Portal:Religion

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The Religion Portal

P religion world.svg
Religion is the adherence to codified beliefs and rituals that generally involve a faith in a spiritual nature and a study of inherited ancestral traditions, knowledge and wisdom related to understanding human life. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to faith as well as to the larger shared systems of belief.

In the larger sense, religion is a communal system for the coherence of belief—typically focused on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object, that is considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine, or of the highest truth. Moral codes, practices, values, institutions, traditions, and rituals are often traditionally associated with the core belief, and these may have some overlap with concepts in secular philosophy. Religion can also be described as a way of life.

The development of religion has taken many forms in various cultures. "Organized religion" generally refers to an organization of people supporting the exercise of some religion with a prescribed set of beliefs, often taking the form of a legal entity (see religion-supporting organization). Other religions believe in personal revelation and responsibility. "Religion" is sometimes used interchangeably with "faith" or "belief system," but is more socially defined than that of personal convictions.

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Kotokuin Kamakura Daibutsu Amida Great Buddha Outdoor Statue Kanagawa prefecture Japan.
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, who lived between approximately 563 and 483 BCE. Originating in India, Buddhism gradually spread throughout Asia to Central Asia, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, as well as the East Asian countries of China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan.

The aim of buddhist practices is to become free of suffering, or dukkha. Some schools emphasize awakening the practitioner to the realization of anatta (egolessness, the absence of a permanent or substantial self) and achieve enlightenment and Nirvana. Other Buddhist scriptures (the "Tathagatagarbha" sutras) encourage the practitioner to cleanse him/herself of the mental and moral defilements of the "worldly self" and thereby penetrate through to a perception of the indwelling "Buddha-Principle" ("Buddha-nature"), also termed the "True Self" (see "Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra"), and thus become transformed into a Buddha. Some other schools appeal to bodhisattvas for a favourable rebirth. Some others do none of these things. Most, if not all, Buddhist schools also teach followers to perform good and wholesome actions, to avoid bad and harmful actions. There can be very large differences between different Buddhist schools of thought.

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Abbey of Senanque, located in France, Provence, Vaucluse, Gordes village.
Credit: Greudin

The Cistercian Abbey of Senanque, home of a Roman Catholic order of enclosed monks looking to cultivate a monastic community in which they could carry out their lives in stricter observance of The Rules of Saint Benedict.

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Jesus portrayed as a Greco-Roman priest and king.
Jesus (8–2 BC/BCE to 29–36 AD/CE), also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity and a notable figure in Islam. He is commonly referred to as Jesus Christ, where "Christ" is a title derived from the Greek christós (Greek Alphabet Χριστός), meaning the "Anointed One", which corresponds to the Hebrew-derived "Messiah". The name "Jesus" is an Anglicization of the Greek Iesous, itself believed to be a transliteration of the Hebrew Yehoshua or Aramaic Yeshua, meaning "YHWH is salvation". "Yehoshua" can also be translated into English as "Joshua".

The main sources of information regarding Jesus' life and teachings are the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Most scholars in the fields of history and biblical studies agree that Jesus was a Jewish teacher from Galilee, who was regarded as a healer, was baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified in Jerusalem on orders of the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate under the accusation of sedition against the Roman Empire. A very small number of scholars and authors question the historical existence of Jesus, with some arguing for a completely mythological Jesus.

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Gutenberg Bible
For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
Bible, Deuteronomy 15:11

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Amaterasu cave wide
Kojiki or Furukotofumi (古事記), also known in English as the Records of Ancient Matters, is the oldest surviving historical book recounting events of ancient earth in the Japanese language. A document claiming to be an older work, the Kujiki (which the Kojiki dates to AD 620), also exists, but its authenticity is questionable.

The Kojiki was presented by Ō no Yasumaro to Emperor Temmu in CE 680, based upon the events which had been memorized from the previous book, the Kujiki, and by those whom held the stories which had been passed down over generations, as well as stories which had been memorized by Hieda no Are in 712. Despite the fact that many note a difference in some precepts of the Kojiki and similar Chinese stories, it is thought that these may have been stories which had traveled and become known in areas of Japan and China. Nevertheless, the idea that the Kojiki mimics deities descending from China to Japan, is incorrect due to the fact that the Kojiki is a story detailing the creation of deities, and throughout Chamberlain's translation in 1882, the area in which the events were said to have unfolded is not explained, and is thought to occur upon the "island" or land-mass created by Izanami and Izanagi.

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