RVRH

Rule by the Laws of chaos

The first chaotic law is that the truth is different for everyone.
The second law of chaos,is that each one
MUST sin, and therefore DESERVES attack and death.
The third law of chaos is that For if God cannot BE mistaken, then He must accept His Son’s belief in what he is, and
HATE him for it.
the Fouth law of chaos is that you HAVE what
you have taken
The Final law of Chaos is that there is a substitution for love

The “laws of chaos” CAN be brought to light, though NEVER understood. Chaotic
laws are hardly meaningful, and therefore out of reason’s sphere. Yet they APPEAR to
constitute an obstacle to reason and to truth. Let us, then, look upon them calmly, that
we may look BEYOND them, understanding what they ARE, NOT what they would
maintain. It IS essential it be understood what they are FOR, because it is their PURPOSE
to make meaningless, and to ATTACK the truth. Here are the laws that rule the world you
made. And yet they govern nothing, and need NOT be broken; merely looked upon and
gone beyond.
The first chaotic law is that the truth is different for everyone. Like all these principles,
this one maintains that each is separate, and has a different set of thoughts which SETS
HIM OFF from others. This principle evolves from the belief there is a hierarchy of illusions;
some are MORE valuable, and THEREFORE true. And each establishes this FOR HIMSELF,
and MAKES it true by his attack on what another values. This is justified BECAUSE the
values differ, and those who hold them SEEM to be unlike, and THEREFORE enemies.
Think how this SEEMS to interfere with the first principle of miracles. For this
establishes degrees of TRUTH among illusions, making it appear that some of them are
HARDER to overcome than others. If it were realized that they are all the same and
EQUALLY untrue, it would be easy, then, to understand that miracles apply to ALL of
them. Errors of ANY kind can be corrected, BECAUSE they are untrue. When brought to
truth, instead of TO EACH OTHER, they merely disappear. No PART of nothing CAN be
more resistant to the truth than can another.
The second law of chaos, dear indeed to every worshipper of sin, is that each one
MUST sin, and therefore DESERVES attack and death. This principle, closely related to
the first, is the demand that errors call for punishment, and NOT correction. For the
DESTRUCTION of the one who makes the error places him BEYOND correction, and
beyond forgiveness. What he has done is thus interpreted as an irrevocable sentence on
himself, which God Himself is powerless to overlook. Sin cannot BE remitted, being the
belief the Son of God can make mistakes for which his own destruction becomes inevitable.
Think what this SEEMS to do to the relationship between the Father and the Son.
Now it appears that they can NEVER be One again. For One must ALWAYS be condemned,
AND BY THE OTHER. Now are they different, and ENEMIES. And THEIR relationship is
one of opposition, just as the separate aspects of the Son meet ONLY to conflict, but NOT
to join. One becomes weak, the other strong BY HIS DEFEAT. And fear of God, and of
each, other now appears as sensible, made real by what the Son of God has done, both
to himself AND his Creator.
The arrogance on which the laws of chaos stand could not be more apparent than
emerges here.Here is a principle which would define what the CREATOR of reality must
be; what He MUST think, and what He must believe; and how He must RESPOND, believing
it. It is not seen as even necessary that He be asked about the truth of what has been
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established for His belief. His Son can TELL Him this, and He has but the choice whether
to take his word for it, or be mistaken.
This leads directly to the third preposterous belief that seems to make chaos eternal.
For if God cannot BE mistaken, then He must accept His Son’s belief in what he is, and
HATE him for it.See how the fear of God is REINFORCED by this third principle. Now it
becomes IMPOSSIBLE to turn to Him for help in misery. For now He has become the
“enemy” Who “caused” it, and to Whom appeal is useless. Nor can salvation lie within
the Son, whose every aspect seems to be at war with Him, and JUSTIFIED in its attack.
And now is conflict made inevitable, and beyond the help of God. And now salvation
MUST remain impossible, because the Saviour HAS become the enemy.There can be NO
release and NO escape. Atonement thus becomes a myth, and vengeance, NOT
forgiveness, is the Will of God. From where all this begins, there IS no sight of help that
can succeed. ONLY destruction can BE the outcome. And God Himself SEEMS to be
siding with it, to overcome His Son. Think not the ego will enable you to find escape
from what it wants. THAT is the function of this course, which does NOT value what the
ego cherishes.

