WORLD RELIGIONS

RELIGION

• set of beliefs for a group of people

• Soul or spirit; a deity or higher being; life after death

Buddhism

* Eight Fold Path

Sikhism

ConfucianismHinduismShintoism

Daoism

* Yin-Yang

* Cosmogony

EASTERN RELIGIONS• South & East Asia

Classifications of Religions•Monotheistic religions

– Belief in ONE God

•Polytheistic religions– Belief in MORE THAN ONE god, even thousands

•Universalizing religions– Appeals to people living in a variety of locations

– Religions that actively seek converts – why?

– DO NOT WORRY ABOUT AN AGRICULTURAL CALENDAR

– Buddhism; Sikhism; Bahá’í

•Ethnic religions– Found in a particular culture Do not seek outside converts

– Spatially concentrated

– Religions whose adherents are born into the faith

– Hinduism; Confucianism; Daoism/Taoism; Shintoism; African religions

HINDUISM• Distribution

– Largest ethnic religion– 3rd largest religion

– Indus River Valley over 4000 years ago

– Probably World’s oldest religion

– India – 97%

– Nepal

• Basic Information– Polytheism

– Reincarnation – The rebirth of souls after death

– Karma – The moral consequences of a person’s actions

– No central authority / no founder

– NO HOLY BOOK

– Sacred text: Vedas

– Diffusion: through South Asia and into Southeast Asia

Hinduism: Beliefs

• Respect for all life

• BRAHMAN, the underlying universal life force that encompasses and embodies existence.

– According to Hindu scriptures, one's ignorance of the true nature of the self (atman) as one with Brahman is what traps one in the cycle of endless death and reincarnation (samsara).

• Goal of life: is liberation (moksha) – union with Brahman

– release from the cycle of death and rebirth

HINDUISM• Caste System

– Class system where everyone was

assigned a distinct class @ birth– Division of society based on occupation and family lineage

– Moral duty specific to that caste.

– Limit a person’s ability to move up in life

• British encouraged the abolishment of the

caste system when they left their colony

(India gained independence)

Brahmans

Kshatriyas

Vaisyas

Shudras

Untouchables

Priests and scholars

Rulers and warriors

Farmers and

merchants

Artisans and

laborers

- The outcasts

* the above castes were subdivided

HINDUISM• Places of Worship

– Worship @ Home

– Sacred sites: Ganges River

– Temple – used as shrine for particular gods rather

than congregational worship

– Temple contains a dimly lit interior room where a

symbolic artifact or some other image of the god

rests

HINDUS WORSHIP

@ Home Different Temples

HINDUS worship @ HOME

- Idols at the Itasca Temple

* Swaminarayan

Sacred Landscapes of Hinduism

Hinduism – pilgrimages follow prescribed

routes, and rituals are followed by millions.

Varanasi, India

on the

Ganges River

where Hindus

perform

morning rituals.

Hierarchy of Hindu holy places: Some sites

are holy to Hindus throughout

India; others have a regional or

sectarian importance, or are

important only locally.

Hindu pilgrims achieve purification by bathing in the Ganges.

Hindu Temple –Angkor Wat, Cambodia. This temple suffers from neglect and destruction

now, as Buddhism has supplanted Hinduism in most of Cambodia.

HINDUISM• Disposing of the Dead

• Cremation– Body is washed with water from Ganges River & burned with a slow fire on a funeral

pyre

– Considered act of purification

– FREE THE SOUL from body for departure to the afterworld & provide warmth & comfort

for the soul as embarked on journey to afterworld

• REINCARNATION

BUDDHISM• Distribution

– 400 million adherents

– Concentrated in China, Japan, Tibet & Southeast Asia

BUDDHISM• Basic Information & Diffusion

– Splintered from Hinduism 2500 years ago

– Originated in a region from Nepal south to the Ganges River area.

• Universalizing Religion

• Concentrated in 1 region of the world– Anyone can achieve salvation, anyone can reach enlightenment

– Can follow another faith- Can be a Buddhist & a believer in another Eastern religion simultaneously

Buddhism diffused

gradually from its origin in

northeastern India to Sri

Lanka, southeast Asia,

China, and Japan.

** NOTICE: Buddhism

remained

concentrated

in one region!

• Buddha is a man who had gained supreme enlightenment

• Central figure– Siddhartha Gautama/ Buddha “awakened or enlightened one”

• Main day of worship– Practiced individual prayer or meditation

– Followers free to practice the teachings as best they can.

– No official day of worship

• Holy Book– Tripitaka

• Clergy– Monks

– The Dalai Lama

Buddhism – Basic Information

BUDDHISM• Beliefs

– Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha)• Son of a lord, faced no hardships

• Age 29, left his palace & traveled

Started to struggle with scenes of pain & suffering (old man; disease-ridden man; corpse; monk)

• Monk – taught him about withdrawal from the world

• Lived in forest for next 6 years, thinking & meditating

– Emerged as BUDDHA,

“awakened or enlightened one”• Spent next 45 years preaching across India

• FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS:– 1. All living beings suffer

– 2. Suffering leads to reincarnation

– 3. Goal is to escape suffering into

NIRVANA achieved through mental &

moral self-purification

– 4. Nirvana = attained through Eightfold Path

3 Branches of Buddhism– Disagree on interpretation of Siddhartha Gautama

• Mahayana- 56% practiced in China, Japan & Korea

– Emphasize Buddha’s compassion

– Reflect on Buddha’s later teachings & helping others

• Theravada- 38%- practiced in Cambodia, Laos,

Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand– Believe Buddha’s original approach, self-help, become a monk, &

remove worldly possessions

• Tantrayana- 6% Practiced in Tibet and Mongolia– Dalai Lama

BUDDHISM: Holy Places/Sacred Places

• House of Worship– Shrines (holy sites of worship)

– Pagodas- houses holy relics (of Buddha’s)

– Temple = main place of worship• Also, one’s home- individual prayer or meditation

– 8 sacred sites

JAPANESE PAGODA

– common Buddhist architecture

5 stories!

Holy Sites in Buddhism

Most holy sites in Buddhism are locations of important events in Buddha’s life and are

clustered in northeastern India and southern Nepal.

Buddhist Temple

Bodh Gaya, India

Swedogon Pagodo in Yangon,

Myanmar

Eight hairs of the Buddha are

preserved under the dome

Buddhist Stupas -72 stupas, each containing a sculpture of the Buddha in meditation

were built around 800 CE and still stand in Borobudur, Indonesia.

Kotokun Temple – “Great Buddha”

* 2nd Largest Buddha in Kamakura, Japan