RELI
8 December 2015 1. Briefly tell the lives of Buddha and Muhammad. How did their life experiences affect their teaching? (10 points) Siddhartha – whose name means “the one whose objective is attained” – was born into a noble family around the year 560 AC. in the city of Kapilavastu in Nepal.
Legend says that at the moment that his mother was making love with his father, she had a vision: six elephants, each one with a lotus flower on his back, were coming in her direction. The next instant, Siddhartha was conceived.
During her pregnancy, Queen Maya, his mother, decided to call the wise men in the kingdom to interpret the vision she had had, and they were unanimous in affirming that the child about to be brought into the world would be a great king or a great priest.
Siddhartha’s childhood and adolescence were very like ours; his parents wanted by all means to protect their son from knowing about the misery of the world. So he led his life confined between the walls of the gigantic palace where his parents lived and where everything seemed perfect and harmonious. He married, had a son and knew only the pleasures and delights of life. Eventually, Siddhartha wanted to keep being in the city, whilst being in the city the deprivation of the sight of suffering in his life finally became a reality to him. Shortly thereafter, he became enlightened.

2. Tell some ways that Hinduism and Buddhism are similar. Why is this so? (10 points)
Every being wants happiness and does not want suffering. This means to respect all around you. Both religions hold a high degree of compassion for others.
They each have their own set of rules and methods, but what's more important, is the particular objects which are found sacred. In India, home to the biggest Hindu population, it is the river Ganges. Since civilization has existed it has been an important and holy area. In Buddhist thought, it is nature which guides you to each step you take, just as the water flows through the land. This is so, mostly because Buddha was interconnected with both religions and is credited with a founder of one of them so some beliefs carried over. 3. Name and describe the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. (15 points)
Baptism- Dipping or sprinkling of holy water and oils on the person symbolizing the purification and admission into the Christian church.
Eucharist- Also known as communion is the first time you get to participate in the drinking and eating of the wine symbolizing Jesus’ blood and the bread symbolizing his flesh as Jesus did at the Last Supper.
Reconciliation- This Sacrament is when you go to a Priest and confess your sins who will then give you a penance to do, like say a certain amount of prayers.
Confirmation- An adult member of the Catholic Church confirming his beliefs in front of the congregation and becoming a member on his own.
Holy Matrimony- When two people of the Catholic faith get married in the Church of God and God as your witnesses.
Holy Orders- When a person gets ordained and becomes a Priest.
Anointing of the Sick- If you’re sick you can come forth and get blessed in front of the congregation at your church by the priest.

4. Briefly compare and contrast the lives of two spiritual heroes that we have studied. (10 points)
Two spiritual heroes I compare together are Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. because the basis of their teachings were so similar. Both of their teachings were based on how much we have in common with each other, with MLK Jr. He wanted freedom for all races and equality. Gandhi just wanted religions to stop fighting and understand how much all of our religions are based off of the same roots of a God and many prophets. 5. What relationship do you see between violence and the lives of the spiritual heroes that we have studied? Does the popularity of Guan Yin (Kwan Yin) relate to this in any way? (10 points)
The relationship between violence and all of the spiritual heroes was non-existent from their side, most of the time violence was induced from the other parties. None of them condoned violence because what they were all searching for was peace and equality. Yes I do believe the popularity of Guan Yin is related to the spiritual heroes in ways because I think they all believed in getting to her level of compassion, kindness and love with her being the goddess of them all. Many of them didn’t believe in her and may have not even known of her but all tried to be as much like her without noticing it. 6. How can you relate the life or teaching of a spiritual hero or heroes to your own life? (15 points)
In my life the teaching of Martin Luther King Jr. I relate most to MLK because he always orated the idea of equality. Whilst I may have never been a victim of racism, because I am white, I see supremacy every day. Supremacy only exists because the other minorities insist they are treated unfairly. Honestly, I hate to see it. This problem will persist until everyone can look past all differences. At the same time, our country never had these problems when we more closely followed the reformation of the United States. Discrimination against people who are queer, or abnormal is another reason the nation has problems. But, in today’s world we have to accept it otherwise it is unlawful