Ways of Being Religious and Hermeneutic Study

Six Ways of Being Religious

Sacred Right:
A communal way of connecting with ones "Higher Being" through worship and rituals in which some sort of archetypes are imitated. This serves to renew the faith of a group through group activities devoted to any particular God, as well as establish a set of morals and general behaviors considered to be acceptable.

Right Action
An attempt to bring all followers of the faith to exist in "the way things are supposed to be." This is brought about by following the divine order. To follow the divine order is to keep things "the way they are supposed to be."

Devotion
The surrender of the individual to the God. Usually occurs through some sort of overwhelming emotional stress to high to bear, resulting in a conversion and emotional cleansing. A devotee generally expects atonement and some sort of everlasting hope and energy from the God.

Shamanic Mediation
A passing through various states of altered consciousness in attempts to unlock some deep down connection with "ultimate reality." These deep connections are to be unlocked and allow for the answering of life questions. Expressed through possession, visions, spirit journeys, etc...

Mystical Quest
An ascetic approach to stripping the human of humanly limits. An attempt to reach a direct relationship with God and live wholly within God or "ultimate reality." Once all limitations have been lost, ones focus can go straight to "ultimate reality"

Reasoned Inquiry
A systematic study of scriptures and traditions in attempt to acquire some kind of "divine wisdom" This knowledge is to be used to answer life's questions as well as snuff out any other question that may undermine the faith.

Advantages

1.They help to breakdown students preconceived notions about unfamiliar religions. They also help students to study all aspects of certain traditions and religions, rather than assuming that a single part of a religion is representative of the entire idea.

2.It allows students to see how certain parts of the religion contribute to the whole.

3.It allows for the compartmentalization of religions in a comparative manner. For example students can see the differences and similarities between any two religions by dissecting the religions into the six ways and comparing their respective parts, allowing for a more specific look into the comparable aspects of various traditions.

4.They can help one to appreciate the differences of religions rather than make false contrasts between two traditions due to a mis-comparison of two different ways of being religious.

5.This framework opens up a door for in depth comparative study without preconceptions. Once again, the ability to compartmentalize the religions into the six ways allows one to look in depth into the comparative components of each way as it pertains to the religions in question.

6.It allows for friendly non-threatening/defensive dialogue between people of a religion and different traditions.

Differences Between Eastern and Western Religions
1. Western Religions are considered to be Monotheistic. Their concept of God is highly different comparative to eastern religions. In western religions, God is placed on a pedestal, being supreme and superior to all. The main goal is to live in the direct presence of God in the afterlife. In Eastern Religions, God is a vague concept too big to dwell upon. In these religions, the end goal is more to reach a place of unity with the God concept in which you become part of the God entity in a form of Nirvana.

2.The path to the end goal is largely different between western and eastern religions. In western religions, humans repent and try to please a higher power throughout their lives as an attempt to make it into a heaven or hell. This puts the human in a position of servitude, living in a way that God would want. In eastern religions, one must strip away layers of self to reach a "higher like" status within, in which the knowledge of the world comes upon them and they are at peace. This approach is entirely self dependent, the achievement is based off of self rather than the appeasement of a higher power.