Buddhists follow the teaching of Siddhartha Gautama,
known as the Buddha or "the awakened one." He lived in India in the
fifth and sixth centuries B.C. The Buddha taught that the cause of all
suffering is ignorance. To conquer ignorance and end suffering is to
become enlightened — to attain a state of supremely illumined
consciousness beyond fear and desire. Some Buddhists say we are all
already enlightened but do not realize it. Buddhist teachings also
stress compassion and nonviolence. Buddhists do not worship the Buddha
in the way many religions worship God. They simply say that he pointed
out the way to enlightenment. The Buddhist teaching as a whole is
called the Dharma.

Christianity

To be a Christian is to follow the teachings of Jesus
Christ. For most Christians, including Catholics, Orthodox Christians,
and many Protestants, the heart of their faith is to accept God's
salvation offered through Christ. They believe that Jesus Christ is God
made man. Others, such as some liberal Protestants, do not consider
Jesus Christ as God but regard his teachings as the greatest and most
important ever offered to humankind. For all Christians, the central
idea of those teachings is to love God with all your heart and to love
your neighbor as yourself.

Confucianism

A Chinese religious and philosophical system. Confucius,
who lived in the sixth century B.C., was its founder. Confucian
teachings stress self-cultivation and the development of virtue.
Considerable attention is given to the correct ordering of society and
the proper relationship of human beings within it. Confucians regard
the Five Classics as authoritative texts. The most famous of these in
the West is the divinatory book called the I
Ching.

Hinduism

The dominant religion of India, Hinduism has a broad variety of forms, ranging from simple folk practices to abstruse metaphysical systems. Hindus regard the sacred texts known as the Vedas (composed around 1500 B.C.) as central to their tradition. While acknowledging many Gods, Hindus believe in one supreme God who creates and sustains the universe. There are numerous Hindu deities that serve as manifestations of this supreme God, but the three most important are Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Preserver; and Shiva, the Destroyer and lord of all yogis. Ritual and devotional practices are widespread, as are meditative practices. The supreme goal of Hindu aspiration is moksha, or liberation from the cycle of birth and death, which, it is said, all beings will attain in one lifetime or another. About 80 % of India’s one billion people are Hindus, while another 30 million Hindus are scattered across the globe.

Islam

Islam means "surrender," and the central teaching of
Islam is surrender to the will of God, who is known in Arabic as Allah.
(Islam is the name of the religion; believers are known as Muslims,
sometimes spelled "Moslems"). A Muslim is one who surrenders or submits
to the will of God. The central tenet of Islam is this: "There is no
God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Prophet." The Prophet Muhammad, who
lived in Arabia in the sixth and seventh centuries A.D., is the founder
of Islam. He said he received the word of God through the Angel
Gabriel, and wrote it down in a book called the Holy Qur'an (or Koran),
the sacred text of Islam.

Jainism

A religion of India, probably founded by
Vardhamana Mahavira in the sixth century B.C. Jains teach that all
forms of life possess a soul substance called jiva. As
a result Jain teachings strongly emphasize nonviolence to all living
things. Jainism has always placed a strong focus on asceticism and on
nonattachment to the material body. Today there are some 4 million
Jains, nearly all of whom live in
India.

Judaism

To be a Jew is to be a part of the tradition of ancient
Israel. The central teaching of that tradition is expressed in the
verse in the Bible called the Shema (which means
"hear"): "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One" (Deut.
6:4). But Judaism is much more than a system of beliefs. It is a way of
life based on rituals and practices that go back thousands of years to
the Torah, the Law given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Orthodox Jews believe
that a Jew must abide closely by these practices. More liberal versions
of Judaism say the moral truths of the Law are unchanging, but that
practices must be updated to meet the needs of the time. Some Jews
identify with the cultural and ethnic aspects of their tradition
without holding any specific religious
beliefs.

Shamanism

A religious phenomenon chiefly found in indigenous
cultures. Practitioners, known as shamans, enter altered states of
consciousness. There they are believed to have contact with spirits,
who give them advice about such matters as healing, hunting, and human
relations. Shamanism is found worldwide, in locations as far-flung as
North America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. But there is no organized
worldwide shamanic religion. Practices and teachings vary greatly from
tribe to tribe. The term "shamanism" is the creation of
anthropologists. Some modern teachers carry out shamanic
practices in a Western context.

Sikhism

A religion founded in the Punjab region of north India by Guru
Nanak (1469-1539 A.D.). Guru Nanak preached the need for devotional
love to a formless God. Sikhs revere a lineage of sixteenth- and
seventeenth-century Gurus and possess a strong sense of identity
symbolized by the beards and turbans worn by Sikh men. There are about
16 million Sikhs worldwide, most of them
Punjabis.

Taoism

A religious and philosophical system of China. Lao Tsu, who
lived in the fifth century B.C., is regarded as its founder. Its
primary text is the Tao Te Ching. Living in accord
with the Tao, the supreme force underlying the universe, is the
principal goal of the teaching. Many Taoists engage in various forms of
physical, dietary, and meditative practice as a means of bringing
themselves in harmony with the universe. Feng shui, an increasingly
popular means of harmonizing architecture and landscaping, is based on
Taoist principles

Zoroastrianism

An ancient Persian religion founded by Zarathushtra or
Zoroaster, who lived in eastern Iran c. 1000 B.C. Zoroastrianism is
strongly dualistic, regarding the universe as an interplay of the
forces of Good and Evil. Zoroastrianism has been extremely influential
on the history of world religion: many scholars regard it as the origin
of teachings of a Last Judgment and the Devil as seen in the
monotheistic faiths of the West. Today there are about 150,000
Zoroastrians, most of them in western
India




2000 by Richard Smoley