Study World Religions

I have read materials on Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Taoism, Confucianism and Shinto; and I have read about atheism, agnosticism and paganism. I am still fascinated by world religions, but having considered studying them formally, I have decided that this would not be for me, and I would rather read about them informally.

I do feel that some benefit has come from this – I know that organised religion isn’t for me, but I find it interesting how religion affects people’s lives in general. I guess the main point for me is that religion is only of interest to me in terms of psychology, history and culture, rather than metaphysics or some lofty quest for higher meaning. For me, it all boils down to people and what makes us tick.

I have been reconsidering my stance when it comes to religions / philosophies / ideals and would like to revise this goal slightly.

My primary motivation for this goal was to gain understanding in order to improve myself. Although I do like to be open-minded, I’m not studying religions to get an extensive insight into them – I’m looking for answers. When I find them, there is less need to go exploring.

If you don’t know something, then it makes sense to not close off any avenues, but when you do know something, you may as well restrict your search. After all, we do all have a time limit on our earthly endeavours.

So, I have decided to concentrate on the following:

Buddhism (principles, not the dogma), Shinto, Taoism, Confucianism, bushido, pagan religions, Western philosophies, Eastern philosophies and any converging theories.

Also, I believe the scientific and spiritual/religious do not have to be mutually exclusive, so I will explore anything that seeks to understand the spiritual in scientific and rational terms. “The God Part of the Brain” has really gained my interest on this particular topic.

I am interested in other religions from a more cultural and historic viewpoint, but not for my personal quest.

...might be a start! :) I have copies of The Bible, The Koran, Dhammapada, Tao Te Ching, The Principal Upanishads, but have so far only read Tao Te Ching once and the first 3 books of The Bible.

I have come to realise that my main reason for wanting to read about the world religions, however, is to work out what my beliefs are rather than to understand the beliefs of others. I don’t know if that makes it any less worthwhile doing…

I already feel tolerant of others’ beliefs, and I feel that religion is always a personal choice, so I guess wanting to read about them for my benefit is not a bad thing, but I know now that has been my real motivation to do so.

I am currently building up my collection of religious texts so I can do some comparative reading. I have just recently bought The Principle Upanishads, which I can put with the Tao Te Ching and the Bible. Next on my list are The Koran, the various Buddhist texts, Confucius’ Analects, The Torah, The Talmud and then I would like to do some research into the principle texts of Sikhism, Shintoism, and finally, animism. I will also be looking out for works which are atheist or agnostic, but have the same purpose as religious texts, so philosophers would be the main category, I guess. I’m currently reading “Thus Spake Zarathustra” by Nietzsche, so this would fit the bill.

I am currently learning more about Taoism in connection with my martial art classes, and also because it complements Buddhism in many ways. I have just bought two books today on Buddhism and Taoism and will be reading those very soon – I feel really motivated at the moment to develop myself more spiritually. I went into the Religion section at Borders and wanted to get loads of books – there were some on Hinduism, Sikhism and Islam, also the I Ching and I’m quite interested in finding out more about animism and more ancient beliefs.

I would do a degree in this. There are loads of degree titles I would love to study but that aren’t financially feasible. I’ve often been tempted by the Buddhist Studies course at the School of Oriental and African Studies, but what use would I put it to in terms of employment? If I won the lottery and could study for the rest of my life, I would definitely take this up seriously :)

In the meantime, I just have to read the books that are available to me on all the different religions. I’m planning on reading the major religious texts around the world and then go from there. I think it would be interesting to see how the different religions can be interpreted as different explanations of the same truth. It would certainly broaden one’s understanding and develop a greater tolerance and respect for each religion’s perspective on reality and life in general.

My parents were always fairly open-minded with regard to religion and although they would probably describe themselves as Christian, I have considered myself agnostic for as long as I remember. I don’t know if there is a God and I’m not sure if it’s relevant – I think what matters is what the individual believes in order to get them through life and make them a decent human being. All of the main religions and most of the minor ones share the fundamental principles on being decent – they differ on the details. I don’t think those details are important as long as the differing opinions on them doesn’t lead us to go against the main principles i.e. killing.

Killing in the name of religion seems to me hypocritical and goes against one’s own religion as well as alienating others. I don’t believe for one minute that we will all one day be completely at peace with one another, but there’s no reason why we can’t strive for it. As well as considering myself agnostic, I also consider myself a religious pluralist. I believe that religions are man-made and can therefore be flawed, but I also believe that they are tools and therefore are only as good (or bad) as the people who use them. I see religion as a tool to help us through life and not as something intrinsically good or bad.

I believe all religions have truths in them and all have the potential to help us through life, but I don’t believe any one is superior. My beliefs about life probably come from a range of sources and I couldn’t claim one religion. The only religions that have tempted me so far are Buddhism and Taoism because of their lack of requirement for blind faith. I know that other people do have faith more easily and that’s fine by me, but it doesn’t suit me personally.

Despite my lack of religion, I am very interested in religion generally and would like to study more about each religion’s view on life, so I can better understand the people who practise them. I have plenty of unresolved questions myself, and I’m hoping to find some answers to them through studying more.