Detailed Analysis of Religions

1. What is a religion?

- a particular system of faith and worship.

- the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God
or gods.

ဘာသာရေးဆိုသည်မှာ ယုံကြည်မှု နှင့် ကိုးကွယ်ရာစနစ် ဖြစ် သည်။

အထူးတလည် အရေးကြီးသော တစ် စုံတစ် ယောက် ကို လေးစားလိက ု ်နာခြင်း ဟူ၍လည်း အဓိ ပ္ပာယ်
ဖွင်ဆ
့ ိုနင
ုိ ်သည်။

Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices,

morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that
generally relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements; however,
there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion.

Different religions may or may not contain various elements ranging from the divine, sacred
things, faith, a supernatural being or supernatural beings or "some sort of ultimacy and
transcendence that will provide norms and power for the rest of life".Religious practices may
include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration (of deities and/or saints), sacrifices,
festivals, feasts, trances, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, prayer,
music, art, dance, public service, or other aspects of human culture.

Religions have sacred histories and narratives, which may be preserved in sacred scriptures,
and symbols and holy places, that aim mostly to give a meaning to life. Religions may contain
symbolic stories, which are sometimes said by followers to be true, that may also attempt to
explain the origin of life, the universe, and other phenomena. Traditionally, faith, in addition to
reason, has been considered a source of religious beliefs.

There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide.About 84% of the world's population
is affiliated with Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or some form of folk religion. The
religiously unaffiliated demographic includes those who do not identify with any particular
religion, atheists, and agnostics. While the religiously unaffiliated have grown globally, many of
the religiously unaffiliated still have various religious beliefs.

The study of religion comprises a wide variety of academic disciplines, including theology,
philosophy of religion, comparative religion, and social scientific studies. Theories of religion
offer various explanations for the origins and workings of religion, including the ontological
foundations of religious being and belief.
With religion comes superstitions ; superstition has been described as the non-rational
establishment of cause and effect. Religion is more complex and is often composed of social
institutions and has a moral aspect. Some religions may include superstitions or make use of
magical thinking. Adherents of one religion sometimes think of other religions as superstition.
Some atheists, deists, and skeptics regard religious belief as superstition.

2. Christianity

ခရစ် ယာန်ဘာသာသည် ယေရှု ခရစ် တော် ၏ ဘဝ နှင်သ ့ င်ခန်းစာများကို အခြေခံ ထားသည်။

ကမ္ဘာပေါ်တွင် ကိုးကွယ်မှု အများဆုံး ဘာသာဖြစ် ၍ သာသနာပြုများ နှင့် နယ်မြေ ချ ဲ့ထွင်သူများမှ
တဆင့် ပျ ံ့နှံ့ခဲ့ခြင်းဖြစ် သည်။

Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of
Nazareth. It is the world's largest religion, with about 2.8 billion followers, representing one-third
of the global population.Its adherents, known as Christians, make up a majority of the
population in 157 countries and territories, and believe that Jesus is the Son of God, whose
coming as the messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament in
Christianity) and chronicled in the New Testament.

Christianity remains culturally diverse in its Western and Eastern branches, as well as in its
doctrines concerning justification and the nature of salvation, ecclesiology, ordination, and
Christology. The creeds of various Christian denominations generally hold in common Jesus as
the Son of God—the Logos incarnated—who ministered, suffered, and died on a cross, but rose
from the dead for the salvation of mankind; and referred to as the gospel, meaning the "good
news". Describing Jesus' life and teachings are the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John, with the Old Testament as the gospel's respected background.

The four largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church (1.3 billion/50.1%),
Protestantism (920 million/36.7%), the Eastern Orthodox Church (230 million), and the Oriental
Orthodox churches (62 million) (Orthodox churches combined at 11.9%), though thousands of
smaller church communities exist despite efforts toward unity (ecumenism).

Despite a decline in adherence in the West, Christianity remains the dominant religion in the
region, with about 70% of that population identifying as Christian. Christianity is growing in
Africa and Asia, the world's most populous continents. Christians remain persecuted in some
regions of the world, especially in the Middle East, North Africa, East Asia, and South Asia.

While Christians worldwide share basic convictions, there are also differences of interpretations
and opinions of the Bible and sacred traditions on which Christianity is based.Concise doctrinal
statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal
formulae and were later expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th
centuries to become statements of faith. "Jesus is Lord" is the earliest creed of Christianity and
continues to be used, as with the World Council of Churches.

The Apostles' Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is
used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes, most
visibly by liturgical churches of Western Christian tradition, including the Latin Church of the
Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, and Western Rite Orthodoxy. It is also used by
Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists.

This particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines
are those of the Trinity and God the Creator. Each of the doctrines found in this creed can be
traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was apparently used as a
summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Its points
include:

-Belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit
-The death, descent into hell, resurrection and ascension of Christ
-The holiness of the Church and the communion of saints
-Christ's second coming, the Day of Judgment and salvation of the faithful

The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah
(Christ).Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of
humanity and hold that Jesus' coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old
Testament.

The Christian concept of messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept.
The core Christian belief is that through belief in and acceptance of the death and resurrection
of Jesus, sinful humans can be reconciled to God, and thereby are offered salvation and the
promise of eternal life.

While there have been many theological disputes over the nature of Jesus over the earliest
centuries of Christian history, generally, Christians believe that Jesus is God incarnate and "true
God and true man" (or both fully divine and fully human).

Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did
not sin. As fully God, he rose to life again. According to the New Testament, he rose from the
dead,ascended to heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father,and will ultimately return to
fulfill the rest of the Messianic prophecy, including the resurrection of the dead, the Last
Judgment, and the final establishment of the Kingdom of God.
According to the canonical gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus was conceived by the Holy
Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary. Little of Jesus' childhood is recorded in the canonical
gospels, although infancy gospels were popular in antiquity. In comparison, his adulthood,
especially the week before his death, is well documented in the gospels contained within the
New Testament, because that part of his life is believed to be most important. The biblical
accounts of Jesus' ministry include: his baptism, miracles, preaching, teaching, and deeds.

Christians consider the resurrection of Jesus to be the cornerstone of their faith and the most
important event in history. Among Christian beliefs, the death and resurrection of Jesus are two
core events on which much of Christian doctrine and theology is based. According to the New
Testament, Jesus was crucified, died a physical death, was buried within a tomb, and rose from
the dead three days later.

The death and resurrection of Jesus are usually considered the most important events in
Christian theology, partly because they demonstrate that Jesus has power over life and death
and therefore has the authority and power to give people eternal life.

Most Christians believe that human beings experience divine judgment and are rewarded either
with eternal life or eternal damnation. This includes the general judgment at the resurrection of
the dead as well as the belief (held by Catholics,Orthodox and most Protestants) in a judgment
particular to the individual soul upon physical death.

In the Catholic branch of Christianity, those who die in a state of grace, i.e., without any mortal
sin separating them from God, but are still imperfectly purified from the effects of sin, undergo
purification through the intermediate state of purgatory to achieve the holiness necessary for
entrance into God's presence.Those who have attained this goal are called saints (Latin
sanctus, "holy").

Some Christian groups, such as Seventh-day Adventists, hold to mortalism, the belief that the
human soul is not naturally immortal, and is unconscious during the intermediate state between
bodily death and resurrection. These Christians also hold to Annihilationism, the belief that
subsequent to the final judgment, the wicked will cease to exist rather than suffer everlasting
torment. Jehovah's Witnesses hold a similar view.

The core Christian belief is that through belief in and acceptance of the death and resurrection
of Jesus, sinful humans can be reconciled to God, and thereby are offered salvation and the
promise of eternal life.

Basics of Christianity include :

-God consists of three equal persons ; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
This is called the “Trinity”. Some theologians compare it to water, ice, mist or all the pieces of an
egg: shell, yolk, egg white. They all have their own purpose separately and their own purpose
together.

