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I decided recently that I want to learn more about Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, in that order.
Buddhism: I want to learn more about Buddhism because I noticed that some of my personal philosophy sometimes lines up with ideas from Buddhism that I never heard of before until someone mentioned it, and it seems like a lot of philosophical ideas from Buddhism seem to directly counter some negative patterns and aspects in my personality and way of thinking, not by abolishing it with hopes to just stop cold-turkey, but by teaching logic and techniques to manage and curb the patterns: Like obsession over material things, desire for others, finding a satisfactory middle ground in conflicting feelings, and more, and meditation and Yoga really does seem to help my physical and emotional state, even if it's just for the moment. Also, I like how I don't feel like I have to be completely committed to being a Buddhist while following Buddhist teachings. It would be something that I would study over the course of years in my free time, but it's hard to find out where to start because it doesn't have a single Holy text that I can just pick up and read to get a basic understanding of it, and there seems to be so much to it. I guess that can be said about other religions as well: Praying seems some-what similar to meditation, after all. I would visit the Buddhist monastery in Memphis, if I was currently IN Memphis.
Zoroastrianism: I want to study this simply because it sounds very interesting to me, and I think I can use some ideas from it in story writing. On top of that, it is my understanding that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam may or may not be some-what based off of, inspired by, or derived from Zoroastrianism, so I am hoping that by learning more about it, I could get a basis of understanding before pursuing knowledge of the other religions.
Islam: I want to learn more about it because Islam seems to be playing an increasingly important role in the mainstream world, and I want to get my own understanding of the religion and its beliefs and teachings, so that I can hopefully better understand all kinds of Muslims. Also, depending on what line of work I go into with my Earth Science degree, it will be useful knowledge. I would pick up and read the Quran, but I've heard that you need to know Arabic to read it in its purest form. Learning fluent Arabic can take awhile, but I am a little concerned that if I don't read the original writings myself or without translation from a trusted source, someone may try to tell me HOW I'm supposed to interpret it, which is not what I am looking for.
Christianity: Since this is the religion I was largely raised on, it would somehow feel wrong to study the other religions in depth, but not Christianity. I would, and most likely will, just pick up the King James Bible at home and start reading it, but I can't help but to wonder if there are other, older versions of the Bible, and whether or not the King James Bible might just be King James' interpretation. I also feel like there's a lot of history with Christianity, or all of the religions, really, that I also need to study to understand how a Christian, or Muslim, or any other type of believer thinks. I also will have some trouble trying to read the Bible critically, because I've had people telling me all my life what each verse is SUPPOSED to mean, and a part of me still sees it as a source of guidance, not something to be questioned.
Judaism: I want to study Judaism purely out of curiosity. I just want to see how Jews believe in God and how different and similar it might be to Christianity. I won't lie, another reason why I began to have an interest in learning about Judaism is because there was a kind of small Jewish student center close to my university that looked more like a club house, and basically was one. I was trying to explore new things, and find a group of people to belong in at the same time, and there were various types of churches and Christianity groups all over campus, let-alone Memphis, and I had already tried quite a few hoping to feel at home, but they all seemed so familiar, large, and almost commercial-feeling. Meanwhile, there wasn't a lot of advertisement for Jewish student groups of places of worship, and I was a bit curious about the history of Judaism, and even talked to the lady who ran the student center, where she gave me some brief overview of the belief and its place in the world today, which only made me want to explore Judaism even more.
I aim to not be hostile towards any belief, and am simply looking to learn more. I will appreciate any guidance I can get, but in the meantime, I'll keep looking for a starting point on my own.
I did that . Dont goto the respective church, this day and age plenty online , and not the back and forth BS between believers . You will probably come to the he same conclusion I did . Then look into history . 12 years and I'm still learning "truth" .
I decided recently that I want to learn more about Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, in that order.
Buddhism: I want to learn more about Buddhism because I noticed that some of my personal philosophy sometimes lines up with ideas from Buddhism that I never heard of before until someone mentioned it, and it seems like a lot of philosophical ideas from Buddhism seem to directly counter some negative patterns and aspects in my personality and way of thinking, not by abolishing it with hopes to just stop cold-turkey, but by teaching logic and techniques to manage and curb the patterns: Like obsession over material things, desire for others, finding a satisfactory middle ground in conflicting feelings, and more, and meditation and Yoga really does seem to help my physical and emotional state, even if it's just for the moment. Also, I like how I don't feel like I have to be completely committed to being a Buddhist while following Buddhist teachings. It would be something that I would study over the course of years in my free time, but it's hard to find out where to start because it doesn't have a single Holy text that I can just pick up and read to get a basic understanding of it, and there seems to be so much to it. I guess that can be said about other religions as well: Praying seems some-what similar to meditation, after all. I would visit the Buddhist monastery in Memphis, if I was currently IN Memphis.
