.KEYWORD bookmonth199
.FLYINGHEAD PALMPOWER BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB
.TITLE Digital dogma: the world’s religions in your palm
.DEPT
.SUMMARY It should come as no surprise that our foolhardy columnists have elected to continue their journey into social ostracism. After tackling sex and politics, they now attempt to finish the triumvirate of taboo topics: RELIGION. So, in a last final effort to become disowned by their families and shunned by their friends, they offer a brief and far-from-complete look at a few of the religious resources for Palm organizer owners.
.AUTHOR Craig Froehle and John Swain
It should come as no surprise that we foolhardy columnists have elected to continue our journey into social ostracism. After tackling sex and politics, we now attempt to finish the triumvirate of taboo topics: RELIGION. However, the sheer abundance of materials available in Palm device formats astounded us. So, in a last final effort to become disowned by our families and shunned by our friends, we offer a brief and far-from-complete look at a few of the religious resources for Palm organizer owners.
In this article, we’ve listed the religions in alphabetical order.
.H1 Buddhism (The Word: The Eightfold Path of Buddha and The Gospel of Buddha)
Prince Siddhartha Gautama was born in 566 B.C., a son of a wealthy and powerful king in what is now Nepal. As a prince, he was born to a life of immense material wealth and luxury. Eventually though, as he matured into adulthood, he struggled with the realization that his existence was spiritually devoid. At the age of 29, Siddhartha left his wife and family and renounced his kingdom to devote himself to a search for the answer to the sufferings of life. For years he studied the difficult path of salvation taught by ascetics but ultimately found no answers in its severe physical discipline.
Eventually, through quiet meditation, Siddhartha developed a spiritual insight into the nature of existence. When he realized that it was possible to escape the chain of birth and death, he became the Buddha, the Enlightened One, the Awakened One. He spent the remaining years of his life in a labor of love spreading the Teachings. He passed away leaving the message to his disciples: "The Dharma which I have given you shall be your Teacher, when I am gone."
The Word: The Eightfold Path of Buddha is the most widely known of the Buddha’s teachings. Dating back to the Buddha’s very first discourse, it is respected as a unique treasury of wisdom and practical guidance.
.H1 Christianity (The King James Bible, Essential Catholic Prayers, Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, and LDS Articles of Faith)
Christianity, built somewhat upon the religious foundations of Judaism (see below), is the collection of religions based on the teachings of Jesus. Founded in the 1st century in Palestine, the religion spread sporadically until around 1054, the time of the first great schism that separated the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic churches. Then, in the 16th century, growing concern regarding corruption in the Church resulted in the Protestant Reformation. A key initiator of this religious revolution was Martin Luther, who posted his 95 theses on the church door at Wittenburg. Eventually, many other Protestant sects evolved in various parts of Europe and the Western world, and Christianity spread as exploration and colonization brought European influences into the Americas.
The primary Christian religious reference is the Bible. Palm computer versions of the King James and other bibles are available at the links below, while smaller documents listing the various books and chapters of the Bible are also available. Some essential Catholic prayers are available in a small Doc e-text (just in case they haven’t been memorized yet). Martin Luther’s 95 Theses of 1517 represent important fundamental concepts for Lutherans and many other Protestant religions. The Articles of Faith is an important document to followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Finally, there are several Palm-related websites providing structured Christian content and discussion.
.H1 Confucianism (The Analects of Confucius, The Doctrine of the Mean, and The Great Learning)
Born in 551 B.C. as Kung, when western missionaries later heard people speak of his revered name, Kung Fu-tse meaning "Kung, The Master", they anglicized the pronunciation to Confucius. The child of an aristocratic family who had lost their wealth and position, Confucius established himself as a teacher. Ironically, while Confucius would ultimately become known as one of the greatest teachers in history, his true aspiration was that of politician. Unfortunately, politics was not as ready to embrace him. Some speculate that his political failings were caused by contemporary rulers who viewed it as less than politically savvy to grant a position of power to someone who embraced candor and integrity with the fervor demonstrated by Confucius.
Confucius regarded himself as a conduit, not the creator, of social values and wisdom. Although Confucianism does not claim revelatory scriptures, the Five Classics and the Four Books are regarded as the foundation of Confucian conduct and wisdom. Growth of Confucianism as a religion progressed for centuries until the movement was slowed in 1503 when images of Confucius were ordered removed from the temples and replaced with simple wooden tablets inscribed with his teachings. From then on he was spoken of simply as "Master Kung, the perfect teacher of antiquity." In 1906 there was an attempt to revive the Confucian cult but with the birth of the People’s Republic of China, all religious observances were officially abandoned.
.H1 Hinduism (The Bhagavad Gita)
The Bhagavad Gita, which translated into English means "the Song of the Lord", is a sacred scripture that captures the conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Predating the rise of Christianity and originally written in Sanskrit, The Bhagavad Gita is a portion of a larger work, Mahabhaarata, by the sage Vyasa.
