The East (Orient) is the home
of some of the world’s famous religious and philosophical beliefs as well as
great philosophers and sages. This section takes a closer look at these
ideologies.
HINDUISM
Hinduism is the
predominant religion of the peoples of India. This religion has a triad of
chief god’s known as Trimurti composed of Brahma -the Supreme Spirit, Vishnu
- the preserver, who is
thought to have taken various human forms including Krishna, ( the hero in the
epic Mahabharata) and Rama, and the third is Shiva – the destroyer and
recreator who represents the force for change in the universe and is depicted
both as the supreme ascetic and as the supreme lover.
In Hinduism, people are divided into four classes known as the
caste system: Brahmans, the priest; Kshatriyas, the nobles and the warriors;
the Vaisyas, the traders, cultivators and peasants; Sudras, the servants.
Outside the castle system are the Untouchables also known as the outcasts.
The practice of Hinduism is a complex of rights and ceremonies performed within the framework of the caste system under the supervision of the priest. Under this ideology, the sum of the human being’s actions carried from one life to the next results in either an improved or worsened fate.
This belief is also known as the law of Karma – process or series of birth and rebirth until one attains perfection and eventually reaches nirvana, which is the place of unending happiness and bliss. The Veda is the most sacred of all the Hindu scriptures composed of four main collections: Rig Veda – humns and praises; Yahur Veda – prayers and sacrificial formulas; Sama Veda – tunes and chants; and Atharva Veda – magical formulas.
BUDDHISM
According to tradition, the founder of Buddhism was Siddhartha
Gautama, who most probably lived from 563-483 B.C. He was son of a wealthy
leader belonging to the Sakya Clan. He was born in the foothills of the
Himalayas in what is now known as Nepal. Throughout his early life his father
sought to protect him from the sorrows of the world. He was reared in the palace
and was married to a beautiful princess who bore him a son.
Despite his riches, Gautama
eventually escaped from his wealthy environment and outside the palace, he met
an old dying man, a sick man afflicted by a disease, corpse being carried to
the cremation ground and a shaven-headed wandering religious beggar, but
radiating peace and joy.
Gautama resolved to leave his
wife and son and to live the life of an ascetic. For six years, with five
companions he strove to find release from the weariness of existence. Later he
left his companions and went to meditate under the Bo tree by the River Gaya,
it was there that he received enlightenment and from then was known as Buddha “the enlightened one.”
Buddha advocated the Four
Noble Truth to wit: 1) the noble of suffering-all mortal existence is
characterized by suffering: 2) the noble truth on the origin of suffering-the
cause of suffering is desire; 3) the noble truth on the cessation of desire-to
stop desire means to stop suffering; and 4) the noble truth to the way of the
cessation of desire the stopping of desire comes by following the Noble
Eightfold Path to break the chain of Karma and reach Nirvana.
The Eightfold Path
on the other hand are 1) Right View; 2) Right Resolve; 3) Right Speech; 4)
Right Action; 5) Right Livelihood; 6) Right effort; 7) Right Concentration; and
8) Right Contemplation or Ecstasy.
CONFUCIANISM
Confucianism is the
body of beliefs and practices that are based on the Chinese classics and are
supported by the authority of Kung fu-tzu or Confucius although he himself
maintained that he was a transmitter rather than a creator.
Confucius was born in 551 B.C
in the city of Lu in Northern China, and died around 479
B.C He taught the importance of life which means propriety and
orderliness, and the ideal of a gentleman whose life is governed by propriety
filial piety.
For almost 2500 years
Confucianism has been the religion of the great masses of China. The teachings
of Confucius are found in the Analects – a collection of discussions and
saying.
The Confucian Scriptures are
known as the Six Chinese Classics: 1). Shu Ching – The Book of History; 2). Shi
Ching- the book of Poetry; 3.) I Ching – the book of Changes 4.) Li Chi – the
Book of Rites; 5). Yueh Ching – the Book of Music; 6.) Ch’un Chu - Spring and
Autumn Annals.
Many adherents to this belief
considered it as a way of life, a code of moral and social behavior, rather
than a religion. Thus, they need not believe in any god and they may follow
their master, Confucius, and at the same time profess another religion.
TAOISM
The word tao literally means path or way. It may denote a way
of acting or a principle of teaching. Tao is the inexpressible source of all
being, the First Cause, The Ultimate Reality. It is the principle which
moderate and controls the universe, the way in which men live in harmony with
the universe.
The original teachings of
Taoism are found in Tao Te Ching, China’s most influential book. The book is
attributed to Lao Tzu (born in 604 B.C.) but is now believed to be an anthology
of brief passages dating from about the 4th century B.C, Lao Tzu’s very
existence is disputed today.
His name means “Old Master”, a
title applied to a number of teachers in the period following Confucius.
To follow the Tao is to follow the way of the nature. The
“watercourse way”. Water flows softly and effortlessly to humble places; yet
even so it can be the most overpowering substance. So, too, with the followers
of Taoism, he is likely to be mystsical and quietist: by stilling himself, his
senses and appetites, he can gain an inner perception of the Tao, a oneness
with the Eternal, a harmony with the Principle underlying and penetrating the
whole world.
