Religion

Religion And Mortality

The discipline of  Psychology of Religion has made some interesting researches. One of the areas of research finding is of our interest. Research has proved that people with strong religious belief have “more stringent and exacting moral beliefs than non believers, they judge more actions wrong, judge them more wrong”. Daniel Batson in his book, “The Religious Experience”, gives a list of research findings in the same lines from which we can safely conclude that one’s religiosity and moral standards are directly proportional to one another. With this as the backdrop this essay will discuss the topic “Are people moral because they are religious or religious because they are moral?”

THE ROLE OF RELIGION
In the primitive civilisations incest was almost universally forbidden. The reason why it became a taboo was that people feared that it invited catastrophes of nature. They believed such a behaviour disturbed their deities in some way or the other. If such an act is discovered the community intervened and took the person involved into task. J.Goetz, writes in such a situation the community, “does not act to punish the guilty member but to suppress a danger.” Such an intervention of the community assured reduced occurrences of incest. Does it mean that the morality of the people is improving? Even if the answer is “Yes”, what effects such an improvement?

As people grow and civilisations grow they become more refined and they renounce brutal and instinctive behaviour and engage themselves in reflexive behaviour. There is an evolution in the culture and in the civilisation. However this takes a long period of time in the history. But before the culture/s and civilisation/s could become more moral and more refined, the process had to start somewhere. Religion serves as the starting point. As W.W. Meissner points out, “religion [serves] as the main foundation of morality…most courageous and splendid ethical progress could happen only in terms of religion”.

Religion in order to instil values in the community uses certain means such as
1. Fear
2. Love
The study of the History of Religion has proved that more than love it is fear that religion uses as an effective means. As Bertrand Russell puts it, “Fear is the basis of religious dogma.” The fear aspect in turn uses the dynamics of punishment and reward or sanctions as its tool.

THE DYNAMICS BETWEEN RELIGION AND MORALITY
Human beings have to face at least once in their life time questions like, “Who am I?”, “Where am I?” and “What I ought to do?” The question “What I ought to do?” leads us to the realm of morality.
Why should one be moral at all? Raymond Cattell says, “A coherent morality requires a coherent world view.” It demands a clear perception or better understanding of life. It depends on one’s understanding of meaning and goal of human life. This is where religion plays a major role. Religion gives one the frame of reference to one’s life, meaning and goal and purpose of human life. It helps one to situate oneself in this world by providing with a world view. Religion answers the questions, “Who am I?”, “Where did I come from?”, “Where I am going to?”
Secondly, religion does not stop there it also tells what one ought to do and plays as an authority in providing moral rules for its believers to obey. Abiding by the rules procures reward failure to keep them brings punishment and disaster. The ‘oughts’ prescribed by religion takes the value of imperatives because its authority is attributed to God who is considered to be the Supreme Judge.
Thirdly, most often the individual or the society is introduced to morals through religion. Religion provides motivation and reason to be moral, either it be through love or through fear. The more serious one is about one’s religion the more serious will she or he be about morality. Because religion prescribes as its goal and as goal of life – self perfection, goodness, happiness, liberation, self realisation, etc. All these goals without any exception are intrinsically related to moral goodness. “There is an intrinsic relation between piety and morality, between the practice of one’s devotion to God and service to his neighbour.”
Finally, the words of Richard McCormick are very relevant to our discussion, “moral convictions do not originate from rational analyses and arguments”. He gives the example of slavery. According to him with reason alone we cannot arrive at the conclusion that all human beings are equal and hence to treat someone as a slave is unjust. James Gustafson says that the knowledge of God is essential for morality. “With the loss of the ‘Transcendent’ the love and quality of morality becomes more fragile, persons become means rather than end. Sin is viewed as a breach of moral rule rather than denial of God.”

CONCLUSION
In view of all the points discussed above it is logical to conclude that people are moral because they are religious. But the drawback of this stand would be how could we explain the moral behaviour of an atheist who does not believe neither in God nor in religion? For a non believer, what is the motivating factor to lead a morally good life? Bentham would say it is the “enlightened self-interest” because such a person always acted with view to his maximum satisfaction in the long run and hence always acts rightly. This view too can be criticised as did Bertrand Russell who attributed good life to ‘love and knowledge’.
The other possibility that one is religious because he or she is moral, does not do justice for people who do not believe in God or to those who do not believe in any religion. A morally upright atheist may not like to identify himself or herself as a believer. The third possibility arises if we take it for granted that one wants to be moral because he or she wants to be religious. With such a possibility we could argue that ‘If one wants to be moral because they want to be religious they are already religious in the first place for such a disposition.’
In conclusion considering all the possibilities though we cannot conclude with hundred percent certainty, we would be more closer to the truth by saying people are moral because they are religious.

Religion and Morality Books used:

ARGYLE, M., (et.al), The Social Psychology Of Religion, Routledge And Kegan Paul, LONDON, 1975.

BATSON, C.D., (et.al), The Religious Experience, Oxford University Press, NEW YORK, 1982.

CATTELL, R.B., A New Morality From Science: Beyondism, Pergmann Press Inc., NEW YORK, 1972.

COX, J.L., Expressing The Sacred, University of Zimbabwe, HARARE, 1992.

GOETZ, J., “RELIGION AND MORALITY” in the New Catholic Encyclopedia, VOL. 12, McGraw Hill, NEW YORK, 1967.

GUSTAFSON, J. M., “SPIRITUAL LIFE AND MORAL LIFE” in Introduction To Christian Ethics, Paulist Press, NEW YORK, 1989.

McCORMICK, R. A., “DOES RELIGIOUS FAITH ADD TO ETHICAL PERCEPTION?” in Introduction To Christian Ethics, Paulist Press, NEW YORK, 1989.

MEISSNER, W.W., Psychoanalysis And Religious Experience, Yale University Press, LONDON, 1984.

RUSSELL, B., Why I Am Not A Christian, Unwin Books, LONDON, 1970.

