Religions of the world (video)

Religions of the world (video)

This is an introduction to World Religions

Hallowmas or Triduum of All Saints

Hallowmas is a three day celebration. It includes the Western Christian observances of All Hallows' Eve (Hallowe'en), All Saints' Day (All Hallows') and All Soul's Day. It lasts from October 31 to November 2 every year.
The word Hallowmas come the Old English word halig, meaning saint, and the word mass. This celebration is also known as the Triduum of All Hallows or Triduum of All Saints.

All Hallows' Eve

The first day of Hallowmas is called all Hallows' Eve. It is often shortened as Hallowe'en. It is the eve of All Saints' Day. It is said that, on this occasion, the veil between the material world and the afterlife thinned. In order not to be recognized by souls,people would wear masks or costumes to disguise their identities.

All Saints' Day

All Saints' Day occurs on November first and is a principal feast of the church year. It is the second day of Hallowmas. It is also one of the four days recommended for the administration of baptism. The occasion is considered to be a holy day to honor all the saints and martyrs, both known and unknown.

All Soul's Day

All Souls' Day is the last day of Hallowmas. It focuses on honoring all faithful Christians. The celebration is associated with the doctrine that the souls of the faithful who at death have not been cleansed from the temporal punishment due to venial sins and from attachment to mortal sins cannot immediately attain the beatific vision in heaven, and that they may be helped to do so by prayer and by the sacrifice of the Mass.
 Source: Wikipedia

The Narrative of Alexander the Great in the Quran

Alexander the Great or Dhul-Qarnayn

Muslim scholars have linked the narrative of  Dhul-Qarnayn in the Quran with the story of Alexander the Great. The first to have identified this link is the Muslim hagiographer Ibn Hisham (?-833 AD) in the Sira literature.

The story of Dhul-Qarnayn

Dhul-Qarnayn is mentioned in only one place in the Qur'an, specifically in Surah Al-Kahf. The Qur'anic story tells about a man called Dhul-Qarnayn, the translation of which is literally "the Two-Horned". It is said that the legend of the man was known to the people of the region. In the Qur'an, Dhul-Qarnayn who was given great power by Allah, traveled to the rising place and setting place of the sun. There, he found the sun setting in a murky (or boiling) sea. He built a wall in order to enclose the nations of Gog and Magog. It is thought that Gog and Magog will breach Dhul-Qarnayn's wall before Yaum al-Qiyāmah (the Day of Judgement) and will wreak havoc in the world.

Verses

They ask thee concerning Zul-qarnain Say, "I will rehearse to you something of his story."
18:83

Verily We established his power on earth, and We gave him the ways and the means to all ends.
18:84

One (such) way he followed,
18:85

Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it set in a spring of murky water: near it he found a people: We said: "O Zul-qarnain! (thou hast authority), either to punish them, or to treat them with kindness."
18:86

He said: "Whoever doth wrong, him shall we punish; then shall he be sent back to his Lord; and He will punish him with a punishment unheard-of (before).
18:87

"But whoever believes, and works righteousness, he shall have a goodly reward, and easy will be his task as we order it by our command."
18:88

Then followed he (another) way.
18:89

Until, when he came to the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had provided no covering protection against the sun.
18:90

(He left them) as they were: We completely understood what was before him.
18:91

Then followed he (another) way.
18:92

Until, when he reached (a tract) between two mountains, he found, beneath them, a people who scarcely understood a word.
18:93

They said: "O Zul-qarnain! the Gog and Magog (people) do great mischief on earth: shall we then render thee tribute in order that thou mightest erect a barrier [wall] between us and them?"
18:94

He said: "(The power) in which my Lord has established me is better (than tribute): help me therefore with strength (and labour): I will erect a strong barrier [wall] between you and them:
18:95

"Bring me blocks of iron." At length, when he had filled up the space between the two steep mountain sides, he said, "Blow (with your bellows)" then, when he had made it (red) as fire, he said: "Bring me, that I may pour over it, molten lead."
18:96

Thus were they made powerless to scale it or to dig through it.
18:97

He said: "This is a mercy from my Lord: but when the promise of my Lord comes to pass, He will make it into dust; and the promise of my Lord is true."
18:98

On that day We shall leave them [Gog and Magog] to surge like waves on one another: the trumpet will be blown, and We shall collect them all together.
18:99

Source: Wikipedia

Ten minutes meditation

This is a great talk about meditation and its benefits by Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk. He co-founded Headspace, a project to make meditation more accessible to more people in their everyday lives. Puddicombe also writes prolifically for the Huffington Post and the Guardian, on the benefits of mindful thinking for healthy living.
In this video Andy Puddicombe wants to make the point that meditation can be accessible to everybody and that a ten minutes meditation a day can have a great impact on one's life in terms of  happiness and health.

Who is a jew?

One of the special things about Judaism is the label of being a Jew. Can anyone be a jew? Or is it enough for me to convert to Judaism to be a jew?
Jews believe that a Jew is someone who is the child of a Jewish mother. Some groups also accept children of Jewish fathers as Jewish. A Jew traditionally can't lose the status of being a Jew by adopting another faith, but they do lose the religious element of their Jewish identity. It is also possible for someone who isn't born a Jew can convert to Judaism, but it is very difficult to do so.

Evolution of Morality & Survival of the Fittest

Discovering Religion: Ep 24 - Evolution of Morality & Survival of the Fittest

Islamophobia

What is Islamophobia?

Simply put, Islamophobia is prejudice against, hatred towards, or irrational fear of Muslims. This definition involves many things:

• Dread or hatred of Islam undoubtedly leads to fear and dislike of all Muslims 
• Fear results in discriminating against Muslims by excluding them from the economic, social, and public life.
• The defintion leads to the adoption of opinions that Islam has no values in common with other cultures.
• The definition also underestimates the value of Islam and considers it inferior to the West.
• The definition suggests that all that Islam is about is what Muslims show in their behavior and that those Muslims represent the true nature of Islam. 
• Islam is considered by some non-Muslims as problematic to a multicultural society. 
• The term "phobia" implies that the fear of Muslims, Islam, or Islamism, is entirely irrational.

 Causes of Islamophobia
 the underlying concept of the term islamophobia have been criticized. Islam has long been stereotyped unjustly negatively and the emergence of the concept has many causes.

• Islam is considered by many Westerners as a violent political ideology rather than a religion.
• The shameful deeds of some fanatics have had a detrimental consequence on the image of Islam worldwide.
•  Luck of understanding of the true values of Islam.
• The term may have appeared because of racist reasons away from any objective knowledge of Islam.