FREE ESSAY ON JUDAISM, HINDUISM, AND BUDDHISM

JUDAISM, HINDUISM, AND BUDDHISM

The religions of Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism all have there own beliefs. These beliefs
play a big role in a person's everyday life, and influence aspects of their culture such
as holidays, diet, social structure, art, and music. In Judaism, they believe that the
Sabbath day should be kept holy, and that you should follow the Ten Commandments, the
laws of G-d. Their diets consist of kosher food, and have there own New Year, Rosh
Hashanah. Hindus believe in Brahman and Karma, which are both a part of the cycle of
birth, death, and rebirth. They're vegetarians, and have a fairly complex social
structure called the caste system. Buddhists believe in Buddha's teachings of the Four
Noble Truths. These lead to there belief in following the Eightfold Path in order to
reach nirvana. Their art consists of statues of the Buddha, each part having its own
meaning. Their music was for the temple and they had their own special way of singing. 
Two basic beliefs in the religion of Judaism are that the Sabbath is holy, and that you
should follow the Ten Commandments. Sabbath, or Shabbat in Hebrew means cease or desist.
It takes place from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday, and you are prohibited
from doing any work, unless it severely effects your life or health. The mistress of the
house lights two white candles and says a blessing. An Omeg is held after Friday night or
Saturday afternoon services, where there's usually refreshments, songs, and lectures. It
took G-d six days to create the world, and on the seventh day he rested. When G-d gave
the Ten Commandments to Moses, he asked that the people also rest on the seventh day of
the week. The Ten Commandments are the laws of G-d given to Moses at Mount Sinai. They
state that: (1) You shall have no other g-ds before me, (2) I am the only g-d, (3) You
shall not take the Lord's name in vain, (4) Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy,
(5) Honor your Father and Mother, (6) You shall not kill, (7) You shall not commit
adultery, (8) You shall not steal, (9) You shall not bare false witness against your
neighbor, and (10) You shall not covet (be jealous of) your neighbor. The first four are
covenants between you and G-d, and the last six are between you and other people. The Ten
Commandments were written on two stone tablets by G-d, and are in the Old Testament of
the Bible. It is believed that Moses, in fury of the sight of people disobeying G-d,
threw down and destroyed them. No one knows where the tablets remain today.
Jewish people eat kosher food, and celebrate the holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Kosher,
meaning fit or proper is used to refer to food in accordance to Jewish dietary laws. The
animals must chew their cud and have cloven hooves. Fish must have distinct scales and
fins (no shellfish). The food must not be derived from animals, birds, or fish prohibited
in Leviticus 11 or Deuteronomy 14, meat must be slaughtered by the method of shehitah,
the meat must be salted and soaked to get rid of all blood, and milk will not be mixed
with meat. A special way of preparing and slaughtering the meat (shehitah) also applies.
First, a certified (by a rabbi) shohet says a prayer over the animal. Using an extremely
sharp, nick-free knife, a swift sweep is made across the throat, making the animal
unconscious. All blood is then drained from the animal. Many Jewish people keep a kosher
home every day and on holidays like Rosh Hashanah. This is the Jewish New Year, and
means, head of the year in Hebrew. It is also sometimes referred to as Yom Ha-Zikkaron
(the day of remembrance), or Yom Teruah (the day of the sounding of the shofar). It takes
place on the first and second of Tishrei (Jewish calendar), and is one of the most holy
days of the year. It's celebrating the creation of the world, and some traditions are the
blowing of the shofar and dipping apples into honey. The shofar, or ram's horn, is
sounded after service, and its notes call for a spiritual awakening. Dipping apples (or
bread) into honey is to remind us to have a sweet new year. This is a time for
self-evaluation, and to look back on the mistakes you've made in the past year. It is the
first of ten days of penitence, and you make up for mistakes that you've made, and
confess sins. It ends with the holiday of Yom Kippur, the last day you are judged.
