole day his/her own respected God or goddess. The whole motive remain behind these activities is to get a desired aspiration and expectation. Some psychologists attribute these activities as some kind of latent psychic disorders and nothing else. Being a Hindu or being an Indian off course a matter to proud and a sacred, ancient religion no question or ambiguity in this fact but where is the sacred flawless unadulterated principle of Hinduism, which took its birth from the cradle of Vedas? Are we celebrating the principles of holy Vedas? Truly and explicitly the answer is wrapped inside a cloth of doubt. The principle and practice of Vedas is mutilated by several prophets and different cult makers in different time. If Veda's basic rule and commandments are constant and ancient, unalterable then why in different time in our history different cults aroused and relinquished? why our Hinduism took different turn in different eras in history? Why several invaders attacked India and successfully full filled their malaise desire of robbery and reign over whole India, which thrashed Indians into the slavery and storm of bankruptcy, misery, grief? Why Indians suffered slavery for different races in our wretched glorious past? Still we are gloating and boasting about our great heritage and culture, why? The bitter truth and atrocious fact is that we got defeated by others due to our foolishness and weakness, and still we didn't take any lesson from the past.

Wedding Gowns, Color And Style Depends On Religion And Culture

A wedding dress or wedding gown is clothing worn by a bride during a wedding ceremony. Color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown depends on the religion and culture of the participants.

In modern tradition, the color of western-culture wedding dresses is white. Used in this sense, 'white' or 'wedding white' includes creamy shades such as eggshell, ecru and ivory. The popularity of this color can be traced back to 1840 and the marriage of Queen Victoria to Albert of Saxe-Coburg. The Queen chose to wear a white gown for the event. The official wedding portrait photograph was widely published and many brides opted for a similar dress in honor of that choice. The tradition continues today.

Prior to the Victorian era a bride was married in any color except black (the color of mourning) or red (which was connected with prostitutes). The white dress came to symbolize purity of heart and the innocence of childhood. Later attribution suggested that the color white symbolized virginity which is false. However it was originally the color blue that was connected to purity.

Religion in America: Toward a Better Understanding of Islam

Religion has so often been a divisive factor in human relations that many people despair of organized religion. But it is often misunderstandings of or an unwillingness to learn more about other religions (fear of contamination?) that leads to religious conflicts. This is especially true in the case of Islam.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are "monotheistic siblings" in that they share a belief in one God and a common ancestry. Father Abraham had two sons: Ishmael, son of Sarah's maid Hagar, was the firstborn but Isaac, son of Sarah in her old age, soon supplanted Ishmael in their father's favor.

At Sarah's instigation, Abraham drove Hagar and Ishmael into the desert where they would have died of thirst but for the intervention of God who promised that Ishmael would not only live, but would become the father of a great nation (Genesis 21: 1-21). It is from Ishmael that people of the Muslim faith trace their ancestry.

Unfortunately, this common ancestry has not been enough to foster understanding and trust between the three siblings and lead to peace. The Jewish state of Israel and her Muslim neighbors have been locked in battle in the Middle East for centuries.

Religion, Science and Education For a Better Society

Human beings have evolved as pattern-seeking animals. We perceive sequences of events and we see shapes and objects seemingly organized in particular ways, and we tend to want to find a reason for that often-apparent level of organization. We see random sequences around us, and we have devised mental mechanisms that allow us to see them organized in patterns. This mechanism helped our ancestors better cope with their natural surroundings and potential dangers such as a pair of menacing eyes staring from within the foliage, but did not equip them with the tools to discern when a pattern actually exists and when those patterns just seem to exist. Thus, we think we see faces on Mars, dogs and dragons in the night sky, or the image of the Virgin Mary on the glass windows of an office building reflecting a distorted image of a nearby tree.

