Health Care and Wellness Provider and Faith Diversity Final Draft
docx
keyboard_arrow_up
School
Grand Canyon University *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
302
Subject
Arts Humanities
Date
Jun 23, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
6
Uploaded by SargentSeahorse2216
HEALTH CARE AND WELLNESS
1
Health Care and Wellness Provider and Faith Diversity
Willie Morris
Grand Canyon University
HLT 302: Spirituality and Christian Values in Health Care and Wellness
Dr. Randy Weisberg
May 19, 2024,
HEALTH CARE AND WELLNESS
2
Health Care and Wellness Provider and Faith Diversity
In the practice of health care and wellness, one encounters various people and situations. One of those things being the patients’ having different or multiple faith or spiritual backgrounds. In these events,
it should not change how one cares for these patients but offer the same high-quality care with respect to their situation. This paper will be a comparative analysis of two faiths providing health care in wellness: the first being the Christian perspective, and the second the Buddhist perspective. It will serve as the baseline to understanding the two perspectives as well as bring awareness to those who may face this challenge soon.
Basic Worldview Christianity and Buddhism In comparing these two faith perspective, there are several basic questions that I think will allow one to grasp the understanding of the analysis for each. Questions that ask each perspectives the following: their view on prime reality, the nature of the world, what it is to be a human being, what happens after death, their theory of right and wrong, human history. Prime Reality
In the Christian perspective is their belief in God being the Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning, and the End. Shelly and Miller described it as “God is Triune, He is the Father, He is Son, and He is the Holy Spirit; He, being three persons in one, reviews to mankind that there is a community within God.” (Shelly & Miller, 2009). In regards to the Buddhists their views are that they are no such thing “life is both endless and subject to impermanence, suffering and uncertainty” (BBC.com,2014). It is
believed with Buddhist that there are multiple gods called “devas,” but there is no God that is considered as the highest or first being compared that to God in Christianity. Nature of the World Around Us
When it comes to the questions about the nature of the world around us, the Christian perspective states that the universe and all things are created by God with biblical stories supporting events that have
HEALTH CARE AND WELLNESS
3
taken place and serves both as symbolic as well as (Shelly & Miller, 2009). “Buddhists see the world with
emptiness.” (BBC.com, 2014). The Dalai Lama, a well-known respected leader in the Buddhism perspective stated, “It’s not the emptiness of existence, however the emptiness of true or independent existence, which is broken down to mean that everything exists by dependence of other factors” (His Holiness, n.d.). What it is to be a Human Being
The understanding of being human is the Christian perspective is referred as “being made in the image of God that bestowed dignity and honor on every person, regardless of social, mental, or physical status” (Shelly & Miller, 2006, pg. 76). In Buddhism, according to the Aggañña Sutta (DN.27), “humans started out as Brahma-like beings reborn from the Ābhāsvara Brahma-realm. They were then beings shining in their own light, capable of moving through the air without mechanical aid, living for a very long time, and not requiring sustenance. Over time, they acquired a taste for physical nutriment, and as they consumed it, their bodies became heavier and more like human bodies; they lost their ability to shine
and began to acquire differences in their appearance. (“Human beings in Buddhism - Wikipedia”) Their length of life decreased, they differentiated into two sexes and became sexually active. Following this, greed, theft, and violence arose among them, and they consequently established social distinctions and government and elected a king to rule them, called Mahāsammata, the great appointed one
.” (Sutta, DN. 27)
What Happens After Death
The idea of what happens after death in the Christian perspective is if one accepts God in their heart and try to live a faithful life, they will be rewarded with eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. In Buddhism death is viewed as “an essential part of the predicament that humans find themselves in, which is a wheel of life and death, with the possibility of reincarnation for those enlightened individuals who choose to be reborn to help others become enlightened.” (Ratanakul, 2004). If one is granted enlightened have the chance to become reincarnated to continue the process of enlightenment. The question of why it
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
HEALTH CARE AND WELLNESS
4
is possible to know anything at all for Christians is answered with God creation of man and making them in His Image. With Buddhism, it is determined by those who seek enlightenment. The Theory of Right and Wrong
The theory of right and wrong for the Christian perspective according to biblical text at the fall of
man when Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree which gave man free will. In Buddhism it is believed “the way we behave at any given moment will impact their lives in the future, due to the belief that life exists because of cause and effect, when something exists something else exists, when something arises, it is because something else arises.” (Ratanakul, 2004).
Human History
Christianity view of human history starts with the story of Adam, the first human male created by God by blowing life into dust and later created Eve, the first female from one of Adam’s rib bones. Afterwards Adam and Eve’s children became the 12 tribes of Judah that spread across the world and began to populate it with different tongues because of an incident with a king challenging God that resulted in different languages until we get to the world as it today. Buddhism has no belief in a creator but explains that the “present events are caused by past events and become the cause of future events and describes the
process of recreation on this grand scale. “An old world-system has just been destroyed, and its inhabitants are reborn in a new system.” (“How did Buddha Explain the Creation Of the World?”) To begin with they are spirits, floating happily above the earth, luminescent and without form, name, or sex. The world in these initial stages is without light or land, only water. Eventually earth appears and the spirits come to taste and enjoy it. (“How did Buddha Explain the Creation Of the World?”) Their greed causes their ethereal bodies to become solid and coarse and differentiate into male and female, good-
looking and ugly. “As they lose their luminescence the sun and moon come into being.” (“BBC Religions
Buddhism: The Buddhist universe”) “Gradually the beings fall into further wicked habits, causing themselves - and the earth itself - to become less pleasant.” (“Buddhist mythology Wikipedia”) The Buddha is saying, desire, greed and attachment not only cause suffering for people but also cause the
HEALTH CARE AND WELLNESS
5
world to be as it is. The physical world as we know it, with all its imperfections and suffering, is the product of what the Buddha called dependent origination.” (BBC, 2009).
Overall Focus of Christianity and Buddhism In Christianity, the overall focus is living one’s life that is favorable to God leading as many as possible to Him understanding that the only way to His Kingdom is through accepting Him as their Lord and Savior. Understanding that one life on earth will be judged and only doing virtuous deeds for the sake
of trying to seek favor with Him does nothing. In Buddhism the goal is enlightenment and how one lives their life will affect them during reincarnation. It is believed that if one does virtuous deeds throughout their lives with be reincarnated back to the point where they experienced the most happiness.
HEALTH CARE AND WELLNESS
6
References
His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. (n.d.). A Buddhist Concept of Nature. Retrieved from https://www.dalailama.com/messages/environment/buddhist-concept-of-nature
Ratanakul, P. Ph.D. (2004). The Buddhist Concept of Life, Suffering and Death, and Related Bioethical Issues. Retrieved from https://www.eubios.info/EJ144/ej144f.htmReepinfo.org
. (2020). Christianity and the Natural World. Retrieved from https://reepinfo.org/christianity-and-the-natural-world
Shelly, J. A., & Miller, A. B. (2006). Called to care: A Christian worldview for nursing (2nd ed.).
InterVarsity Press. https://www.gcumedia.com/digital-resources/intervarsity-press/2006/called-to-care_a-
christian-worldview-for-nursing_ebook_2e.php
Human beings in Buddhism - Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_beings_in_Buddhism
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help