The ego values only what it TAKES. This leads to the fourth law of chaos which, if
the others are accepted, MUST be true. This seeming law is the belief you HAVE what
you have taken. By this, another’s loss becomes your gain, and thus it fails to recognize
that you can never “ take away” save from YOURSELF. Yet all the other laws must lead to
this. For enemies do NOT give willingly to one another, nor would they seek to SHARE
the things they value. And what your ENEMIES would keep from you must BE worth
having, just BECAUSE they keep it hidden from your sight.
All of the mechanisms of madness are seen emerging here. The “enemy,” made
strong by keeping hidden the valuable inheritance which should be yours; your JUSTIFIED
possession, and attack for what has been withheld; and the inevitable loss the enemy
MUST suffer, to save YOURSELF. Thus do the guilty ones protest their innocence. Were
they not forced into this foul attack by the unscrupulous behavior of the enemy, they
would respond with only kindness. But, in a savage world, the kind cannot survive. So
they MUST take, or else be taken FROM.
And now there is a vague, unanswered question, not yet “explained.” What IS this
precious thing, this priceless pearl, this hidden secret treasure, to be wrested in righteous
wrath from this most treacherous and cunning enemy? It must be what you want, and
never found. And now you “understand” the reason WHY you found it not. For it was
TAKEN from you by the enemy, and hidden where you would not think to look. He hid
it in his BODY, making it the cover for his guilt; the hiding place for what belongs to
YOU.
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Now must his body be destroyed and sacrificed, that you may have that which
BELONGS to you. His treachery DEMANDS his death, that YOU may live. And you attack
only in self-defense.But what is it you want, that NEEDS his death? Can you be sure your
murderous attack IS justified, unless you know what it is FOR? And here a final principle
of chaos comes to the “rescue.” It holds there is a SUBSTITUTE for love. This is the
“magic” that will cure all of your pain; the missing factor in your madness THAT MAKES
IT “SANE.” THIS is the reason why you must attack. HERE is what makes your vengeance
justified.
Behold, unveiled, the ego’s secret gift, torn from your brother’s body, hidden there
in malice and in hatred for the one to whom the gift belongs. HE would deprive you of
the secret ingredient which would give meaning to your life. The substitute for love,
born of your enmity to one another, MUST be salvation. IT has no substitute, and there IS
only one. And ALL relationships have but the purpose of seizing it, and making it your
own. Never is your possession made complete. And never will your brother cease his
own attack on YOU, for what you stole. Nor will God end His vengeance upon both, for,
in His madness, He must have this substitute for love, and kill you both.
You who believe you walk in sanity, with feet on solid ground, and through a
world where meaning CAN be found, consider this: These ARE the laws on which your
“sanity” appears to rest. These ARE the principles which makes the ground beneath your
feet seem solid. And it IS here you look for meaning. These are the laws YOU made for
your salvation. They hold in place the substitute for Heaven that you prefer. This is their
PURPOSE; they were MADE for this. There is no point in asking what they mean. This is
apparent. The MEANS of madness MUST be insane. Are you as certain that you realize
the GOAL is madness?
NO-ONE WANTS madness, nor does anyone cling to his madness if he sees that this
is what it IS. What PROTECTS madness is the belief THAT IT IS TRUE. It is the FUNCTION
of insanity to TAKE THE PLACE of truth. It must be seen AS truth, to be believed. And if
it IS the truth, then must its opposite, which was the truth before, be madness now. Such
a reversal, COMPLETELY turned around, with madness sanity, illusions true, attack a
kindness, hatred love, and murder benediction, IS the goal the laws of chaos serve.
These are the means by which the laws of God APPEAR to be reversed. Here do the laws
of sin APPEAR to hold love captive, and let sin go free.
These do not SEEM to be the goals of chaos. For, by the great reversal, they appear
to be the laws of ORDER. How could it NOT be so? Chaos is lawlessness, and HAS no
laws. To be believed, its SEEMING laws must be perceived as REAL. Their goal of madness
MUST be seen as sanity. And fear, with ashen lips and sightless eyes, blinded and terrible
to look upon, is lifted to the throne of love, its dying conqueror, its substitute, the saviour
from salvation. How lovely do the laws of fear make death appear! Give thanks unto the
hero on love’s throne, who saved the Son of God for fear and death!
And yet, how can it be that laws like these can BE believed? There is a strange device
that makes this possible. Nor is it unfamiliar; we have seen how it APPEARS to function
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many times before. In truth, it does NOT function, yet in dreams, where ONLY shadows
play the major roles, it seems most powerful. No law of chaos COULD compel belief, but
for the emphasis on form and DISREGARD OF CONTENT. No-one who thinks that one
of them is true SEES WHAT IT SAYS. Some FORMS it takes seem to have meaning, and
that is all.
How can some FORMS of murder NOT mean death? Can an attack in ANY form be
love? What FORM of condemnation is a blessing? Who makes his Saviour powerless, and
FINDS salvation? Let not the FORM of the attack on him deceive you. You CANNOT seek
to harm him, and be saved. Who can find SAFETY from attack by turning on himself?
How can it matter what the FORM this madness takes? It is a judgment that defeats
ITSELF, condemning what it says it wants to save. Be not deceived when madness takes
a form you think is lovely. What is intent on your destruction, is NOT your friend.
You would maintain, and think it true, that you do NOT believe such senseless laws,
nor act upon them. And, when you look at what they SAY, they CANNOT be believed.
Brothers, you DO believe them. For how else could you PERCEIVE the form they take,
with content such as this? Can ANY form of this be tenable? Yet you believe them FOR
the forms they take, and DO NOT RECOGNIZE the content. IT never changes. Can you
paint rosy lips upon a skeleton, dress it in loveliness, pet it and pamper it, AND MAKE IT
LIVE? And can you be content with an illusion that YOU are living?
There IS no life outside of Heaven. Where God created life, there life must be. In
ANY state apart from Heaven, life is illusion. At best, it SEEMS like life; at worst, like
death. Yet both are judgments on what is NOT life, equal in their inaccuracy and lack of
meaning. Life not in Heaven is impossible, and what is NOT in Heaven is not ANYWHERE.
Outside of Heaven, only the conflict of illusions stands; senseless, impossible and beyond
ALL reason, and yet perceived as an eternal BARRIER to Heaven. Illusions ARE but forms.
Their content is NEVER true.
The laws of chaos govern ALL illusions. Their forms conflict, making it SEEM quite
possible to value some above the others. Yet each one rests as surely on the belief the
laws of chaos ARE the laws of order, as do the others. Each one upholds these laws
completely, offering a certain witness that these laws are true. The seeming gentler FORM
of the attack is no less certain in its witnessing, OR ITS RESULTS. Certain it is illusions will
bring fear, because of the beliefs that they imply, NOT for their form. And lack of faith in
love, in ANY form, attests to chaos AS REALITY.
From the belief in sin, the faith in chaos MUST follow. It is BECAUSE it follows that
it seems to be a logical conclusion; a valid step in ordered thought. The steps to chaos
DO follow neatly from their starting-point. Each is a different form in the progression of
truth’s reversal, leading still deeper into terror, and AWAY from truth. Think not one step
is smaller than another, nor that return from one is easier. The whole descent from
Heaven lies in each one. And where your thinking starts, there must it end.
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Brothers, take not one step in the descent to hell. For HAVING taken one, you will
NOT RECOGNIZE the rest for what they are. And they WILL follow. Attack in ANY form
has placed your foot upon the twisted stairway that leads FROM Heaven. Yet, any instant,
it is possible to have all this undone. How can you know whether you chose the stairs to
Heaven or the way to hell? Quite easily. What do you feel? Is peace in your awareness?
Are you CERTAIN which way you go? And are you sure the goal of Heaven CAN be
reached? If not, you walk alone. Ask, then, your Friend to JOIN with you, and GIVE you
certainty of where you go.