A Look At How Cambodian People Resolve and Prevent Conflict Through Cultural Values

Introduction

Cambodia was once known as one of the most powerful empires in Southeast Asia, due to her richness in resources and cultural diversifications. Not only masterminding of the world's biggest religious temple, Angkor Wat, but Cambodian ancestors were also peace-oriented, ethical and wisdom engineers. Series of devastating phases, I believe, has helplessly destroyed those cultural pillars.

Today's Cambodia, I believe, is moving on the step toward the betterments. By and large, negative impacts do simultaneously exist with the positive ones. Revolutionary technology has brought better welfares to Cambodian people; on the other hand, it has buried the society of tolerance of Cambodia. With a better outlook, Cambodia would have to pay a much higher price to ubiquitous disputes, compared to bygone Cambodia. A look at Cambodia's history and culture, I think, would reflect and brings in betterments to today's Cambodia.

The Mystical, Religious and Philosophical Culture of the Paleolithic Fertility Cult

Regardless of the diversionary mumbo-jumbo entrapping of magic and religion, the central theory to the shamanic philosophy of the Upper Paleolithic Master of Animals was the solipsistic theory of the God-man: that the world is a dream, the vatic-shamanic personality the dreamer, and, consequently, that the mental states of the shaman are the engine driving the course of events in the real world.

Man had been born with what appears to be a genetically predetermined illusion of centrality with respect to his environment; a psycho-affective predilection which, no doubt, had been fostered by the reality editing behavior of the nursing female. The personal psycho-affective conflicts of the God-king Osiris in historic times, for instance, arose from the conflict between the king and his political rivals. At the cosmic level, the king's travails translate into the conflict between the forces of good and evil, dramatized in the sacred play of the Osirian mystery cult as the conflict between the god Osiris and the devil Seth. The resolution of the shaman's private psycho-affective conflicts translates on the grand cosmic scale into resolution of the thematic good versus evil conflict of history. But "good" is not an absolute defined independent of a personal perspective. The shaman's perspective, however, is the perspective of God, and God is absolute.

Culture in Conflict - The Tragedy of the Discovery of the New World

Of course, everyone "knows" that the discovery of the New World began in 1492. Every
schoolchild learns the sing-song verse "in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue," in the
first or second grade; but this verse begs the question of whether or not Columbus
discovered America. There are many claims to earlier "discovers" of the New World,
from the Vikings to the English, to the ancient Greeks and the Portuguese. Even more
fundamentally, did any of these purported "discovers" really discover anything - after all,
there was a thriving series of Indian nations already existent in the New World at the time
of Columbus' arrival in 1492. [1]

Culture & Conflict: We're Not In Kansas Anymore Toto

Each person in a conflict has their own story. These stories play out as dramas, in which we see ourselves as the innocent victim (or, perhaps, the righteous hero) and cast our adversary as the villain. Our adversaries, on the other hand, see themselves as the victim (or hero, standing up for themselves) and see us as the villain. This cycle of victimization, attack and defense can be characterized as a drama triangle of conflict - a dynamic that locks us into confrontation with winners and losers, right and wrong.

One person's hero, however, is another's villain, as both roles are marked by aggressive behaviours that impose what is "right" on others. We label people based on how their actions impact us. When we feel attacked or disrespected, we assume the other person intended that result and characterize them as a villain. (We justify our own actions based on our noble intention and the righteousness of our cause.)

Being aware of the culture in which a conflict occurs helps us clarify these assumptions by understanding someone's motive or intention. I refer to "culture" in the broadest sense - the values and norms that reflect "how we do things around here." "Here" could pertain to religious or ethnic communities, families, organizations or nations. In their book, Turning Conflict Into Profit, Larry Axelrod and Roy Johnson go so far as to state "every communication is a cross-cultural communication" (ie. colored and influenced by each person's unique life experience.)

Religions and The Theory of Sharing One God

Why are our children taught so young about the tragedies in the bible? Why are they taught all these horribly bias things? I don't understand. We disagree with what Muslims do... can't we see we are doing the same thing?

