This course has significantly influenced my understanding of religions throughout the world. I had a basic understanding of each of these religions. However, because religion is a challenging subject to address, I did not have a more profound knowledge of what is at the heart of religious beliefs. The movies Mal’occhio and Buddha Realms and literature encountered in the course offered me a more attractive explanation for religious traditions. They cleared me of the uncertainty I had about specific behaviors and practices. Now that I have a complete understanding and a newfound respect and admiration for each religion.
The film Mal’occhio was interesting due to the versatility of the history and comprehension of the evil eye and because it recounts some of the more compelling stories related to the phenomenon. Throughout her years of research, the Agata de Santis encountered numerous people that experienced magical qualities of the issue. She explained why most people agreed on the truthfulness of its effectiveness but refused to believe in evil eyes. The film goes into great depth regarding the amulets, incantations, and other forms of protection that people employ to combat the mal’occhio. This film was a realistic depiction of how diverse religious beliefs are and how broad the term can be.
After watching the film Buddhist Realms and reading relevant publications, I gained a better grasp of Buddhist traditions and their contemporary effect on the western movement. Even though the two faiths have quite different doctrines, it is feasible to draw a close connection between Buddhism and Catholicism since the latter is built on the relationship between humankind and God, while the former is not. The Three Jewels and the Holy Trinity are emblems that are comparable. The Three Jewels provide protection and direction to Buddhists. The Buddha serves as a guide, Dharma illuminates the road via Buddha’s teachings, and the Sangha is the Buddhist community.
Both faiths contain eternal spiritual beliefs regarded as the source of all good things. Both The Son and Buddha lived among people and preached The Golden Rule: treat others the way one would treat themselves (McMahan, 2009). Meditation in Buddhism leads individuals in the correct route (McMahan, 2009), whereas prayer in Catholicism reflects Christ’s life (Lester, 2005). Meditation is used to halt the mind from racing through a stream of ideas. Meditation clears our minds of delusion, ignorance, prejudice, jealousy, and other stumbling blocks to good judgment.
However, religion may be viewed outside the current framework of shared ideas and literature, local venues and scheduled times for worship, and educated ministers and academics. Contemporary religion package of characteristics which wide distribution reflects many centuries of economic growth and colonial control, post-colonial state-building, and the role played in both by some modern European religious concepts (Bowen, 2018). As a result, I’m even more driven to understand how to handle religious ideas and history, particularly in light of religious minorities.
The book Religions in Practice made the most significant contribution to understanding religion’s distinctiveness and adaptability, especially in light of the shift to online practices. My attention was piqued by the growing importance of virtual communities in modern religion and its early stages. It helped me understand religion as an institution that evolves through time rather than as a set of long-established traditions. Virtual religion is ever-changing, but for the time being, I have found it beneficial to separate three types of activities from the plethora of sites: disseminating information from authorities to students, encouraging contact among followers, and doing worship or other effective acts.
References
Bowen, J. R. (2018). Religions in practice. Routledge.
Lester, R. J. (2005). Jesus in our wombs: Embodying modernity in a Mexican convent. University of California Press.
McMahan, D. L. (2009). The making of Buddhist modernism. Oxford University Press.