-The Holy Spirit is God’s presence on earth which is supposedly felt by the believers during
specific events and ceremonies.

-The bible tells the story of God’s love for humanity and is usually taught in Sunday schools.

-Prayer is a conversation with God which is different from other religions.

3. Islam

အစ္စလာမ် ဘာသာသည် အလ္လာ ဟုခေါ်တွင်သော ဘုရားသခင် ၏ သင်ကြားမှုများကို ကိုရန်ကျန်းစာ ဖြင့်

မှတ်တန်းတင်၍ ယုံကြည်ကိုးကွယ်ကြသည်။

Most historians believe that Islam originated in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century
CE. Muslims regard Islam as a return to the original faith of the Abrahamic prophets, such as
Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, and Jesus, with the submission (Islām) to the
will of God.

Islam which translated into "Submission [to God]") is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred
primarily around the Quran, a religious text that is considered by Muslims to be the direct word
of God (or Allah) as it was revealed to Muhammad, the main and final Islamic prophet.It is the
world's second-largest religion behind Christianity, with more than two billion followers
comprising around 25 percent of the global population.

Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique,and has guided humanity through
various prophets, revealed scriptures, and natural signs, with the Quran serving as the final,
universal revelation and Muhammad serving as the "Seal of the Prophets" (the last prophet of
God). The teachings and practices of Muhammad (sunnah) documented in traditional collected
accounts (hadith) provide a secondary constitutional model for Muslims to follow after the
Quran.

Muslims believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was
revealed many times through earlier prophets such as Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus,
among others; these earlier revelations are attributed to Judaism and Christianity, which are
regarded in Islam as spiritual predecessor faiths.They also consider the Quran, when preserved
in Classical Arabic, to be the unaltered and final revelation of God to humanity. Like other
Abrahamic religions, Islam also teaches a Final Judgement wherein the righteous will be
rewarded in paradise (Jannah) and the unrighteous will be punished in hell (Jahannam).
Religious concepts and practices include the Five Pillars of Islam, which are considered to be
obligatory acts of worship, as well as following Islamic law (sharia), which touches on virtually
every aspect of life and society from banking and finance and welfare to women's roles and the
environment.The cities of Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem are home to the three holiest sites in
Islam, in descending order: Masjid al-Haram, Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

From a historical point of view, Islam originated in the early 7th century CE in the Arabian
Peninsula, near Mecca. Through various caliphates, the religion later spread outside of Arabia
shortly after Muhammad's death, and by the 8th century, the Umayyad Caliphate had imposed
Islamic rule from the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Indus Valley in the east.

The Islamic Golden Age refers to the period traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 13th
century, during the reign of the Abbasid Caliphate, when much of the Muslim world was
experiencing a scientific, economic, and cultural flourishing.The expansion of the Muslim world
involved various states and caliphates such as the Ottoman Empire, extensive trade, and
religious conversion as a result of Islamic missionary activities (dawah).

Most of the world's Muslims belong to two notable Islamic denominations: Sunni (85–90
percent)or Shia (10–15 percent);combined, they make up a majority of the population in 49
countries.Sunni–Shia differences arose from disagreements over the succession to Muhammad
and acquired broader political significance as well as theological and juridical dimensions.About
12 percent of Muslims live in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country;31 percent
live in South Asia;20 percent live in the Middle East–North Africa; and 15 percent live in
sub-Saharan Africa. Sizable Muslim communities are also present in the Americas, China, and
Europe. Islam is the fastest-growing major religion in the world.

The Islamic creed (aqidah) requires belief in six articles: God, angels, books, prophets, the Day
of Resurrection and in the divine decree.

(1) God

The central concept of Islam is tawḥīd , the oneness of God. Usually thought of as a precise
monotheism, but also panentheistic in Islamic mystical teachings.God is seen as incomparable
and without partners such as in the Christian Trinity,and associating partners to God or
attributing God's attributes to others is seen as idolatry, called shirk.

God is seen as transcendent of creation and so is beyond comprehension. Thus, therefore

Muslims are not iconoclasts and do not attribute forms to God. God is instead described and
referred to by several names or attributes, the most common being Ar-Rahmān meaning "The
Entirely Merciful," and Ar-Rahīm meaning "The Especially Merciful" which are invoked at the
beginning of most chapters of the Quran.

Islam teaches that the creation of everything in the universe was brought into being by God's
command as expressed by the wording, "Be, and it is," and that the purpose of existence is to
worship God. He is viewed as a personal god and there are no intermediaries, such as clergy, to
contact God. Consciousness and awareness of God is referred to as Taqwa. Allāh is a term with
no plural or gender being ascribed to it and is also used by Muslims and Arabic-speaking
Christians and Jews in reference to God, whereas ʾilāh is a term used for a deity or a god in
general.Other non-Arab Muslims might use different names as much as Allah, for instance
"Tanrı" in Turkish or "Khodā" in Persian.

(2) Angels

Angels are beings described in the Quran And hadith.They are described as created to worship
God and also to serve other specific duties such as communicating revelations from God,
recording every person's actions, and taking a person's soul at the time of death. They are
described as being created variously from 'light' (nūr) or 'fire' (nār) Islamic angels are often
represented in anthropomorphic forms combined with supernatural images, such as wings,
being of great size or wearing heavenly articles.

Common characteristics for angels are their missing needs for bodily desires, such as eating
and drinking. Some of them, such as Gabriel and Michael, are mentioned by name in the Quran.
Angels play a significant role in the literature about the Mi'raj, where Muhammad encounters
several angels during his journey through the heavens. Further angels have often been featured
in Islamic eschatology, theology and philosophy.

(3) Books

The Islamic holy books are the records that Muslims believe various prophets received from
God through revelations, called wahy. Muslims believe that parts of the previously revealed
scriptures, such as the Tawrat (Torah) and the Injil (Gospel), had become distorted—either in
interpretation, in text, or both, while the Quran (lit. "Recitation") is viewed as the final, verbatim
and unaltered word of God.

Muslims believe that the verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad by God, through the
archangel Gabriel (Jibrīl), on multiple occasions between 610 CE and 632, the year Muhammad
died.While Muhammad was alive, these revelations were written down by his companions,
although the prime method of transmission was orally through memorization. The Quran is
divided into 114 chapters (suras) which combined contain 6,236 verses (āyāt).

The chronologically earlier chapters, revealed at Mecca, are concerned primarily with spiritual
topics while the later Medinan chapters discuss more social and legal issues relevant to the
Muslim community. Muslim jurists consult the hadith ('accounts'), or the written record of
Prophet Muhammad's life, to both supplement the Quran and assist with its interpretation. The
science of Quranic commentary and exegesis is known as tafsir. The set of rules governing
proper elocution of recitation is called tajwid. In addition to its religious significance, it is widely
regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature, and has influenced art and the Arabic language.
 (4) Prophets

Prophets ( anbiyāʾ) are believed to have been chosen by God to receive and preach a divine
message. Additionally, a prophet delivering a new book to a nation is called a rasul (rasūl),
meaning "messenger". Muslims believe prophets are human and not divine. All of the prophets
are said to have preached the same basic message of Islam – submission to the will of God – to
various nations in the past and that this accounts for many similarities among religions. The
Quran recounts the names of numerous figures considered prophets in Islam, including Adam,
Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, among others.

Muslims believe that God sent Muhammad as the final prophet ("Seal of the prophets") to
convey the completed message of Islam. In Islam, the "normative" example of Muhammad's life
is called the sunnah (literally "trodden path"). Muslims are encouraged to emulate Muhammad's
moral behaviors in their daily lives, and the Sunnah is seen as crucial to guiding interpretation of
the Quran.
This example is preserved in traditions known as hadith, which are accounts of his words,
actions, and personal characteristics. Hadith Qudsi is a sub-category of hadith, regarded as
God's verbatim words quoted by Muhammad that are not part of the Quran. A hadith involves
two elements: a chain of narrators, called sanad, and the actual wording, called matn. There are
various methodologies to classify the authenticity of hadiths, with the commonly used grading
being: "authentic" or "correct" ( ṣaḥīḥ); "good", hasan ( ḥasan); or "weak" ( ḍaʻīf), among others.