We are teaching our children wrong. To fight in wars about religion. Why can't we just realize we all believe in the same god, without caring what your culture thinks his name is. He's the same thing. The supernatural being that watches over all.
Because I do not believe in the afterlife, I am not worried about whether or not one religion is right or wrong. Why do we spend so much time and energy pretending to obey god by being bored at church...

"The bible is the word of God." What if it's not? How do we know? We don't. Why don't we just admit we know nothing about god and what he expects of us? We don't even know for certain if there is a god. But if there is, I doubt we're making him happy by separating into organized religions and fighting wars to protect something we think he is.

And no one is perfect. But I don't agree with the bible's constant reminder that we are never perfect and Jesus Christ was. What if Jesus Christ was just a guy? What if he was just like you & I. Maybe he wanted to make a name for himself. Maybe he just wanted to be remembered for more than a carpenter. Maybe he did do magic tricks, but I've also seen David Blane on television create miracles. I still don't worship him.

Rethinking Strategy: A Leader's Guide to Creating an Innovative Culture

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In order to better understand why we engage in strategic planning, I conducted a strategic planning session with a Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia. This project included a series of on-site meetings with the leadership group and several in-depth interviews. The focus was on rekindling the leadership's enthusiasm for mission and ministry and developing a strategic plan (including areas of focus, goals, and action plans) for future ministry. This was guided by an elected leadership team that worked with me in designing and leading the events. This format provided a high level of leadership participation and ownership. Since time was a limiting factor, the congregation was not able to provide extensive dialogue in discerning a broader and longer-range mission and ministry focus.

Native American Art - Origin and Different Traditions

No written records of Native Americans exist before the 1500s, when the European seamen discovered the American continent. The period before 1500s is considered by scholars as prehistoric. During that time and after, Native Americans had created their own states, history and art. Native American art is thought to be the link between natives and Europeans, the only way to communicate ideas between the two cultures. When the Europeans came, slight changes in Native American art resulted, due to the new way of life that native people had to take.

Native American art is our way to reach the native Americans' views and history, to learn more about them. That's why culture researchers explore Native American art and make it an object of many scholastic discussions. There exists a qualification of the Native American culture, branching off into five main culture districts or zones, which is done for easier interpretation of the works of art and culture. They are, namely, the East, the Plains, Southwest and Northwest coast, and the Arctic. The forms of Native American art differ considerably regarding different districts. That depends on the different weather conditions, various traditions among different groups of natives, natural environment, social order, different religious beliefs, and so on.

Asia - Asian People - Their Traditions and Cultures

Asian refers to all the people who are residing in Asia. Asian is a kind of an ethnic group including people of different races who are residing in Asia.

There are many countries that form a part of the continent of Asia like the Islamic nations and the Southeastern countries of Nepal, India and Bangladesh. Asia has the largest land mass in the whole world and is a home to a majority of human population that is residing in the world. Most of the densely populated countries of the world are situated in Asia. There are a large number of countries that constitute this continent and as a result it is home to a wide variety of cultures and traditions. People of Asia are very strongly attached to their homelands and find it very painful to separate from their native countries.

Religion and Spirituality

The universe is a diverse wonderland. Different religion and spiritual methodologies together contribute to this diversity.

The world is blessed with different and great Faiths. You can discover various schools of thoughts and believe that have received maybe less attention as well. Christianity is most popular and encompasses a major part of the world population. Millions of people follow this particular faith and created a place of their own.

You can also get information on the ways of Hinduism, one of the largest religions in the world. Understand and learn about scriptures, rituals and philosophy of this religion in order to get clarity on its nuances.

If you take interest in the Muslim faith, read on books written by great scholars and followers to seek answers for all your questions. You can read about the Path towards True Happiness according to Islam, and the importance of Ramadan in respect to Allah, among others.

People who want to know more about the Jewish faith, you can read volumes of articles on the philosophies, traditions, and cultural influences of Judaism. If you're looking to learn more about Hannukah, plan a Bar Mitzvah, and keep the Sabbath, you've come to the right place.

