Essay on Religious Experience

Religion is universal. Although people may have different ideologies and practices, everyone believes in something, whether they deem it their religion or not. In this way, religion is a powerful connection between all of humanity; thus, it is important to understand the people behind religion and how their unique characteristics correlates with and influences religion—whether that be their social class, ethnicity, gender, or politics. However, ethnicity and gender, along with the closely linked topics of sexuality and politics, are the most significant concepts to understand religion in our modern world.

though the chants were known by all the people, there were still not considered the music

peculiar sounds it was noted in that during prayer they also broke out in uncontrollable laughter and

Religions are ideas that passes down with traditions and rituals, with newer generations adding on to religion ideas with new ideas or borrowing other religious ideas. For Elk, religion is a running river rather than passing stone. For van de Veer, syncretism is how religion continue to exist today. Both Elk’s and van de Veer’s arguments tied into my chosen narrative and my family’s religious history. I want to connect my family’s religious history with Elk, Van der Veer, and the narrative “North Vietnamese Buddhist Nun” by James M. Freeman.

When using the Communication portion of the WTR CRESS, the discursive communication was observed through the various rituals, rites, and practices performed by the devotees. In some cases devotees ran several times around the idol and in other cases they would burn incense and other items in hopes of sending up prayers via smoke to Parabrahma. Though I am not sure about the correlation between the burning material and the devotees prayer, one for one or more, it was evident that a certain amount of items were burned for each prayer.

They express their love for their deity through song, dance, rituals, and communal worship, which were all displayed at the Ganesh Temple. There were young girls practicing a dance in the basement and various groups gathered around different representations of Gods. Some worshipped quietly in corners while others sat in a service and engaged in chants lead by priests. All of these ways of worshipping were intended to display their affection for their Gods, which can help them achieve better rebirth. The most striking form of worship I observed was the practice of puja. Many Hindus would walk up to their God and leave a basket of fruit. Moreover, the priests were putting the offerings around the statue and pouring liquids on them. I especially

As the sunrises over the crisp fall horizon, followers begin to surround the sacred space in anticipation for what is about to take place. The sacred space is soon surrounded by people who are dressed in the sacred colors, some wearing necklaces of their totem, while others wear headdresses that adorn with their sacred symbol. People begin to drink, play music, and prepare a banquet feast for each other, creating a festival atmosphere in hope that today’s ritual will be a success. As the ritual gets set to begin followers begin to crowd into the sacred space, surrounded with pictures and names of those who have reached greatness. As the ritual begins, music is played in order to bring everyone together and prepare for the events that

As the members that entered the church finished praying, that was followed by praise and worship service where the worshipping team sang numerous songs.

A pilgrimage is a journey for the search of moral or spiritual meaning. After reading the pilgrimage article about the three different people’s pilgrimages, these journeys’ seem to have had a major effect on the travelers’ aspect of religion. Embarking on these journeys’ can teach the followers a whole new side of their religion that they have never seen. The concept behind a pilgrimage to have an experience that recognizes the origin of their religion and comprehend and verify their beliefs. The goal at the end of the pilgrimage is to let go of their individuality and tap into a larger level of their religious community. This journey consists of different sites that have a very meaningful background in their religion. These sites have years of stories that connect to an emotional side of the religion. Different religions like Christianity, Hinduism, and Muslim are strong participators in this life changing experience they call a pilgrimage.

In Rabbi Diamond’s Interreligious Experience and Engagement class, I have learned how to show respect and appreciation for all beliefs and religions across the world. In just Los Angeles alone, there countless religions practiced. It is important to educate oneself about other religions to understand the world around us, while also strengthening our own faiths. Most of the semester, we have focused on the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths and how to show interfaith relations between the two. On October 10 at 9:30 AM, for my interfaith field experience, I took the time to visit Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, a Buddhist Temple in Culver City, California at “12371 Braddock Dr., Culver City, California 90230”. I thought it would be interesting to visit a place of worship much different from what we have studied in class thus far.

The general tone of the service was that of solemnity. Many of the prayers and songs that were sung called out to God in a way that praised and venerated God by endowing him with titles and appealing to his many qualities and acts He has done for the Jewish people. This style of prayer, along what was said in English, gave the idea that the

Although I could not understand what the Priest was saying, his voice was mesmerizing. Most of worship sounded a lot like singing. He would drag out his words and speak with a beautiful melody. There was a choir seated to the side of the altar and would sing with the priest at times. There was a lot of standing up and sitting back down all through-out the service. I took a pamphlet at the beginning and read about the service in English. It was then I found out that it was Greek Independence Day! The service was called “celebrating freedom” and spoke about the Greek ancestors gathering in a Monastery of Holy Lavra in 1821 to receive blessing and prayers of the Church and to celebrate freedom from tyranny and death. It continued to say that we must never forget that the freedom for which we fight is granted to us by God Himself, and it comes at a price: the willingness to allow all to be free. Freedom is a gift from God that has been granted to every human being, and when we celebrate our freedom we must also celebrate the gift of life. In honor of Greek Independence Day, St. Nicholas Church included a group of Greek military men to be a part of the ceremony. They entered the room and marched to the front of the altar. As the priest continued with the service, he directed the young altar boys to walk around the room holding candles and icons of Cherubim. They walked around the room three times which is called procession. Most everything is done in the Greek Orthodox church is done in threes, as it represents the Holy Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. After the young boys, the Priest joined them with another man. The Priest held a tray of flowers and a single candle that represents the light of God. The gentleman in front of him rang bells from an incense burner in threes. Incense represents prayers of saints lifting into the heavens before God. The Priest and the gentleman walked around the room three

Although there was only one instrument that I could hear (an organ), this service seemed to have a strong focus on music. Most of the time, a small choir or individual at the altar was singing in Greek, with occasional “readings”

A new eagerness and ideas of the awakened brought disagreement and isolation over the nature of religious experience. Edward researched the fruit of revival and his conclusion descried the revival in his own fellowship. He surfaced with a perceptive, doctrinal rooted plan of evidences by which improve participants might detect the true meaning of their religious experiences. He didn’t want to describe the mental and spiritual state of the awakened. He desired to establish signs of those who were restored by the spirt of God. “A sense of god’s beauty, sweetness, or holiness that saints apprehend or taste.” (Kling, 1) He later developed a new mindset to understand the renew work of God’s spirit. He defended the revival as God’s work by the legitimacy of the conversations. There was great and amazing work of conversations and debut among the people. He admitted that there were misconduct and glut but suggested advice of a writer. “He proposed “signs” by which an experience might be judged legitimately the

Throughout a Hindu renouncer’s life, attending large-scale religious events are incredibly important. For some, it gives them a chance to market themselves to the public and gather more followers. For others it’s about the religious experience that comes with the journey. Either way these events give renouncer a break from their normal routine and they gather with other renouncers to share worldly views or criticize each other’s actions. The Kumbh Mela and Yatras are two of many large-scale religious events that renouncers utilize for personal and religious gain.