Religion Talks
Religion is a range of social-cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements—although there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. Different religions may or may not contain various elements ranging from the divine, sacredness, faith, and a supernatural being or beings.
The origin of religious belief is an open question, with possible explanations including awareness of individual death, a sense of community, and dreams. Religions have sacred histories, narratives, and mythologies, preserved in oral traditions, sacred texts, symbols, and holy places, that may attempt to explain the origin of life, the universe, and other phenomena.
Religious practices may include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration (of deities or saints), sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trances, initiations, matrimonial and funerary services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, or public service.
There are an estimated 10,000 distinct religions worldwide, though nearly all of them have regionally based, relatively small followings. Four religions—Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism—account for over 77% of the world's population, and 92% of the world either follows one of those four religions or identifies as nonreligious, meaning that the remaining 9,000+ faiths account for only 8% of the population combined. The religiously unaffiliated demographic includes those who do not identify with any particular religion, atheists, and agnostics, although many in the demographic still have various religious beliefs.
Many world religions are also organized religions, most definitively including the Abrahamic religions Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, while others are arguably less so, in particular folk religions, indigenous religions, and some Eastern religions. A portion of the world's population are members of new religious movements. Scholars have indicated that global religiosity may be increasing due to religious countries having generally higher birth rates.
The study of religion comprises a wide variety of academic disciplines, including theology, philosophy of religion, comparative religion, and social scientific studies. Theories of religion offer various explanations for its origins and workings, including the ontological foundations of religious being and belief.
Title | Speaker | |
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October 23rd, 1999, Serial No. 01114 realization, Blue Cliff Record, Faith, Soto Zen, Religion, Peace, Sangha, resistance... |
Oct 23 1999 Unknown |
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March 13th, 1999, Serial No. 04079 Suzuki Roshi, Posture, Monastic Practice, Lay, Anger, Daily Life, Observe, Religion,... |
Mar 13 1999 Unknown |
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Sunday Lecture Religion, Priest, Buddha Mind, Vows, Precepts, Zazen, Chanting, Hate, Freedom, soto... |
Nov 22 1998 Green Gulch |
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May 30th, 1998, Serial No. 01817Serial: SF-01817 Gil (Intro) Soto Zen, soto, Suzuki Roshi, Religion, Lay, training, Five Ranks, Priest, Bell,... |
May 30 1998 Sati Center |
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Sunday Lecture Heart Sutra, zen meditation, Mindfulness, Religion, Koan, resistance, Letting Go,... |
May 17 1998 Green Gulch |
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Origins of Zen Faith, Diversity, Lotus Sutra, Don't Know Mind, Daily Life, Religion, Enthusiasm... |
May 16 1998 Unknown |
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Green Gulch History training, Fox, Offering, Lay, Zendo, Priest, Doubt, Religion, realization, Peace... |
May 10 1998 Green Gulch |
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April 26th, 1998, Serial No. 01895 Bodhidharma, Buddha Nature, Platform Sutra, Doubt, Faith, New Year, Describe,... |
Apr 26 1998 Unknown |
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Buddhism at Millennium's Edge - Seminar 1Serial: SF-03511 Copyright 1998 by Gary Snyder - Unedited Preview Cassette Religion, Conversation, Demons, Peace, resistance, Precepts, Zendo, Non-violence,... |
1998 Unknown |
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Buddhism at Millennium's Edge - Seminar 2Serial: SF-03512 Copyright 1998 by Gary Snyder - Unedited Preview Cassette Sixth Patriarch, Lotus Sutra, Religion, Priest, Mahayana, Samsara, Sangha, Offering,... |
1998 Unknown |
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Buddhism at Millennium's Edge - Poems 1Serial: SF-03521 Copyright 1998 by Gary Snyder - Unedited Preview Cassette Zendo, Continuous, Politics, Religion, Ceremony, Fox, Patience, Mahayana, Chanting,... |
1998 Unknown |
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Buddhism at Millennium's Edge - Seminar 3Serial: SF-03513 Copyright 1998 by Peter Matthiessen - Unedited Preview Cassette Mahayana, Priest, Lay, Commitment, Religion, Mill Valley, Transmission, Monastic... |
1998 Unknown |
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Scholarship Conference PaperSerial: SF-03238 Sunday Lecture Heart Sutra, Lineage, Platform Sutra, soto, Religion, Study Period, Emptiness,... |
Nov 16 1997 Green Gulch |
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Majjhima Nikaya ClassSerial: SF-03195 Middle-length Discourses Attachment, Addiction, Mindfulness, confusion, Four Noble Truths, Emptiness, Zazen,... |
Oct 14 1997 Green Gulch |
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Majjhima Nikaya ClassSerial: SF-03192 Middle-length Discourses Evil, Letting Go, Birth-and-Death, Karma, Faith, Precepts, Liberation, Karmic... |
Sep 23 1997 Green Gulch |
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Save The Redwoods - Mother Theresa and Lady DianaSerial: SF-00088 Saturday lecture. Vows, Precepts, Interdependence, Gratitude, Enemies, Religion |
Sep 06 1997 City Center |
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Wednesday Lecture Karmic Consciousness, Separation, Fasting, Precepts, Karma, Religion, Balance,... |
Jul 30 1997 Green Gulch |
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Mothers' DaySerial: SF-03101 Sunday Lecture: being born from a mother guarantees two ingredients, a bit of love and suffering, both necessary for enlightenment. The essential point of zen is questioning;... Manjushri, Commitment, Karma, Four Noble Truths, Letting Go, Religion, zen meditation... |
May 11 1997 Green Gulch |
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Recollections of Early Zen Priest, Demons, Vinaya, Funeral, Religion, Ceremony, Lay Practice, Six Realms,... |
Feb 08 1997 2 of 3 Green Gulch Farm |