I AM

This is the ONLY thing that you need
do for vision, happiness, release from pain,
and the COMPLETE escape from sin,
ALL to be given you. Say ONLY this, but MEAN it
with NO reservations, for here the power of salvation lies:

“I AM responsible for what I see.
I CHOSE the feelings I experience,
and I DECIDED
ON the goal I would achieve.
And everything that SEEMS to happen TO me,
I ASKED
FOR and received as I had asked.”

Deceive yourself no longer that you are helpless
in the face of what is done TO you.
Acknowledge but that YOU have been mistaken,
and ALL effects of your mistakes will
disappear.

The Blind Men and the Elephant

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
Though all of them were blind,
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approached the Elephant
And, happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me, but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”

The Second, feeling the tusk,
Cried, “Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis very clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!”

The Third approached the animal
And, happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up he spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “The Elephant
Is very like a snake!”
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee:
“What most the wondrous beast is like
Is very plain,” quoth he;
“Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said, “Even the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can:
This marvel of an elephant
Is very like a fan!”
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong.
Though each was partly in the right,
They all were in the wrong!

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

John Godfrey Saxe (1816 – 1887), The Blind Men and the Elephant

Buddha Prophesized about Jesus (Yeshua)

Buddha Spoke of Jesus 500 years before Jesus was born

In the Buddhist Scriptures, there is a prophecy from about 500 B.C. (Before Christ) of the “Holy One” who would come. One who would lead the people away from the old way, and introduce a new way.