The Kutub al-Sittah are a collection of six books, regarded as the most authentic reports in
Sunnism. Among them is Sahih al-Bukhari, often considered by Sunnis to be one of the most
authentic sources after the Quran.Another famous source of hadiths is known as The Four
Books, which Shias consider as the most authentic hadith reference.

(5) Resurrection and judgment

Belief in the "Day of Resurrection" or Yawm al-Qiyāmah , is also crucial for Muslims. It is
believed that the time of Qiyāmah is preordained by God but unknown to man. The Quran and
the hadith, as well as in the commentaries of scholars, describe the trials and tribulations
preceding and during the Qiyāmah. The Quran emphasizes bodily resurrection, a break from
the pre-Islamic Arabian understanding of death.

On Yawm al-Qiyāmah , Muslims believe all humankind will be judged by their good and bad
deeds and consigned to Jannah (paradise) or Jahannam (hell). The Quran in Surat al-Zalzalah
describes this as: "So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it. And whoever does an
atom's weight of evil will see it." The Quran lists several sins that can condemn a person to hell,
such as disbelief in God (kufr), and dishonesty.

However, the Quran makes it clear that God will forgive the sins of those who repent if he
wishes. Good deeds, like charity, prayer, and compassion towards animals, will be rewarded
with entry to heaven. Muslims view heaven as a place of joy and blessings, with Quranic
references describing its features. Mystical traditions in Islam place these heavenly delights in
the context of an ecstatic awareness of God. Yawm al-Qiyāmah is also identified in the Quran
as Yawm ad-Dīn ("Day of Religion''); as-Sāʿah ("the Last Hour"); and al-Qāriʿah ("The
Clatterer").

(6) Divine predestination

The concept of divine decree and destiny in Islam ( al-qadāʾ wa l-qadar) means that every
matter, good or bad, is believed to have been decreed by God. Al-qadar, meaning "power",
derives from a root that means "to measure" or "calculating".

Muslims often express this belief in divine destiny with the phrase "Insha-Allah" meaning "if God
wills" when speaking on future events.In addition to loss, gain is also seen as a test of believers
– whether they would still recognize that the gain originates only from God.

Qadar (transliterated meaning "fate", "divine fore-ordainment", "predestination," but literally

"power")is the concept of divine destiny in Islam,whereby everything that has happened and will
happen in the universe—including sinful human behavior—is commanded by God. It is one of
Sunni Islam's six articles of faith, (along with belief in the Oneness of Allah, the Revealed
Books, the Prophets of Islam, the Day of Resurrection and angels). This concept has also been
mentioned in the Quran as the "Decree" of Allah.

Since many things that happen as a part of Allah's decree are bad/evil, “the will of Allah” is
divided into two sorts -- the universal will (everything that happens), and the "legislative will",
what Allah wants from human beings (following sharia).

Facts about Islam :

Prayer in Islam, called as-salah or aṣ-ṣalāt , is seen as a personal communication with God and
consists of repeating units called rakat that include bowing and prostrating to God. Performing
prayers five times a day is compulsory. The prayers are recited in the Arabic language and
consist of verses from the Quran.The prayers are done in direction of the Ka'bah. Salat requires
ritual purity, which involves wudu (ritual wash) or occasionally, such as for new converts, ghusl
(full body ritual wash). The means used to signal the prayer time is a vocal call called the adhan.

A mosque is a place of worship for Muslims, who often refer to it by its Arabic name masjid.
Although the primary purpose of the mosque is to serve as a place of prayer, it is also important
to the Muslim community as a place to meet and study with the Masjid an-Nabawi ("Prophetic
Mosque") in Medina, Saudi Arabia, having also served as a shelter for the poor. Minarets are
towers used to call the adhan.

During the month of Ramadan, it is obligatory for Muslims to fast. The Ramadan fast (ṣawm)
precludes food and drink, as well as other forms of consumption, such as smoking, and is
performed from dawn to sunset. The fast is to encourage a feeling of nearness to God by
restraining oneself for God's sake from what is otherwise permissible and to think of the needy.
Certain groups are exempt, including pregnant women.In addition, there are other days when
fasting is supererogatory.

The obligatory Islamic pilgrimage, called the "ḥajj" , is to be done at least once a lifetime by
every Muslim with the means to do so during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Rituals of the
Hajj mostly imitate the story of the family of Abraham.

4. Hinduism

ဟိနူ္ဒ ဘာသာသည် ကမ္ဘာပေါ်ရှ ိ ရှေးအကျဆုံးသောဘာသာထဲမှ တစ် ခုဖြစ် ပြီး ကိုးကွယ်ရာ

ဘုရားများစွာရှ ိ ပြီး ဝေဒကျမ် းများကို လိက
ု ်နာကျင့်သုံးကြသည်။

Hinduism is an Indian religion or way of life. It is the world's third-largest religion, with over 1.2
billion followers, or 15–16% of the global population, known as Hindus.The word Hindu is an
exonym,and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world,many practitioners
refer to their religion as Sanātana Dharma (Sanskrit: lit. ''the Eternal Dharma''), which refers to
the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts. Another, less
fitting, endonym is Vaidika dharma, the 'dharma related to the Vedas.'

Hinduism is a diverse system of thought marked by a range of philosophies and shared

concepts, rituals, cosmological systems, pilgrimage sites, and shared textual sources that
discuss theology, metaphysics, mythology, Vedic yajna, yoga, agamic rituals, and temple
building, among other topics.Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣārthas,
the proper goals or aims of human life; namely, dharma (ethics/duties), artha (prosperity/work),
kama (desires/passions) and moksha (liberation/freedom from the passions and the cycle of
death and rebirth), as well as karma (action, intent and consequences) and saṃsāra (cycle of
death and rebirth).

Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings
(Ahiṃsā), patience, forbearance, self-restraint, virtue, and compassion, among others. Hindu
practices include rituals such as puja (worship) and recitations, japa, meditation (dhyāna),
family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals, and occasional pilgrimages. Along with the
practice of various yogas, some Hindus leave their social world and material possessions and
engage in lifelong Sannyasa (monasticism) in order to achieve moksha.
Hindu texts are classified into Śruti ("heard") and Smṛti ("remembered"), the major scriptures of
which are the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Purānas, the Mahābhārata, the Rāmāyana, and the
Āgamas.There are six āstika schools of Hindu philosophy, who recognise the authority of the
Vedas, namely Sānkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaisheshika, Mimāmsā and Vedānta.While the Puranic
chronology presents a genealogy of thousands of years, starting with the Vedic rishis, scholars
regard Hinduism as a fusionor synthesis of Brahmanical orthopraxy with various Indian
cultures,having diverse roots and no specific founder.

Currently, the four major denominations of Hinduism are Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and
the Smarta tradition.Sources of authority and eternal truths in the Hindu texts play an important
role, but there is also a strong Hindu tradition of questioning authority in order to deepen the
understanding of these truths and to further develop the tradition.Hinduism is the most widely
professed faith in India, Nepal and Mauritius. Significant numbers of Hindu communities are
found in Southeast Asia including in Bali, Indonesia,the Caribbean, North America, Europe,
Oceania, Africa, and other regions.

