Common Elements of Eastern Religion Essay

Many religions of the world have eight elements in common. The elements are a belief system, community, central myths, ritual, ethics, characteristic emotional experiences, material expression, and sacredness. These elements help shape religions and the people who believe in them. In this paper I discuss how these elements are similar or how they differ in each of a few of indigenous religions. Unique in their own way there are numerous religious traditions, some of the religion traditions include: Buddhism – this is a means of existing based on the experience of Siddhartha Gautama, Christianity – earth’s largest belief, foundation of Jesus Christ teachings, Hinduism – collection of faiths, embedded in the religious thoughts of India. Islam – discovered by the Prophet Muhammad. These religious traditions along with numerous others vary from each other, but they serve the same purpose. A relationship with the divine is essential in all beliefs of religion without communication and connection with the divine, the challenges, tribulations and experiences encountered daily becomes difficult to handle because the testing of his or her faith and being disobedient to the word of God. The relationship as well as the fellowship with the divine helps him or her to walk in the light and to live in total honesty toward God as well as with each other, without the consistent relationship and fellowship it causes he or she to be out of character and have broken fellowship with the divine. Sacred time is the â€Å"time of eternity† (Molloy, 2010, p. 43). The schedule or activities that he or she encounters daily is determine by the effective use of the clock throughout our lives. Within the religious sector sacred time for numerous religions is valued in different ways. Sacred time allows the believer to come in contact with his or her thought of being set apart. Religion provides an individual the sense of purpose for living and security. The belief in a higher power provides comfort to a human. The knowledge of how we began tells us the reason why we are here and where we are going. This knowledge or awareness is often the driving force behind the  belief of one God, a supreme being, or some call it the sacred. Let us have a look at Christianity and its teachings, and how the Christians are organized. During this process one will see the relationship between Christianity and other religions. The origin of each of the tales in these special books is determined to have begun with a prophet who communicated directly with God. Some of the stories appear to have a mythical origin. For example, in the Bible, Jesus (May peace and blessings be upon him) is believed to have died and risen from the dead again. References Molloy, M.. (2010). Experiencing the world’s religions: Traditions, challenge, and change. Retrieved from Molloy, M., REL/133 website.