If you are fascinated with Buddhist faith, you can read and meet people who are following this faith. You will learn about Buddhist prayer and meditation, and the way to Nirvana.

Atheism, Agnosticism and Theism are usually misunderstood in a general way of living, which is why you can read about these beliefs in terms of faith, moral views, and ethical stands.

Forensic Theology - Ideological Threat Assessments

What is "forensic theology"? Another way to analyze modus operandi in criminal cases? For instance, suspicion could fall on a seemingly dangerous cult, gang, terrorist group or other organized criminal enterprise? Or, an evolving tactic to analyze anti-social extreme belief systems? Such as hate groups. Still though, "forensic theology" might be a potential investigative strategy to scrutinize probable criminality among fanatical ideologies? Well then, let's break down the components. Because there might be another option to constructing threat analyses on the basis of extremist behaviors. An allegation of the application of "forensic theology" has been suggested in relation to terroristic activities. But, why stop there? Particularly as applied to radical domestic and foreign belief systems. Or, terrorism perpetrated from a fundamentalist doctrine.

Political Correctness, Religion, Race, Culture and Common Sense

Once again Canadians were given evidence of how political correctness has gone beyond the merely silly, to the downright dangerous. Muslim women (one only has their word for it that they are in fact women) have been passing through airport security without lifting their veils for identification. The reason given by security personnel is that the men accompanying them are very aggressive in insisting that this would be a violation of their religious beliefs. Airport staff claim that they feel intimidated and don't wish to cause offense. This is an issue that has no connection to religion or culture. The safety of hundreds of people is at stake. It makes it possible for criminals, or those on the no-fly list to board flights and move freely across borders.

Traditions and Culture of the Philippines

The culture of the Philippines has been greatly influenced by the migrants that have come to this island nation throughout time. Most of the people that call themselves Filipinos actually descend from Austonesian tribes that most likely migrated from Taiwan to the Philippines thousands of years ago. It is suspected that the first Filipinos were related to the Ami Tribe.

There are at least fifteen ethnic groups that currently call the Philippines home. These groups include: the Tagalogs, the Moro, the Bicolanos, the Igorot, the Mangyan, the Chabacano, the Ivantan, the Visayan, the Ilocanos, the Kapampangans, the Pangasinese, the Lumad, the Ibanag, the Badjao and the Palawan tribes. Each of these tribes has a unique set of traditions, beliefs and languages. However, while languages vary from tribe to tribe the official languages of the Philippines are English and Filipino. These languages are used for trade and business, and tribal languages are used for private communications between tribe members, religious ceremonies and leisure communications.

The culture of the Philippines is made up of several religions. However, the majority of this nation is Roman Catholic. If fact Catholics make up 81 percent of the Filipino population. Other religions practiced in the Philippines include Protestantism, Islam and local tribal religions.

The culture of the Philippines has been influenced by a number of outside cultures. One of the most influential cultures on the Filipinos was the Hispanic culture. Hispanics introduced Roman Catholicism to this country. They also influenced the development of Filipino music, folk art, dance and food. The Chinese also influenced the culture of the Philippines. However, their influence was mostly on Filipino cuisine. Their influence can be seen in the used of noodles in Filipino dishes.

Religion And Human Potential Will Knock Your Socks Off

Does Religion have a place in the human potential movement? I am referring to all of the human potential disciplines and pop psychology culture that is "out there", when I mention human potential movement.

When I refer to religion, I specifically have in mind the great wisdom teachers that are referred to by Huston Smith in his book, The World's Religions. Namely, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and the Primal Religions.

I agree with the internationally celebrated author and Buddhist Priest, Thick Nhat Hanh, "No single tradition monopolizes the truth. We must glean the best values of all traditions and work together to remove the tensions between them. If we do, peace will have a chance."