Buddha described the “Holy One” by saying;

“in the palm of his hands and in the flat of his feet will be the design of a disk, in his side will be a stab wound; and his forehead will have many marks like scars….” This describes the risen Jesus, after being crucified for our sins, exactly!

http://bibleprobe.com/buddhatoldofjesus2.htm

Hinduism

Hinduism (known as Hindū Dharma in modern Indian languages[a]) is a religious tradition[b] that originated in the Indian subcontinent. In contemporary usage Hinduism is also sometimes referred to as Sanātana Dharma (सनातन धर्म), a Sanskrit phrase meaning “eternal law”.[c]

With its origins in the Vedic civilization[1] it has no known founder,[2][3] being itself a conglomerate of diverse beliefs and traditions. It is the world’s oldest existent religion,[4][5] and has approximately a billion adherents, of whom about 905 million live in India and Nepal.[6] This places it as the world’s third largest religion after Christianity and Islam. Other countries with large Hindu populations include Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Fiji, Suriname, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

Hinduism contains a vast body of scriptures. Divided as revealed and remembered and developed over millennia, these scriptures expound on theology, philosophy and mythology, providing spiritual insights and guidance on the practice of dharma (religious living). Among such texts, the Vedas and the Upanishads are the foremost in authority, importance and antiquity. Other major scriptures include the Tantras, the sectarian Agamas, the Purāṇas and the epics Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa. The Bhagavad Gītā, a treatise excerpted from the Mahābhārata, is sometimes called a summary of the spiritual teachings of the Vedas.[d]
In Hinduism, the purusharthas are the canonical four ends or aims of human life.[1][2][3] These goals are, from lowest to highest:

Kāma - pleasure or love
Artha - wealth
Dharma - righteousness or morality
Moksha - liberation from the cycle of reincarnation
Historically, the first three goals, dharma, artha and kama, were articulated first (Sanskrit: trivarga), and the fourth goal, moksha, later (Skt.: caturvarga). In living tradition, the notion of the four purusharthas represents an holistic approach to the satisfaction of man’s physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

There is a popular correspondence between the four purusharthas, the four stages of life (Skt.: āśrama: Brahmacharya [student life], Grihastha [household life], Vanaprastha [retired life] and Sannyasa [renunciation]) and the four primary castes or strata of society (Skt.: varna: Brahmana [priest/teacher], Kshatriya [warrior/politician], Vaishya [landowner/entrepreneur] and Shudra [servant/manual labourer]). This, however, has not been traced to any primary source in early Sanskrit literature.

Classical Hindu thought accepts two main life-long dharmas: Grihastha Dharma and Sannyasin Dharma.

The Grihastha Dharma recognize four goals known as the puruṣhārthas. They are:

kāma: Sensual pleasure and enjoyment
artha: Material prosperity and success
dharma: Following the laws and rules that an individual lives under
moksha: Liberation from the cycle of samsara[38][39]
Among these, dharma and moksha play a special role:[39] dharma must dominate an individual’s pursuit of kama and artha while seeing moksha, at the horizon.

The Sannyasin Dharma recognizes, but renounces Kama, Artha and Dharma, focusing entirely on Moksha. As described below, the Grihasthi eventually enters this stage. However, some enter this stage immediately from whichever stage they may be in.
In whatever way a Hindu defines the goal of life, there are several methods (yogas) that sages have taught for reaching that goal. A practitioner of yoga is called a yogi. Texts dedicated to Yoga include the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and, as their philosophical and historical basis, the Upanishads. Paths one can follow to achieve the spiritual goal of life (moksha, samadhi, or nirvana) include:

Bhakti Yoga (the path of love and devotion),
Karma Yoga (the path of right action),
Rāja Yoga (the path of meditation) and
Jñāna Yoga (the path of wisdom).[40]
An individual may prefer one yoga over others according to his or her inclination and understanding. For instance some followers of the Dvaita school hold that Bhakti (”devotion”) is the only practical path to achieve spiritual perfection for most people, based on their belief that the world is currently in the age of Kali yuga (one of four epochs part of the Yuga cycle).[e] Practice of one yoga does not exclude others. Many schools believe that the different yogas naturally blend into and aid other yogas. For example, the practice of jnana yoga, is thought to inevitably lead to pure love (the goal of bhakti yoga), and vice versa.[f] Someone practicing deep meditation (such as in raja yoga) must embody the core principles of karma yoga, jnana yoga and bhakti yoga, whether directly or indirectly.[40][41]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism

The Prayer of the Apostle Paul

THE GNOSTIC SOCIETY LIBRARY

The Nag Hammadi Library

The Prayer of the Apostle Paul

——————————————————————————–

Translation by Dieter Mueller

(Approximately two lines are missing.)

… your light, give me your mercy! My Redeemer, redeem me, for I am yours; the one who has come forth from you. You are my mind; bring me forth! You are my treasure house; open for me! You are my fullness; take me to you! You are (my) repose; give me the perfect thing that cannot be grasped!

I invoke you, the one who is and who pre-existed in the name which is exalted above every name, through Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lords, the King of the ages; give me your gifts, of which you do not repent, through the Son of Man, the Spirit, the Paraclete of truth. Give me authority when I ask you; give healing for my body when I ask you through the Evangelist, and redeem my eternal light soul and my spirit. And the First-born of the Pleroma of grace — reveal him to my mind!

