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World Religions: Mandatory Essay

The Idea of Maya

In Hinduism, the word ‘Maya’ holds a very strong place and people possess strong perceptions about it. The word actually means ‘illusion’ or something that is actually not real but still people run behind it and try to chase it in their lives. Money, wealth, and all kinds of materialistic items are associated with this word by the intellectuals of the religion. In this sense, the word Maya holds somewhat negative image. At the same time, the same word holds a positive connotation as well as people relate it to something that is the raw material or actual force behind the creation of all the things in the whole universe. So, according to this religious school of thought, Maya is everything that the whole universe is made up of. To call the world and it belonging with the word Maya means that we are actually putting into focus those people who hold false perceptions about the world and universe and for them, everything is Maya. If we look at the world as only an amalgamation of people are things, then the word is Maya for us. In reality, it is just an illusion since the world is far more than just a mixture of people and things and it is a vast topic to be talked about.

Usually, people look at the materialistic, sold, and practical aspects of this world and that is why the concept of Maya has been introduced. In reality, the world is made up of thoughts and dreams and it takes different forms like a magic. Believers of this school of thought believe that the whole universe is acting because of unimaginable magic and everything takes another form when it is destroyed or is killed/dead.

The Idea of Anatta

Buddhism holds the idea of Anatta or Anatma which means ‘no self’ or no permanent self and soul in human beings. This idea clearly rejects the ideas of Hinduism about the cycle of life and rebirth of all creatures because they possess a soul. They believe that there is no soul in human beings and these are just concepts made by human mind. They hold a firm believe that world is made up of humans and microorganisms who die at certain stages and got decayed. So there is no concept of spiritual souls or anything like that. They also believe that only those things have got ‘self’ and value which we can see and touch and which are made out of bodies and minds. While the concept of eternal source is illusion and does not hold any logic and is made up because of human thoughts, imagination, and expectations.

Buddhism highly holds believe on the objective realty of the world and only those things are real which we can feel with our body and soul and to practice the right path, one needs to understand these concepts.

Hinduism-Brahman, Atman, Samsara and Moksha

Brahman is the Holistic nature of the true believers as they all follow same thoughts and hold same perceptions about everything. Brahman is a concept that is just ‘known’. Being a Bahaman is to believe that all humans have originally been made from the same sacred sources.

The concept and notion of Atma is somewhat similar to that of Brahman but it is also the primary feature of the Hindu ideologies. Atma is the ultimate, permanent, and divine ‘self’ that exits in the deepest levels of all humans and things in this universe and they are the souls that are to be live even after the bodies and external feature of them die. Atma is the ultimate reality of all human beings.

Samsara refers to the ongoing ad continuous wheel of life. Humans and things go through changes all the time and the cycle of birth and re-birth keeps on going. Hinduism and its followers firmly believe that humans take another form after they die as their inner ‘self’ never dies and the soul takes another physical form.

Moksha means to be free from all kinds of angers and slaveries and to follow the inner desires to live a happy and satisfactory life.

Buddhism- marks of existence and the Noble Truths

The three marks of existence suggested by Buddhism are anicca (Impermanence) which suggests that nothing in the life is stable and everything is in a state of change or flux. Anatta (Insubstantiality or “not-self”) stresses that there is no permanent ‘self’ or ‘soul’ in this world or inside human beings and life and world is objective and practical. And Dukkha (suffering) is the realization that human beings suffer pain and frustration because they cannot bear the fact that nothing in the world is permanent and everything has to end at some point.

The noble truths make the humans realize that human existence is nothing but a process of sufferings (Dukkha) and their ultimate cures. Sufferings can be of different forms and every human experience them. Following are the four truths of Buddhism:

1. The truth of suffering; humans life consists of millions of sufferings in different forms.

2. The truth of the origin of the suffering; such sufferings have many causes and people need to use their moral and intellectual sides to look at them.

3. The truth of the completion/cure of the suffering; every pain and suffering has to end and people should have this firm belief.

4. The truth of the process/way towards the cure of the suffering; the path to achieve the ultimate cure is the real experiences of life

Implications and Impacts

In my personal opinion, Buddhism is the religion among these two which can be practically implemented in our lives. It teaches us the lessons of pain and sufferings that life is always full of hardships but they not long forever and they always have cures which need our hard work and struggles. Moreover, this religion also against the superficial ideas about re-birth and existence of supernatural and spiritual souls which is also the practical, objective, and rational side of the life. These beliefs impact our lives in the most positive way possible as we develop motivational and positive vibes in ourselves and we face all the hardships and difficulties with the courage and hope that there must be a cure to them and things will change.

On the other hand, Hinduism consists of more myths and illusions than logical ideologies. It does not believe in ultimate death of humans and all other creatures and hold firm beliefs about rebirth after death and destruction.