In Hinduism, they believe in Brahman, Karma, and do not eat meat. Brahman is the Supreme
Hindu G-d. All other g-ds and goddesses are aspects of Brahman. In fact, everything in
the world is part of Brahman. He destroys, recreates, maintains and creates in samsara,
which is the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth again. It is a Hindu's main goal in life
to reach Brahman, and by following one's dharma (rules and regulations one must follow
starting at birth), one's soul may eventually be united with him. By following your
dharma, you may also have a good next life and be reborn into a higher social class. The
total bad and good deed a human soul carries from one life to the next is karma. The
number of good and bad deeds you do also affects your next life, whether you're
human/animal, rich/poor, happy/sad, and things you may experience in this next life. They
believe that even though your body dies, your soul is taken into a new body. Hindus'
diets consist of only vegetation, because they believe that a person in one life could be
an animal in another. Therefore, if you killed an animal, it would be like murdering a
human. So you would be robbing them of the chance to ever reach their goal in life
(reaching Brahman). That is why they treat animals and people as equals.
Hindu social structure is broken into special groups based on birth (you'd belong to your
parent's group), called castes. The castes, or varnas, were organized from highest to
lowest in the following order: priests/Brahmans, warriors, landowners/ merchants/
herders, servants/ peasants, and the untouchables. Each had its' own set of rules
regarding cooking, diet, marriage, home, clothing, employment, contact, and much more.
For example, you could only marry members of the same class, and a higher Varna could not
come into contact with a person of a lower Varna. The highest caste was considered
spiritually clean, so when they came in contact with the lower, they were no longer
considered pure. This is also why Brahmans/ priests had to be the cooks. Each caste had
different jobs that were determined at birth. In 1947, Gandhi rejected the caste system,
when India became independent.
Beliefs of the religion of Buddhism are the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. The
four parts to the Four Noble Truths are: (1) Life is suffering (Dukka). This recognizes
that there is always suffering in life, may it be aging, death, sickness, grief, or
separation from loved ones. (2) Desire causes suffering (Samudaya), because when you
crave things, you become greedy, and can't always get what you want. (3) Suffering can be
ended (Nirodha), because once you stop craving things, you stop suffering. (4) Following
the Eightfold Path leads to rejection of desire/suffering (Magga), and reaching nirvana,
which is perfect peace. The Eightfold Path says that you have right: view and thought
which is the quality of wisdom (panna); speech, action, and livelihood which is the
quality of morality (sila); and effort, mindfulness, and concentration which is the
quality of meditation (samadhi). All are important in order to reach nirvana.
In art, the Buddha is very special, and each part of it has a meaning. His hands are
always in one of several positions (mudras). When his hand is on his knee (bhumisparsha),
he is calling early beings to be witnesses for his Enlightenment. His hand in his lap
represents the physical world. An open hand (abhaya) means blessing and protection, and
when the pointer-finger is up, he is favor granting a position. Hands folded in his lap
mean he is teaching. His hair/brain is representing his superior knowledge, and is in a
top not, or wisdom bun (ushnisa). This was typical for a wandering ascetic. His long
earlobes remind us of when the prince wore elaborate earrings, and his robe for when he
gave up his property in search of Enlightenment. We recognize him for his long, straight
toes, and sitting position (dyanasana).
Buddhist's temple music is particularly renowned in the west for its two forms of
polyphonic singing known as jok-kay (low tone) and bar-da (high tone). In both forms,
each of the main chantmasters simultaneously intones three notes (each individually
creating a complete chord). They are the only people on Earth that have this vocal
ability. This tradition is also known as overtone singing because it is accomplished by
means of learning to control the muscles of the vocal cavity and then re-shaping it while
singing, thus intensifying the natural overtones of the voice. The body is therefore
transformed into an effective overtone amplifier.
All of these beliefs are important to each religion in there own way. They're what make
each religion individual and special. They've affected our cultures today greatly in
various topics. The Sabbath, Ten Commandments, Rosh Hashanah, and kosher food are all
part of Judaism. Hindus believe in Brahman, Karma, and they are vegetarians and are
organized into a system of castes. Buddhist statues, music, the Four Noble Truths, and
the Eightfold Path are all part of the religion of Buddhism. These things make up their
religions.