Transcript Synoptic - The Ecclesbourne School Online

Religious Experiences are believed to be a way
in which humanity is given insight into the
ultimate truths.
Only a lucky few have encountered a Religious
Experience and every experience is said to be
individual and unique.
This means that it is very hard to know
whether or not the experiences are real as we
have nothing to relate them to. Because of this
philosophers for centuries have tried to sort
the true experiences from the false.
In his book ‘Varieties of Religious Experience’ William James
wrote about four characteristics which enable us to identify
mystical experiences. These were:
• Ineffability – this when the experience goes beyond human
powers of description.
• Noetic quality – this is when someone claims that they have
experienced revelations or insights into vital truths which would
otherwise be unavailable
• Transiency - This is when the experience is not permanent but
has a long-lasting effect on the person and changes their view
of the universe.
• Passivity – Which is when the subject feels a loss of control, of
being in the grasp of a "superior power" and is normally when
someone does not seek the religious experience
Arguments against the religious
experience:
• Freud- ‘We are venerable, belittled in the face of nature’.
They are also are just illusions of our mind.
• Karl Marx – thought that religion was ‘the opium of the
people’ because he felt that it was about mythological
beliefs and an unreal god that distracted people from their
own reality in the physical world and so thought that it was
like a drug which stopped people from seeing the reality of
their situation and the world.
Rudolph Otto identifies and explores the nonrational mystery behind religion and the religious
experience he called this mystery, which is the
basic element in all religions, the numinous. He
uses the related word "numen" to refer to deity or
God.
Encounters with God are ‘Mysterious, tremendous and
fascinating’
Religious experiences are in the presence of the ‘wholly
other’ meaning completely out of our knowledge and
understanding.
Otto explained the numinous as a "non-rational, nonsensory experience or feeling whose primary and
immediate object is outside the self“.
Types of Religious experience:
Mass blessings- Events which happen in
crowds in which they celebrate their faith by
drawing power from each other e.g Toronto
blessing.
Could be seen as psychological as they
could be caught up in the moment. Some
have even admitted to pretend to have the
experience to fit in.
Conversion- After having a religious
experience many people change their lives
from being an atheist to a theist or just simply
lead a more virtuous life.
VisionOne day Moses came to Mount Sinai with his flock. A winged
angel appeared from a burning bush and talked to Moses. Then
God spoke to him through the burning bush, but Moses hid his
face in terror. God promised that the Israelites would be
delivered from Egypt to a lush and fertile homeland. He told
Moses that he had been chosen to bring about God's wishes.
Moses was reluctant to take on the role, but God promised to
support him, and showed him three signs to give him faith.
This is the most famous example of vision from God, however stories
form the bible should not be taken literally as they are more
metaphors or analogies.
Out of body experience- sensation like floating outside of the
body. 1 in 10 have reported to have had one of these experiences.
Things you need to know about:
• Revelation (Refers to any act in which God is revealed to
human beings)
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•
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William James
Freud
Otto
Propositional (refers to God directly revealing truths about his
nature to people)
• Non- propositional view (refers to the idea that God does
not reveal facts or truths to people, instead the religious believer
recognises God acting in human history and human experience)
• Different types of religious experiences (direct and
indirect)
Teachers – Dalai
Lama
Pray to
bodhisattvas
The Ways in Which
Buddhists Learn about
Ultimate Truths
Meditate
Read
scriptures
Even though Buddhism is split into many different schools,
every Buddhist works towards the same goal of
enlightenment and follows the Buddha’s example. The
Buddha himself was only enlightened after experiencing both
sensual life and ascetic life which made him truly understand
dukkha and the three marks of existence.
Therefore, Buddhism, and in particular Zen, stresses that
an individual cannot comprehend the ultimate truths and
gain enlightenment by just reading scripture, but must
completely understand how the dharma directly affects
their life and future.
Buddhism emphasises the importance of an individual’s
own experiences in the understanding of the “ultimate
truths” and therefore meditation, in which you could for
example spend time contemplating the teaching of
impermanence on your own life, is an essential Buddhist
practise. This differs from a Christian’s gaining of
knowledge of the ultimate truths because they learn about
God through studying the Bible, through revelation and in
religious experiences.
However, both Buddhists and Christians use teachers to
help to guide them through scripture and through the
ultimate truths, whether it be God or the way to
enlightenment.
Buddhists believe that we are unable to see the ultimate truths
because of the Three Fires/Akusala (greed, hatred and delusion)
within us, because they confine us to the realm of samsara these
and are the ultimate causes of dukkha.
Therefore, they strive to extinguish the fires through
understanding the three marks of existence (anicca, anatta and
dukkha), the four noble truths and embarking on the Noble
Eightfold Path.
The Middle Way
Due to experiencing such extreme ways of life, the Buddha realised, and thus
taught, that to understand the ultimate truths and reach nirvana you must follow
the Middle Way (Magga). The Buddha taught that the best way to gain insight
into the ultimate truths is to lead neither a hedonistic nor an ascetic way of life,
but a life of moderation. Buddhists believe that the Middle Way “gives vision,
gives knowledge, and leads to calm, to insight, to enlightenment, to nibbana”.
Theravada – Noble Eightfold Path
Wisdom – right view
right attitude
Morality – right speech
right action
right livelihood
Meditation – right effort
right mindfulness
right concentration
Mahayana – Ten Paramitas
Generosity
Moral Discipline
Patience
Diligence
Meditation
Wisdom
Skilful means
Strength
Aspiration
Primordial wisdom
Meditation
By adapting their lives to the Noble Eightfold Path or the Ten
Paramitas, their minds become less controlled by akusala and they
become more able to learn the ultimate truths. This is greatly helped
by meditation as it allows Buddhists to both still their minds and see
into the true nature of things.
Firstly when meditating, Samatha is used as this calms the mind and
trains the mind to ignore distractions. Buddhists see it is an essential
ingredient for training the mind toward liberation.
Once the mind is tranquil, Vipassana meditation can begin, in which the
individual is able to perceive clearly or deeply into reality and thus,
the ultimate truths. Vipassana is renowned for the often sudden
understanding that results from it.
Comparisons Between Buddhism
and the Judaeo-Christian Tradition
Religious Experiences – Many Christians have
learnt about the nature of God through the various
types of religious experience and this is similar to a
Buddhist’s view of meditation because it could be
argued that meditation – particularly Vipassana “reveals” the dharma to them.
Scripture - Buddhists, particularly Tibetan, stress the
importance of understanding gained through
reading of scripture and likewise, in Christianity,
special revelation through the Bible is one way in
which ultimate truths can be learned.
Linking Bit x2
Buddhists on the whole, barr Pure land reach
a ‘religious experience’ through self effort by
following a path whereas theists rely on a
transcendent God.
Pure land Buddhists learn about ultimate
truths in the most similar way to Christians,
e.g. praying to Bodhisattvas.
Over to you - any questions or anything you
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Please enlighten us.