...In Chinese thought, the world is populated by a vast number of spirits, both good and evil. Such spirits include nature demons, evil spirits or devils, and ghosts. Evil spirits are believed to avoid light and many rituals involving fire and light have developed, such as the use of bonfires, firecrackers, and torches. Evil spirits are also traditionally believed to travel in straight line, which explains many curvy roads throughout China. If a spirit is not kept happy, perhaps because it had a bad death, an improper burial or has no descendents to perform the proper rituals, it becomes a ghost (sometimes called a "hungry ghost," a term with Buddhist origins). Ghosts may attack human beings to prompt them to meet the ghosts' needs or at least to draw attention to their plight. Ghosts receive the most attentions during Ghost Month, the seventh month in the Chinese lunar year, and especially during the Ghost Festival on the fifteenth day. The Hungry Ghost Festival has its roots in the Buddhist festival Ullambana, and also in Daoist culture. In the Tang Dynasty, the Buddhist festival Ullambana and its traditional festivities were mixed and celebrated on one day. Thus, the Ghost Festival has a special meaning for all Buddhists. The Chinese believe that the dead become ghosts who roam between Heaven and Earth on the day of their death. Spirits without descendants to make offerings to them are fed during the ghost festival, so that they may not cause trouble to the living. This...
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...to an individual claiming to fly. No one can believe until they see the person flying in the real sense. One of the major aspects that could have proved the theory is by doing it practically. If an individual is put on fire and the situation suits the theory “Spontaneous human combustion”, then it would be effective or supportive. Therefore, it would be tricky to demonstrate bearing in mind ethics and the fact that if it is “spontaneous”, then one cannot locate its occurrence (Arnold, 1995). 2. Many reported ghost sightings involve reenactments of battles, deaths, or murders. This finding suggests that certain physical objects, such as stones, can record emotions and events like a video recorder. [Kneale, N. (1972) "The stone tape," broadcast on BBC, December 25, 1972.] Over the 20 years, scientist believed that ghosts existed due to battles, deaths, and murders that were committed. However, there is no single evidence that supports the existence of ghosts or...
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...are things that cannot be proven using the scientific methods. Stories of paranormal phenomena have been around for thousands of years, and have existed in the legends and folklore of nearly every culture around the world since the beginning of human history. Most modern and ancient religions have traces of the paranormal because things such as magic, possession and so forth cannot be scientifically verified. As civilization got more advanced and built towns and permanent structures began the folktales of haunted houses. In the mid-1800s a quasi-religion called Spiritualism which was a mix of Christianity and the belief that the living could communicate with the dead. The quasi-religion attracted many followers in the U.S. and in Europe. In the article Paranormal Phenomena, “Spiritualist mediums would hold séances, or meetings of believers, during which they would claim to enter a trance and contact the spirit of the dead, usually a family member or associate of someone present at the meeting” . Britt says, “Some people view science as a weapon against paranormal beliefs, since the scientific method requires proof beyond one person’s own experiences to prove the existence of something.” Others have used scientific method in an attempt to prove the existence of ghost. James Randi a former magician and one of the most outspoken skeptics of the paranormal, has dedicated his life to exposing bad science, deception, and fraud. Since 1968, Randi has offered a cash prize to anyone who...
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...American Dream “If there’s somethin’ strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call (Ghostbusters)?” Anyone who recognizes this catchy tune will know the answer: Ghostbusters! The film Ghostbusters follows Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) and Raymond Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) as they run a paranormal extermination service in New York City. They go around catching ghosts until they learn about an ancient pair of evil spirits known as “The Keymaster” and “The Gatekeeper” that summon another destructive, shape shifting creature with the power to destroy the world, Gozer. The ghost assumes the form of a giant Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man and begins terrorizing the city. By “crossing the beams” of their special ghost-neutralizing weapons, an action Egon stated would be catastrophic, the Ghostbusters save the day. Directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, Ghostbusters endures because it establishes a strong precedent for future film producers with interests in combining elements of comedy and supernaturalism. While it has minor setbacks such as the existence of unnecessary characters, Ghostbusters’ success is driven by the time dedicated by the writer to the character development of the Ghostbusters, Ramis’ deadpan expressions along with Bill Murray’s clever dialogue, and the appeal that Ghostbusters, Inc. had to the audience as a story about running a successful business. The movie is a clever and well written adventure, comprising characters...