Grant what no angel eye has seen and no archon ear (has) heard, and what has not entered into the human heart which came to be angelic and (modelled) after the image of the psychic God when it was formed in the beginning, since I have faith and hope. And place upon me your beloved, elect, and blessed greatness, the First-born, the First-begotten, and the wonderful mystery of your house; for yours is the power and the glory and the praise and the greatness for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer of Paul (the) Apostle.
In Peace.
Christ is holy.

http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/prayp.html

Gnosticism

Gnosticism (from Greek gnosis, knowledge) refers to a diverse, syncretistic religious movement consisting of various belief systems generally united in the teaching that humans are divine souls trapped in a material world created by an imperfect spirit, the demiurge, who is frequently identified with the Abrahamic God. The demiurge, who is often depicted as an embodiment of evil, at other times as simply imperfect and as benevolent as its inadequacy allows, exists alongside another remote and unknowable supreme being that embodies good. In order to free oneself from the inferior material world, one needs gnosis, or esoteric spiritual knowledge available only to a learned elite. Jesus of Nazareth is identified as an embodiment of the supreme being who became incarnate to bring gnosis to the Earth.

Gnosticism was popular in the Mediterranean and middle eastern regions in the first centuries of the common era, but it was suppressed[citation needed] as a dualistic heresy in areas controlled by the Roman Empire when Christianity became its official religion in the fourth century. Conversion to Islam greatly reduced the remaining number of Gnostics throughout the middle ages, though a few isolated communities continue to exist to the present. Gnostic ideas became influential in the philosophies of various esoteric mystical movements of the late 19th and 20th centuries in Europe and North America, including some that explicitly identify themselves as revivals or even continuations of earlier gnostic groups.

Nag Hammâdi (Arabic نجع حمادي; transliterated: Naj’ Hammādi), is a town in central Egypt, called Chenoboskion (Greek Χηνοβόσκιον) in classical antiquity, about 80 kilometres north-west of Luxor with some 30,000 citizens. It is mostly a peasant area where goods such as sugar and aluminium are produced.

The town of Nag Hammadi was established by Mahmoud Basha Hammadi, who was a member of a large Egyptian family Hammadi in Sohag. He created this town for the indigenous people who were forced to leave their homeland by the British occupation in Sohag. In return those people gave their new town the name of Hammadi. Mahmoud Basha Hammadi was known for his strong positions against the British occupation. He owned most of the agricultural land in Sohag

The Nag Hammadi library (popularly known as The Gnostic Gospels) is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the town of Nag Hammâdi in 1945. That year, twelve leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local peasant named Mohammed Ali. The writings in these codices comprised fifty-two mostly Gnostic tractates (treatises), but they also include three works belonging to the Corpus Hermeticum and a partial translation / alteration of Plato’s Republic. In his “Introduction” to The Nag Hammadi Library in English, James Robinson suggests that these codices may have belonged to a nearby Pachomian monastery, and were buried after Bishop Athanasius condemned the uncritical use of non-canonical books in his Festal Letter of 367 AD.

The contents of the codices were written in Coptic, though the works were probably all translations from Greek. The best-known of these works is probably the Gospel of Thomas, of which the Nag Hammadi codices contain the only complete text. After the discovery it was recognized that fragments of these sayings of Jesus appeared in manuscripts discovered at Oxyrhynchus in 1898, and matching quotations were recognized in other early Christian sources. Subsequently, a 1st or 2nd century date of composition circa 80 AD for the lost Greek originals of the Gospel of Thomas has been proposed, though this is disputed by many if not the majority of biblical matter researchers. The once buried manuscripts themselves date from the 3rd and 4th centuries.

The Nag Hammadi codices are housed in the Coptic Museum in Cairo, Egypt. To read about their significance to modern scholarship into early Christianity, see the Gnosticism article.

http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/prayp.html

Buddhism

Buddhism is a dharmic religion and a philosophy.[1] It is also known as Buddha Dharma or Dhamma, which means roughly the “teachings of the Awakened One” in Sanskrit and Pali, languages of ancient Buddhist texts. Buddhism was founded around the fifth century BCE by Siddhartha Gautama, hereafter referred to as “the Buddha.”

The Four Noble Truths
According to the scriptures, the Buddha taught that in life there exists Dukkha, which is in essence sorrow/suffering, that is caused by desire and it can be brought to cessation by following the Noble Eightfold Path (Sanskrit: Āryāṣṭāṅgamārgaḥ , Pāli: Ariyo Aṭṭhaṅgiko Maggo). This teaching is called the Catvāry Āryasatyāni (Pali: Cattāri Ariyasaccāni), or the “Four Noble Truths”.

