The document discusses key aspects of the Jewish faith and what gives life meaning from a Jewish perspective: 1) Jews believe in a covenantal relationship with God and seek to keep God's laws and bring holiness into every aspect of life through their actions. 2) Judaism is a communal faith that is practiced together with family and the wider Jewish community around the world. 3) Living according to Jewish principles and traditions, and doing things that please God, turns everyday life into an act of worship.

1. Humans are made in the image of God as creatures capable
of interpersonal love and called into personal relationship
with the living God. They are called to work with and care
for God’s creation as God does.
All of God’s creation is Good!

2. The functions of a cultures origin myths
Examples from and about the
Creation
stories in Genesis Chapters 1 and
2
Contemporary Catholic Church interpretation
Cosmogenic: Speak about or describe
foundations or origins of the universe
and important elements in their culture.
Modern Cosmologists describe the first second of existence
of the observable universe at 13.7 billion years ago. All
living species have evolved from the first microbial forms
of life. It is all God's created work.
Sacred: Intimately connected with the
faith system of the culture
Included in the sacred oral
storytelling tradition.
Included in the modern Bible.
Reflective of social values: Story
represents or reflects important social
values within the culture.
Subdue and have dominion over the
earth.
Act as co-creators with God to care for the earth.
Organiser of thoughts: Provides a
framework by which to organise through,
often using dualities or opposites. For
example: day/night, light/dark,
good/evil.
Reflects the relationship between a
culture and its god or gods/goddesses:
Shoes how humans related to their
god/s.

3. Buddhism
Meaning of life & Wheel of Life

4. The great tragedy of existence, from a Buddhist point of view, is
that it is both endless and subject to impermanence, suffering and
uncertainty. These three are called the tilakhana or three signs of
existence. Existence is endless because individuals are reincarnated
over and over again, experiencing suffering throughout many lives.
It is impermanent because no state, good or bad, lasts forever. Our
mistaken belief that things can last is a chief cause of suffering. It is
uncertain because when we examine our experience, no knower can
be defined and no enduring essence of experience can be located.
Only achieving liberation, or nirvana, can free a being from the
cycle of life, death and rebirth.

6. The Wheel of Life
The Bhavachakra, the Wheel of Life or Wheel of Becoming, is a mandala - a
complex picture representing the Buddhist view of the universe. To Buddhists,
existence is a cycle of life, death, rebirth and suffering that they seek to escape
altogether.
The Wheel is divided into five or six realms, or states, into which a soul can be
reborn. It is held by a demon. Around the rim are depicted the twelve stages of
dependent origination. This gallery will explain the parts of the diagram.

7. Yama
The frightening figure holding the wheel is Yama, the Lord of Death or
Monster of Impermanence. He has three eyes and wears a crown of skulls.
Yama symbolises the impermanence of everything. The beings he holds are
trapped in eternal suffering by their ignorance of the nature of the universe.
Buddhism teaches that death is not the end and is not to be feared.

8. The Three Fires
In the middle of the Wheel are the three causes of all suffering. These are
known as the Three Fires: they are greed, ignorance and hatred, represented by
a rooster, a pig and a snake. They are shown linked together, biting each other's
tails, reinforcing each other.

9. The realm of humans
Buddhists consider being born as a human to be the most fortunate state.
Because they are not suffering as heavily as those in the other realms, yet are
not in lengthy bliss like the gods, humans have the best chance of
enlightenment.

10. The realm of gods (and Titans)
The gods, or devas, live in a state of bliss in the realm of heaven. Later sources
subdivide this into 26 levels of increasing happiness. The gods live for a long time, but
they too will die. Only enlightenment is a complete release.
At the bottom are the angry gods, called Titans or asuras, who hate the devas. Later
sources often show these in a realm of their own.

11. The realm of hungry ghosts
Lingering around the edges of the mortal realm, trapped by their
overattachment to the world, the hungry ghosts, or pretas, are in the grip of
their unfulfilled desires. This is symbolised by their huge bellies and tiny
mouths that can never satisfy their appetites.

12. The realm of animals
Animals are used by humans and lack the necessary awareness to become
enlightened. Buddhists do not believe it is a good thing to be reborn as an
animal, although they believe in treating every living thing with loving kindness.

13. Hell
At the bottom is the hell realm. People here are horribly tortured in many
creative ways, but not for ever - only until their bad karma is worked off.

