RE Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

RE - Term Paper Example Although God is considered to be a part of just the Christian-based religions, there are many people that would be shocked to find that even in religions where God, as Himself, does not exist, the deities of that religion take on the same purposes and qualities of God. Even in the religions that do not acknowledge any form of a god still has a deity or religious being that fulfills the same duties and requirements. Religions such as Buddhism, folk religions, and Hinduism regard God in ways that are entirely unique and beneficial to their religious paths, with many of these beings not considered God-like, or god-like, at all. Buddhism is a religious path as well as a philosophical lifestyle that, despite its age, has found itself the center of most New Age practitioners. Unlike most organized religions, Buddhism does not recognize a supreme, invisible being in the same sense that the Christian-related religions do. In Buddhism, the person honored and followed is Gautama Buddha, the original founder of Buddhism. Gautama Buddha was also a teacher of Buddhism, promoting and teaching peace, harmony, and enlightenment through meditation, yoga, and other activities to help center and ground the mind and body. While the Buddha did not perform miracles, and nor was he worshipped or prayed to, just merely honored and regarded in the highest light, he still fulfilled what it meant to be the god or deity of a religion (Armstrong, 2004). He was the person that his followers looked up to and viewed as their leader, as well as the one who could direct the practitioners onto their individual paths of enlightenment. As previously mentioned, Buddha was not worshipped in the typical sense that God or a deity would be worshipped. He was simply viewed as the founder and teacher of this spiritual and philosophical path. After his death, his monks, similar to the apostles of the Christian faith, took over passing on the information, knowledge, and teachings onto those that wished