religious differences ( Archived) (123)

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irha-nadeem | Student, Grade 9 | (Level 1) Salutatorian
Posted November 9, 2011 at 4:21 PM via web
dislike1like Importance of religion in one's life
Why is religion important in our life?

How is it important?

What will happen if we will have no religion?

What is importance of religion in our social life?

9 Answers | Add Yours
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accessteacher | High School Teacher | (Level 3) Distinguished Educator
Posted November 9, 2011 at 7:26 PM (Answer #2)
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I am glad that this is in the discussion section of this group! You will receive a wide range of different answers. For me, I think that religion is helpful in terms of us as humans having some way of understanding what is not understandable in our lives. We need to be able to have some way of thinking about and conceiving the eternal rather than the temporary which our lives occupy. I think man has always had some form of religion throughout his existence, so there will never be a time where we will not have religion.


One must first define the meaning of religion and whether it is something that fits in our lives.

A religion is a philosophy based on spiritual beliefs. It aims to dictate a canon that would help to heal the spiritual side of the individual and, eventually, it will permeate into the dynamics of life.

This being said, a religion may only be important to those who a) believe in that there is such a thing as spiritual needs, and b) need some form of moral or emotional support to enhance their lives.

If you are one of those two types of persons, then practicing some form of religion may help you find ways to (for example) meditate, pray, practice your patience, strengthen your levels of tolerance to adversity, help you understand the nature of people.

Therefore, being that having a religion is a choice, perhaps it is a good choice for those who need to learn ways to understand their lives, and that of others.

ref Ossa.

Thanks Lindsy, The Dali Llama has some points to make on this aspect of your question.

I am extremely delighted to attend this inter faith seminar on the Preservation of Religious Harmony, Co­existence and Universal Peace organised by the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF), Ladakh group. Thank you very much for the detailed explanation of the association's history, activities, objectives and their relevance in the present century. I have nothing to add on what the speakers said earlier. But I would like to say a few things.

We are now in the twenty ­first century. The quality of research on both the inner and physical world has reached quite high levels, thanks to the tremendous stride in technological advancement and human intelligence. However, as some of the speakers said before, the world is also facing a lot of new problems, most of which are man­-made. The root cause of these man­-made problems is the inability of human beings to control their agitated minds. How to control such a state of mind is taught by the various religions of this world.

I am a religious practitioner, who follows Buddhism. More than a thousand years have passed since the great religions of the world flourished, including Buddhism. During those years, the world had witnessed a lot of conflicts, in which followers of different religions were also involved. As a religious practitioner, I acknowledge the fact that different religions of the world have provided many solutions about how to control an agitated mind. In spite of this, I still feel we have not been able to realise our full potential.

I always say that every person on this earth has the freedom to practice or not practice religion. It is all right to do either. But once you accept religion, it is extremely important to be able to focus your mind on it and sincerely practice the teachings in your daily life. All of us can see that we tend to indulge in religious favouritism by saying, "I belong to this or that religion", rather than making effort to control our agitated minds. This misuse of religion, due to our disturbed minds, also sometimes creates problems.

I know a physicist from Chile who told me that it is not appropriate for a scientist to be biased towards science because of his love and passion for it. I am a Buddhist practitioner and have a lot of faith and respect in the teachings of the Buddha. However, if I mix up my love for and attachment to Buddhism, then my mind shall be biased towards it. A biased mind, which never sees the complete picture, cannot grasp the reality. And any action that results from such a state of mind will not be in tune with reality. As such it causes a lot of problems.

According to Buddhist philosophy, happiness is the result of an enlightened mind whereas suffering is caused by a distorted mind. This is very important. A distorted mind, in contrast to an enlightened mind, is one that is not in tune with reality.

Any issue, including political, economic and religious activities human beings pursue in this world, should be fully understood before we pass our judgement. Therefore, it is very important to know the causes. Whatever the issue, we should be able to see the complete picture. This will enable us to comprehend the whole story. The teachings offered in Buddhism are based on rationality, and I think are very fruitful.

Today, a lot of people from different religious backgrounds are present here. In every religion, there are transcendent things that are beyond the grasp of our mind and speech. For example, the concept of God in Christianity and Islam and that of wisdom truth body in Buddhism are metaphysical, which is not possible for an ordinary person like us to realise. This is a common difficulty faced by every religion. It is taught in every ­religion, including Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, that the ultimate truth is driven by faith.

I want to emphasise that it is extremely important for practitioners to sincerely believe in their respective religions. Usually, I say that it is very important to distinguish between "belief in one religion" and "belief in many religions". The former directly contradicts the latter. Therefore, we should resolutely resolve these contradictions. This is possible only by thinking in contextual terms. A contradiction in one context might not be the same in the other. In the context of one person, a single truth is closely associated with a single source of refuge. This is of extreme necessity. However, in the context of society or more than one person it is necessary to have different sources of refuge, religions and truths.