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...Bobbs Lyonga Elive Solomon Polytheism in Christianity, true or false? 11th September 2015 Word Count: 4104 Polytheistic Overtones In The Bible Man was created a worshipper. It is a proven fact that there is a universal belief in God, god or gods in every nation on the face of the earth including the most primitive societies. The reason being that after the fall of man in the Garden of Eden as the bible describes in the book of Genesis, man was separated from His creator and became spiritually dead. With a fallen spirit and a blinded mind, man who was created with an intuitive belief and knowledge of the existence of God was drawn by the religious instinct within him to worship something or someone. Unable to find his creator, man produced deities out of his own imagination to worship. Deities of stone, wood, water, fire, air, sun, moon, stars, mountains, birds, kings, emperors etc. giving birth to several religions, the majority being polytheistic and some are still today. Man missed the object of his worship, worshipping the creation rather than the creator. The bible says “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever.”(Romans 1:25). God none the less had an elaborate and well-designed plan for the restoration of fallen man. A plan which existed from the very beginning even before man transgressed, to show the fallibility of proponents of Deism that...
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...Dawn Lacy 9-15-2013 History Paper E.Bryant His 101 Polytheism Ancient Greek theology was based on polytheism, the beliefs in many Gods and Goddesses. Breaking the word down, “poly” comes from the Greek word for “many,” and “theism” from the Greek word for “God.” These divine entities tend to distinguish particular functions, and often took on human characteristics. The gods acted like humans, and had human voices. They would interact with humans, sometimes even spawning children with them. Even though the Gods were immortal, nor some of them are not all powerful. Fate is what they had to obey, which overrode all. The number of the deities would expand as the culture’s belief system developed. The Greek Gods/Goddesses directly took on human activities. The divine entities would also take on human form and personality. Man learned to accept or fear the powers of nature, such as the deities. Humans tended to see the divine entities as storms, seasons, the sun, and the moon as personal beings. However the earliest humans believed the main deities were An, Enlil, Enki, and Ninhursaga. In ancient Greece there were twelve deities that sat on top of Mount Olympus: Hermes, Poseidon, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Ares, Athena, Demeter, Aphrodite, Hestia, Hera, and Zeus, king of the gods. Under them sat Zeus' brother Hades, king of the underworld. Since its miraculous beginning in mainland Greece around 1800-1500 BCE, when Poseidon was the chief God and not Zeus, the...
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...Shadow of the Silk Road records Colin Thubron’s journey along the greatest land route on earth. He passes through China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey and describes the history, cultures and people along the way. The Silk Road was described as a huge network of arteries splitting and converging across the breadth of Asia. To travel it is to trace the passage not only of trade and armies but also of ideas, religions and inventions. Shadow of the Silk Road encounters Islamic countries in many forms. Overall it explains changes in China that transformed since the Cultural Revolution. Throughout this book, Thubron discovers and identifies the transformation of history that transpired. He begins to reminisce and expresses drastic cultural changes that occurred throughout his life experience and throughout his journey on the Silk Road. Thubron portrays his journey to be momentous, but yet anonymous. He states, "Sometimes a journey arises out of hope and instinct, the heady conviction, as you finger travels along the map". (p. 2) Thubron witnessed the turmoil of a society racing to catch up with the future. At the beginning of my reading, I wondered if Thubron was associating his journey to the Cultural Revolution as pathway to his purpose. "During the Cultural Revolution I was struggled badly" (p. 56) It seems as if he felt the need to face the past and think of what was needed for the future. "After the Cultural Revolution, anything is happy." (p...