To its adherents, Hinduism is a traditional way of life.Many practitioners refer to the "orthodox"
form of Hinduism as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal law" or the "eternal way".Hindus regard
Hinduism to be thousands of years old. The Puranic chronology, the timeline of events in
ancient Indian history as narrated in the Mahabaratha, the Ramayana, and the Puranas,
envisions a chronology of events related to Hinduism starting well before 3000 BCE. The
Sanskrit word dharma has a much broader meaning than religion and is not its equivalent. All
aspects of a Hindu life, namely acquiring wealth (artha), fulfillment of desires (kama), and
attaining liberation (moksha), are part of dharma, which encapsulates the "right way of living"
and eternal harmonious principles in their fulfillment.

Some have referred to Hinduism as the Vaidika dharma. The word 'Vaidika' in Sanskrit means
'derived from or conformable to the Veda' or 'relating to the Veda'. Traditional scholars employed
the terms Vaidika and Avaidika, those who accept the Vedas as a source of authoritative
knowledge and those who do not, to differentiate various Indian schools from Jainism,
Buddhism and Charvaka. The term Vaidika dharma is supposedly the earliest self-designation of
Hinduism which is a code of practice that is "based on the Vedas", but it is unclear what "based
on the Vedas" really implies.

Hindu beliefs are vast and diverse, and thus Hinduism is often referred to as a family of religions
rather than a single religion.Within each religion in this family of religions, there are different
theologies, practices, and sacred texts.Hinduism does not have a "unified system of belief
encoded in a declaration of faith or a creed",but is rather an umbrella term comprising the
plurality of religious phenomena of India.

Unlike other religions in the World, the Hindu religion does not claim any one Prophet, it does
not worship any one God, it does not believe in any one philosophic concept, it does not follow
any one act of religious rites or performances; in fact, it does not satisfy the traditional features
of a religion or creed. Part of the problem with a single definition of the term Hinduism is the fact
that Hinduism does not have a founder.

Despite the differences, there is also a sense of unity.Most Hindu traditions revere a body of
religious or sacred literature, the Vedas,although there are exceptions.These texts are a
reminder of the ancient cultural heritage and point of pride for Hindus.

Classical Hindu thought accepts four proper goals or aims of human life, known as Puruṣārthas:
Dharma , Artha, Kama, Moksha.

(1) Dharma (righteousness, ethics)

Dharma is considered the foremost goal of a human being in Hinduism.The concept of dharma
includes behaviors that are considered to be in accord with rta, the order that makes life and
universe possible,and includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and "right way of
living".Hindu dharma includes the religious duties, moral rights and duties of each individual, as
well as behaviors that enable social order, right conduct, and those that are virtuous. Dharma is
that which all existing beings must accept and respect to sustain harmony and order in the
world. It is the pursuit and execution of one's nature and true calling, thus playing one's role in
cosmic concert.
It is stated that

"Nothing is higher than Dharma. The weak overcomes the stronger by Dharma, as over a king.
Truly that Dharma is the Truth (Satya); Therefore, when a man speaks the Truth, they say, "He
speaks the Dharma"; and if he speaks Dharma, they say, "He speaks the Truth!" For both are
one. " .

In the Mahabharata, Krishna defines dharma as upholding both this-worldly and other-worldly
affairs. . The word Sanātana means eternal, perennial, or forever; thus, Sanātana Dharma
signifies that it is the dharma that has neither beginning nor end.

(2) Artha (livelihood, wealth)

Artha is objective and virtuous pursuit of wealth for livelihood, obligations, and economic
prosperity. It is inclusive of political life, diplomacy, and material well-being. The artha concept
includes all "means of life", activities and resources that enables one to be in a state one wants
to be in, wealth, career and financial security.The proper pursuit of artha is considered an
important aim of human life in Hinduism.

(3) Kāma (sensual pleasure)

Kāma means desire, wish, passion, longing, pleasure of the senses, the aesthetic enjoyment of
life, affection, or love, with or without sexual connotations. In Hinduism, kama is considered an
essential and healthy goal of human life when pursued without sacrificing dharma, artha and
moksha.

(4) Mokṣa (liberation, freedom from saṃsāra)

Moksha (mokṣa) or mukti is the ultimate, most important goal in Hinduism. In one sense,
moksha is a concept associated with liberation from sorrow, suffering and saṃsāra (birth-rebirth
cycle). A release from this eschatological cycle, in after life, particularly in theistic schools of
Hinduism is called moksha.Due to belief in the indestructibility of Atman(cosmic being/self) ,
death is deemed insignificant with respect to the cosmic Self.

There is one major aspect sacred to Hinduism in addition to the four goals of human life which is
Karma also known as saṃsāra.

Karma translates literally as action, work, or deed, and also refers to a Vedic theory of "moral
law of cause and effect".The theory is a combination of (1) causality that may be ethical or
non-ethical; (2) ethicization, that is good or bad actions have consequences; and (3) rebirth.
Karma theory is interpreted as explaining the present circumstances of an individual with
reference to his or her actions in the past. These actions and their consequences may be in a
person's current life, or, according to some schools of Hinduism, in past lives.
This cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth is called saṃsāra. Liberation from saṃsāra through
moksha is believed to ensure lasting happiness and peace. Hindu scriptures teach that the
future is both a function of current human effort derived from free will and past human actions
that set the circumstances.

Hindus acknowledge the validity of several paths (margas) toward such release. The
Bhagavadgita (“Song of God”), an extremely influential Hindu text, presents three paths to
salvation: the karma-marga (“path of ritual action” or “path of duties”), the disinterested
discharge of ritual and social obligations; the jnana-marga (“path of knowledge”), the use of
meditative concentration preceded by long and systematic ethical and contemplative training
(Yoga) to gain a supra intellectual insight into one’s identity with brahman; and the bhakti-marga
(“path of devotion”), love for a personal God. These ways are regarded as suited to various
types of people, but they are interactive and potentially available to all.

Although the pursuit of moksha is institutionalized in Hindu life through ascetic practice and the
ideal of withdrawing from the world at the conclusion of one’s life, many Hindus ignore such
practices. The Bhagavadgita states that because action is inescapable, the three paths are
better thought of as simultaneously achieving the goals of world maintenance (dharma) and
world release (moksha). Through the suspension of desire and ambition and through
detachment from the fruits (phala) of one’s actions, one is enabled to float free of life while
engaging it fully.

This matches the actual goals of most Hindus, which include executing properly one’s social
and ritual duties; supporting one’s caste, family, and profession; and working to achieve a
broader stability in the cosmos, nature, and society. The designation of Hinduism as sanatana
dharma emphasizes this goal of maintaining personal and universal equilibrium, while at the
same time calling attention to the important role played by the performance of traditional
religious practices in achieving that goal.

Because no one person can occupy all the social, occupational, and age-defined roles that are
requisite to maintaining the health of the life-organism as a whole, universal maxims (e.g.,
ahimsa, the desire not to harm) are qualified by the more-particular dharmas that are
appropriate to each of the four major varnas: Brahmans (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors and
nobles), Vaishyas (commoners), and Shudras (servants).

These four categories are superseded by the more practically applicable dharmas appropriate
to each of the thousands of particular castes (jatis). And these, in turn, are crosscut by the
obligations appropriate to one’s gender and stage of life (ashrama). In principle then, Hindu
ethics is exquisitely context-sensitive, and Hindus expect and celebrate a wide variety of
individual behaviors.

Most Hindus are principally devoted to the god Vishnu, the god Shiva, or the Goddess. These
categorical practices are sometimes described as, respectively, Vaishnavism (Vishnu), Shaivism
(Shiva), and Shaktism (Shakti being another term for the female creative energy).