14. Dependent origination
This teaching of the Buddha's is explained in detail here.
The twelve stages of dependent origination are shown around the rim. They are:
1. Ignorance: a blind man; 2. Willed action: a potter; 3. Conditioned consciousness: a
restless monkey; 4. Form and existence: a boat; 5. Senses: windows of a house;
6. Sense-impressions: two lovers; 7. Sensation: an arrow in the eye; 8. Craving: a man
drinking; 9. Attachment: clinging to a fruit tree; 10. Becoming: a pregnant woman;
11. Birth; 12. Old age, death

15. Buddha
In the top right corner, Buddha is showing the way. He is outside the wheel to
show that he has escaped the cycle of life and death. Buddha is pointing to
Yama and the wheel to teach his followers the true nature of existence.

16. Activity: Answer the following questions in ten
words or less (ten word strategy)
Record your thoughts about the Buddhist Wheel of life and meaning of life.
1.What does it suggest to you about a Buddhist
perspective of the purpose of existence?
2.Does it suggest some kind of plan for human
existence?

17. Judaism
Meaning of life

18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRaQSbuTiBg
The Book of good life by the Maccabeats
Activity: Create a list of actions
that the song illustrates to the
viewer about a good life for an
observant Jew.

19. Living a selfish life:-
Woke up and realized yesterday
Think it's a bummer end of the summer
Kinda nervous that we're almost there
At the days of awe
Prayers in a language that I don't know
Standing for hours and hours more
I wish that someone would please tell me-e-e-e
What it is we're praying for
When you're sitting there in shul
Wishing it was over
You gotta take a beat
And let it all sink in
• Ignoring your loved ones
• Littering
• Eating poorly
• Not taking care of yourself
• Blocking yourself off from others-
not communicating.
• Being impolite (pushing in, not
waiting your turn)
• Ignoring elders.
• Not paying attention in class.

20. Living a Good Life:-
Time for reflection on the past year.
Time to figure out what we're doing here.
Replace the guilt with inspiration,
And everything is clear.
Life in the present, the here and now;
Easier than regret and planning out.
Living in the moment, lasts for a moment,
Got my future to think about.
Hopefully,
This year,
Sensitivity to others will increase
Hopefully,
We'll open our eyes and think more consciously,
Cuz Hopefully,
We'll go from where we are to where we want to be.
• Eat well
• Be polite (give up your seat, let others go before
you…)
• Give to the poor and needy
• Exercise body (he goes to the gym), mind (the 7
habits of highly effective people) and spirit
(gathering together at synagogue)
• Pay attention to elders
• Participate in class
• Care for the environment
• Help others.

21. Jewish faith and meaning
Jewish faith and God
The relationship with God
Jews believe that there is a single God who not only created the universe, but with
whom every Jew can have an individual and personal relationship.
They believe that God continues to work in the world, affecting everything that people
do.
The Jewish relationship with God is a covenant relationship. In exchange for the many
good deeds that God has done and continues to do for the Jewish People...
The Jews keep God's laws
The Jews seek to bring holiness into every aspect of their lives.

22. Judaism is the faith of a Community
Jews believe that God appointed the Jews to be his chosen people in order to set an
example of holiness and ethical behaviour to the world.
Jewish life is very much the life of a community and there are many activities that Jews
must do as a community.
For example, the Jewish prayer book uses WE and OUR in prayers where some other
faiths would use I and MINE.
Jews also feel part of a global community with a close bond Jewish people all over the
world. A lot of Jewish religious life is based around the home and family activities.

23. Judaism is a family faith
Judaism is very much a family faith and the ceremonies start early, when a
Jewish boy baby is circumcised at eight days old, following the instructions that
God gave to Abraham around 4,000 years ago.
Many Jewish religious customs revolve around the home. One example is the
Sabbath meal, when families join together to welcome in the special day.

24. Who is a Jew?
Jews believe that a Jew is someone who is the child of a Jewish mother;
although some groups also accept children of Jewish fathers as Jewish. A Jew
traditionally can't lose the technical 'status' of being a Jew by adopting another
faith, but they do lose the religious element of their Jewish identity.
Someone who isn't born a Jew can convert to Judaism, but it is not easy to do
so.

