Feminine Divine Traits Buddhism And Christianity

1. Feminine divine traits – Buddhism/Christianity Whether it is in a polytheistic or a monotheistic religion, the gender of divinity is always a topic given great attention. Although Buddhism doesn’t put much focus on gods in the teaching, it does include certain religious aspects such as praying to the higher beings. The feminine divine traits in Buddhism can be found with a closer examination on the feminine metaphors in the Buddhist scriptures. While Buddhas are predominantly in male form, divine beings like Bodhisattvas often appears to be female figures including Kwan Yin and Tara. The concept of Buddha nature is described as â€Å"tathagata garbha† at times, which means Buddha womb. The imagery of this spiritual womb nurturing the nature for all beings implies the significance of this feminine feature. Another example is how the Buddha’s wisdom is referred to as a ‘she’ in some Buddhist texts. The involvement of both feminine and masculine traits seems to underline the irrelevance of gender in Buddhahood. On the other hand, in Christianity a prevailing image of God being the ‘Father’ is developed. The teachings of Jesus powerfully delineate God as a kind and merciful father accepting and guiding his children with no discrimination. In fact, there is only one explicit example in the scriptures comparing God seeking a sinner to a housewife in search of a lost coin. In addition to the masculine image of God, it is argued that between two human sexes, Jesus as a male isShow MoreRelated From Western to Asian Environmental Ethics Essay example3991 Words   |  16 Pageslimitations of a modern Western world-view, and the practical applicability of ideas to be found in Asian philosophies. In outline, the contrast may be portrayed by the following overgeneralizations: (1) From a linear to a cyclical world view; (2) from divine salvation to karmic necessity; (3) from human dominion over nature to human place within nature; (4) from the perfectibility of humanity and the world through science; (5) from atomistic mechanistic individualism to organic interdependence; (6) fromRead Morewisdom,humor and faith19596 Words   |  79 Pagesand contingencies with laughter, is a high form of wisdom.† Reinhold Niebuhr, â€Å"Humour and Faith,† in Discerning the Signs of the Times: Sermons for Today and Tomorrow (1945), 111, 122, 126.* â€Å"Religion and humor are incompatible. . . . Humor: the divine flash that reveals the world in its moral ambiguity and man in his profound incompetence to judge others; humor: the intoxicating relativity of human things; the strange pleasure that comes of the certainty that there is no certainty.† Milan KunderaRead MoreComparison Between Japan and Russia13811 Words   |  56 Pageseffort. The deployment is the largest since World War II. History NOTHING SIMILAR MAY be found in foreign lands, wrote Kitabatake Chikafusa when he described Japan in his fourteenth century Jinno sh t ki (Chronicle of the Direct Descent of the Divine Sovereigns). Although Japans culture developed late in Asian terms and was much influenced by China and later the West, its history, like its art and literature, is special among world civilizations. As some scholars have argued, these outside influencesRead MoreNegotiation and Culture: Case Study24152 Words   |  97 PagesIndividualism indicates the degree to which people of a particular culture learn to act as individuals rather than as members of a group. It is essential to remember that all people and cultures posses both individual and collective traits, but at the same time one of these traits is always more dominant or more visible than the other (Samovar Porter, 2004: 59). A typical collectivistic culture distinguishes between in-groups (relatives, clans, and organizations), and out-groups ( the rest of ones network)