5. Buddhism

ဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာသည် ဂေါတမမြတ်စွာဘုရား ၏
သင်ကြားမှုကို အခြေခံ ၍ လွနခ ် ဲ့ သော နှစ်ပေါင်း ၂၅၀၀ ကျော် မှ စတင်ခဲ့သည်။
အကြမ် းမဖက်ခြင်း နှင့် ကိုယ်ကျင့်တရား စောင့်ထိနး် ခြင်းတို့ ကိုလက်ခံကျင့်သုံးကြသည်။

Buddhism also known as Dharmavinaya — "doctrines and disciplines" — and Buddha Dharma,
is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on a series of original teachings attributed
to Gautama Buddha. It originated in ancient India as a Sramana tradition sometime between the
6th and 4th centuries BCE, spreading through much of Asia. It is the world's fourth-largest
religion with over 520 million followers, or over 7% of the global population, known as Buddhists.
Buddhism encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on
the Buddha's teachings (born Siddhārtha Gautama in the 5th or 4th century BCE) and resulting
interpreted philosophies.

As expressed in the Buddha's Four Noble Truths, the goal of Buddhism is to overcome suffering
(duḥkha) caused by desire and ignorance of reality's true nature, including impermanence
(anicca) and the non-existence of the self (anattā).Most Buddhist traditions emphasize
transcending the individual self through the attainment of Nirvana or by following the path of
Buddhahood, ending the cycle of death and rebirth. Buddhist schools vary in their interpretation
of the path to liberation, the relative importance and canonicity assigned to the various Buddhist
texts, and their specific teachings and practices.Widely observed practices include meditation,
observance of moral precepts, monasticism, taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the
Sangha, and the cultivation of the Paramitas (perfections, or virtues).

Two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars: Theravāda (Pali:
"The School of the Elders") and Mahāyāna (Sanskrit: "The Great Vehicle"). Theravada has a
widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and
Thailand. Mahayana, which includes the traditions of Zen, Pure Land, Nichiren Buddhism,
Tiantai Buddhism (Tendai), and Shingon, is practiced prominently in Nepal, Malaysia, Bhutan,
mainland China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Taiwan. Vajrayana, a body of teachings attributed
to Indian adepts, may be viewed as a separate branch or as an aspect of Mahayana
Buddhism.Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the Vajrayana teachings of eighth-century India,
is practiced in the countries of the Himalayan region, Mongolia,and Kalmykia.

Gautama was moved by the suffering (dukkha) of life and death, and its endless repetition due
to rebirth.He thus set out on a quest to find liberation from suffering (also known as "nirvana").
Early texts and biographies state that Gautama first studied under two teachers of meditation,
namely Āḷāra Kālāma (Sanskrit: Arada Kalama) and Uddaka Ramaputta (Sanskrit: Udraka
Ramaputra), learning meditation and philosophy, particularly the meditative attainment of "the
sphere of nothingness" from the former, and "the sphere of neither perception nor
non-perception" from the latter.

Finding these teachings to be insufficient to attain his goal, he turned to the practice of severe
asceticism, which included a strict fasting regime and various forms of breath control.This too
fell short of attaining his goal, and then he turned to the meditative practice of dhyana. He
famously sat in meditation under a Ficus religiosa tree now called the Bodhi Tree in the town of
Bodh Gaya and attained "Awakening" (Bodhi).

According to various early texts like the Mahāsaccaka-sutta, and the Samaññaphala Sutta, on
awakening, the Buddha gained insight into the workings of karma and his former lives, as well
as achieving the ending of the mental defilements (asavas), the ending of suffering, and the end
of rebirth in saṃsāra.[42] This event also brought certainty about the Middle Way as the right
path of spiritual practice to end suffering.As a fully enlightened Buddha, he attracted followers
and founded a Sangha (monastic order).He spent the rest of his life teaching the Dharma he
had discovered, and then died, achieving "final nirvana," at the age of 80 in Kushinagar, India.

Buddha's teachings were propagated by his followers, which in the last centuries of the 1st
millennium BCE became various Buddhist schools of thought, each with its own basket of texts
containing different interpretations and authentic teachings of the Buddha;these over time
evolved into many traditions of which the more well known and widespread in the modern era
are Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.
The four noble truths express the basic orientation of Buddhism: we crave and cling to
impermanent states and things, which is dukkha, "incapable of satisfying" and painful. This
keeps us caught in saṃsāra, the endless cycle of repeated rebirth, dukkha and dying again.But
there is a way to liberation from this endless cycle to the state of nirvana, namely following the
Noble Eightfold Path.

The truth of dukkha is the basic insight that life in this mundane world, with its clinging and
craving to impermanent states and things is dukkha, and unsatisfactory.Dukkha can be
translated as "incapable of satisfying," "the unsatisfactory nature and the general insecurity of all
conditioned phenomena"; or "painful." Dukkha is most commonly translated as "suffering," but
this is inaccurate, since it refers not to episodic suffering, but to the intrinsically unsatisfactory
nature of temporary states and things, including pleasant but temporary experiences.We expect
happiness from states and things which are impermanent, and therefore cannot attain real
happiness.

In Buddhism, dukkha is one of the three marks of existence, along with impermanence and
anattā (non-self). Buddhism, like other major Indian religions, asserts that everything is
impermanent (anicca), but, unlike them, also asserts that there is no permanent self or soul in
living beings (anattā).The ignorance or misperception (avijjā) that anything is permanent or that
there is self in any being is considered a wrong understanding, and the primary source of
clinging and dukkha.

Dukkha arises when we crave (Pali: taṇhā) and cling to these changing phenomena. The
clinging and craving produces karma, which ties us to samsara, the cycle of death and
rebirth.Craving includes kama-tanha, craving for sense-pleasures; bhava-tanha, craving to
continue the cycle of life and death, including rebirth; and vibhava-tanha, craving to not
experience the world and painful feelings.

Dukkha ceases, or can be confined,when craving and clinging cease or are confined. This also
means that no more karma is being produced, and rebirth ends.Cessation is nirvana, "blowing
out," and peace of mind.

By following the Buddhist path to moksha, liberation,one starts to disengage from craving and
clinging to impermanent states and things. The term "path" is usually taken to mean the Noble
Eightfold Path, but other versions of "the path" can also be found in the Nikayas.The Theravada
tradition regards insight into the four truths as liberating in itself.

Major aspects of Buddhism include :

(1) Saṃsāra

Saṃsāra means "wandering" or "world", with the connotation of cyclic, circuitous change.It
refers to the theory of rebirth and "cyclicality of all life, matter, existence", a fundamental
assumption of Buddhism, as with all major Indian religions.Samsara in Buddhism is considered
to be dukkha, unsatisfactory and painful,perpetuated by desire and avidya (ignorance), and the
resulting karma.Liberation from this cycle of existence, nirvana, has been the foundation and the
most important historical justification of Buddhism.

Buddhist texts assert that rebirth can occur in six realms of existence, namely three good realms
(heavenly, demi-god, human) and three evil realms (animal, hungry ghosts, hellish). Samsara
ends if a person attains nirvana, the "blowing out" of the afflictions through insight into
impermanence and non-self.

(2) Rebirth

Rebirth refers to a process whereby beings go through a succession of lifetimes as one of many
possible forms of sentient life, each running from conception to death. In Buddhist thought, this
rebirth does not involve a soul or any fixed substance. This is because the Buddhist doctrine of
anattā (Sanskrit: anātman, no-self doctrine) rejects the concepts of a permanent self or an
unchanging, eternal soul found in other religions.

The Buddhist traditions have traditionally disagreed on what it is in a person that is reborn, as
well as how quickly the rebirth occurs after death.Some Buddhist traditions assert that "no self"
doctrine means that there is no enduring self, but there is avacya (inexpressible) personality
(pudgala) which migrates from one life to another.

The majority of Buddhist traditions, in contrast, assert that vijñāna (a person's consciousness)
though evolving, exists as a continuum and is the mechanistic basis of what undergoes the
rebirth process.The quality of one's rebirth depends on the merit or demerit gained by one's
karma (i.e. actions), as well as that accrued on one's behalf by a family member.Buddhism also
developed a complex cosmology to explain the various realms or planes of rebirth.

Each individual rebirth takes place within one of five realms according to theravadins, or six
according to other schools – heavenly, demi-gods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts and hellish.