End Notes from religion and morality books

1 ARGYLE, M (et.al), THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGION, LONDON, 1975, p.122.
2 BATSON, C.D., THE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, NEW YORK, 1982, pp. 284 -285.
3 GOETZ. J., “RELIGION AND MORALITY” IN THE NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, VOL.12. LONDON, 1967, p.271.
4 MEISSNER. W.W., PSYCHOANALYSIS AND RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, LONDON, 1984, p.98.
5 RUSSSELL, B., “WHAT I BELIEVE” in WHY I AM NOT A Christian, LONDON, 1970, P.48.
6 CATTELL, R., A NEW MORALITY FROM SCIENCE: BEYONDISM, NEW YORK, 1972, p.71.
7 COX, J., EXPRESSING THE SACRED, HARARE, 1992, p.50.
8 GUSTAFSON, J.M., “SPIRITUAL LIFE AND MORAL LIFE” in INTRODUCTION TO Christian ETHICS, NEW YORK, 1989, p.163.
9 McCORMICK, R. A., “DOES RELIGIOUS FAITH ADD TO ETHICAL PERCEPTION” in the INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIAN ETHICS, NEW YORK, 1989.
10 GUSTAFSON, J.M., “SPIRITUAL LIFE AND MORAL LIFE” in INTRODUCTION TO Christian ETHICS, p.164.
11 RUSSELL, B., p.51.

Jainism

The Indian schools of philosophy are broadly classified under two categories namely, Astika or Orthodox schools and Nastika or Heterodox schools. The orthodox schools accept Vedas the Hindu scriptures as the authoritative texts and the heterodox schools deny the authority of the Vedas. Jainism is one of the heterodox schools. The objective of this essay lies in identifying and outlining the special features of Jainism. It is essential to have a look at the basics of Jainism before dealing with its special features.

THE BASICS OF JAINISM

Jainism is one of the religions with very small group of adherents which would count up to three millions. This ancient system of belief dates back to 8 th century BC There is a common misunderstanding in the Western scholarship in identifying the founder of Jainism. Mahavira of 6 th century is considered to be the founder, but in fact he was only a restorer and reformer of Jainism which belongs to 8 th century BC

SMART, N., “JAINISM” in A Dictionary of Comparative Religion, LONDON, 1970, p.366.

The term Jain is derived from the Sanskrit root, “ Jina” which translates to “the victorious one” in English. This term refers to the Tirthankaras or ‘Ford-Makers” who were considered to be the great teachers of Jainism. The Jains believed that the life is a river or sea of transmigration. The ‘ford makers’ are those who help people to cross this sea and attain liberation. Mahavira was counted as the 24 th of such ‘ford makers’.

JAINA ETHICS AND ITS SPECIAL FEATURES

With regard to Jaina ethics few aspects should be taken note of, Jaina ethics was essentially shaped by its world view like any other Indian system of philosophy. Jaina world view does not have a creator God. The universe is uncreated and it does not have a God to sustain it. Though Jainism denies a creator or sustainer God it still believes in the theory of transmigration and the law of Karma. As Ninian Smart notes “ morality is seen as a means of progressing toward liberation. This liberation or salvation is attained only through self-effort. There is no supreme God to look forward for help to gain salvation. Jaina ethics is build on this basic principle of self attainment of salvation. Jainism proposes a variety of ways that one should carefully follow to attain salvation.

The following section will discuss the special features of Jaina ethics. A preliminary warning should be given here, while discussing the special features of Jaina ethics one would find oneself caught up in the philosophical discussion, which is one of the typical features of Eastern Religions especially Indian religions.

1] THE LAW OF KARMA IN JAINA ETHICS

Jainism is essentially dualistic in nature. It believes in ‘ jiva’ or Soul and ‘ ajiva’ or non-soul. The soul by nature is pure, perfect and has infinite potential, knowledge power and bliss but this pure soul is corrupted by matter. “The obstacles,…are constituted by matter-particles which infect the soul and overpower its natural qualities.” The body we possess is not just an accident but it is determined by the past karma. Thus the law of karma determines “the family in which one is born as well as the nature of the body – its colour, stature, shape, longevity, the number and nature of sense organs and motor organs which it possesses.”

The law of karma which rules Jaina ethics has a different connotation than that of Buddhism or Hinduism. There are at least two distinctive points of divergence that can be noted.

a] Unlike Hinduism which considers karma as a law of nature, Jainism conceives karma as consisting of material particles which are fine and subtle attaching itself to the soul like the clay to a pot.

b] Secondly while bad actions, and actions that are controlled by anger, envy, selfishness cruelty weighs down the soul with heavy karma, good actions or acts of love and good will in Jaina thought does not bring the expected positive effect on the soul but it is dissipated immediately. In the Hindu thought good actions brings good karma which helps faster liberation of the soul. Whereas in Jainism it is willingly chosen suffering that lightens the soul from its karmic effect accumulated in the past.

Thus Jaina ethics is not an ethics action rather it is an ethics of abstention and non-action and self mortification.

2] THE THREE GEMS OR JEWELS OF JAINA ETHICS

As noted earlier morality in Jaina ethics consists in progression towards liberation. Jainism prescribes three distinctive ways or steps to attain this salvation namely, i]Right Knowledge, ii] Right Faith and iii] Right Conduct.

The soul is deprived of salvation by its association with the matter. While salvation means freedom in Jainism, matter brings bondage of the soul. The bondage is a result of our ignorance. It is because the human soul is corrupt by matter, it does not know what is good for itself and what would bring salvation and hence gives itself to the cravings and passions of this world. Therefore this ignorance should be removed which alone can lead one to salvation. One receives knowledge by studying diligently the teachings of the great teachers or the ‘ford makers’ that have already attained liberation. They can teach others too to attain the same.

The prerequisite for right knowledge is right faith. Right faith can be defined as “the attitude of respect towards truth.” It should be noted that this faith is not dogmatic but rationalistic. It is this right faith that would enable one to grow in right knowledge.

Right faith and right knowledge are useless unless it leads one to the road of right conduct. Right conduct can be broadly understood as abstaining from what is harmful and engaging in what is beneficial. Jainism has stringent stipulations of right conduct.

3] RIGHT CONDUCT: THE WAY TO SALVATION

Jainism prescribes severe ascetic practices s a way to salvation. To save oneself from the negative effects of karma one must take the five great vows namely:

1] Ahimsa or Non-violence

2] Satya or Truthfulness,

3] Asteyam or Non-stealing,

4] Bramacharya or Non-indulgence and

5] Aparigraha or Non-possessiveness.

a] Ahimsa or Non- Violence: Ahimsa is one of the most outstanding tenets of Jainism. This vow demands a stringent practice of abstinence from all injury to life. Jainism has an hierarchical classification of living beings in terms of the number of senses they possess. Human beings rank high in this hierarchy because they possess five senses and a mind-organ or the sixth sense, the higher animals have five senses. There are certain elements which possess only one sense, the sense of touch, it includes fire, water and a vast range of plants and vegetables. To injure al that posses more that one sense even unintentionally would bring in worst of karmic bondage. , This ideal of Jainism controls the entire life style including their occupation and food habits. The Jains are to avoid agricultural occupations for the fear of killing tiny living creatures while ploughing the ground. The safest occupation they can take on is professions like trading and money lending. Even today the majority of the trading community is constituted of the Jains.