25. Judaism and faith
Judaism means living the faith
Almost everything a Jewish person does can become an act of worship.
Because Jews have made a bargain with God to keep his laws, keeping that bargain and doing things in the way
that pleases God is an act of worship.
And Jews don't only seek to obey the letter of the law - the particular details of each of the Jewish laws - but the
spirit of it, too.
A religious Jew tries to bring holiness into everything they do, by doing it as an act that praises God, and
honours everything God has done. For such a person the whole of their life becomes an act of worship.
Being part of a community that follows particular customs and rules helps keep a group of people together, and
it's noticeable that the Jewish groups that have been most successful at avoiding assimilation are those that obey
the rules most strictly - sometimes called ultra-orthodox Jews.

26. It’s what you do that counts!
Judaism is a faith of action and Jews believe people should
be judged not so much by the intellectual content of their
beliefs, but by the way they live their faith - by how much
they contribute to the overall holiness of the world.

27. A summary of what Jews
believe about God
• God exists
• There is only one God
• There are no other gods
• God can't be subdivided into
different persons (unlike the
Christian view of God)
• Jews should worship only the
one God
• God is Transcendent:
• God is above and beyond
all earthly things.
• God doesn't have a body
• Which means that God is
neither female nor male.
• God created the universe
without help
• God is omnipresent:
• God is everywhere, all the
time.
• God is omnipotent:
• God can do anything at all.
• God is beyond time:
• God has always existed
• God will always exist.
• God is just, but God is also
merciful
• God punishes the bad
• God rewards the good
• God is forgiving towards
those who mess things up.
• God is personal and accessible.
• God is interested in each
individual
• God listens to each
individual
• God sometimes speaks to
individuals, but in
unexpected ways.

28. The Jews brought new ideas about God
The Jewish idea of God is particularly important to the world because it was
the Jews who developed two new ideas about God:
There is only one God
God chooses to behave in a way that is both just and fair.
Before Judaism, people believed in lots of gods, and those gods behaved no
better than human beings with supernatural powers.
The Jews found themselves with a God who was ethical and good.

29. Activity:
• Go to this website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/beliefs/beliefs_1.shtml
and copy all of the text up to “The view of the Jewish God” and paste it into a
a taxgedo.
Record what words are highlighted (bigger than the others) in your books.

31. Christian
meaning of life.

32. Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHsbwY4EPyA
• How is God portrayed in the clip?

33. Quest for purpose…
• The film declares the quest for the Grail to be Arthur’s purpose,
Does this suggest that before that point Arthur was living a life
without purpose?

34. Watch this clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p98KAEif3bI
• What do you think is the message of the film?
• How did a sense of purpose change the lives of the circus performers?
• What was it that had to change in order for Wil to begin to reach his full
potential?
• Are there negative things that you believe about yourself that might be
stopping you from reaching your full potential?
• What is the significance of the butterfly in the film?

35. Activity:
•Research the life of Nick Vujicic (the man
who plays the role of Wil in the Butterfly
Circus).
•Share one of his messages about potential,
faith or purpose in the form of a poem.

36. Personal reflection:
• Are you making decisions at the moment about school,
relationships, work, sport, drinking alcohol etc?
• Are you just letting things happen?
• What is one thing you could change today that could
energise your life and might help you live your life with
more purpose?

37. Destiny and the Arts
Artists have contributed to the human search for meaning and
purpose. We will examine works of art that depict human
understandings about origins, purpose and destiny.

38. It is meant to be viewed from left to right.
1. What do you see? 2. How has the artist represented the three questions?
3. What evidence of religious ideas is present in the painting?
4. Is there evidence of philosophical perspectives?
Paul Gaugin’s painting Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?

39. Research the context of the artist and the painting. How does this new
knowledge help you to interpret the work?

40. Scream by Edvard Munch
I was walking along a path with two friends – the
sun was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood red
– I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the
fence – there was blood and tongues of fire above the
blue-black fjord and the city – my friends walked on,
and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I
sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.
Compare the experience of viewing the painting to the
experience of reading a description of it.
What was similar and what was different?
Which do you prefer?

41. View and critique the strengths and weaknesses of the short film
https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/05/01/a-story-for-tomorrow/
Activity: The introduction to this film claims it is a meditation on the secrets
of happiness and what it means to be human. Suggest some themes on this
topic about the purpose and destiny of humans that you think might be
missing from the film.
For next lesson please bring your favourite
motivational song that says something about
meaning, purpose and destiny.

42. Is my existence part
of a bigger plan?
Where are we going?

43. Share your favourite song/s that speak to you
about life, its meaning, purpose or destiny.
• How has the musician presented ideas about life meaning, purpose and
destiny?
• What about the song speaks to you?
• Why does it resonate with you?
• Explain the way music assists people to make sense of experiences or
feelings.