Hey everyone,
After today's class, I found the idea that no religion truly knows to be quite enlightening. Most religions emphasize the need for one of its believers to be true believers. I found the ideas of Rg Veda to be quite honest. Unlike many other religions, the ability for a believer to not know the whole truth astounded me. The philosophical nature of the final line of the veda, which states, "only he knows, or perhaps he does not know," fascinated me because it leaves the question of faith to the believer, and defers the entire idea of creation to the person to figure out. The Rg Veda raises a lot of questions about the nature of existence and time. I really enjoyed reading over the Vedas because they share many of the philosophical ideas that many modern writers and thinkers agreed. The other thing that I took away from this week's class, was the human traits in which the gods share. unlike the monotheistic religions, which view their only god as a perfect being, the vedic idea of having gods who are braggarts or are warrior like really impressed me. The idea of praying to an imperfect god causes me to contemplate many philosophical questions on why we pray. I hope this post was not too rambling.
Andrew Busker
I was just about to post a very similar paragraph and then saw this and I believe we're allowed to reply so here goes nothing.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up and gaining experience in both Christianity and Judaism, I've always seen religion as a means to explain the unknown. However, as you mention above, the Rgveda embraces the idea of provoking thought and philosophical discussion instead of just laying out facts that explaining why the world is the way it is. I found this non rigid set of questions/beliefs refreshing and much more in touch with the way I see things.
In addition I agree with you that it is very interesting that the idea of everyone believing the same thing isn't emphasized. I like that people seem to have the freedom to explore their minds and, to a degree, determine what they believe instead of just falling into line.