The Jain monks form whom most severe ascetic practices are expected must strain the water before drinking, should sweep the path where one treads and his footsteps must be gentle and should wear a gauze mask covering the nose and the mouth to prevent inhaling microbial living beings. All these observances are to make sure that no injury is done to any living beings even unintentionally.

Non violence is expected not only in actions but one should not even in think or speak of taking life should neither permit not encourage others to take life.

b] Satya or Truthfulness: This vow demands abstinence from falsehood. This vow not only expects the Jain from speaking what is true but that which is good and pleasant, because merely speaking the truth may lead to excessive speech which should be controlled as well, vulgarity, frivolity and vilification. This vow can be practised only by conquering one’s greed, fear and anger.

c] Asteyam or Non stealing: To rob someone of their wealth in Jaina context is to rob someone of their life. Like the above two vows practice of this vow should be reflected in actions, thoughts and words.

d] Bramacharya or Abstinence: This vow prescribes abstinence form self indulgence. Though generally understood as sexual continence this vow extends far beyond it. It includes every form of self indulgence.

e] Aparigraha or Detachment: This vow demand detachment form all desires of this world. It includes the objects of the five senses – pleasant sound, pleasant touch, pleasant colour, pleasant taste and pleasant smell. Attachment to the worldly things ties down the soul to this world.

Jainism advises several other virtues to support one to practice tlhe five great vows. Thy can be listed as follows: one should be extremely careful in walking, speaking receiving alms and answering calls of nature. A Jain must restrain oneself of thought, speech and bodily movements. Sone of the active virtues that are demanded are forgiveness, humility, austerity, sacrifice, fortitude to conquer all pains and discomfort that would rise from hunger, thirst, heat, cold, to remain pure in thoughts and greedless.

4] SELF MORTIFICATION

Besides all these there is another most important tenet of Jainism namely self mortification. The purpose of self mortification is to combat the effects of karma. Self mortification and severe asceticism should lead one to contemplation. One should spend at least 48 minutes a day in meditation. The height of self mortification is to be seen in Jain welcoming death through self starvation. This is considered to be the queen of virtues in Jainism. Thus killing oneself through self starvation is not considered to be wrong in Jaina ethics.

CONCLUSION

From the above discussion it can be easily noticed that Jaina ethics is preoccupied with the problem of salvation. The motivating factor for all the prescribed virtues including its acclaimed vow of non violence is neither good will nor fear of God but the fear of karma and the resulting bondage. Jaina ethics or virtue is coloured more by passivism and abstention than active performance. The vow of non violence is a most asked for virtue in today’s given moral climate for the society that has virtually lost all value for life. The code of conduct prescribed by Jainism, when trimmed of its extreme requirements such as sweeping the path one would walk and wearing gauze mask etc., would certainly be pertinent in today’s culture of ‘abuse’.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CHATTERJEE, S., et. al., An Introduction to Indian Philosophy, CALCUTTA: University of Calcutta, 1954.

LANGLEY, M., “RESPECT FOR ALL LIFE: JAINISM”, in The World’s Religions, ENGLAND: Lion Publishing Plc., 1982.

PARRINDER, G., (edr). World Religions From Ancient History To The Present, NEW YORK: Facts On File Publications, 1971.

SMART, N., “JAINISM” in A Dictionary of Comparative Religion, LONDON: Weiden Feld & Nicolson, 1970.

SMART, N., The Religious Experience Of Mankind, LONDON: Fontana Library, 1969.

Christianity

Christianity is a complex institution. If we have to understand the nature of this complex structure, it is indispensable that we go to the roots of this complex structure. The Church as it stands today as one of the world’s biggest Organisation or Institution, did not have the same grandeur and pomp always. It is through enduring struggles and persecutions and ridicules she enjoys the current status.

We will try and prospect the Political, Social and Religious background of the era in which the Church was born. We shall also try to equate all these factors to see how they were able to both enable and disable the growth of the Church. In trying to do so, because of the complexity of the era, we will be able to identify the difficulty in distinguishing the Political, Social and Religious aspects with clear markings. All the three aspects are intertwined producing the overall effect. We will be able to see politics affecting religion and viceversa and hence both altering the social balance.

GENERAL BACKGROUND OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Christianity was born in Palestine, with the life, preaching death and resurrection of a Jew named Jesus. Jesus was born between 6 B.C. and A.D. 6 and was crucified between A.D 28 and 30. Judaism was the religion practiced in Palestine. The first members of Christianity were basically converts from Judaism. As it could be noted that Judaism was not a monolithic religion. It had several divisions within itself. It was constituted of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots. Therefore when Christianity was born it was considered to be one such sect.

Eventually this new movement broke out of the confines of Galilee and Judea. It spread its roots throughout the Hellenistic world. Because of the earlier Dispersion which had begun with the conquests of Assyrians and Babylonian Monarchs Judaism came into contact with Hellenism. resulting in Hellenistic Judaism. Which meant that the Hellenistic world had already came into contact with the Old Testament when Jesus’ Gospel was preached. It was readily accepted because the gospel is afterall the fulfillment of the Old Testament.

POLITICAL BACKGROUND

To discuss the Political background in the first place will be of advantage because it will give us the direction and point to various factors that were at play during the birth of the Church.

Alexander the Great (336-323B.B.) fetched Greek far and wide to unimaginable distances through his invsions. After the invasions of Alexander, the Jews rather than a State, stayed in Dispersion. Hellenism was strong and wide spread. This contact with Greek brought about great change in the life styles of the Jews. There were strong oppositions with respect to religious issues, the Jews reacted against the idolatrous forces.
One of the famous revolts against this Hellenism was the Maccabean revolt in 167 to 42 B.C. This revolt resulted when Antiochus IV, the Seleucid ruler forced Hellenism and Baal worship on the Jews. Maccabean revolt brought freedom for Judea. Rome formed an alliance which was an effort of Judas Maccabeus, that enabled the Jews to practice their own religion and have their own laws. But inspite of this alliance a century later, the Jerusalum temple was defiled by Pompey in 63 B.C. and Roman Empire had a complete hold of Palestine.

RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND

The Jews were a very staunch religious people. They never allowed ’strange gods’. They had indepth and profound religious consciousness.The Roman authorities found the Jews adamant with regard to religious issues. The Roman authority rarely interfered in their religion. If occasionaly interfered it was reciprocated with violence.
Wherever they had settled, their Synagogues played the central role in their lives. Their Synagogues essentially contained the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament. These Synagogues attracted not only the Jews but also the pagans. The pagans found the Jewish monotheism appealing to their religious hunger. However they did not go to the extent of circumcision and hence the membership of the Jewish community.

There was friction between the Imperial cult and Judaism. The Imperial cult began wih Julius Caesar during 4 B.C. as a measure to restore religious unity which ultimately aimed at the political unity, this was basically an inspiration from Alexander. But the fanatic Jews were not ready to give up their religious practices. As a result there was always an under lying hostility between the two. The Roman policy towards religion though was liberal, it took control of the situation whenever needed in order to maintain unity and peace. It restricted the sects that created problems. Thus we cannot say that the Roman Empire allowed hundred percentage religious tolerence. However their existed umpteen number of religions within the Empire.

SOCIAL BACKGROUND

The Jews as we have mentioned earlier were living in ‘Dispersion’ or ‘Diaspora’. The conquests of Alexander resulted in many non-Jews settling in Palestine and also many Jews who settled outside Palestine. There was a considerable amount of movement away from Palestine. The reasons that catalysted this movement were, viz. political instability and the difficulties resulted, Religious persecution, possible overpopulation in Palestine and better economical prospectus abroad. Jews migrated to Babylon, Egypt, Syria and Asia Minor. Alexandria in Egypt, Nehardea and Nisbis in Mesapotamia, Antioch in Syria, Sardis in Phrygia and Corinth in Greece had large Jewish minorities.

Thus Judaism was divided into three main groups, they were,
1) a group that remained beyond Euphrates in Babylon
2) a group that returned to Palestine and
3) the third group which constituted of largest number who were basically trades, professional men and artisans. they setteled in most of the larger towns of the Greco-Roman world.

Many in the Roman Empire were slaves. The social structure of the Roman Empire was Comprised of semi-autonomous cities centrally governed by Rome. The main goal of the Empire was to achieve political unity. The Social structures favoured the priveleged class and it catered for their happiness and well being. Many historians consider the period between 40 B.C. to 260 A.D. as an age of economic security and as most prosperous age.

PAX ROMANA

The Roman policy called ‘Pax Romana’ or ‘Roman Peace’ was in effect throughout the Empire. This period had a remarkable political unity. Julius Caesar who succeeded Augustus was efficient in maintaining peace except for minor internal turmoil. There were no civil wars during this period. Religious liberalism was a part of this policy.

The relative peace facilitated the progress and development of social aspects of the Empire. Commerce and trade flourished. Communication became comparatively sophisticated. The road systems improved which meant fluidity of both communities and ideas. Problems regarding pirates were eradicated. It should be noted at this juncture that the initial stages of the spread of Christianity were mostly along the trade routes.

THE SITUATION IN PALESTINE

It is in this milieu, Jesus was born. W.H.C. Frend describes this period as ‘ an unquite Jewish-Greco-Roman world’. Herod Antipas was in power during this period, he was appointed by Augustus in 4B.C. Later because of the internal problem between the heirs Augustus had to appoint Pontius pilate as the procurator from A.D. 27 ro36.

The Jews had their own law court they had full say regarding the Jewish law except for death penalty. They had their own coins minted with different inscription on it which did not show the Emperor’s head. The Jews were hostile towards the Romans. Becauseof their suppression. Josephus describes them as men ‘inured to war’. The Jews considered the Romans as idolators.

THE PERSECUTIONS THE GROWTH OF THE CHURCH

THE FIRST CENTURY

Initially the distinction between the Church and the synagogue was not distinctively clear. The new Christians went to the synagogue besides their weekly gatherings. There was tolerance towards them from the parent religion Judaism. This was not always the case with the growing Imperial cult. The infant Church had to undergo an enormous amount of intoleration and persecution.

With the orthodox Jewish Converts joined a group of Greek proselytes and Greek speaking Jews. The numbers of the new Christians were swelling day by day. The new Greek converts experienced an indifferent attitude from the Aramaic speaking Christians with regard to supporting their widows. They appealed to the Apostles regarding the partiality. As a result seven Hellenist converts were appointed as Deacons. Stephen was one of them. The apostles down played matters concerning the difference between Judaism and Christianity inorder to avoid problems. But Stephen the newly appointed Deacon attacked the Jewish cults directly and called the Jewish leaders murderers. As a result he was stoned to death. After this event, the Greek speaking Christians fled away but carrying the new message and faith with them – Soon there were Christians in Damascus and Antioch.

There was a persecution ordered by Herod Agrippa in A.D.41-44. This is to control the swelling number of converts following Peter’s preaching in the Greco-Roman wirld. James son of Zebedee died in this persecution.

Nero came to the throne in A.D.54. During his reign there was a massive fire hazard which killed several besides making thousands homeless. Though people suspected Nero himself whom they considered insane, Nero blamed the Christians. He based his accusation on the coincedental fact, that the two cities which were not affected by the fire accident happend to be areas saturated with Christian population – Persecutions followed. In A.D. 68 the Neronian persecution ceased as a result of deposal of Nero by a rebellion which was supported by the Roman senate. Finaly Nero killed himself. This was followed by a period of political chaos, this went to an extent that the year A.D.69 was called as ‘the year of four emperors’. Eventually Vespian gained control of the Government followed by his son. During this period the Christians did not face much trouble from the authorities.

Domitan ascended the throne in A.D.81 to 96. As the Jerusalem temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, Domitan demanded the Jews of the tax, that woud have gone to the temple, to be remitted into the Royal coffers.Though people did obey him, they made clear that Rome had not taken the place of the temple. Domitan enforced strict laws against Judaism and forced them even harder to pay the offerings. Both Jews and Christians were presecuted alike, since the authorities did not have a clear distinction between the two. They persecuted all those who followed Jewish practices. This persecution effected the writing of ‘TheBook of Revelation’ in Asia Minor, which expressed the hatred towards Rome.

Domitan was assasinated in his own palace, one of his conspirators being his own wife Domitia.