In East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism, rebirth is not instantaneous, and there is an intermediate
state (Tibetan "bardo") between one life and the next.The orthodox Theravada position rejects
the intermediate state, and asserts that rebirth of a being is immediate.However there are
passages in the Samyutta Nikaya of the Pali Canon that seem to lend support to the idea that
the Buddha taught about an intermediate stage between one life and the next.

(3) Karma

In Buddhism, karma (from Sanskrit: "action, work") drives saṃsāra – the endless cycle of
suffering and rebirth for each being. Good, skilful deeds (Pāli: kusala) and bad, unskilful deeds
(Pāli: akusala) produce "seeds" in the unconscious receptacle (ālaya) that mature later either in
this life or in a subsequent rebirth.The existence of karma is a core belief in Buddhism, as with
all major Indian religions, and it implies neither fatalism nor that everything that happens to a
person is caused by karma.

A central aspect of Buddhist theory of karma is that intent (cetanā) matters and is essential to
bring about a consequence or phala "fruit" or vipāka "result".However, good or bad karma
accumulates even if there is no physical action, and just having ill or good thoughts creates
karmic seeds; thus, actions of body, speech or mind all lead to karmic seeds.

In the Buddhist traditions, life aspects affected by the law of karma in past and current births of a
being include the form of rebirth, realm of rebirth, social class, character and major
circumstances of a lifetime.It operates like the laws of physics, without external intervention, on
every being in all six realms of existence including human beings and gods.

A notable aspect of the karma theory in Buddhism is merit transfer.A person accumulates merit
not only through intentions and ethical living, but also is able to gain merit from others by
exchanging goods and services, such as through dāna (charity to monks or nuns).Further, a
person can transfer one's own good karma to living family members and ancestors.

(4) Liberation

The cessation of the kleshas and the attainment of nirvana (nibbāna), with which the cycle of
rebirth ends, has been the primary and the soteriological goal of the Buddhist path for monastic
life since the time of the Buddha.The term "path" is usually taken to mean the Noble Eightfold
Path, but other versions of "the path" can also be found in the Nikayas. In some passages in the
Pali Canon, a distinction is being made between right knowledge or insight (sammā-ñāṇa), and
right liberation or release (sammā-vimutti), as the means to attain cessation and liberation.

Nirvana literally means "blowing out, quenching, becoming extinguished". In early Buddhist
texts, it is the state of restraint and self-control that leads to the "blowing out" and the ending of
the cycles of sufferings associated with rebirths and redeaths. Many later Buddhist texts
describe nirvana as identical with anatta with complete "emptiness, nothingness".In some texts,
the state is described with greater detail, such as passing through the gate of emptiness
(sunyata) – realizing that there is no soul or self in any living being, then passing through the
gate of signlessness (animitta) – realizing that nirvana cannot be perceived, and finally passing
through the gate of wishlessness (apranihita) – realizing that nirvana is the state of not even
wishing for nirvana.

The nirvana state has been described in Buddhist texts partly in a manner similar to other Indian
religions, as the state of complete liberation, enlightenment, highest happiness, bliss,
fearlessness, freedom, permanence, non-dependent origination, unfathomable, and
indescribable. It has also been described in part differently, as a state of spiritual release
marked by "emptiness" and realization of non-self.
While Buddhism considers the liberation from saṃsāra as the ultimate spiritual goal, in
traditional practice, the primary focus of a vast majority of lay Buddhists has been to seek and
accumulate merit through good deeds, donations to monks and various Buddhist rituals in order
to gain better rebirths rather than nirvana.

These are the major differences between Buddhism and the other religions conceptually :

1. There is no almighty God in Buddhism. There is no one to hand out rewards or punishments
on a supposedly Judgment Day.

2. Buddhism is strictly not a religion in the context of being a faith and worship owing allegiance
to a supernatural being.

3. No savior concept in Buddhism. A Buddha is not a savior who saves others by his personal
salvation. Although a Buddhist seeks refuge in the Buddha as his incomparable guide who
indicates the path of purity, he makes no servile surrender. A Buddhist does not think that he
can gain purity merely by seeking refuge in the Buddha or by mere faith in Him. It is not within
the power of a Buddha to wash away the impurities of others

4. A Buddha is not an incarnation of a god/God (as claimed by some Hindu followers). The
relationship between a Buddha and his disciples and followers is that of a teacher and student.

5. The liberation of self is the responsibility of one's own self. Buddhism does not call for an
unquestionable blind faith by all Buddhist followers. It places heavy emphasis on self-reliance,
self discipline and individual striving.

6. Taking refuge in The Triple Gems i.e. the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha; does not
mean self-surrender or total reliance on an external force or third party for help or salvation.

7. Dharma (the teachings in Buddhism) exists regardless of whether there is a Buddha.

Sakyamuni Buddha (as the historical Buddha) discovered and shared the teachings/ universal
truths with all sentient beings. He is neither the creator of such teachings nor the prophet of an
almighty God to transmit such teachings to others.

8. Especially emphasized in Mahayana Buddhism, all sentient beings have Buddha Nature/
Essence. One can become a Buddha (a supreme enlightened being) in due course if one
practises diligently and attains purity of mind (ie absolutely no delusions or afflictions).

9. In Buddhism, the ultimate objective of followers/practitioners is enlightenment and/or

liberation from Samsara; rather than to go to a Heaven (or a deva realm in the context of
Buddhist cosmology).

10. Karma and Karma Force are cornerstones in Buddhist doctrines. They are expounded very
thoroughly in Buddhism. Karma refers to an important metaphysical concept concerned with
action and its consequences. This law of karma explains the problem of sufferings, the mystery
of the so-called fate and predestination of some religions, and above all the apparent inequality
of mankind.

11. Rebirth is another key doctrine in Buddhism and it goes hand in hand with karma. There is a
subtle difference between rebirth and reincarnation as expounded in Hinduism. Buddhism
rejects the theory of a transmigrating permanent soul, whether created by a god or emanating
from a divine essence.

12. Maitri or Metta in Pali (Loving Kindness) and Karuna (Compassion) to all living beings
including animals. Buddhism strictly forbids animal sacrifice for whatever reason. Vegetarianism
is recommended but not compulsory.

13. The importance of Non-attachment. Buddhism goes beyond doing good and being good.
One must not be attached to good deeds or the idea of doing good; otherwise it is just another
form of craving.

14. In Buddhism, there is consideration for all sentient beings (versus human beings, as in other
religions). Buddhists acknowledge/accept the existence of animals and beings in other realms in
Samsara.

15. No holy war concept in Buddhism. Killing is breaking a key moral precept in Buddhism. One
is strictly forbidden to kill another person in the name of religion, a religious leader or
whatsoever religious pretext or worldly excuse.

16. Suffering is another cornerstone in Buddhism. It is the first of the Four Noble Truths.
Sufferings are very well analyzed and explained in Buddhism.

17. The idea of sin or original sin has no place in Buddhism. Also, sin should not be equated to
suffering.

18. Buddhist teachings expound no beginning and no end to one's existence or life. There is
virtually no recognition of a first cause — e.g. how does human existence first come about?

19. The Dharma provides a very detailed explanation of the doctrine of anatman {anatta in Pali}
or soullessness , i.e. there is no soul entity (whether in one life or many lives).

20. The Buddha is omniscient but he is not omnipotent. He is capable of innumerable feats but
there are three things he cannot do. Also, a Buddha does not claim to be a creator of lives or
the Universe.

21. Prajna [Panna in Pali] or Transcendent Wisdom occupies a paramount position in Buddhist
teachings. Sakyamuni Buddha expounded Prajna concepts for some 20 years of his ministry.
One is taught to balance compassion with prajna i.e. emotion (faith) with rationale (right
understanding / truth / logic).