Suffering: Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.
The cause of suffering: The craving which leads to renewed existence (rebirth) (the cycle of samsara)
The cessation of suffering: The cessation of craving.
The way leading to the cessation of suffering: The Noble Eightfold Path;
According to the scriptures, the Four Noble Truths were among the topics of the first sermon given by the Buddha after his enlightenment,[35] which was given to the five ascetics with whom he had practised austerities. The Four Noble Truths were originally spoken by the Buddha not in the form of a religious or philosophical text, but in the manner of a medical diagnosis and remedial prescription in a style that was common at that time. The early teaching[36] and the traditional understanding in the Theravada[37] is that these are an advanced teaching for those who are ready for them.

The Noble Eightfold Path

The eight-spoked Dharmachakra. The eight spokes represent the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism.According to a saying attributed in some traditions to the Buddha, if a person does not follow the Eightfold Path, one lives one’s life like a preoccupied child playing with toys in a house that is burning to the ground.[38]

The Noble Eightfold Path is the way to the cessation of suffering, the fourth part of the Four Noble Truths. This is divided into three sections: Sila (which concerns wholesome physical actions), Samadhi (which concerns the meditative concentration of the mind) and Prajñā (which concerns spiritual insight into the true nature of all things).

Sila is morality — abstaining from unwholesome deeds of body and speech. Within the division of sila are three parts of the Noble Eightfold Path:

Right Speech — One speaks in a non hurtful, not exaggerated, truthful way (samyag-vāc, sammā-vācā)
Right Actions — Wholesome action, avoiding action that would do harm (samyak-karmānta, sammā-kammanta)
Right Livelihood — One’s way of livelihood does not harm in any way oneself or others; directly or indirectly (samyag-ājīva, sammā-ājīva)
Samadhi is developing mastery over one’s own mind. Within this division are another three parts of the Noble Eightfold Path:

Right Effort/Exercise — One makes an effort to improve (samyag-vyāyāma, sammā-vāyāma)
Right Mindfulness/Awareness — Mental ability to see things for what they are with clear consciousness (samyak-smṛti, sammā-sati)
Right Concentration/Meditation — Being aware of the present reality within oneself, without any craving or aversion. (samyak-samādhi, sammā-samādhi)
Prajñā is the wisdom which purifies the mind. Within this division fall two more parts of the Noble Eightfold Path:

Right Understanding — Understanding reality as it is, not just as it appears to be. (samyag-dṛṣṭi, sammā-diṭṭhi)
Right Thoughts — Change in the pattern of thinking. (samyak-saṃkalpa, sammā-saṅkappa)
The word samyak means “perfect”. There are a number of ways to interpret the Eightfold Path. On one hand, the Eightfold Path is spoken of as being a progressive series of stages through which the practitioner moves, the culmination of one leading to the beginning of another, whereas others see the states of the ‘Path’ as requiring simultaneous development. It is also common to categorize the Eightfold Path into prajñā (Pāli paññā, wisdom), śīla (Pāli sīla, virtuous behavior) and samādhi (concentration).

Middle Way
The primary guiding principle of Buddhist practice is the Middle Way which was discovered by the Buddha prior to his enlightenment (bodhi). The Middle Way or Middle Path has several definitions:

It is often described as the practice of non-extremism; a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and opposing self-mortification.
It also refers to taking a middle ground between certain metaphysical views, e.g. that things ultimately either exist or do not exist.[40]
An explanation of the state of nirvana and perfect enlightenment where all dualities fuse and cease to exist as separate entities (see Seongcheol).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budhism

Judaism

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people, based on principles and ethics embodied in the Bible (Tanakh) and the Talmud. According to Jewish tradition, the history of Judaism begins with the Covenant between God and Abraham (ca. 2000 BCE), the patriarch and progenitor of the Jewish people. Judaism among the oldest religious traditions still in practice today.[citation needed] Jewish history and doctrines have influenced other religions such as Christianity, Islam, Samaritanism and the Bahá’í Faith.

While Judaism has seldom, if ever, been monolithic in practice, it has always been monotheistic in theology. It differs from many religions in that central authority is not vested in a person or group, but in sacred texts and traditions. Throughout the ages, Judaism has clung to a number of religious principles, the most important of which is the belief in a single, omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent, transcendent God, who created the universe and continues to govern it. According to traditional Jewish belief, the God who created the world established a covenant with the Jewish people, and revealed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of the Torah. The traditional practice of Judaism revolves around study and the observance of God’s laws and commandments as written in the Torah and expounded in the Talmud.

With an estimated 14 million adherents in 2006,[1][2] Judaism is the world’s eleventh-largest organized religion.

At its core, the Bible is an account of the Israelites’ relationship with God from their earliest history until the building of the Second Temple (c. 350 BCE). This relationship is often a contentious one, as the Israelites struggle with their faith in God and attraction to other gods. Among the larger-than-life figures we meet in the Bible are the Patriarchs — Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who wrestled with their beliefs —- and Moses, who led the Israelites out of Egypt.