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...14 October 2010 The Line of the Ancient Mariner Attempting To Explain the Unexplainable Samuel Taylor Coleridge declares an argument in Part One of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner of what is to come of The Mariner and his crew. “How a Ship having passed the Line was driven by storms to the cold Country towards the South Pole; and how from thence she made her course to the tropical Latitude of the Great Pacific Ocean; and of the strange things that befell; and in what manner the Ancyent Marinere came back to his own Country.”(Coleridge II, 235) Coleridge stated in Biographia Literaria that he originally wanted to illustrate a disordered universe, “the incidents and agents were to be in part at least, supernatural;” (Coleridge I, 132). All who have read The Rime of the Ancient Mariner know the realm the ship sails into is a realm where the laws of logic and the scientific method are not valid. I plan to investigate the theme of “the strange things that befell” the crew after crossing “the Line”. L.J. Forstner explained the line the ship passes is not a geographic line, such as the equator, it is a line of understanding. We learned the region south of the line contains the imagination and unconscious while the region to the north of it has reason and conscious. (Piper 174) Some of the unconscious and imaginative events that happened during this time are when the albatross is given the credit for leading the crew from the South Pole. The Mariner...
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...always asking, and always searching for one thing that he does not have, for one thing that he does not know. Always why and how and what. These questions has driven human society to the edge, only to know that there is something more, only to know that no man can know everything, no man can learn everything, no man can have everything. Despite giving a bunch of answers to the matter and at the same time the inability to give a proper one which would have satisfied everyone, humanity, is still in search for the real truth. Is there life after death? Does our existence ceased once we stop breathing? Do we experience a rebirth, or do we go someplace else? The quest for answering these questions is still on going and humanity will never stop wondering what is his purpose here on Earth and beyond. Throughout ages different explanation were provided, form ancient scriptures, to religions perspectives, from scientific proofs to real life experiences, all of them tried to give the proper answer, but as society evolved so did the answers. As new explanation did come to life, the old ones seemed more and more unreasonable. As I try to cite them all, I will also try to shed some light about our fate, but even though this is impossible I will let you to be the judges of that....
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...Halloween: Harmless or Haram? An Islamic Perspective Every year, on the evening of October 31st, millions of children across North America paint their faces, dress up in costumes, and go door to door collecting treats. The adults often decorate their houses with ghostly figures, carve scary faces on pumpkins, and put candles in them to create “Jack-O-Lanterns.” Unfortunately, among the millions of North Americans indulging in this custom, many are also Muslims. This article will shed some light on the significance and origins of Hallow’een, and why Muslims should not participate in it. Origins of the Hallow’een Festival The ancient Celtic (Irish/Scottish/Welsh) festival called Samhain is considered by most historians and scholars to be the predecessor of what is now Hallow’een. Samhain was the New Year’s day of the pagan Celts. It was also the Day of the Dead, a time when it was believed that the souls of those who had died during the year were allowed access into the “land of the dead”. Many traditional beliefs and customs associated with Samhain continue to be practiced today on the 31st of October. Most notable of these customs are the practice of leaving offerings of food and drink (now candy) to masked and costumed revelers, and the lighting of bonfires. Elements of this festival were incorporated into the Christian festival of All Hallow’s Eve, or Hallow-Even, the night preceding All Saint’s (Hallows’) Day. It is the glossing of the name Hallow- Even...
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...------------------------------------------------- Ensō Zen art exemplifies the Zen ideals of simplicity and spontaneity, and most often takes the form of calligraphy and simple ink drawings. The Zen circle, a popular motif in Zen art, represents the entire universe in a single, perfect stroke. Although simple, images like this are difficult to paint successfully and thus must be done with a clear mind focused on the task. Abhaya Mudra (Gesture of Fearlessness) Abhaya in Sanskrit means fearlessness, and the abhaya mudra symbolizes protection, peace, and the dispelling of fear. The gesture is made with the right hand raised to shoulder height, arm bent, and palm facing outward. The gesture is an ancient one, demonstrating that the hand is empty of weapons and thus indicating friendship and peace. To western eyes, it looks like the gesture meaning "stop." In both cases, the gesture implies fearlessness before a potential enemy. In Buddhism, the gesture is a symbol of the fearlessness—and thus the spiritual power—of the Buddha or bodhisattva who makes it. According to Buddhist tradition, the historical Buddha made this gesture immediately after gaining enlightenment. And later, when the historical Buddha was about to be attacked by an angry elephant, he held up his hand in the fearlessness gesture and immediately calmed it. The gesture of fearlessness is is only seen on Buddhas or boddhisatvas and appears most commonly in standing images. In Thailand and Laos, the abhaya...
