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Thomas Merton
A Trappist Monk, there is no other way for us to find who we are than by finding in ourselves the divine image. We have to struggle to regain spontaneous and vital awareness of our own spirituality. Merton talks about a continual movement away from inner and outer idols and toward union with the desert God of his Christian faith.

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Three Main Spiritual Philosophies

1. Hinduism

2. Buddhism

3. Christianity

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Dual Nature of Human Beings

1. Spiritual and Moral Essense

2. Empirical Life and Character

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Reincarnation
The continuous succession of birth, death and rebirth permeates nature even though our own lives seem linear. So it's no surprise that some ancient observers looked at the seeming linearity of human existence and decided that life, like the natural world, might actually be more cyclical than linear. Multiple religions, philosophies and movements adopted this belief in cyclic life, or reincarnation.

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Love
variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes that ranges from interpersonal affection ("I love my mother") to pleasure ("I loved that meal"). It can refer to an emotion of a strong attraction and personal attachment. It can also be a virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection—"the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another". It may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one's self or animals.

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Loneliness
Feeling lonely doesn’t have to mean that you’re just physically alone. Some people feel lonely even when they’re in a crowded room of people or at a party. To feel lonely is to have an overwhelming feeling of being separate from those around you. It’s a normal emotion and often a part of growing up, as things like moving out of home, going to a new school or any other changes can make us feel isolated.

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Vulnerability
To be invulnerable is somehow inhuman. To be vulnerable is to be human. To work in the office or study in school, without acknowledging the help of others, is to live without meaning and direction. We need to acknowledge the help of other people in our lives. Such moments of poverty and dependence on others are not a sign of weakness but being true with our selves.

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Beauty of Nature
For a hug, for every sunset and sunrise, to eat together as a family, are our miracles. These kinds of experiences can be truly moments of grace. They touch us deeply and the humans heart is spontaneously lifted. During this experience, we need to offer praise.

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Forgiveness
We are freed from our anger and bitterness because or the actions and/or words of another. The Hardness of our heart is reinforced by whole series of rational arguements.

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John 15:5 (KJV)
'' I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.

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St. Thomas Aquinas
Another Medieval philosopher of all creatures, human beings have the unique power to change themselves and things for the better. His philosophy is best grasped in his treatises Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologica. Aquinas considers the human being as moral agent. We are both spiritual and body elements; the spiritual and material. The Unity between both elements indeed helps as to understand our complexity as humang beings. Our spirituality separates us from animals; it differentiates moral dimension of our fulfillment in action. Through our spirituality we have a conscience. Thus, whether we choose to be ''good'' or ''evil'' become our responsibility.

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St. Augustine of Hippo
St. Augustine is a fourth century philosopher whose groundbreaking philosophy infused Christian doctrine with Neoplatonism.   He is famous for being an inimitable Catholic theologian and for his agnostic contributions to Western philosophy. He argues that skeptics have no basis for claiming to know that there is no knowledge.

Augustine tries to reconcile his beliefs about freewill, especially the belief that humans are morally responsible for their actions, with his belief that one’s life is predestined. Though initially optimistic about the ability of humans to behave morally, at the end he is pessimistic, and thinks that original sin makes human moral behavior nearly impossible: if it were not for the rare appearance of an accidental and undeserved Grace God, humans could not be moral.

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4 Buddhist  Practice

1. Love

2. Sorrow of others

3. Joy in the joy of thers

4. Equanimity

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Sangha
Men that are willing to leave the comforts of home, don the robe

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Nirvana
Enlightened wisdom of complete selflessness. In this state, the effects of the Law of Cause and Effect (Karma) are overcome; the Cycle of Rebirth is broken; and one may rest in the calm assurace of having attained a heavenly bliss that will stretch into all eternity

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How did Gautama Buddha reach Enlightenment (Nirvana)?

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Born in Lumbini, Nepal, Siddhartha was destined to a luxurious life as a prince, had three palaces especially built for him. Siddhartha escaped his palace, accompanied by Channa aboard his horse Kanthaka, leaving behind this royal life to become a mendicant.

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8 Fold Paths

1. Right belief in and acceptance  of the  ''Fourfold Truth''

2. Right Aspiration for one's self and for others;

3. Right speech that harms no one;

4. Right conduct motivated by goodwill toward all human beings;

5. Right means of livelihood  or earning one's living   by honorable means;

6. Right endeavor or effort to direct one's energies toward wise ends;

7. Right mindfulness in choosing topics for thought; and

8. Right meditation or concentration to the point of complete absorption in mystic ecstasy.

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4 Noble Truth

1. Life is full of Suffering;

2. Suffering is caused by passionate desires, lusts, cravings;

3. Only these are obliterated will suffering cease;

4. Such eradication of  desire may be accomplished only by following the Eightfold Path of earnest endeavor.

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Siddhartha Gautama
Also known as the Buddha “the awakened one”) was the leader and founder of a sect of wanderer ascetics (Sramanas), one of many sects which existed at that time all overIndia. This sect came to be known as Sangha, to distinguish it from other similar communities. The teachings of Siddhartha Gautama are considered the core of Buddhism: after his death, the community he founded slowly evolved into a religious-like movement which was finally established as a state religion in India by the time of Emperor Ashoka, during the 3rd century BCE.