Zoroastrianism: I want to study this simply because it sounds very interesting to me, and I think I can use some ideas from it in story writing. On top of that, it is my understanding that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam may or may not be some-what based off of, inspired by, or derived from Zoroastrianism, so I am hoping that by learning more about it, I could get a basis of understanding before pursuing knowledge of the other religions.
Islam: I want to learn more about it because Islam seems to be playing an increasingly important role in the mainstream world, and I want to get my own understanding of the religion and its beliefs and teachings, so that I can hopefully better understand all kinds of Muslims. Also, depending on what line of work I go into with my Earth Science degree, it will be useful knowledge. I would pick up and read the Quran, but I've heard that you need to know Arabic to read it in its purest form. Learning fluent Arabic can take awhile, but I am a little concerned that if I don't read the original writings myself or without translation from a trusted source, someone may try to tell me HOW I'm supposed to interpret it, which is not what I am looking for.
Christianity: Since this is the religion I was largely raised on, it would somehow feel wrong to study the other religions in depth, but not Christianity. I would, and most likely will, just pick up the King James Bible at home and start reading it, but I can't help but to wonder if there are other, older versions of the Bible, and whether or not the King James Bible might just be King James' interpretation. I also feel like there's a lot of history with Christianity, or all of the religions, really, that I also need to study to understand how a Christian, or Muslim, or any other type of believer thinks. I also will have some trouble trying to read the Bible critically, because I've had people telling me all my life what each verse is SUPPOSED to mean, and a part of me still sees it as a source of guidance, not something to be questioned.
Judaism: I want to study Judaism purely out of curiosity. I just want to see how Jews believe in God and how different and similar it might be to Christianity. I won't lie, another reason why I began to have an interest in learning about Judaism is because there was a kind of small Jewish student center close to my university that looked more like a club house, and basically was one. I was trying to explore new things, and find a group of people to belong in at the same time, and there were various types of churches and Christianity groups all over campus, let-alone Memphis, and I had already tried quite a few hoping to feel at home, but they all seemed so familiar, large, and almost commercial-feeling. Meanwhile, there wasn't a lot of advertisement for Jewish student groups of places of worship, and I was a bit curious about the history of Judaism, and even talked to the lady who ran the student center, where she gave me some brief overview of the belief and its place in the world today, which only made me want to explore Judaism even more.
I aim to not be hostile towards any belief, and am simply looking to learn more. I will appreciate any guidance I can get, but in the meantime, I'll keep looking for a starting point on my own.
Having studied most of those, and interested in the Buddhist philosophy, as it doesn't adore an anthropomorphic entity, I found it revealing that Zoroastrianism is, when studied, probably the precursor to the Abrahamic faiths. Which makes eminent sense when looking at the historical records of the region.
How about each's major works? You can spend a lifetime just studying one and still never learn all there is.
Well, that is what I meant, mostly. It's just I was a bit at a loss when it came to how to approach the Quran since I heard it's only in Arabic, or Buddhism as a whole, since it seem to span multiple texts instead of just one. I suppose I should just read the Bible, the Hebrew Bible, and the Avesta, though. I just wasn't sure if there was more than one version of it one version is more definitive than the other.
Well, that is what I meant, mostly. It's just I was a bit at a loss when it came to how to approach the Quran since I heard it's only in Arabic, or Buddhism as a whole, since it seem to span multiple texts instead of just one. I suppose I should just read the Bible, the Hebrew Bible, and the Avesta, though. I just wasn't sure if there was more than one version of it one version is more definitive than the other.
Also, thank you for the link, JB from NC.
Dhammapada for Buddhism
Start with the 5 Pillars for Islam, not the Hadith.
What bizarre advice. That's like trying to figure out which food tastes best without ever, well, tasting the food.
I suppose it depends on whether you want to experience the pomp, circumstance and rituals, social interactions, etc., or just start with the ideology itself. Personally if I were still into this kind of thing and cared about capital-T Truth I would also start with the urtext of each religion and examine it for logical consistency before settling on one or more to investigate experientially. If there's no sound foundation, then experiences are just experiences. Maybe I would enjoy the experience of being high on cocaine but if the endpoint is death, why bother?
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