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...Materialism: Gilbert Ryle in the ‘Concept of the Mind’ talks about the soul, which he refers to as the ‘ghost in the machine’. He claims that it is a ‘category mistake’ to talk about the soul. It is a mistake in the use of language, resulting in people speaking of the mind and body as different phenomena. Talk of the soul refers to the way in which a person acted and integrated with others in the world. Dawkins argued that there is no pre-existent soul that is by nature divine. Scientific beliefs are supported by scientific evidence, and so are reliable, whereas religious beliefs, such as the concept of a soul, depend on myth or faith, thus lack empirical evidence. Dawkins believes that belief in the soul has resulted from the human inability to accept that evil and suffering have no purpose. Each individual is a product of evolution with no immortal soul which survives death. The purpose of life is DNA survival; humans are no more than DNA carriers that will ensure the survival of the species. Dawkins says that we are no more than the ‘robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes’. Our sense of individuality comes from our genes working together as a unit. Humans perceive themselves as a whole and this is necessary for our genes to survive. Through evolution, consciousness has developed in humans so that they are able to choose the behaviour that is more likely to lead to survival of their genes for the purpose of reproduction. He believes...
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...belief in Heaven (kaluwalhatian, kalangitan, kamurawayan), Hell (impiyerno, kasamaan), and the human soul (kaluluwa). Filipinos also believed in mythological creatures. The Aswang is one the most famous of these Philippine mythological creatures. The aswang is a ghoul or vampire, an eater of the dead, and the werewolf. There is also the (Agta) a black tree spirit or man. Filipinos also believed in the Dila (The Tongue), a spirit that passes through the bamboo flooring of provincial houses, then licks certain humans to death. Filipino mythology also have fairies (Diwata and Engkanto), dwarfs (Duwende), Kapre (a tree-residing giant), Manananggal (a self-segmenter), witches (Mangkukulam), spirit-summoners (Mambabarang), goblins (Nuno sa Punso), ghosts (Multo), fireballs...
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...I chose procreation as a topic for this paper for a few reasons. First, because of complicity of the issue. Scope of this problem almost unlimited and correlates not only with modern legal and ethical general acceptable principals, but also with core issues of human existence. Second, I do believe, that understanding of origin of procreation and ability to build personal approach in this issue plays significant role for every professional in the Health Care System. Even if in real life situation some of us will never directly participate in solving such problem, still establishing firm personal position on this issue will benefited everyone who involved in running of human services. Third, I think that in the scope of course “Legal and Ethical issues in Health Care”, procreation could be a best example to justify my personal opinion on the social role of ethics and its priority over the social role of legal system. In comparing law and ethics, many people thinking about law as a sphere of clearly identified and easy to recognize points, while sphere of ethical issues for many, more-less limited to the individual stand points in terms of what is good and what is bad. However, it is an ethics established law, not law established ethics. Especially in the procreation dilemma, it turns out ethics plays a big part in all aspects of breeding, in the sense that ethics makes our choices relevant to other people. The decision to have or not to have children has a profound impact on all...
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...BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY BOOK SUMMARY OF “ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN THOUGHT AND THE OLD TESTAMENT” BY JOHN H. WALTON SUBMITTED TO PROFESSOR DANIEL WARNER IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR OBST 590 BY JOEY F. LANGLINAIS LYNCHBURG, VA JUNE 23, 2013 Chapter 1 History and Methods John Walton begins this chapter by stating that the “rediscovery of Egypt began in the eighteenth century AD and of Mesopotamia in the mid nineteenth century AD.” This allowed the tens of thousands of texts that were being unearthed to be translated and studied. The motives of those involved ranged from political to interest in antiquities to biblical apologetics. Regardless of the motive, this allowed scholars to assess what might be learned from one to enhance the understanding of another . The noted Assyriologist Freidrich Delitzsch claimed that the Bible was borrowed from Mesopotamian literature, specifically the regions of the Tigris and Euphrates. His conclusion was that the Old Testament was not divine and that Christianity was rooted in pagan mythology. The result was growing division among biblical scholars. Some even took the stand that the Old Testament should be excluded from Christian theology. Others came to the defense of the Bible. This division was between a confessional standpoint and the secular view. This work actually spawned a movement called “Pan-Babylonianism” which asserted that all world myths and Christian Scriptures were products...
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