Modern Religious Experience: Reflection #4: Buddhist Meditation

Modern Religious Experience: Reflection #4: Buddhist Meditation: "Spend 20 mintues in a silent meditation; a place you won't be disturbed, your own 'fig tree' as was Buddha's inspiration. In those 20 mintue..."

Meditation is difficult for me for many reasons:
1. I get sleepy very easily
2. My mind wanders like crazy
3. I only remember 4 of the 8 folds in the Path

Throughout the ages, particularly in Eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism and others, meditation is regarded as a very important practice, essential to heightening a person's religious experience. Meditation is the pathway to nirvana in Buddhism, and is one of many aids used in Hinduism to achieve either nirvana or a higher reincarnation.

In my personal meditation experience, i started out by breathing, which made me very drowsy. Then i moved on to clearing my mind of all extraneous though processes. This was unsuccessful, because my mind is insanely scattered. Finally i tried to reflect on the eightfold path: Right thought, right concentration, right conduct, right mindfulness, Right.... I blanked out. I went over the meanings of the four i could remember.

I feel like this meditation exercise may have worked better when I didn't have a play coming up in a week, and there were not a thousand things related to that stressing me out. I feel like my thoughts were pure of heart and not sinful, but were just scattered and unrelated to the tenets of the Buddhist faith. I think that meditation would be easier for me during the summer, or maybe Christmas vacation, when i'm just lolling around the house with not too many thoughts on my mind.If there was less to clear out of my mind, it would be easier to empty, right?

Modern Religious Experience: Reflection #3- Gandhi: Hindu and Activist

Modern Religious Experience: Reflection #3- Gandhi: Hindu and Activist: "In class, your small groups went over movie questions about the content in Gandhi. You should know who each of the main characters are and t..."

Gandhi emphasizes the fact that Hinduism is an all-encompassing religion in its best form. In a scene where he is passing Hindus protesting the Muslims in India, he stops and says that they are all Hindus, but are also Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, etc. This idea that Hinduism is really a compilation of the world's religions is truly unique, particularly for the world currently and the world during the Indian Independence Movement. He also demonstrates this idea by expressing an extreme desire to keep India as a united country, rather than move the Muslim population into Pakistan. He wants all parts to be equal in a perfect Hindu world.

"Action expresses priorities."
Gandhi arrived in India after his successes in South Africa, eager for a new challenge. However when his wealthy politician friends offer him with the ultimate "action" (free India), he expresses his true priority by taking a three year leave to discover his homeland. He shows how people should come before politics, and his faith is strengthened by his journey through a land filled with hardship, struggle, and a million individual stories just waiting to be told. He lived out his faith by showing compassion to those he met on the way, and not for a second concerning himself with political strife on his trip.