Reflection #5: Modern Western Religion and Ancient Myth

After viewing the videos in class on ancient civilization myths, what do you think are the elements of those myths that modern Western religions have retained? It might be the moral, a religious belief, the perception of gods and humans or anything else you consider. Use one example from each of the class videos to support your answer.


After creating our video about the myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece and watched it, I realized that it shared some factors with the modern religions we have today. For example, one of the main elements that is retained in the religions from the myths is the concept of good and evil. In the myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece, Jason is perceived to be the hero and the good character. His main enemy, the serpent is considered to be the evil character. This can be related to one of the modern religions. This religion is Christianity. In this religion, God and Jesus the son of Christ is perceived as the good character. The saviour, messiah of the earth. His main enemy is Satan who only brings suffering and sins to the earth. Another main elements that is retained in modern religions is  that the main character in the myth and the God in the religion have a good moral about life. Jason had to undergo his quest with truth and dignity in order to achieve and attain what he wanted. In Jesus' case, he had to undergo a spiritual journey which lead to his death but was resurrected in order to save the earth from sin. Both of their journey's was essential in getting what they really wanted and this was to bring peace and happiness to everyone. Thus, good moral is an important element. Another important element that is a part of the modern religions and ancient myth is the concept of a mentor. In Jason and the Golden Fleece, Jason was mentored by a centaur and taught him how to live and how to live life correctly and the truthful way. This was important and played a big part during his journey to obtain the Golden Fleece, the centaur definitely helped his cause and in the end, he was able to attain it. Jesus' mentor is obviously the God our Father. Through prayers and spiritual conversations, Jesus was able to proclaim his ideas and save the world with the guidance of his father and successfully saved the earth and even sacrificed himself in doing so. Friendship or fellowship is also another important element. In Jason and the Golden Fleece, although his journey was tough, he had the assistance of his girl companion to help endure the challenges and attain the Golden Fleece. In Christianity, Jesus had many loyal disciples to help him spread the word of Christ and to make them believe in Christianity. Although the ancient myths or from the distant past, some of its elements was passed on through different religions. I think that it was an important building block in the creation of different religions and had a tremendous effect on the religions we believe today.

Reflection #4: Buddhist Meditation and Temple Visit

After spending last class period practicing the 8 Fold Path, what are your insights about meditation? Could you attain "right thoughts", "right mindfulness" and "right concentration". What makes meditation difficult? Did you notice and peace or insights that came during your practice? Reflect on that experience.

Second, reflect on our field trip to Bongwonsa Temple. What parts of the temple were most interesting and why? What questions about Buddhism did that visit prompt? Think about the life of a monk. What type of choices would a monk have to make to life out his/her spritual truths?

Finally, how would your life have to change if your were to practice Buddhism? 

• Meditation is very important in order to attain peace and get rid of desires that give negative effects in a person's life according to the Buddhist
• I think that it is possible to attain right thoughts, right mindfulness and right concentration by focusing a lot during meditaton and exlcuding any thoughts and ideas that are not "right". Although it is hard, by focusing on breathing and repetitive thought of "rigt" it is very possible to attain these things.
• The most difficult part of meditation is concentrating and not being bothered by other thoughts.
• During my meditation, when i got rid of other thoughts and tried to concentrate on peace and breathing, I think that I did attain some peace and insight.
• In my opinion, the most interesting thing I found in the Buddhist temple is the big temple with all the buddha gold figures. It was interesting because it was a peaceful place and had many majestic buddhist art.
• Some of the main questions that came into my mind after the visit were: Are monks happy with their lives?, How do Buddhist worship?, Does it have similarities with Christianity?, Why do people prefer Buddhism compared to other religions
• I think that a life of a monk is very difficult because they have to live very religious lives with an adequate standard of living. This leads into many choices and sacrifices in order to become a monk.
• If I would become Buddhist, my life would change dramatically because my religion at the moment is Christianity. Also my lifestyle will change tremendously because monks lives very sacred lives and do religious things everyday which I do not do in my daily life.

Reflection #3- Gandhi: Hindu and Activist

Quote: “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

Question: How does that quote exemplify how Gandhi lived out his faith?

This quote exemplifies how Gandhi lived out his faith because he believed in non violent resistance. This is because Gandhi, being a Hindu believer, promoted the idea of non violence and tolerance to things that happen in the world. Also, this quote truly exemplifies his approach to make India independent from the British. The quote basically means that if the British hurt the indians, they would not retaliate and not fight back and eventually, the British will see the error in their ways. In the movie, there is an example of this. During the salt marchers, the Indians would walk in the gate and get repeatedly beaten but they still went on. Even though they got hurt and were in pain, they kept on trying to enter the gate to make a point and send a message to the British. Another aspect of the quote that Gandhi tells his people is that if they fight back against the British, they will just keep fighting each other and it will never end. This is why the whole world will go blind because of all of the rage and fighting surrounding the lives of the people. This is the main reason why Gandhi did not want ot fight back against the British and instead, fight them with non violent resistance. An example of this from the movie is when the leaders were talking about actions to take against the British and most of the leaders wanted to fight back but Gandhi insisted on his approach of non violent resitance.

Reflection #2: Sacred Poetry

Spring  green horizon surrounded with stone faces

At times, darkness fills the night sky, so desolate

Sun and stars give light to these kinds of places

Easter Island, this is my faith

We fear your power God of this Sacred Island

We do anything to serve your greatness

We sacrifice animals surrounded in this land

Hope all is well and protect our wellnes

Death is inevitable part of the cycle of life

Corpse of heroes, people, family, friends dug deep into the ground

Grief not, because their memories linger on this sacred ground

Easter island it is my life

Reflection #1- Personal Religious History

According to Mircea Eliade religion has "not vanished without a trace; [it] has contributed toward making us what we are today and so, after all, [it] forms part of our own history". In what ways has religion contributed toward your personal history?
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Religion has always been a part of life and has influenced me in many ways over the years. Both my parents are strong christian believers and raised me with christian values and the catholic religion. We, as a family would always go to mass every Sunday, participate in all of the christian religions, etc. When i was still very young, even though the religion was imposed on me, religion was still not that important to me. But as time passed and I got older, I started to realize that God is an important person in the world and that his religion must be taken seriously. During my life history, with all that my parents tell me about religion, I have come to the conclusion that having a good faith is truly important and to love Christ for all of the things he did in this earth should be of importance and loved. I have truly realized these past years of high school that religion is one of the most important values in my life and should not be ignored.