THE SECOND CENTURY

The second century was filled with the episodes of Christian martyrs. Trajan and Marcus Aurelis were the two famous figures during this period. Trajan came to power in A.D. 98-117. He published an edict in response to Pliny the Younger, his governor of Bithynia. Pliny reported that the pagan tempels were desserted after the entry of Christianity and no one to buy the sacrificial victims. Trajan’s policy stated that, the Empire’s resources should not be squandered in seeking the Christians as they were not guilty of any crime. But when accused and brought to trial, if they refuse to recant should be punished. This policy was in effect even long after Trajan’s death. Antioch of Ignatius(A.D.107) and Polycorp(A.D. 155) were assumed to have attained martyrdom in this persecution. It is important therefore that any false rumors that are spread about the Chrisatians should be falsified. This was the task of the apologists. They through their writings sought to clear the misconceptions about Christianity. Some of the rumors about Christianity were, they: practiced fertilty cult when they gathered every week, incest, infanticide, cannibalism, worshipped an ass, drank in excess during their worship, etc.

Marcus Aurelius reached the throne in A.D. 161. He ordered persecution because of his superstitious beliefs. During his reign there were great destructions and loss through natural catastrophes, he believed that these destructions were the result of the Christians failing to placate the pagan gods.

THE THIRD CENTURY CENTURY

Septimius Severus gained the throne in A.D. 193. He promoted Syncretism under the worship of the Sun god, with the toleration of other gods. The Jews and Christians refused to obey this policy as a result the persecution burst out. Iraneus was considered to have died during this persecution in A.D. 202 and Perpetua and Felicitas in A.D. 203.

In A.D. 249 Decius came to power. His goal was to restore the ancient glory of Rome which meant also its ancient religion. His policy was different from the others, he sought not the lives of the Christians but to force them through torture to accept the ancient Roman Cults. As a result of this persecution the Christians recieved a special title, “the confessors”

THE FOURTH CENTURY

In the early 4th century, Diocletian tried to reorganize the Empire and renewed its prosperity. Galerius the junior Emperor who showed enemity towards Christianity, convinced Diocletian that the Christian soldiers in the army were a threat and they may at any crucial moment step into dysfunction. As a result an edict was issued form Diocletian in A.D. 303, ordering that all the Christians should be dismissed from their government positions and their Christian books destroyed. The persecutions grew worse. In A.D.305 Diocletian abdicated,but the persecutions continued with Galerius taking over the throne.

Finally galerius became seriously ill which was attributed as punishment from God. Galerius changed his policy with a probability of fear of God. The new policy was declared on April A.D.30, it stated that the Christians are free to follow their own religion.

CONCLUSIONS

As Latourette says the first three centuries were, ‘more than at any preceding era conditions in the Mediterranean world prepared the way for the spread of a new religion’.

1) The Hellenistic Judaism had built a foundation on which Christianity could be built. When the Gospel was preached the proselytes were already familiar with the Old Testament. This made the conversions easier and rapid.

2) Because of the common tounge Greek the missionaries were able to preach the Gospel in a language that could be understood by all. Also because of the upper hand gained by Greek whichever religion had its literature in Greek was able to have recourse throughout the Mediterranean world.

3) The slant towards cultural unity effected a mind set that would also sought for religious unity. Hence the conversions were ‘mass conversions’.

4) Because of the Dispersion the individual faced a tension between the inherited and adapted culture there was a lacuna, as Latourette says, ‘the individual often felt lost and sought solace in a religion adapted to his needs’. Christianity served as that religion of solace and hence was accepted without any resistance.

5) The peace that prevailed due the Roman Policy Pax-Romana, peoples mind were able to seek for higher ideals and hence Christianity.

6) The implementation of the Imperial cult again created a void in the hearts of the people who were restricted of their freedom of religion. Hence there was an obvioius attraction towards the new movement Christianity which would satisfy their craving hearts.

7) On the outset all the persecutions we have discussed would seem to have hampered the growth of Christianity. If that were to be true Christianity should have died long ago. As Tertullian says, ‘The blood of the martyrs was a seed, for the more it was spilled, the greater the number of Christians’. There were different responses to these persecutions in general, some straight away gave up their faith in order to save their skin, some resisted the temptation for a while and when the situation became uncopable they too gave in. But the strong in faith persisted even unto death. Their faith and religious convictions were deepened through their sufferings, which they have handed on to the generations to come as their heritage.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

COLLINS, Primitive Christianity, The Fontana Library, EDINBURGH,1956.
DAVIES, J.H., The Early Church, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, LONDON,1965.
FREND, W.H.C., The Early Church, SCM Press Ltd., USA,1986.
FREND, W.H.C., The Rise of Christianity, Longma &Todd, LONDON, 1986.
GONZALEZ, J.L., A History Of Christian Thought, Vol. 1. Abingdon Press,USA, 1987.
HUGHES, P., A Popular History Of The Catholic Church, Macmillan Publishing Co.Inc. NEWYORK, 1975.
LATOURETTE, K.S., TheFirst Five Centuries, Zondervan Publishing House, USA, 1971.
OTZEN, B., Judaism In Antiquity, JSOT Press, GREAT BRITAIN,1990.
PILLAY, G.J., Perspectives On Church History, De Jages-Haum Publishers, SOUTH AFRICA, 1991.
WALKER, W., A History Of The Christian Church, T&T Clark Ltd., EDINBURGH, 1976.
WALKER, R.F., An Outline History Of the Catholic Church, M.H. Gill & Sons Ltd., DUBLIN, 1948.

1.BOKENKOTTER, T., A CONCISE HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, NEWYORK,1979, p.15.

2FREND, W.H.C., THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY, LONDON,1986, p.12.

3FREND, W.H.C., THE EARLY CHURCH, USA,1986, p.16.

4DAVIES, J.H., THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH, LONDON, 1965.p.31.

5 OTZEN, B., JUDAISM IN ANTIQUITY, GREAT BRITAIN,1990, p.54.

6 FREND, W.H.C., THE EARLY CHURCH, USA,1986, p.15.

7 LATOURETTE, K.S., THE FIRST FIVE CENTURIES Vol.1, USA 1971, p.11.

8 FREND, W.H.C., THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY,LONDON,1986, p.54.

9 FREND, W.H.C., THE EARLY CHURCH, USA,1986, p.15.

10FREND, W.H.C., THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY,LONDON,1986, p.56.

11GONZALEZ, J.L., THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANIY Vol.1, NEWYORK, 1984, p.33.

