Jacob C.

Berg
Dr. Waldmeir
World religions
5/16/2018

Throughout the entirety of this semester, there have been plenty of ideas that have come

and gone in my mind and soul in regards to my personal religious beliefs. Throughout this year I

have come to many situations that have required me to take a deep breath and think about what

could be done that would make the situation end peacefully. Throughout the many religions that

we have studied and discussed in class. From beginning to end I have not only grown through

my understanding of my own religion, but also the understanding of other religions. These

specific religions that we have looked at have raised some doubts in my mind, but have also

provided some solidarity inside my mind and heart.

As discussed in the first version of the autobiography, I am a follower of the Catholic

religion. I identify as a Catholic, and conduct myself accordingly. Also with going off of that,

you know my father is my main source for understanding things that start off as being unknown.

The idea that everything happens for a reason is a big focal point of my religious beliefs. I whole

heartily believe in this concept, one of the religions that we studied this semester had that sort of

idea behind it. To start off from the beginning of the semester, Judaism sort of came off to me as

a religion that is very focused on the side of ritualistic faith. They have many things that are done

throughout the year, and also have plenty of rituals that are seemingly mandatory to be

considered, yourself a Jew. The whole idea of praying three times a day does not seem very

welcoming to me, and this is just a small portion of the rituals that are “required” to feel good

about yourself being a faithful Jew. For me religion should not be considered a structured and by
the book, strictly line to line for your religion. It should be able to be structured and tweaked to

fit the individuals’ lifestyle and their time constraints. Another part of Judaism that is seemingly

rash to me is the amount of religious clothing that each individual of the religion “possess”. In

the Torah, there is a dress code that focuses on modesty. For instance, women focus on wearing

modest colors and clothing that is loose fitting and does not stick to the body. (United) This I

feel, restricts the freedoms that we are granted as human beings. I personally do not understand

how a single person can limit what others can wear. Growing up I was told not to judge one

another, simply because it is not our place to judge or make regulations. God has been granted

that power in which we do not possess. Now with the Torah, you could say that is the law of God

that was sent to Moses and he recorded it. That being said, with anything like that there can

always be interpretation errors. And through the year companies will take advantage of being

able to customize what is said to get their point across in the texts. All in all, the religion of

Judaism did not stand out to me in the sense of being able to adapt it to fit into my current

lifestyle. Moving onto the second religion that was covered this semester, which I have been

familiar with for a little over a year now, Islam.

Islam is open to interpretation, which I find absolutely fascinating. The way in which the

Qur’an was written is brilliantly open. The only downside about that is that there will always be

terrible people in the world who will shape and mold open texts to become a part of their

radicalized beliefs. This is also the religion I did participate in a presentation for, that I was able

to gain an even deeper understanding of the religion. Although there are parts of the religion that

I am not certainly fond of, simply because of how my current lifestyle is. The prayers that are

conducted each and every day is a huge commitment towards the religion. This is the one thing

that sort of sticks out like a sore thumb to me. I feel as though I am so busy during the day that I
have worked into my night schedule the time to have my daily conversation with God. In the

religion of Islam you would find yourself praying multiple times a day and the guidelines for

these prayers are certainly structured in a way that does not appeal to me. I am the sort of

individual that prefers the free flowing type of religion, where I can customize it to my day and

be able to make it feel more like a conversation between myself and God. In Islam, it is more

focused towards a certain type of servitude to God/Allah. (Presentation) In the presentation I

conducted with Martha and Matt, we discussed the overall feeling of Islam. We were able to

show the basic ideas of it and the more I dove in to it, the more I realized that I would not

appreciate how robotic some of the rules are. Islam also has sort of a black sheep when it comes

to followers. The fact that it is so open to interpretation leaves room for the evil people of this

world to take it and use it to justify their crimes on humanity. That would not sit well with me,

although I respect the fact that even Catholicism has black sheep and that the difference is that

the groups that exploited it were hundreds of years ago compared to now. I would not be able to

adapt the ideology that I should just be okay, for I am just a servant of God.

Islam also consists of a tremendous journey that you are to partake in at least once in

your life. This journey is called the Hajj, you go on the journey to Mecca that Muhammad

completed hundreds of years ago. This requires you to pilgrimage to Mecca and partake in

ceremonies that Muhammad took part in. The only downside about this trip is that people

actually pass from this life amidst the ceremonies and you are not to do anything besides

continue on. I would not be able to bring myself to step over a dead body, or someone who is

seriously hurt. I could not continue knowing that someone is suffering and just being forgotten

about while everyone else moves on to complete the journey. That is the ideology of Islam, bad

things will happen in this lifetime, or the next, but you must continue on and focus on your work
for the holy Allah. For you are working hard in this lifetime to please him so that you may be

granted entrance into heaven.

Moving onto Hinduism, This religion has a huge focus on a division between people and

the holy class, Brahman. Amongst the Brahman, they are the divine priests that communicate

with the many Gods of Hinduism. I like the fact that Hinduism is not a hugely structured

religion. In the sense that the structure derives from the Vedas, which are the holy Hindu

scriptures. (Britannica) The whole idea behind doing good deeds to achieve dharma. Dharma is

the ideology behind conducting good deeds, and being a righteous person to your peers. There

are only a couple of things that I am not super fond of with Hinduism. The multiple Gods are sort

of confusing to me, for growing up with the one God who can do anything and everything has

sort of stuck with me. I for one, would not be able to keep track of all of the Gods that are

involved with Hinduism and I would get confused on which one to worship, when. For me one

part of Catholicism that is quite fantastic is that there is the one God, who is able to all of the

impossible and possible things as defined by the people of this world.

