Today we will ask:
what exactly is religion?
What features does a religion have?
There are five main features
First, every religion has doctrine
Doctrine states religious truth
also known as dogma
Why do we need to state the truth?
Because the truth cannot be proven
Doctrine answers certain questions
How did the universe come about?
How was the world created?
Why are we here?
What happens after we die?
What about good and evil?
How does karma work?
Religions answer unanswerable questions
and call it the truth
Doctrine is not open to discussion
You accept it if you believe
Otherwise, you're not a believer
There is no room for debate
Every religion has a set of beliefs
about the world's origin
For example, the 3 monotheistic religions:
In chronological order:
Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Christianity and Islam come from Judaism
Christianity is divided into 3 denominations
In chronological order:
Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestantism
Monotheists think one god created the world
At this point you may ask:
God? What is god?
We'll discuss the nature of god in detail
For now: god is perfect
But why would a perfect god
make trouble for himself by creating the world?
There's good and bad people in this world
God has to create hell for the wicked
God was originally at peace
Why would he make trouble for himself?
Clearly, he lacked wisdom
What other explanation is there?
Some say it's because of his abundant love
But why not just make people happy?
Why give people freedom?
Why let people solve their own problems?
If god is so full of love
why do only some people go to Heaven?
Why do so many people go to hell?
Originally, we didn't exist
God created us, and sent many of us to hell
to suffer eternal damnation
Is this a loving god?
It's hard to understand
See my point? Doctrines are unreasonable
Buddhist doctrine, too
Buddha didn't explain the origin of the universe
He just said: Dependent origination
What is dependent origination?
Say you see a house somewhere
The house is there because of fate
People, too, are creatures of fate
Causes and conditions bring about human existence
"Fate" in Chinese includes Yin, a direct cause
and Yuan, an indirect cause
"Yin" is the direct cause, "Yuan" indirect
Causes plus conditions equals fate
or in other words: dependent origination
Dependent origination explains why things exist
When the time is ripe, things appear
Everything begins in "emptiness"
Empty means devoid of an innate nature
There's "nothing" to be obsessed about
Now Buddhists believe existence depends on fate
So where did fate come from
Good question!
But you can't ask it as a Buddhist
If you doubt it, you're not a believer
Most religions explain the origin of the world
and tell us what the point is
and where we go when we die
There're two answers to the last question
First, we will be judged when we pass away
Monotheists believe in the Last Judgment
We're responsible for what we've done in life
The second answer is reincarnation
One's good and bad deeds are reckoned
and reflected in one's next life
Your present life is determined by your past life
Then you may ask:
Which is more reasonable, judgment or reincarnation?
Both are problematic
A last judgment seems fair, right?
You're responsible for your own actions
Then again, life isn't fair to begin with
Some newborns are smart
Some aren't so smart
What's fair about that?
You could tell god:
If I were as smart as John, I'd do better than him
But it's impossible to start over
In this respect, reincarnation seems fair
Don't misbehave or you'll be dumb in your next life,
Problem is:
how can you know about your past life?
And where does it end?
What's the point?
These are all good questions
The second feature of religion is ritual
Most rituals involve sacrifice
You can sacrifice to the spirits
or to Heaven and Earth
Sacrificial rituals always involve myths
without which rituals would seem contrived
Without myths, rituals lack a basis in eternity
Why do people need rituals?
To return to the origin of life
That's why we need rituals
There're two ways to get through life
The first is linear: you get older and weaker
In the end you die
If this were the only way
no one would have the courage to live
The alternative is to return to life's origin
Let me give you an example
Why do we celebrate New Year's Day?
New Year's is the birthday of the universe
a new cycle of the seasons begins
All creatures are renewed
ready to begin another year
This is why everyone has a birthday
So you remember when you were born
and in remembering you are reborn
and you have the courage to face another year
Why do we need myths?
When the world was still a mystery
when we didn't have science or universal education
or faith in rationality
someone discovered something so meaningful
that he had to share it
So he told a myth about it
Every single religion has its myths
Even Islam
Islam was founded in the 7th c.