12HOFELDMAN, L., LIFE AND THOUGHT AMONG GREEKS AND ROMANS, GREAT
BRITAIN,1996, p.345.
13GONZALEZ, J.L., THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANIY Vol.1, NEWYORK, 1984, p.46.

14GONZALEZ, J.L., THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANIY Vol.1, NEWYORK, 1984, p.106.

15WALKER, R.F., AN OUTLINE – HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, LONDON,1948, p.2.

16LATOURETTE, K.S., THE FIRST FIVE CENTURIES Vol.1, USA 1971, p.8.

17GONZALEZ, J.L., THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANIY Vol.1, NEWYORK, 1984, p.86.

Books of the New Testament

The New Testament
1.    Matthew
2.    Mark
3.    Luke
4.    John
5.    Acts (of the Apostles)
6.    Romans
7.    1 Corinthians
8.    2 Corinthians
9.    Galatians
10.    Ephesians
11.    Philippians
12.    Colossians
13.    1 Thessalonians
14.    2 Thessalonians
15.    1 Timothy
16.    2 Timothy
17.    Titus
18.    Philemon
19.    Hebrews
20.    James
21.    1 Peter
22.    2 Peter
23.    1 John
24.    2 John
25.    3 John
26.    Jude
27.    Revelation

Books of the Old Testament – Catholic Bible

The Old Testament
1.    Genesis
2.    Exodus
3.    Leviticus
4.    Numbers
5.    Deuteronomy
6.    Joshua
7.    Judges
8.    Ruth
9.    1 Samuel
10.    2 Samuel
11.    1 Kings
12.    2 Kings
13.    1 Chronicles
14.    2 Chronicles
15.    Ezra
16.    Nehemiah
17.    Esther
18.    Job
19.    Psalms
20.    Proverbs
21.    Ecclesiastes
22.    Song of Solomon
23.    Isaiah
24.    Jeremiah
25.    Lamentations
26.    Ezekiel
27.    Daniel
28.    Hosea
29.    Joel
30.    Amos
31.    Obadiah
32.    Jonah
33.    Micah
34.    Nahum
35.    Habakkuk
36.    Zephaniah
37.    Haggai
38.    Zechariah
39.    Malachi

Source Criticism of Pentateuch – Biblical Analysis Old Testament

According to earlier notions, Moses was considered to be the author of Pentateuch, but the discrepancies  made the authorship to be questioned and  finally Moses’ authorship was denied for the following reasons.
i. Moses’ death in Pentateuch was pointed out as anachronism, that is, did Moses give an account of his own death and burial ? (Deut 34).
ii. Repetitions of events were noted for instance
*  The naming event of Beersheba occurs twice in Gn 21:31 and Gn 26:33.
*  Jacob’s name was  changed to Israel twice in Gn 32:28 and Gn 35:10.
*  A Patriarch passes off his wife as his sister on three occasions in Gn 12:10 and
Gn 20:26.
*   Ex 24:9-18 gives an account of  Moses’ calling to go up and going up Mt.
Sinai thrice without ever coming down.
iii.  Repitition of creation story in Gn 1:1-2:4a and 2:4b-25 which contradicts each other
iv. Contradiction in the flood story about the number of animals taken into the ark in Gn 6:19-20 and 7:2,8,9.
v. Different words to refer God was found- Yaweh, Elohim.
vi. Inconsistencies in terms are found within Pentateuch – is it Mt Sinai or Horeb, Moses’ father-in-law Reuel or Hobab, the natives Amorites or Cannanites etc..
vii.  Israelites monarchy, domesticated camels, renamed cities are anachronisms.
All these factors rule out the the Mosaic authorship of Pentateuch.
Actually the origin of  Pentateuchal criticism can be dated back to Mediveal Jewish scholar Ibn Ezra (12th century C.E).
He identified that the use of th term ‘Cannanites’ in Gn 12:6: is an anachronism, because it belonged to a period after Moses.
Later in the 17th century C.E. scientific questions were raised by Richard Simon and Baruch Spinoza regarding the above discussed contradictions and repetitions. In the 18th century C.E. Astruc came out with a concrete evidence and pointed out that the first creation story in Gn1 used the word ‘Elohim’ and the second creation story in Gn 2 and 3  used ‘Yahweh’. This  enabled the scholars to arrive at the conclusion that there must be more than one author involved in writing the Pentateuch . Initially it was thought that there were only two sources. It took two centuries to arrive at  the  present four sources hypothesis. The four sources are, the Yahwist, the Elohist, the Deuteronomist, and the priestly source. Thus source criticism was born.
Source criticism or Literary criticism can be defined as a method that  ‘is employed to identify both fragmentary and extended sources within Biblical books’
ELOHIST SOURCE OR THE E SOURCE:
It uses Elohim for God  hence the name Elohist. This source is dated back to 850 B.C. one century later than the Yahwist source. This source comes from the Northern part of the Hebrew kingdom.This is evident from the prominance given to the Northern figures such as Joseph, his mother Rachel and his sons Ephraim and Manasseh and places like Bethel and Schechem which are both sanctury cities of the Northern kingdom.
The E source is often regarded as a revision of  J or Yahwist source and it is not often easy to distinguish the two. Scholars have identified that from Gn 15 onwards E source gives a narrative that is parallel to J. The Elohist speaks from an era of intercommunal conflict and religious apostasy. The use of  the name ‘Elohim’ is assumed to be a deliberate choice of the author because of the belief that the name Yahweh was first given to Moses.  This calls the mountain of the  covenant as Horeb, uses Amorites for the people of Canaan, Jethro for Moses’ father-in-law. Unlike J, Elohist author is more restrained in his style. He makes God speak to men through dreams or through a messenger.The stress here is on early Israel which is in covenant with Yahweh regarding religious and ethical issues.
DEUTERONOMISTIC SOURCE OR THE D SOURCE :
This source is dated back to c650 B.C. or later. It comes from the Southern kingdom Judah. The Deuteronomist uses eloquent and persuasive preaching style. ‘I-Thou’ form of addressing is found common in D. The mountain of the covenant is called Horeb and the people of  Cannan are called  Amorites.
PRIESTLY SOURCE OR P :
This was called Priestly tradition because of the primacy given by the author to the things that concern priests. This is the last of the tradition among the four which was put into writing. This is dated  to c550 B.C. or later. It belongs to the Northern part of the kingdom. There is a general consensus that priestly author served as an editor who fused the JEDP sources. He uses ‘Elohim’ for God. The priestly author has a culticapproach to God. He talks about a transcendent God unlike J or E where God spoke to his people directly or through dreams.