In Hinduism, there is also the idea of having your soul be born again until you have

reached the ultimate liberation from this world to move onto the next. This mindset is Moksha

that is going through the cycle of death and rebirth to finally achieve liberation and end the

worldly suffering you are experiencing. (Britannica) This idea sticks out to me, for the simple

reason that the more and more I think about it, the more and more it seems like a possibility as to

what can explain plenty of things that occur throughout a lifetime. For instance, how we are

naturally good at certain activities in our lives or even times where you might feel as though you

have experienced an event before. All of these speak to me on a spiritual level and show me that

even though it may seem like an impossibility that, somewhere deep within it might just be
possible to me. I might not ever find out until I break the cycle, or until I pass from this world.

Hinduism is truly beautiful, in the sense that there are so many questions left unanswered and

that we, as humans are tasked to answering them.

Which leads to the formation of Buddhism, this religion is very important to me. I for one

am a very peaceful person, I tend to lean towards peace and serenity. I love the idea of

meditation to calm the nerves and to also let the mind wander to answer some of life’s most

difficult questions. My father has always been able sit on the porch and listen to the sounds of

nature to focus on just the most pure of thoughts and to relieve himself of the worldly strains that

come with being a therapist. I have not realized but throughout the years he was not only talking

to me, and teaching me Catholic principles but also principles of Buddhism. There were times

when I was little that if I would get frustrated with a problem or unable to find a solution he

would send me out to the porch, which overlooked the backyard. From there he would tell me to

just sit in a chair and clear my mind and think, to control my breathing and relax. Most often I

found that this would help me immensely in finding the solution to my seemingly difficult

problem. Also when I would wake up in the morning and come down before he left for work,

sometimes he would be sitting in the living room on a pillow and be listening to a DVD that was

titled ‘Tai Chi” he never really discussed in depth of what it is.

As I got older I started to realize that he would mediate in the morning before he went to

work, for he would tell me that being the person to listen to everyone’s problems can take a toll

on your mind. He would clear his mind every single morning to focus on and repair what was

hurting him before he would take on the day with a smile and help others figure out their lives.

After reading about Buddhism and reading the book “The Empty Mirror” I understand more

about the religion than I ever thought I would. Even though it seemed to be very taxing on not
only the mind of a person, but the body I know I would be very interested in spending a year at a

monastery to just be able to focus on living a holistic and pure lifestyle. I realize that most often

we get caught up with the worldly pleasures that each and every person strives to achieve, even

myself sometimes strives to be the richest, or the greatest. There are some days though, where I

feel as though I need to focus on others and I believe that sometimes I do that to the point where

I do not recuperate myself. The idea of mediation to solve your problems and to try and answer

the internal questions we pose ourselves. In the book, Van De Wetering ended up not fully

completing his stay at the monastery, for he was not feeling as though he was a part of

Buddhism. The thing about Buddhism is that as a whole, there is not a ceremony where you

“become a Buddhist”, you simply are, for being in this universe. That is the ideology that I love,

that there is not a set boundary of whether or not you are a part of the religion. The idea behind

Buddhism is that you are, for the sole reason you are in this universe. Everyone has a purpose in

their lives and they have questions that they need answered and sometimes it takes your entire

lifetime to answer said questions. For through mediation and the removal of all of the material

wants, and only requiring the needs for survival you will achieve Nirvana. Nirvana is the main

goal of the religion. The removal of all negativity, worldly pleasure, and desire from your body

and soul. That sort of speaks to me as I try to focus on the positive side of things, and make sure

that I block out the negativity. I make an attempt every day to focus and bring to light the better

things, not only in my life but, also in the lives of others. I would say of all of the religions we

covered in this semester, Buddhism is the most relevant to how I live, and carry myself in

relation to my current faith.

From beginning to end of this class, I have come with many personal questions that have

been answered and a few that have not. Although I feel as though I have shorted myself in
discovering all that I would have hoped to discover in this class. I have also been able to adapt

my ideology of Catholicism to even better fit me. I have found religions that I can fully connect

with, and others where I feel as though I would not be able to give my all in worshipping the way

in which they do. All in all, Buddhism stands out to me most, in showing me how to live in

accordance with the natural flow of the Earth and the humans who inhabit it.
 Works Cited

Buddhism - Historical Development. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Buddhism. Accessed 16

May 2018.

Hinduism | Origin, History, Beliefs, & Facts. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hinduism.

Accessed 16 May 2018.

Jewish Dress Code Based on Torah Value of Modesty. http://unitedwithisrael.org/jewish-dress-

code-based-on-torah-value-of-modesty/. Accessed 16 May 2018.

Nirvana | Religion. https://www.britannica.com/topic/nirvana-religion. Accessed 16 May 2018

Presentation. Islam, Jacob Berg, Martha Nowatski, Matt Somlis.