22. The tradition and practice of meditation in Buddhism are relatively important and strong.
While all religions teach some forms or variations of stabilizing/single-pointedness meditation,
only Buddhism emphasizes Vipassana (Insight) meditation as a powerful tool to assist one in
seeking liberation/enlightenment.

23. The doctrine of Sunyata or Emptiness is unique to Buddhism and its many aspects are well
expounded in advanced Buddhist teachings. Briefly, this doctrine asserts the transcendental
nature of Ultimate Reality. It declares the phenomenal world to be void of all limitations of
particularization and that all concepts of dualism are abolished.

24. Conditioned Arising [Paticcasamuppada in Pali] or Dependent Origination is another key

doctrine in Buddhism. This doctrine explains that all psychological and physical phenomena
constituting individual existence are interdependent and mutually condition each other; this at
the same time describes what entangles sentient beings in samsara.

25. The concept of Hell(s) in Buddhism is very different from that of other religions. It is not a
place for eternal damnation as viewed by 'almighty creator' religions. In Buddhism, it is just one
of the six realms in Samsara [i.e. the worst of three undesirable realms]. Also, there are a
virtually unlimited number of hells in Buddhist cosmology as there are infinite numbers of
Buddha worlds.

26. The Buddhist cosmology (or universe) is distinctly different from that of other religions which
usually recognise only this solar system (Earth) as the center of the Universe and the only
planet with living beings. The Buddhist viewpoint of a Buddha world (also known as Three
Thousand-Fold World System) is that of one billion solar systems. Besides, the Mahayana
Buddhist doctrines expound that there are other contemporary Buddha worlds like Amitabha's
Pure Land and Bhaisajyaguru's world system.

27. Samsara is a fundamental concept in Buddhism and it is simply the 'perpetual cycles of
existence' or endless rounds of rebirth among the six realms of existence. This cyclical rebirth
pattern will only end when a sentient being attains Nirvana, i.e. virtual exhaustion of karma,
habitual traces, defilements and delusions. All other religions preach one heaven, one earth and
one hell, but this perspective is very limited compared with Buddhist samsara where heaven is
just one of the six realms of existence and it has 28 levels/planes.

Buddhists follow the three jewels which are Buddha, Dharma/ Dhamma and Sangha.
In Theravada Buddhism, a Buddha is someone who has become awake through their own
efforts and insight. They have put an end to their cycle of rebirths and have ended all
unwholesome mental states which lead to bad action and thus are morally perfected.
Theravada generally sees Gautama Buddha (the historical Buddha Sakyamuni) as the only
Buddha of the current era. While he is no longer in this world, he has left us the Dharma
(Teaching), the Vinaya (Discipline) and the Sangha (Community).There are also said to be two
types of Buddhas, a sammasambuddha is also said to teach the Dharma to others, while a
paccekabuddha (solitary buddha) does not teach.

"Dharma" (Pali: Dhamma) in Buddhism refers to the Buddha's teaching, which includes all of the
main ideas outlined above. While this teaching reflects the true nature of reality, it is not a belief
to be clung to, but a pragmatic teaching to be put into practice. It is likened to a raft which is "for
crossing over" (to nirvana) not for holding on to.
It also refers to the universal law and cosmic order which that teaching both reveals and relies
upon.It is an everlasting principle which applies to all beings and worlds. In that sense it is also
the ultimate truth and reality about the universe, it is thus "the way that things really are."
The Dharma is the second of the three jewels which all Buddhists take refuge in. All Buddhas in
all worlds, in the past, present and in the future, are believed by Buddhists to understand and
teach the Dharma. Indeed, it is part of what makes them a Buddha that they do so.

The third "jewel" which Buddhists take refuge in is the "Sangha", which refers to the monastic
community of monks and nuns who follow Gautama Buddha's monastic discipline which was
"designed to shape the Sangha as an ideal community, with the optimum conditions for spiritual
growth."The Sangha consists of those who have chosen to follow the Buddha's ideal way of life,
which is one of celibate monastic renunciation with minimal material possessions (such as an
alms bowl and robes).
The Sangha is seen as important because they preserve and pass down Buddha Dharma.The
Sangha also acts as a "field of merit" for laypersons, allowing them to make spiritual merit or
goodness by donating to the Sangha and supporting them. In return, they keep their duty to
preserve and spread the Dharma everywhere for the good of the world.

The Eightfold Path is the fourth of the Four Noble Truths - the first of the Buddha's teachings.
All the teachings flow from this foundation.

The Four Noble Truths are :

1. The Noble Truth of the reality of Dukkha as part of conditioned existence. Dukkha is a
multi-faceted word. Its literal meaning is "that which is difficult to bear". It can mean suffering,
stress, pain, anguish, affliction or unsatisfactoriness. Each of the English words is either too
strong or too weak in their meaning to be a universally successful translation. Dukkha can be
gross or very subtle. From extreme physical and mental pain and torment to subtle inner
conflicts and existential malaise.
2. The Noble Truth that Dukkha has a causal arising. This cause is defined as grasping and
clinging or aversion. On one hand it is trying to control anything and everything by grabbing onto
or trying to pin them down, On the other hand it is controlled by pushing away or pushing down
and running away or flinching away from things. It is the process of identification through which
we try to make internal and external things and experiences into "me and mine" or wholly
'"other" than Me. This flies in the face of the three signs of existence - Anicca, Dukkha. Anatta -
Impermanence. Stress or Suffering and No-Self. Because all conditioned existence is
impermanent it gives rise to Dukkha, and this means that in conditioned existence there is no
unchanging and permanent Self. There is nothing to grasp onto and also in reality, nothing or no
'one' to do the grasping! We grab onto or try to push away ever changing dynamic processes.
These attempts to control, limit us to little definitions of who we are.

3. The Noble Truth of the end of Dukkha, which is Nirvana or Nibbana. Beyond grasping and
control and conditional existence is Nirvana. "The mind is like fire unbound." The realization of
Nirvana is supreme Bodhi or Awakening. It is waking up to the true nature of reality. It is waking
up to our true nature. Buddha Nature. The Pali Canon of Theravada, the foundational Buddhist
teachings, says little about Nirvana, using terms like the Unconditioned, the Deathless, and the
Unborn. Mahayana teachings speak more about the qualities of Nirvana and use terms like,
True Nature, Original Mind, Infinite light and Infinite life. Beyond space and time. Nirvana defies
definition.

Nirvana literally means "unbound' as in "Mind like fire unbound". This beautiful image is of a
flame burning by itself. Just the flame, not something burning and giving off a flame. Picture a
flame burning on a wick or stick, it seems to hover around or just above the thing burning. The
flame seems to be independent of the thing burning but it clings to the stick and is bound to it.
This sense of the flame being unbound has often been misunderstood to mean the flame is
extinguished or blown out. This is completely opposite to the meaning of the symbol. The flame
"burns" and gives light but is no longer bound to any combustible material. The flame is not
blown out - the clinging and the clung to it is extinguished. The flame of our true nature, which is
awakening, burns independently. Ultimately Nirvana is beyond conception and intellectual
understanding. Full understanding only comes through direct experience of this "state' which is
beyond the limitations and definitions of space and time.

4. The Noble Truth of the Path that leads to Awakening. The path is a paradox. It is a
conditioned thing that is said to help you to the unconditioned. Awakening is not "made" by
anything: it is not a product of anything including the Buddha's teachings. Awakening, your true
nature is already always present. We are just not awake to this reality. Clinging to limitation, and
attempts to control the ceaseless flow of phenomena and process obscures our true nature.

The path is a process to help you remove or move beyond the conditioned responses that
obscure your true nature. In this sense the Path is ultimately about unlearning rather than
learning - another paradox. We learn so we can unlearn and uncover. The Buddha called his
teaching a Raft. To cross a turbulent river we may need to build a raft. When built, we
single-mindedly and with great energy make our way across. Once across we don't need to cart
the raft around with us. In other words don't cling to anything including the teachings. However,
make sure you use them before you let them go. It's no use knowing everything about the raft
and not getting on. The teachings are tools not dogma. The teachings are Upaya, which means
skillful means or expedient method. It is fingers pointing at the moon - do not confuse the finger
for the moon.