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The Story of Siddhartha Gautama - a Digital Story

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Dharma
Dharma or Law of Salvation- a simple presentation of the gospel or inner cultivation of right spiritual attitudes, coupled with a self-imposed discipline whereby bodly desires would be channeled in the right directions.

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( Sanskrit: “awakened one”) clan name (Sanskrit) Gautama or (Pali) Gotama, personal name (Sanskrit) Siddhartha or (Pali) Siddhatta (born c. 6th–4th century bce, Lumbini, near Kapilavastu, Shakya republic, Kosala kingdom [now in Nepal]—died , Kusinara, Malla republic, Magadha kingdom [now Kasia, India]) the founder of Buddhism, one of the major religions and philosophical systems of southern and eastern Asia.Buddha is one of the many epithets of a teacher who lived in northern India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries before the Common Era.

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- Contained in the teachings of its founder, Siddhartha Gautama or the Buddha.
- A religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. Buddhism originated in  , from where it spread through much of Asia, where after it declined in India during the middle ages.

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- Means "correct knowledge" or "clarity" in several South Asian languages such as Sanskrit, Pali & Sinhala. Vidyā is also a popular Indian unisex given name.
- Vidya is an epithet of the Hindu goddess Sarasvati, consort of Brahma (according to Hindu beliefs). She has superior spiritual feminine energy—the Param Prakriti—which purifies, empowers, and uplifts the individual. Hence, she is called the Goddess of Knowledge.

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''I'' or the self is an illusion for each true self is one with Brahman. When we realize this unity with the absolute, we realize our true destiny.

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1. The Rig Veda: The Book Mantra
Collection of inspired songs or hymns and is a main source of information on the Rig Vedic civilization. It is the oldest book in any Indo-European language and contains the earliest form of all Sanskrit mantras that date back to 1500 B.C. - 1000 B.C. Some scholars date the Rig Veda as early as 12000 BC - 4000 B.C.
2. The Sama Veda: The Book of Song
The Sama Veda is purely a liturgical collection of melodie). The hymns in the Sama Veda, used as musical notes, were almost completely drawn from the Rig Veda and have no distinctive lessons of their own.
3. The Yagur Veda: The Book of Ritual
The Yajur Veda is also a liturgical collection and was made to meet the demands of a ceremonial religion. The Yajur Veda practically served as a guidebook for the priests who execute sacrificial acts muttering simultaneously the prose prayers and the sacrificial formulae.This is similar to Epygtbook the Dead. There are no less than six complete recessions of Yajur Veda - Madyandina, Kanva, Taittiriya, Kathaka, Maitrayani and Kapishthala
4. The Atharva Veda: The Book of Spell
The last of the Vedas, this is completely different from the other three Vedas and is next in importance to Rig-Veda with regard to history and sociology. A different spirit pervades this Veda. Its hymns are of a more diverse character than the Rig Veda and are also simpler in language.

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The Upanishads more clearly set forth the prime Vedic doctrines like Self-realization, yoga and meditation, karma and reincarnation, which were hidden or kept veiled under the symbols of the older mystery religion. The older Upanishads are usually affixed to a particularly Veda, through a Brahmana or Aranyaka. The more recent ones are not. The Upanishads became prevalent some centuries before the time of Krishna and Buddha.

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A doctrine that adheres to the belief that a person's soul passes into some other creature human, or animal.

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The state of a ''nothingness'' where the bliss of being one with Brahman compensates for all the sufferings the individual underwent in his erstwhile existence in the physical world ( Andres 1994)

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An enlighted state wherein one attains one's true selfhood and finds oneself one with the One, the Ultimate Reality, the All-Comphrehensive Reality: Brahman.

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-Belief in rebirth
- Consists of a person's acts and their ethical consequences.

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Learn all about the three major cultures that are associated with the various Lotus flower meaning: those of Egyptology, Hinduism and Buddhism.

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Because of this the lotus flower has come to be associated with purity and beauty in the religions of Buddhism and Hinduism respectively; the ancient Egyptians scholars observed that in the night-time the lotus closed its flowers and sank into the water, and came up with a different association with the flower related to rebirth and the Sun; in actual fact the Lotus slowly emerges from a pond over a three day period and then blooms in the morning until mid-afternoon.

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-The whole complex of beliefs and institutions that have appeared form the time when their ancient (and most sacred) scriptures, the Vedas, were composed until now

- The main religion of India which includes the worship of many gods and the belief that after you die you return to life in a different form.

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The root of the universe and everything that exists and it continues to hold everything together.

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-Climbing or going beyond with varying connotations in its different historical and cultural stages.
- Going beyond with varying connotations in its different historical and cultural stages.