Culture of Mexico

Located at the southern areas of North America, Mexico is teeming with a vast array of apparent contradictions. Its ancient historical landmarks are in full view of the seeming hustle and bustle of the big city, a teeming melting pot of people from all walks of life. With a unique mix of the traditional and the modern, Mexico is a result of the influx of external innovations and ideas foreign in origin, but converted and modified into a unique culture inherently their own, and is always a favorite destination spot for tourists and travellers alike, whether enjoying themselves in Mexico's finest beaches, exploring ancient Aztec ruins, or sightseeing and enjoying the Mexican nightlife.

Most of Mexico is situated within what is known as Middle America, lying south of the United States of America, and northwest to Guatemala and Belize. It is surrounded on its west coast by the Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea on its east coast. Mexico is also crossed by the two mountain ranges Sierra Madre Oriental, and Sierra Madre Occidental.

Religion and State

Even though the Constitution only mentions that the State shall not establish one religion over any other or force people to join a specific faith, some groups have tried to reinclude prayer in public schools. It stands to reason that praying is eminently a religious practice which would force students to participate in an activity that might go against their family's beliefs.
Now we all know that the United States was founded upon Judeo-Christian values (in itself a contradiction since Jews see Christ as a prophet, not a god), and that millions of American citizens are either atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, Indians (from India) or any other faith that does not share Christian beliefs. Granted, they are a minority, but our nation was created specifically to respect such minorities and not impose the will of the majority.

Comparison Between Egyptian and Mesopotamian Religions and Beliefs

The religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians were the dominating influence in the development of their culture. The Egyptian faith was based on a collection of ancient myths, nature worship, and innumerable deities. Sumerian lives were spent serving the gods in the form of man-made statues. There was no organized set of gods; each city-state had its own patrons, temples, and priest-kings. The Sumerians were probably the first to write down their beliefs, which were the inspiration for much of later Mesopotamian mythology, religion, and astrology. Sumerians believed that the universe consisted of a flat disk enclosed by a tin dome. While the Mesopotamian's didn't have anything quit to scale with the pyramids, they did use and build ziggurats for religious purposes.

The Clash of World Religions and the Forcing of Human Civilizations to Grow Up

Recently, our Online Think Tank was criticized in a major publication for a philosophy research paper that was on the website. The philosophy paper was about the problems of Eastern and Western Religions and their influences on thinking in human civilizations and societies. It appears someone took it upon themselves to write an op-ed about how Middle Eastern Culture was not the answer.

Amazingly enough, Middle Eastern Culture or the World of Islam, was not even discussed at all. Indeed, the short paper on Philosophy is to get people to think beyond the confines of Religion and get the human species to think towards the forward progression rather then wallowing in the names of academia's favorite philosophy idols of past periods.

Crypto-Criminology - The Gothic Nature of Crime

Crypto-criminology refers to the dark, devious and dangerous side of human nature. That strain of humanistic proclivity that crosses the boundaries of civility into brutality. This is a realm of "practical criminology", applicability to the real world, where human behavior defies profiling, prediction and precise definition. Such an investigation descends to the depths of human depravity, to damp gloomy dungeons of mental mayhem. For which, modern science has no useful, effective and efficient means to explain all the possibilities. Of course, myth, magic and metaphor are allusions constantly present within this region of discussion. In one sense, it's the exploration of human evil and all its inherent manifestations. And, in another sense, crypto-criminology seeks to delve into the mystery of why people commit crimes. This is an assessment of criminal behavior to walk the eerie landscape of human deviance that foments criminality. The search for modern explanations includes consideration of the influence of "gothic metaphors" in literature, movies and other mass media. As such, "crypto" refers to the hidden, the secret and the unrevealed. Like the word "gothic", reference is made to the primitive and primeval notions of human nature. A world of howling psychic werewolves, dreams of death and demonic influence. That subterranean mindset of monstrous meanings, vampiric violence and cunning cruelty.