WELLHAUSSEN’S HYPOTHESIS ON THE FOUR SOURCES :
Wellhausen traced four clear written sources in the Pentateuch. He worked out a schema and gave a clear picture of time and place from which each source evolved. Wellhausen was much concerned about the  written sources. He tried to date the sourecs accurately.He suggested that the Pentateuch material that is available today evolved after king David. His ‘Documentary theory is as follows,
An unknown author in Solomon’s period tried to show that Yahweh’s promises were fulfilled during the period of David and Solomon. This unknown author is from Southern tribe of Judah. The account given by this author is known as the Yahwist or J source.
With the death of Solomon there was a Schism in the kingdom. The kingdom was divided into norther kingdom called Israel or Ephraim and the Southern kingdom called Judah. By this time there already existed a version of Yahwistic account of South. But with the schism the Northern kingdom revised the earlier account. This version of the the North used Elohim for God. It introduced place names that are more popular in the North. The Yahwist picturised  God as more anthropomorphic, a God who talks and walks with his people,but the Northern account avoided the anthropomorphic  approach to God. More spiritualised and awesome sense of God was introduced. Thus two different accounts or traditions ran parallel until 722 B.C.
In  722 B.C. the Assyrians captured Israel the Northern kingdom. As a result there was a great movement of people from North to South, when they moved they carried with them their own beliefs and accounts of God in their written  Elohist source. With this  there was a fusion between the Southern J and the Northern E sources.
The ‘primitive’ ideas of theology of  J and E sources triggered reactions from a group of priests who were trying to reform the old tradition of Judah. This reformation group produced the ‘Book of Deuteronomy’. But this was hidden in the temple for a long period from Hezekiah (715-688 B.C.) to Josiah(640-609 B.C.). During the renovation of the temple during Josiah’s period in 622 B.C. this ‘Book of Deuteronomy’ was discovered. This book impressed both the king and the people because of its richness and genuine Mosaic flavour.With this revival of the D source there was another fusion between the JE and D.Thus JED formed the Tetrateuch.
In 597 to 586 B.C. the whole country was  exiled by the Babylonians. During this time a group of priests fathered their cultic and legal traditions in order to preserve them from the danger of losing them in a foreign land and also  to bring about a life of fidelity to the  covenant during exile. Therfore they included in it the genealogy of ancestors, isolated stories and traditions, collection of laws from Leviticus and Numbers. This work made the accounts more complete and thus forming a fourth source known as Priestly source. Finally after the exile in 539 B.C. the Priestly school edited all the four sources, JEDP. This four sources constituted Pentateuch .

METHODS OF BIBLICAL ANALYSIS

METHODS OF BIBLICAL ANALYSIS :
According to the earlier notion  Bible was considered in a literal sense, ‘The Word of God’ and hence infallible. But with Renaissance and age of Enlightenment when man began to question every aspect of  life, the infallibility of Bible and its divine authorship
too was questioned.It is during 18th and 19th centuries there was a different approach towards Bible,as a result there developed ‘Biblical Criticism’ which tried to understand Bible in its original settings. It talked about the context,  the life-setting, the parallel traditions and customs of  Ancient Near Eastern  life and traditions. We shall list various methods of Biblical analysis.
1. CONFESSIONAL RELIGIOUS STAGE :This is the first stage of biblical analysis and is basically an expression of one’s practice of religion. Until 18th and 19th century Enlightenment, Bible faced no serious challenge and it was interpretted according to the norms of Oral law or Talmud.
2. THE HISTORICAL CRITICAL METHOD:This method challenged the authorship and contents of Bible. Instead of approaching Bible at its face value, it probed in to the  origins of text. Various possibilities were analysed  in comparison with its parallel documents of the Near Eastern Traditions.
3. CANONICAL CRITICISM :   This method is concerned about the development of the Bible text and its interpretation as Scripture. This method suggests the possibility of a ‘Canonical process’ which was shaping the literary texts before the formal Canon existed.
4. STRUCTURE CRITICISM :   As the name suggests this method tries to trace particular types of structures which may be identified within groups or sets like parables, miracles narratives etc..
5. REDACTION CRITICISM :   This is considered to be the final stage in the evolution of historical-critical approach. The aim of this criticism is to identify the final author or editor or redactor. Though in the earlier stages it was only applied to the New Testament, now it is widely applied for Old Testament texts too.
6. NEW LITERARY CRITICISM :   This method deals with the genre, rhetorical devices, metaphor, irony and  the overall resulting unity and effects. It is interested in looking the text as finished whole rather than a development from small units.
7. FORM CRITICISM:   This method classifies the text into different genres, such as Sagas, Myths, Legends, Law, Poetry, Sermons, Sayings of wisemen, Prophesy etc.. This classification gives the reader a direction and the purpose for which the author wrote a particualr text.
8. SOURCE CRITICISM:
Careful reading of the Pentateuch will draw our attention to various literary problems like repetitions,stylistic peculiarites and inconsistencies  and contradictions within it. This flaws led the scholars to question about the authorship of Pentateuch.

The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism

According to the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths would help one to attain salvation. The first noble truth is Dukkha, which is commonly translated as suffering. But it also includes pain and frustration and dissatisfaction. This worldly life is filled with suffering, which is an undeniable and universal human experience. So the Buddha wrote, “Birth is suffering, ageing is suffering, illness is suffering, worry, misery, pain, distress and despair are suffering; not attaining what one desires is suffering.” (Metz, W., p.232). Everything is temporary, nothing is permanent. The only permanent thing is “an endless process of impermanence, change and decay.”(Levinson, D., p.29).

The second truth teaches that there is a source for all this dissatisfaction and suffering. Dukkha is a direct result of tanha which is a desire or craving for physical pleasure and intellectual stimulation. This desire produces in the individual greed and lust. The self that acts out of greed and lust acquires negative Karma which becomes the cause of rebirth. The third truth deals with the cessation of suffering. It states that it is possible to free oneself from this suffering by freeing oneself from selfish desires. The fourth truth offers the path to salvation and freedom. This path is the Middle-Way, which avoids the extremes of severe self-denial and unrestrained self-indulgence. Taking either of the extreme paths would only result in more misery, pain, and suffering. To free oneself from the bondage of the cycle of rebirth one must follow the Middle-Way through the stringent observance of the ‘Eightfold Path’.

