Gods: The God Archetype across Cultures - Coursework Example

Gods” - The “god” Archetype across Cultures of Affiliation: “Gods” - The “god” Archetype across Cultures Religion is one aspect that has become of substantive difference considering the diverse nature of cultures and communities, with each having different affiliations. The world today has individuals of strong identification with a particular ‘god’ or ‘goddess’, an aspect contributed to by the fact that such individuals resonate fully with the archetype, which such gods or goddesses represent. Archetype is ideally a symbol to which individual access through imaginations and remains the core players in such aspects. In most instances, archetypes refer to certain ideas and concepts personified in the human nature, and followed by certain individuals who have similar believe in the personified ideal or concept. Considering the significance of archetypes in the current societies, this paper seeks to establish a better understanding of the role that archetypes play in the different societies and the effects associated with the interaction between members of the different cultures and societies and the archetypes. Additionally, the paper compares and contrasts the ‘god’ figures from two different current world religions and the role that the ‘god’ figures plays in such societies. From different societal perspectives, gods have different roles that they play in such societies. For better understanding of the role the role of gods in the different societies fully, first, it is important to determine the differences that exist between god and men of a particular society. Evidently, the major difference is the immortality aspect between gods and men (Masih, 2000). Critically, most gods in the current world differ significantly from the Christianity believes, most especially because most gods never participated in the creation of the world as believed by most Christians. Despite such a difference, the gods in different cultures still have roles to play in the societies and to the humans. God functions as the creator and giver of life, whereas the other ‘gods’ have varied roles depending on the particular aspect it stands for such as rain, food, and calamities among others. Worshipping and believing in God enhances the faith and trust of the believer towards the God, an aspect that is indeed contrary to the aspect of gods, which involves increased sacrifices from a believer in them (Wilson, 2008). Each tradition has a different god or gods that perform different functions and roles to their believers. Various ways exist in which the gods of Buddhism and Hinduism are similar and other ways in which they differ. On the similarities, it is evident that the gods have certain specific roles that they play in the society. In the case of the Hindus, there is Matsya, the fish god and Kalki, the god of time. Buddhists on their part have Tibetan: rlung the god of the spiritual energy, which flows and moves through the body in a similar manner as a human blood. The cross-cultural pattern of god requires that gods perform certain tasks in the society in ensuring that the humans depending on them achieve all that they request and desire. The bodhisattva figures of Buddhism, also known as an enlightened being helps other individuals enlighten, regardless of the number of times the god has to return in ensuring that the particular individuals attain enlightenment. The saints of Catholicism on the other side are considered the holy men and women of distinguished virtues considered to have entered heaven (Wilson, 2008). According to the cross-cultural pattern of gods, it is evident that the bodhisattva figures of Buddhism and saints of Catholicism fit perfectly well in the consideration of the gods especially in their nature and roles to the society. The bodhisattva figures of Buddhism are known for their generosity, wisdom, energy, morality, patience, and meditation whereas the saints of Catholicism are the individuals who follow strictly the teachings of Jesus in addition to living holy lives (Masih, 2000). Based on such considerations, it is evidently clear that bodhisattva figures of Buddhism and saints of Catholicism fit into the cultural pattern of gods in the sense that the gods are considered holy beings as well as links between humanity and Christ, aspects that both the bodhisattva figures of Buddhism and saints of Catholicism perfectly perform. On the contrary, there are certain ways in which the bodhisattva figures of Buddhism and saints of Catholicism are not similar to the gods. First, these entities are more of human nature rather than the gods’ nature, and, therefore, have similar experiences to human, an aspect that is not considered an attribute of the gods. Additionally, saints of Catholicism should not be living like Christ, when already they are considered part of Heaven, as that would be a similar aspect of the humans as they try to reach Heaven. Under religious believes, deity refers to the supernatural perceived to be holy and sacred. Whereas certain religions and traditions have single supreme deity, other traditions have numerous deities though of different ranks. Ideally, Buddhism and Hinduism differ in varied perspectives and most especially on deities. As earlier indicated, deities are considered sacred beings though with different ranks in the societal settings. Under Hinduism, women were considered very prominent individuals of the society who participated substantively in matters of spiritual aspects (Wilson, 2008). Ideally, families were considered the centers of establishment for spiritual life and growth, and during spiritual aspect, deities would only receive blessings whenever the wife of the house was present. Additionally, hierarchies were created from which all deities were viewed as aspects of Brahman such as the case in which the concept of Shakti as the serpent of Kundalini Yoga was linked to the Naga serpent deities of the Dravidian south as an aspect that signified unity of the practices. In the case of Buddhism, a similar aspect of deities is evident though in a different perspective. During the expansion of the Buddhism religion, practices, and doctrines, especially to the East, an area considered to be very fertile for the growth of the religion, it was an important consideration for the incorporation of pre-existing practices and deities by the Mahayana movement into the Buddhist philosophy and art. Evidently, in both instances, the deities also considered sacred beings play a significant role in their involvement in rituals, prayers, and philosophical insights. In the case of Buddhists Mahayana was involved whereas in Hinduism the inclusion of deities in Yoga through the participation of women contributed significantly to families as the women would bring with them stability, justice, successful agriculture, rainfall, regal power, nobility, good fortune, bounty, and beauty. Buddhism and Hinduism also experience certain similarities on aspects of meditation. In such instances, a number of terminologies and common descriptions are used by both religions as a means of their foundational practice of the meditation period. The Hindu Yoga is indeed a substantive example of the foundational practice during meditation, which played a significantly crucial role in the spiritual times. Despite such similarities, the two religions also exhibit significantly different aspects pertaining to certain practices. From the numerous studies carried out on the two religions, there is no evidence pointing towards the existence of Buddhism ever subscribing to Vedic sacrifices or caste as is commonly witnessed in the case of Hinduism (Masih, 2000). Such an aspect clearly points out that despite different religions having numerous similarities in their practices and believes, there are certain aspects, which significantly contradict in the religions. Another difference is evident in considering the periods in which the different religions made entry into different nations. Hinduism seems to have had a widespread in India, and, therefore majorities of Indians are Hindus whereas Buddhism was majorly concentrated in the East within nations such as Japan and Chins, and, therefore, majorities of individuals in such areas are ideally, Buddhists. References Masih Y. (2000) In : A Comparative Study of Religions, Motilal Banarsidass Publ : Delhi. Retrieved from: http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=8E-DSnG_8KYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Masih+Y.+%282000%29+In+:+A+Comparative+Study+of+Religions,+Motilal+Banarsidass+Publ+:+Delhi&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4o9EVPe3LYLbau26gbAB&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false Wilson Jeff, 2008. "Deeply Female and Universally Human":The Rise of Kuan-yin Worship in America. Retrieved from: http://www.rk-world.org/dharmaworld/dw_2008ajdeeply.aspx Read More