Islam also has a mythology
Every Muslim must go on a ritual pilgrimage
There's a story behind the ritual
about how Muhammad
worshipped a Black Stone
Maybe it's just a big black meteorite
But millions of people flock to Mecca to kiss it
It is spectacular
When a ritual is held
you seem to return to life's origin
What kind of origin?
You have to wear a white robe in Mecca
so no one will see if you wear Armani or LV
Material possessions mean nothing in Mecca
You take off your rings and put on a white robe
Everyone is equal in the Holy City
But don't assume pilgrims are safe
I remember a ship from years ago
The ship was packed with pilgrims
It capsized and 1500 people drowned
Why didn't god watch over them?
They were on a pilgrimage!
There are two possibilities
Either god is not all-powerful
or the ways of god are mysterious
and beyond human speculation
so that no matter what happens, good or bad
you can't know if god is watching over you
The latter explanation is more popular
The first explanation is hard to accept:
How can god not be omnipotent?
If he is, though, why doesn't he help?
Because his intentions are mysterious
How can you understand god?
We can't even begin to imagine, right?
Indeed we can't
Imagine someone gets bullied by his teacher
He works hard at school
and does exceedingly well
just to get revenge
by becoming a teacher to bully his teacher's kid
But he does so well he becomes a professor
Being bullied changes his life!
Now for the 3rd feature of religions:
Commandments
We need to make a few distinctions
The 1st concept is law
the 2nd virtue
and the 3rd religious commandments
Law, virtue and commandments
Everyone knows "law"
Laws only judge you based on your deeds
You can imagine committing crimes all you like
The law can't put you away for that
Now a person of character must be virtuous
And to be virtuous
you must be genuinely willing to do good
But you can't just intend to do good
If I intend to yield my seat on the bus
but I never once do
I can't very well claim to be virtuous
Only willing seat-yielders are virtuous
Commandments go further
Commandments concern intentions
including bad thoughts
This is very profound
Bad thoughts are just as bad as bad deeds
That's pretty scary
A classic example from Jesus,
which you'll find shocking:
Jesus said, "But I tell you
that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully
has already committed adultery"
Freud elucidated the profound effect of religion
when he said many commit crimes out of guilt
Why would guilt precede the crime?
Because of religious education
If an evil thought is a crime
then why not go ahead
and do the deed?
Commandments make you feel flawed
Commandments demand a lot from us
They demand introspection
and relentless vigilance
You can never let yourself go
This is practically impossible
but some find the challenge worthwhile
Since time immemorial, many have strived
at lifelong self-restraint
many have tried to banish bad thoughts
in order to perfect themselves
What's the 4th feature of religions?
A religious group
or community
like an "abomination" of monks
a group of people who form a religious order
What do they do?
They undergo extensive training to acquire qualifications
so they can proselytize or perform rituals
or exhort believers
For example, Sakyamuni went out to preach
He started preaching
at age 35
He left the palace at age 29
practiced asceticism for 6 years
and achieved nirvana under the Bodhi tree
at 35 years of age
Then he preached
for 45 years
When he was preaching in India
he hit the three month monsoon
The Indian monsoon is famous
Alexander the Great encountered it
and got stuck a season
When Forrest Gump went to Vietnam
it rained day and night
In Southeast Asia
or India, the monsoon
is really impressive
Sakyamuni spent the monsoon
in meditation and contemplation
While preaching
he spent time alone 3 times a day
in the morning , at noon and at night
At mealtimes he went off to meditate
and cultivate himself
reflecting on his words and deeds
This was his daily routine
If a man
doesn't actively cultivate himself,
he will struggle through life
Scariest thing in the world:
when a religious leader falls from grace
then there is no hope
Earlier I quoted Jesus
Jesus also said:
"If the salt has lost its flavor,
with what will it be salted?"
Salt is a preservative
but if salt is insipid
how can we make it salty again?
It's impossible
The 5th feature is theology
Religions center on doctrines
As I said, doctrines are unreasonable
but reason is essential to religion
There're 3 treasures of Buddhism, for instance:
scripture, discipline and discussion
Buddhists discuss the teaching with others
They even hold debates
The theory of religion is called theology
Without theory, how can religions be preached?
How could missionaries convert people
without reasoning with them?
And these are the 5 features of any religion