five of the world's most widespread and influential religions are christianity islam hinduism buddhism and judaism and most people only know little about the religion they may have been born into but i think it's important to know the basics of something that for many people defines their life and informs their morals these will be quick descriptions so they're not meant to be comprehensive but to know something about them is better than knowing nothing so here's a quick summary of each in alphabetical order buddhism the chief problem in life is suffering and it is caused by desiring worldly things suffering can be eliminated by getting rid of material desires this will help you realize nirvana the state of bliss characterized by freedom from rebirths but this do not worship any god buddha was not a god but a person who realized spiritual enlightenment and freedom from the cycle of birth and death most bid disbelieve a person has countless rebirths which leads to suffering to end these rebirths the goal of a buddhist is to purify one's heart and to let go of all yearning and sensual desires and material attachment through practice meditation a person may reach nirvana the ridding of desires and freedom from reincarnations christianity god is a loving god who offers everyone a personal relationship with him now in this life all people are born and sent god sent his son to earth to save humanity from the consequences of its sense faith in jesus christ can deliver you from your sins biblically speaking christians are those who are forgiven of their sins and who have entered a personal relationship with the almighty god through faith in jesus christ jesus was tortured and gave his life on the cross at the crucifixion jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion the resurrection and proved his deity the holy book of christianity is the bible consisting of the jewish old testament and new testament followers of jesus regard the bible as god's written message to humankind in addition to being an historical record of jesus's life and miracles hinduism the world is an illusion and the goal of humanity is to free the soul from constant rebirth and reincarnations and to be absorbed into the cosmic consciousness called brahman central to hindu belief is the concept of karma where past deeds are responsible for present circumstances if a person's behavior in the past or in a past life was evil they might justifiably experience hardships in this life hindus believe that godly consciousness is present in everyone and everything so if god is present in everything then to a hindu worshiping an idol in the form of deities gurus rivers or animals is equivalent in its truest sense hinduism is monotheistic but it is regarded by many as polytheistic because of the various representations of the one brahman that hindus might worship most hindus agree that the root of their philosophy comes from a set of books called the vedas which translates to books of knowledge islam life is to be lived in subordination to god's will devotional life centers on the confession there is no god but allah and muhammad is the messenger of allah allah is the soul and sovereign ruler of the universe and source of all good and evil everything that happens is allah's will muhammad is considered the last prophet and his words and lifestyle are to be followed and emulated to be a muslim one must follow five religious duties one repeat a creed about allah and muhammad two recite certain prayers in arabic five times a day three give to the needy four one month each year fast from food drink sex smoking from sunrise to sunset pilgrimage once in your lifetime to worship at the shrine in mecca in saudi arabia at death based on one's faithfulness to these duties a muslim hopes to enter paradise if not they will be eternally punished in hell the scripture of islam is called the quran god's word dictated to muhammad over a period of 22 years judaism there is a single god who not only created the universe but who continues to rule it jews are the chosen people of god with whom he has a covenant to set an example of holiness and ethical behavior in the world judaism establishes a relationship between israelites the children of israel and god judaism says that death is not the end of the world and that a new world is yet to come into existence the ten commandments are the basis for serving god and for relating to others jews also follow the talmud a collection of rabbinical interpretations of the torah salvation comes by following god's will and fulfilling his commandments sabbath observance is the foundation of jewish worship the 24 hours from sunset friday to sunset saturday are designated as a time of worship and rest from work two major events in the 20th century have influenced the jews the holocaust the nazis destruction of millions of jews and israel's reconstitution in 1948 the torah or old testament the five books of the hebrew bible form the most important constituent hindus acknowledge the one brahman who can manifest in multitudes of gods and goddesses buddhists say there is no deity muslims believe in a powerful but unknowable god christians believe in a loving god who created us to know him jews believe god continues to rule the world and has a covenant with them to keep his laws in the world in exchange for the good deeds he does what do these religions have in common they all require faith that its teachings and practices will result in everlasting happiness for the human soul in that sense all these five religions serve a common purpose and have a common goal in mind so you have to ask the question if every pilgrim is after the same result for the human soul why do we all keep fighting on our way to get there [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you