Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-02-08

NC name fifty describes the Infinite
! Being. Men in all religions have w0r
SHIPPED the Highest Being. that they
could form an idea Of and in so doinc
they were striving their best 10 adore
| the true God.
Among the BuddhiSts meditation
that the soul might be exalted is TX
tensively pracliced. and tends toward:
stability and nationality Of though
and action. The recognition of The
soul and its vitality has among thu
I ConfuCianists promoted high standard.
OF family life and this too has hel,
the people close together in their fam
lily relationships. It must be rerOg
! 2ized that whatever tends to promote
the interests OF the family has a pro
found influence on the life OF people
And although the beliefs of the Chin
csc in matters pertaining to death anC
life Of the spirit are nor consistent
with our own. yet the attention giveI
in providing for the welfare and hap
piness of the soul must be looked up
on as having served the people tC
great advantage.
the development OF MAN a!l ~ the
formation Of his social institutions is
the practice of prayer 10 an unseen be
ing or power. We find the pTactIce
, OF praye.' in all ra~es. in all times
from the ancient tG the lCouerI., in all
religions from the lowest superstitiOns
, to the highest spirituality, and TO al
sorts of deities from the most loath
some fetisch to the trIe God. Men
have always considered prayer from
enc of two standpOints: first,sthat its
object was to ask for powers and ma
terial things which they could not
otherwise get along without, and sec
ond by the act of supplication or wOr
ship to place themselves in such an
attitude of courage, strength, or sub
mission as to enable them to accomp
lish that which they are seeking. The
prayerful man belongs to two worlds
the seen world and the unseen
world. He has faith: his faith begets
patience: his patience begets peace
The prayerless man belongs to only
one world and lives unto himself
Even in savage religions, prayer is a
means of strengthening emotion, sus-
tanning courage and exciting hope
while in higher faiths it becomes a
great motive power of the ethical sys-
tenn"
( Another element in prayer besides
faith is alteration. The alteration
Spirit in prayer is closely associated
with that of love. In the development
Of love in prayer, hatred is supplanted,
and the consideration for the welfare
OF others begins to take the place of
ed on the road to their respective
destinies.
Inspiration is another element in all
religions that has worked a strong in
fluence for general social betterment.
The faculty of inspiration, however, is
based upon the human trait rather
than upon the quality or nature of the
religion. Among all kinds of inspira-
ton, religious inspiration IS the high
est, the most far-reaching and the
most widely influential. Religious in
spiration3 Sembody themselves in the
sacred books of the human race, as the
'vedds.s GO. Zsudy Apesta, the, Koran.
the CLASSICS of China>and other scored
books. They differ both in quality
and power to move men according to
the point of view, but they live and
last because they enbody some truths,
which the allwise God has sent to
men and which men need for the re-
generation of their lives.
Perhaps the most remarkable of the
common tenets Of all the principal
religions is the belief in future
state of existence after death. The
universally of this belief Is not because
one race has received it as tradition
from another, but because it has
sprung up Independently in all parts
of the world, and in all ages of man.
The eternal life conception as a So
cial institution has carried men into
closer relations with the objects of
their duty. Faith in Immortality is
unseparably connected with faith in a
Supreme Being. The deeper mans
faith in immortality, the more perfect
is his religious experience. This in
stinctive faith has worked to great
duf duIdSe LII al l1Ic SISAl ISIlS lOuS
as we'll as among tribes having but
little religious instincts.
The conception of right and wrong
is a recognized institution for social
betterment among the religions of all
peoples. 1t is a primary element of
morality and can be reduced to such
simple terms that it is one of the first
conceptions that enters into the teach
ing of the child. The desire to do
right is akin to goodness.
Confucianism
The main tenets of Confucianism
are based upon the nature of man in
relation to the environment in which
he lives. True COnfucius, the COM
piler OF this faith recognized one true
God mntstered to by innumerable
spirits, but the chief concern Of this
religion is the teaching of men the
virtues of learning and right conduct.
Confucianism places wisdom, virtue,
and right conduct towards all men
above all things and the belief was
that these might be attained through
learning and reverence for the teach
inCS Of the SageS COnfuCiuS was a