The Eightfold Path of Buddhism

The Eightfold Path can be listed as follows: 1. Right Understanding, 2. Right attitude, 3. Right Speech, 4. Right action, 5. Right Occupation, 6. Right Effort, 7. Right mindfulness and 8. Right Composure or Concentration (Metz, W., p.232). By following this Eightfold Path, one can reach the goal of Nirvana or freedom from the cycle of rebirth or salvation.
On the outset it would seem that the urgent task of Buddhist salvation is to lead man out of this suffering and illness. But a deeper analysis would show that freedom from suffering is only a by-product of the salvation or the Nibbana attained. The following discussion would make this fact evident.

Buddhism teaches that the source of all attachment, unsatisfactoriness and craving and the resulting misery and suffering, is the Ignorance of the self. The human self is ignorant of the real nature of this transitory world and the impermanence of physical gratification. The self in its ignorance indulges itself in an endeavour of physical gratification because it fails to recognise the things that would really bring fulfilment and salvation and rushes into misdirected avenues, finding itself in the sea of suffering. As Radhakrishnan rightly observes, “when we get rid of ignorance and its practical consequence of selfishness, we attain nirvana” (Radhakrishnan et.al., p.272). The urgent task of Nibbana is therefore to lead human self out of the ignorance which will in turn lead one out of suffering. Thus, it can be seen that redemption from suffering is the by-product of freedom from ignorance, the source of all suffering. The path to wisdom is meditation, which led the Buddha himself to enlightenment. But mere meditation with undisciplined life would bring no favourable fruit hence the Eightfold Path that serves as the basis for a disciplined life.

Opposing the above view one might argue that the Buddhist scripture, The Tripitaka itself says “Nirvana is end of suffering” (Metz, W., p. 234) and Buddha himself in his first sermon pointed out that Nibbana is cessation of suffering. Buddhism presents that life is full of suffering, birth, death, sickness, association with the unpleasant, dissociation from the unpleasant are all suffering. From this, it might seem justified to conclude that salvation in Buddhism therefore is to lead one out of suffering. But it has to be noted at once here that Buddhism just not stop with the identification of suffering in this world, but it goes further and identifies the cause of suffering which is ignorance or avidya and a way to eradicate this suffering. Therefore salvation in Buddhism suggest a most urgent task to eradicate the source that brings suffering.

The above essay critically analysed the view that Salvation in Buddhism suggests a most urgent task to lead man out of suffering and illness. In its analysis, it identified that salvation in Buddhism must be understood under proper context. Secondly, it identified that the urgent task of salvation in Buddhism is to lead man out of ignorance and the by-product of the freedom from ignorance is freedom from suffering.

Bibliography

Metz, W., “The Enlightened One: Buddhism” in Pierce Beaver et. al (eds.) The World’s Religions
Oxford: Lion Publishing Company, 1992.

Levinson, D., “Buddhism” in Religion A Cross-Cultural Dictionary, New York: Oxford
University Press, 1996.

Radhakrishnan, S., et.al. A Source Book in Indian Philosophy, Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1989.

Rahula, W., What Buddha Taught, New York: Grove Press, 1974.

The Concept of Salvation in Buddhism

According to Bhikkhu Seelananda, “the word salvation means the act of saving” (in The Concept of Salvation – A Buddhist Perspective). In many religions, salvation means liberation from sins and the effects of sins. But in Buddhism salvation does not mean liberation or freedom from sin and its effects rather it means “extinguishing of tanha or selfish craving for physical or material pleasure” (Levinson, D., p.29). Secondly, the word salvation, which means to save, at once implies the involvement of an external active agent who saves. In Buddhism, there is no personal saviour but oneself. One has to work diligently towards one’s salvation. It is only through self-effort, one can attain salvation and no supernatural force will intervene as in the case of other world religions. Thus from above it is evident that salvation in Buddhism has to be qualified and understood in its proper context.

The Buddhist Canon uses the Pali term Nibbana for salvation, which in Sanskrit is Nirvana. This is a compound word constructed out of “Ni” which is a negative prefix meaning “absence” and “vana” refers to “craving” or “lusting”. Thus Nibbana or Nirvana mean absence of craving (Seelananda, B.). Nirvana is also commonly understood as “Nothingness”. According to Wulf Metz it is a totally inappropriate meaning (p.234). According to the Buddhist scripture The Tiripitaka, “Nirvana is the area where there is no earth, water, fire and air; it is not the region of infinite space, nor that of infinite consciousness; it is not the region of nothing at all, nor the border between distinguishing and not distinguishing not this world nor the other world; where there is neither sun nor moon. I will not call it coming and going, nor standing still nor fading away nor beginning. It is without foundation, without continuation and without stopping. It is the end of suffering” (as cited in Metz, W., p.234). The Buddha prescribes a very systematic approach to attain this Nibbana.

According to the Buddha the world is in a transitory state – it is in an act of constant becoming, everything is passing and nothing is permanent. “Dharma” is that which controls this transitory world. Dharma means moral law and physical laws with its constituent elements which includes “the four elements of earth, fire and air; the colours and sounds; organic life; the senses, emotions, impulses of the will, the power of reasoning, consciousness, ignorance; fame, beauty, riches, true false teachings; sexuality, sleep, hunger, illness; growing, ageing and dying” (Metz, W., p.230). Human beings are nothing more than but a sequence of changing dharmas.

Besides this transitory nature human existence is bound by ten fetters namely, “[1.] Belief in personal entity, [2]. Sceptical doubt, [3]. Clinging to mere vows and ceremonies, [4]. Craving for sense-pleasure, [5]. Ill will, [6]. Craving for material existence, [7]. Craving for immaterial existence, [8]. Conceit, [9]. Vanity, [1]0. Ignorance.” (Seelananda, B.).
The self binds itself of the above fetters because of its chronic unsatisfactory state and chronic sense of emptiness. This unsatisfactory state is due to our attachment to this transitory world. The self is attached to what is changing and impermanent. But the material things fail to bring real satisfaction and fulfilment as a result of their transitory nature. The outcome is magnified feelings of unsatisfactoriness. Hence, a vicious circle of attachment and unsatisfactoriness is created. More the self strives to seek gratification in material things the greater the unsatisfactoriness. This results in craving for what is unreachable and unattainable. This adds for the third element of the above vicious circle forming the triad: ‘Attachment – Unsatifactoriness – Craving’. This triad brings in suffering and misery into the world. Misery and suffering are as much a reality as human craving. Based on this human experience the Buddha discovered the Four Noble Truths, which forms the core of the Buddhist Philosophy.