At the outset of the conflict, Arjuna is faced with a moral quandary at the prospect of shedding the blood of his cousins in battle. In his dilemma, he seeks the counsel of his friend and chariot driver, Lord Krishna. It is Krishna’s counsel retold that forms the Bhagavad Gita.
As Aldous Huxley once wrote, "The Gita is one of the clearest and most comprehensive summaries of the Perennial Philosophy ever to have been done. Hence it’s enduring value, not only for Indians, but for all mankind. The Bhagavad Gita is perhaps the most systematic spiritual statement of the Perennial Philosophy.”
.H1 Judaism (The Thirteen Principles of Faith, Tefilat HaDerech – Jewish Wayfarer’s Prayer, and Channukah Blessings in Sign)
Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic (one God) religions, emerging many centuries BC in the area east of the Mediterranean. Early on, the Jews developed the beliefs that, ultimately, God would bring his kingdom to Earth and establish an era of peace and justice. In 568 BC, the destruction of the First Temple and subsequent Babylonian captivity brought new energy to the concept of a messiah, with public study of the Torah (central religious text) becoming more common. Alexander the Great’s conquests brought both new ideologies and hardships, and from these conditions sprang both Christianity (see above) and Rabbinic, or classical, Judaism. Over the next five centuries, the synagogues replaced temples, priests were replaced by rabbis, and sacrificial ceremonies were eliminated in favor of prayer services.
Contemporary Judaism consists of several movements, including Hasidism and Zionism. Orthodox Jews hold that halakah (the law) is derived from God, and therefore absolute, while Conservative Jews observe many traditions but recognize the need for change. Reconstructionist Judaism, a relatively recent movement, accepts all forms, considering Judaism as primarily a cultural (rather than religious) system.
The Thirteen Principles of Faith describe some of the fundamental beliefs of Judaism, as written by Rambam in defense of traditional Rabbinical values. The Tefilat HaDarech is a traditional prayer for travelers, and is available in both Hebrew and English. Finally, while not a high holiday, Channukah prayers and the menorah lighting ceremony are available in text and image formats.
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.H1 Taoism (Tao-te-Ching)
The founder of Taoism was Lao-Tse (604-531 BC), a contemporary of Confucius. Dismayed at the toll of constant feudal battles in his society, Lao-Tse was searching for a way that would avoid the waste of warfare and conflicts. The result was his book: Tao-te-Ching.
The Tao, or Way, which is the core of Taoism, has never been fully written in words; rather it is left for each practitioner to discover within. Lao-Tse wrote, "The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao." Taoism is concerned with man’s spiritual level of being, and in Tao-te-Ching, the awakened man is compared to bamboo: upright, simple but useful outside, while hollow inside. Luminous emptiness is the spirit of Tao. A uniquely Taoist concept is wu-wei, or non-action. Wu-wei does not imply lack of action, but rather not acting beyond the spontaneous action that conforms with needs as they naturally ensue. Wu-wei is a lack of calculated action and an embrace of action that does not exceed the very minimum required for effective results. Being still and listening to the inner prompting of the Tao results in effortless action.
Taoism started as a combination of psychology and philosophy but evolved into a religion in 440 BC when it was adopted as a state religion. At that time Lao-Tse became popularly venerated as a deity. Taoism, along with Buddhism and Confucianism, became the three great religions of China.
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Note: The omission of the many religions not covered here was simply a matter of article length and not of implied importance, validity, popularity, or even bribery. Please check out the resources below for more information and documents on these and other world religions.
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All of the above documents can be found at either MemoWare or The Lending Library. Or, take a tour around the PalmPilot E-text Web-Ring. You may be surprised to find exactly what you’re looking for!
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.H1 Product availability and resources
Visit MemoWare, maintained by Craig Froehle, at http://www.memoware.com.
Visit The Lending Library, maintained by John Swain, at http://www.macduff.net.
Tour the PalmPilot E-text Web-Ring at http://www.pilotlibrary.org/webring.html.
Penticon’s on-line archive of Hebrew Doc files is available at http://www.penticon.com/moadon/index.htm.
Chinese Literature for the Palm organizer is available at http://www.aperion.org/palm/taow.html.
The Christian Classics Electronic Library is available at http://members.aol.com/PilotCCEL/.
PalmPilot E-Texts for Catholics is available at http://world.std.com/~cwong/doc/index.html.
Seventh Day Adventist Devotionals are available at http://www.tagnet.org/sandylake/devotionals.html.
The King James Bible and others are available at http://www.forelsystems.com/index2.html and http://www.olivebranch.com.
The Holy Qur’an is available at http://www.macduff.net/philo.asp or http://www.memoware.com/mw-relig.htm.
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.BIO As a Ph.D. student in Business Administration, Craig Froehle has witnessed his fair share of praying, especially during midterms and final exams. When John Swain isn’t working in the New York metropolitan area, he’s passionately engaged in his pursuit to create the largest dryer lint collection on the planet.
.DISCUSS http://powerboards.zatz.com/cgi-bin/webx?13@@.ee6c7e5
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