Summary:
The most common aspect for both Islam and Buddhism is that the adults have a strong devotion to their religion. This is due to their discernment and discrimination between what's right, and what's wrong
In our day, when asked to define a certain term, many people will immediately give definitions reminiscent of the ones you can easily find in a dictionary. However, other people will take their time to thoughtfully get into the word, and try to find a personal understanding of the word. Those people will try to interpret the meaning of the term based on their life experiences. In most cases, these diverse interpretations are habitually inter-connected and very much alike. When asked the meaning of contentment, I would say contentment is a state of being in which a person gains satisfaction, understanding, and security, having done the right thing. Furthermore, I would explain the "right thing" as following religious morals and duties of religion. However, there are a handful of religions scattered throughout the world today. Although the set of faiths and beliefs are bound to differ from religion to religion, similar ones can be identified. Finding contentment in Islam and Buddhism, for instance, may be very different, and yet have some connections. With regards to Islam and Buddhism, I believe that devotion to religious morals and duties is the key to reaching contentment in life.
In an Islamic community, such as Bahrain, the youth has not yet discovered the importance of devotion to religion. Therefore, the Muslim youth is not devoted to religion. A huge part of this blame falls on the temporary pleasures of the world. These pleasures may include clubs, parties, malls, cinemas, money, food, etc. The Islamic community is full of these worldly pleasures that lure the youth, causing them to break apart and away from Islam. For example, instead of a Muslim teenager trying to pray his prayers on time, you may find him trying not to be late on a date or the movies, etc. As a comeback to the situation, one might ask as to why God has brought into being these temporary pleasures, when all they do is entice the people in the opposite direction from the way in which God wants his worshippers to follow. Ah, but the answer to that is greatly because God needs to test the strong will of his creation to fight against the temptation of these pleasures. The thing that the youth nowadays needs to understand is that they can have fun with the pleasures of the world, to a certain extent, as long as they don't leave their religious duties hanging in between. The adults, however, fully understand this. That is why Muslim adults are more likely to get involved with the religion and devote to it than the Muslim youth. Also, the Muslim adults are more capable of self-restraint and self-discipline in order to keep practicing their religious duties as Muslims. In an Islamic community, religion is a part of life. However, this is not the case in a Buddhist community.
In a Buddhist community, such as South-East Asia, life is a part of religion. The youths in Buddhist communities are more devoted to Buddhism, their religion. One major reason to their great devotion is that the Buddhist communities don't have lots of world desires to allure the teenagers. Another reason would be straight from Buddhism. Buddha's teachings aim to lead the Buddhists into giving up all world pleasures, like sexual desires, money, entertainment, food, etc., because Buddhism's beliefs include that the world is all suffering and pain and the cause of all this suffering goes back to the desires of the world. Buddhists also believe that in giving up and letting go of the
temporary world pleasures, they can reach nirvana, a state of ever-lasting peace, which is free from all this pain and suffering. So, it is of the religion for Buddhists of all ages to relinquish these pleasures and start worshipping intensively. That is why when children reach their teen years, they are taught by their parents how to worship and meditate. This will insure the child's devotion to Buddhism when he grows up, and eventually becoming a monk. Adults in Buddhist communities give absolute devotion to Buddhism. Many of the men become monks, and the women become nuns. Monks and nuns devote to Buddhism the most by nearly giving up their humane life for meditation and worshipping. It's as if they believe life was founded for religion.
Although devotion to religion in Islam is different than devotion to religion in Buddhism, there are some similarities. For instance, in both Islam and Buddhism, the youths and teenagers are most of the time urged into devoting time for religion by adults. Also, reasons to why teenagers are less devoting than adults is because the youth is still immature and is still unable of self-control. As for the adults, the aspect that was the most common for both Islam and Buddhism is that the adults have a strong devotion towards their religion. This is due to their discernment and discrimination between what's right, and what's wrong. Another reason would be simply that they make religion play a big part of their lives.
Although devotion to religion in Islam is different than devotion to religion in Buddhism, there are some similarities. For instance, in both Islam and Buddhism, the youths and teenagers are most of the time urged into devoting time for religion by adults. Also, reasons to why teenagers are less devoting than adults is because the youth is still immature and is still unable of self-control. As for the adults, the aspect that was the most common for both Islam and Buddhism is that the adults have a strong devotion towards their religion. This is due to their discernment and discrimination between what's right, and what's wrong. Another reason would be simply that they make religion play a big part of their lives.
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