Religion and Spirituality: Religious Studies: Eastern Religions

Resources for the study of the diverse Japanese religious traditions in America.

References and commentaries on works derived from Eastern religions including the Dhammapada and the Upanishads.

Links and resources regarding Chinese philosophy and religion.

Texts and sutras that make up eastern wisdom and mystical thought.

But sense gratification does not satisfy. This is further evidence that you are not the body. No matter how much sense pleasure you have, you are still never satisfied within.

Recent studies at the Oak Ridge Atomic Research Center have revealed that about 98 percent of all the atoms in a human body are replaced every year. You get a new suit of skin every month and a new liver every six weeks. The lining of your stomach lasts only five days before it’s replaced. Even your bones are not the solid, stable, concrete-like things you might have thought them to be: They are undergoing constant change. The bones you have today are different from the bones you had a year ago.

The matter making up your body is continually changing. The body you have today is not the body you had five years ago, and yet it still retains the same shape, the same basic form. Why is that? It’s due to the presence of the life, the living being.

The wise have explained that one result is derived from the culture of knowledge, and that a different result is obtained from the culture of nescience. ~ Sri Ishopanishad, Mantra Ten

Result of identifying self with the body: "If you believe that you are your body, you will strive endlessly to give your body sensual pleasure. You will struggle to fill up your inner emptiness with fleeting sensual flashes. But no amount of sensual pleasure will satisfy you. No matter how many taste orgasms, sexual orgasms, and other kinds of orgasms you may have, you still won't be actually satisfied. You’ll always have a never ending desire for more.”