Abraham, hailed as the first Hebrew and the father of the Jewish people, rejected the idolatry that he saw around him and embraced monotheism. As a reward for this act of faith in one God, he was promised many offspring: “Look now toward heaven and count the stars/So shall be your progeny.” (Genesis 15:5) Abraham’s first child was Ishmael and his second son was Isaac, whom God said would continue Abraham’s work and inherit the Land of Israel (then called Canaan), after having been exiled and redeemed. God sent the patriarch Jacob and his children to Egypt, where after many generations they became enslaved. God later commanded Moses to redeem the Israelites from slavery, leading to the Exodus from Egypt. The Israelites gathered at Mount Sinai in 1313 BCE (Jewish Year 2448) and received the Torah - the five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These books, together with Nevi’im and Ketuvim are known as Torah Shebikhtav: literally the “Written Torah,” as opposed to the Oral Torah, which refers to the Mishna and the Talmud. Eventually, God led them to the land of Israel.

God designated the descendants of Aaron, Moses’ brother, to be a priestly class within the Israelite community. They first officiated in the tabernacle (a portable house of worship), and later their descendants were in charge of worship in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Once the Israelites had settled in the land of Israel, the tabernacle was planted in the city of Shiloh for over 300 years during which time God provided great men, and occasionally women, to rally the nation against attacking enemies, some of which were sent by God as a punishment for the sins of the people. This is described in the Book of Joshua and the Book of Judges. As time went on, the spiritual level of the nation declined to the point that God allowed the Philistines to capture the tabernacle in Shiloh.

The people of Israel then told Samuel the prophet that they had reached the point where they needed to be governed by a permanent king, as were other nations, as described in the Books of Samuel. Samuel grudgingly acceded to this request and appointed Saul, a great but very humble man, to be their King. When the people pressured Saul into going against a command conveyed to him by Samuel, God told Samuel to appoint David in his stead.

Once King David was established, he told the prophet Nathan that he would like to build a permanent temple, and as a reward for his actions, God promised David that he would allow his son to build the temple and the throne would never depart from his children (David himself was not allowed to build the temple because he had been involved in many wars, making it inappropriate for him to build a temple representing peace). As a result, it was David’s son Solomon who built the first permanent temple according to God’s will, in Jerusalem, as described in the Books of Kings.

After Solomon’s death, his Kingdom was split into the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah. After several hundred years, because of rampant idolatry, God allowed Assyria to conquer Israel and exile its people. The southern Kingdom of Judah, whose capital was Jerusalem, home of the Temple, remained under the rule of the House of David, however, as in the north, idolatry increased to the point that God allowed Babylonia to conquer the Kingdom, destroy the Temple which had stood for 410 years, and exile its people to Babylonia, with the promise that they would be redeemed after seventy years. These events are recorded in the Book of Isaiah and the Book of Jeremiah.

After seventy years the Judahites were allowed back into Judaea under the leadership of Ezra, and the Temple was rebuilt, as recorded in the Book of Ezra and the Book of Nehemiah. The Second Temple stood for 420 years, after which it was destroyed by the Roman general (later emperor) Titus. The Israelite temple is to remain in ruins until a descendant of David arises to restore the glory of Israel and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.

Rabbinic tradition holds that the details and interpretation of the law, which are called the Oral Torah or oral law, were originally an unwritten tradition based upon what God told Moses on Mount Sinai. However, as the persecutions of the Jews increased and the details were in danger of being forgotten, these oral laws were recorded by Rabbi Judah haNasi (Judah the Prince) in the Mishnah, redacted circa 200 CE. The Talmud was a compilation of both the Mishnah and the Gemara, rabbinic commentaries redacted over the next three centuries. The Gemara originated in two major centers of Jewish scholarship, Palestine and Babylonia. Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis developed, and two works of Talmud were created. The older compilation is called the Jerusalem Talmud. It was compiled sometime during the fourth century in Israel. The Babylonian Talmud was compiled from discussions in the houses of study by the scholars Ravina I, Ravina II, and Rav Ashi by 500 C.E., although it continued to be edited later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism

Islam

Islam (Arabic: الإسلام; al-’islām (help·info)) is a monotheistic religion originating with the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th-century Arab religious and political figure. The word Islam means “submission”, or the total surrender of oneself to God (Arabic: الله, Allāh). An adherent of Islam is known as a Muslim, meaning “one who submits (to God)”.[1] There are between 0.9 and 1.4 billion Muslims, making Islam the second-largest religion in the world, after Christianity.[2]