The Path

1. Samma-Ditthi — Complete or Perfect Vision, also translated as right view or understanding.

Vision of the nature of reality and the path of transformation.

2. Samma-Sankappa — Perfected Emotion or Aspiration, also translated as right thought or

attitude. Liberating emotional intelligence in your life and acting from love and compassion. An
informed heart and feeling mind that are free to practice letting go.

3. Samma-Vaca — Perfected or whole Speech. Also called right speech. Clear, truthful, uplifting
and non-harmful communication.

4. Samma-Kammanta — Integral Action. Also called right action. An ethical foundation for life
based on the principle of non-exploitation of oneself and others. The five precepts.

5. Samma-Ajiva — Proper Livelihood. Also called right livelihood. This is a livelihood based on
correct action, the ethical principle of non-exploitation. The basis of an Ideal society.

6. Samma-Vayama — Complete or Full Effort, Energy or Vitality. Also called right effort or
diligence. Consciously directing our life energy to the transformative path of creative and healing
action that fosters wholeness. Conscious evolution.

7. Samma-Sati — Complete or Thorough Awareness. Also called "right mindfulness".

Developing awareness, "if you hold yourself dear watch yourself well". Levels of Awareness and
mindfulness - of things, oneself, feelings, thought, people and Reality.

8. Samma-Samadhi — Full, Integral or Holistic Samadhi. This is often translated as

concentration, meditation, absorption or one-pointedness of mind. None of these translations is
adequate. Samadhi literally means to be fixed, absorbed in or established at one point, thus the
first level of meaning is concentration when the mind is fixed on a single object. The second
level of meaning goes further and represents the establishment, not just of the mind, but also of
the whole being in various levels or modes of consciousness and awareness. This is Samadhi
in the sense of enlightenment or Buddhahood.

Not all traditions of Buddhism share the same philosophical outlook, or treat the same concepts
as central. Each tradition, however, does have its own core concepts, and some comparisons
can be drawn between them:
Both Theravāda and Mahāyāna accept and revere the Buddha Sakyamuni as the founder,
Mahāyāna also reveres numerous other Buddhas, such as Amitabha or Vairocana as well as
many other bodhisattvas not revered in Theravāda.

Mahāyāna focuses mainly on the bodhisattva path to Buddhahood which it sees as universal
and to be practiced by all persons, while Theravāda does not focus on teaching this path and
teaches the attainment of arhatship as a worthy goal to strive towards. The bodhisattva path is
not denied in Theravāda, it is generally seen as a long and difficult path suitable for only a
few.Thus the Bodhisattva path is normative in Mahāyāna, while it is an optional path for a heroic
few in Theravāda.

Mahāyāna sees the arhat's nirvana as being imperfect and inferior or preliminary to full
Buddhahood. It sees arhatship as selfish, since bodhisattvas vow to save all beings while arhats
save only themselves.Theravāda meanwhile does not accept that the arhat's nirvana is an
inferior or preliminary attainment, nor that it is a selfish deed to attain arhatship since not only
are arhats described as compassionate but they have destroyed the root of greed, the sense of
"I am".

Mahāyāna accepts the authority of the many Mahāyāna sutras along with the other Nikaya texts
like the Agamas and the Pali canon (though it sees Mahāyāna texts as primary), while
Theravāda does not accept that the Mahāyāna sutras are buddhavacana (word of the Buddha)
at all.

6. Atheism

ဘာသာမဲ့အယူဝါဒ ဆိုသည်မှာ ဖန်ဆင်းရှ င် တန်ခိုးရှ င်များ ကို အားကိုးအားထားမှု မပြုခြင်းဖြစ် သည်။

တန်ခိုးရှ င်များ၏ ဖြစ် တည်မှုကို လက်မခံ ခြင်း နှင့် ယုံကြည်ကိုးကွယ်မှုမပြုခြင်းဟူ၍
နှစ်မျ ိုးနှစ်စားရှ ိ သည်။

Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities.Less broadly,
atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist.In an even narrower sense, atheism is
specifically the position that there are no deities.Atheism is contrasted with theism,which in its
most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists.

Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a supreme being or deities. In
common parlance, or when contrasted with deism, the term often describes the classical
conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred to as classical theism) – or gods
found in polytheistic religions—a belief in God or in gods without the rejection of revelation as is
characteristic of deism.

Atheism is commonly understood as non-acceptance or rejection of theism in the broadest

sense of theism, i.e. non-acceptance or rejection of belief in God or gods.The claim that the
existence of any deity is unknown or unknowable is agnosticism.
Definitions of atheism also vary in the degree of consideration a person must put to the idea of
gods to be considered an atheist. Atheism is commonly defined as the simple absence of belief
that any deities exist. This broad definition would include newborns and other people who have
not been exposed to theistic ideas.

Atheism can be divided into two categories ; positive (strong/hard) atheism and negative
(weak/soft) atheism. Positive atheism is the explicit affirmation that gods do not exist. Negative
atheism includes all other forms of non-theism. According to this categorization, anyone who is
not a theist is either a negative or a positive atheist.

A central, common core of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is the affirmation of the reality of
one, and only one, God. Adherents of these faiths believe that there is a God who created the
universe out of nothing and who has absolute sovereignty over all his creation; this includes, of
course, human beings—who are not only utterly dependent on this creative power but also
sinful and who, or so the faithful must believe, can only make adequate sense of their lives by
accepting, without question, God’s ordinances for them. The varieties of atheism are numerous,
but all atheists reject such a set of beliefs.

Atheism, however, casts a wider net and rejects all belief in “spiritual beings,” and to the extent
that belief in spiritual beings is definitive of what it means for a system to be religious, atheism
rejects religion. So atheism is not only a rejection of the central conceptions of Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam; it is, as well, a rejection of the religious beliefs of such African religions
as that of the Dinka and the Nuer, of the anthropomorphic gods of classical Greece and Rome,
and of the transcendental conceptions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Generally atheism is a denial
of God or of the gods, and if religion is defined in terms of belief in spiritual beings, then atheism
is the rejection of all religious belief.

It is necessary, however, if a tolerably adequate understanding of atheism is to be achieved, to

give a reading to “rejection of religious belief” and to come to realize how the characterization of
atheism as the denial of God or the gods is inadequate.

At the very heart of a religion such as Christianity there stands a metaphysical belief in a reality
that is alleged to transcend the empirical world. It is the metaphysical belief that there is an
eternal, ever-present creative source and sustainer of the universe. The problem is how it is
possible to know or reasonably believe that such a reality exists or even to understand what
such talk is about.

Atheism is undeniably contrasted to the creator’s logic one way or another. A creator deity or
creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity or god responsible for the creation of the Earth,
world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often
also the creator. A number of monolatristic traditions separate a secondary creator from a
primary transcendent being, identified as a primary creator.
Atheism often contradicts with the creator concept from Abrahamic religions such as Christianity
and Islam.

God in Christianity is believed to be the eternal, supreme being who created and preserves all
things.Christians believe in a monotheistic conception of God, which is both transcendent
(wholly independent of, and removed from, the material universe) and immanent (involved in the
material universe).

Islam teaches that God as referenced in the Quran is the only god and the same God
worshipped by members of other Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Judaism.

Non-creationism such as Buddhism and Jainism often align with certain aspects of Atheism in
that they do not believe there is a supreme deity or an almighty God.

The prevalence of atheism has been rising much faster in the last 15 years, reaching an
estimated 10% in 2020 despite irreligious countries having the lowest birth rates in the world
and religious countries having higher birth rates in general.