Is life life? - Buddah, kuran, bible

Essay by ikilledpunkA+, March 2006

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What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? These age old questions have been asked over and over throughout human history. To address these questions all major religions have established their view of the human condition. The Buddhist, Christian, and Islamic religions differ in many ways but have a coalescing vision of the human condition. All three religions believe that the human condition is cursed with flesh and bones, a finite time on earth, servitude to our senses, and egotistical complexes.

Each of these religions has a unique twist on the human condition, but all have similarities. Buddhism holds the human condition as a midpoint between present life and the after life; if this life is followed through correctly, you will ascend into the desired life. "The body we drag along with us is a fertile soil for all sorts of mishaps, and no sensible person would entertain any firm expectation of well-being or of life (Gautama, 658).

Buddha recognizes that the body is something humans are cursed with; it is a medium for our soul but contains all of the weaknesses of being made of flesh and bone. This curse may also happen over and over again.

Buddhism teaches that this present life may not be your first life on earth; you may have had more than one finite time on earth. "For in the past the person who is now one of your own people happened to be a stranger to you; in the future the stranger of today will be one of your own people" (Gautama, 657). Buddhism holds the earth as a temporary place for the human mind, but believes that over time the soul will evolve into a supreme being beyond this world, holding the human form as a transition into the better...