Muslims believe that God revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad, God’s final prophet, and regard the Qur’an and the Sunnah (the words and deeds of Muhammad) as the fundamental sources of Islam.[3] They do not regard Muhammad as the founder of a new religion, but as the restorer of the original monotheistic faith of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. Islamic tradition holds that Judaism and Christianity distorted the messages of these prophets over time either in interpretation, in text, or both.[4]

Islam includes many religious practices. Adherents are generally required to observe the Five Pillars of Islam, which are five duties that unite Muslims into a community.[5] In addition to the Five Pillars, Islamic law (Sharia) has developed a tradition of rulings that touch on virtually all aspects of life and society. This tradition encompasses everything from practical matters like dietary laws and banking to warfare.[6]

Almost all Muslims belong to one of two major denominations, the Sunni and Shi’a. The schism developed in the late 7th century following disagreements over the religious and political leadership of the Muslim community. Roughly 85 percent of Muslims are Sunni and 15 percent are Shi’a. Islam is the predominant religion throughout the Middle East, as well as in parts of Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. Large communities are also found in China, Western Europe, the Balkan Peninsula, and Russia. About 20 percent of Muslims live in Arab countries.[7]

Muslims consider the Qur’an to be the literal word of God; it is the central religious text of Islam.[22] Muslims believe that the verses of the Qur’an were revealed to Muhammad by God through the angel Gabriel on many occasions between the years 610 and his death on July 6, 632. The Qur’an was written down by Muhammad’s companions (sahabah) while he was alive, although the prime method of transmission was orally. It was compiled in the time of Abu Bakr, the first caliph, and was standardized in the time of Uthman, the third caliph. From textual evidence, modern Western academics find that the Qur’an of today has not changed significantly over the years.[23]

The Qur’an is divided into 114 suras, or chapters, which combined, contain 6,236 āyāt, or poetic verses. The chronologically earlier suras, revealed at Mecca, are primarily concerned with ethical and spiritual topics. The later Medinan suras mostly discuss social and moral issues relevant to the Muslim community.[24] The Qur’an is more concerned with moral guidance than legal instruction, and is considered the “sourcebook of Islamic principles and values”.[25] Muslim jurists consult the hadith, or the written record of Muhammad’s life, to both supplement the Qur’an and assist with its interpretation. The science of Qur’anic commentary and exegesis is known as tafsir.[26]

The word Qur’an means “recitation”. When Muslims speak in the abstract about “the Qur’an”, they usually mean the scripture as recited in Arabic rather than the printed work or any translation of it. To Muslims, the Qur’an is perfect only as revealed in the original Arabic; translations are necessarily deficient because of language differences, the fallibility of translators, and the impossibility of preserving the original’s inspired style. Translations are therefore regarded only as commentaries on the Qur’an, or “interpretations of its meaning”, not as the Qur’an itself.[27]

Muhammad (c. 570 – July 6, 632) was an Arab religious, political, and military leader who founded the religion of Islam as a historical phenomenon. Muslims view him not as the creator of a new religion, but as the restorer of the original, uncorrupted monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham and others. In Muslim tradition, Muhammad is viewed as the last and the greatest in a series of prophets—as the man closest to perfection, the possessor of all virtues.[30] For the last 23 years of his life, beginning at age 40, Muhammad reported receiving revelations from God. The content of these revelations, known as the Qur’an, was memorized and recorded by his companions.[31]

The Masjid al-Nabawi (”Mosque of the Prophet”) in Medina is the site of Muhammad’s tomb.During this time, Muhammad preached to the people of Mecca, imploring them to abandon polytheism. Although some converted to Islam, Muhammad and his followers were persecuted by the leading Meccan authorities. After 13 years of preaching, Muhammad and the Muslims performed the Hijra (”emigration”) to the city of Medina (formerly known as Yathrib) in 622. There, with the Medinan converts (Ansar) and the Meccan migrants (Muhajirun), Muhammad established his political and religious authority. Within years, two battles had been fought against Meccan forces: the Battle of Badr in 624, which was a Muslim victory, and the Battle of Uhud in 625, which ended inconclusively. Conflict with Medinan Jewish clans who opposed the Muslims led to their exile, enslavement or death, and the Jewish enclave of Khaybar was subdued. At the same time, Meccan trade routes were cut off as Muhammad brought surrounding desert tribes under his control.[32] By 629 Muhammad was victorious in the nearly bloodless Conquest of Mecca, and by the time of his death in 632 he ruled over the Arabian peninsula.[33]

In Islam, the “normative” example of Muhammad’s life is called the Sunnah (literally “trodden path”). This example is preserved in traditions known as hadith (”reports”), which recount his words, his actions, and his personal characteristics. The classical Muslim jurist ash-Shafi’i (d. 820) established the importance of the Sunnah in Islamic law, and Muslims were encouraged to emulate Muhammad’s actions in their daily lives. The Sunnah is seen as crucial to guiding interpretation of the Qur’an.[34]