He attains enlightenment. The
means virtue or power, and a follower of popular Taoism seeks to harness this
power through magic and rituals. He is likely to be preoccupied with death and
the quest for immortality. Taoist writing include Chuang Tzu – the formal
treatise of philosophical Taoism and Tao Te Ching (The Way and its Power) the
classic of mysticism, of first importance in the Taoist religion.
SHINTOISM
Shinto is not a
Japanese word. It was coined from the Chinese shen (gods) and
tao (the way), when Buddhism
first entered Japan. The intention was to distinguish the older religion – “the
way of the Kami” from the new Buddhism. Kami has no exact translation for it
applies to animals, plants, seas, mountains, all natural phenomena, and even to
the ancestors. It expresses a feeling of awe and wonder. Ancient Shinto
combined this veneration of nature with rites of an ancient agricultural
fertility cult.
Traces of both practices can
be seen today in worship of the one of the foremost Kami, the Sun Goddess
Amaterasu, at the famous shrine at Ise; at the pilgrimage to the summit of
Mount Fuji; in planting and harvesting ceremonies; and in the veneration of
Sacred trees.
ZOROASTRIANISM
Zoroastrianism is the
religion founded Zoroaster of Zarathustra (ca 700 B.C.) Its theology is
dualistic, the Good God Ahura Mazda or Ormuzd being opposed by the Evil God,
Angra Minyu or Ahriman.They are pressume to be perpetually in conflict but
eventually the victor will be Ormuzd. A ceremony was devised for purifying and
keeping clean both the soul and body. The worship was at altars on which burnt
the scared fire and sacrifices are offered. A priestly class was instituted and
the dead were exposed to vultures.
JUDAISM
Judaism is the
religion of the Jewish people. The Jewish people trace their history as told in
the Hebrew Bible, in particular the Pentateuch – the first five books of the
Bible also known as the Torah (Law)
from the patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Abraham crossed from
Mesopotamia in about 1800 B.C to settle in Canaan also known as the “promised
land – the land flowing with milk and honey”. Abraham begot Isaac and Isaac
begot Jacob and Jacob had twelve sons who took refuge during the time of famine
in Egypt where they became slaves.
Around 1250 B.C. their
descendants known as the Hebrews were led out of Egypt by Moses. This was the Exodus.
On their way to the promise land, God gave Moses the Books of the Law engraved
in tablets of stones. These are known as the Mosaic Laws which guide the lifestyle and religion of the Jewish
people.
The God of Israel, known as Yahweh, revealed Himself as the
God of history and not simply a tribal deity or nature spirit but the creator
of everything who is in total control of the world which He Himself has created
in the beginning of time.
Moses himself did not enter the Promised Land. It was his
successor, Joshua, and the Judges who moved into the land and settled the
people. They were in turn succeeded by a line of Kings beginning with Saul,
David and his son Solomon.
Their successors divided the
Kingdom into Judah and Israel. The Sacred Scriptures of Judaism are the:
Bible (Old Testament) a collection of books written over a period of 1,00 years
and written by different authors; the Torah (Law) – the first five book of the
Bible attributed to Moses; the Mishnah (repetition) – ethical and ritual
teaching based on the Bible; Talmud (study) – based on the Mishnah with further
reflections
The key to beliefs of the
Jewish people are summarized as:
• The
existence of the creator
• The
unity of God
• The
in corporeality of God (God is a spirit)
• The
eternity of God
• The
obligation to serve and worship God alone
• The
existence of prophecy
• The
superiority of Moses to all the prophets
• The
revelation of the Law to Moses in Mt. Sinai
• The
unchanging nature of the law
• God
is omniscient (all knowing), omnipotent (all powerful) and omnipresent
(everywhere)
• Retribution
in this world and the next
• The
coming of the Messiah
• The
resurrection of the dead
CHRISTIANITY
Christians take their
name from Jesus Christ. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. In Judea, sometime between
6 and 4 B.C. to a devout Jewish couple named Mary and Joseph, descendants of
King David. He grew up in Nazareth, in Galilee and at the age of 30 was
baptized in the River Jordan by a prophet called John the Baptist. John had been
preaching and baptizing people, as a mark of repentance for sins. He heralded
the coming of one greater than himself.
After his baptism, Jesus
gathered wound him a band of twelve disciples, and went about the countryside
preaching, teaching and healing the sick. He announced the coming of God’s rule
and declared the need for people to repent of their sins and believe the Good
News of Gods kingdom.
At the age of 33, Jesus was
arrested, tortured and put to death by the Roman authorities, with the collaboration
of Jewish secular and religious leaders, probably about A.D 29-30. He died by
crucifixion, a common but very painful method of execution.
But he rose from the dead
three days later, appeared to some women followers and His disciples, and a
number of occasions during the next forty days, and then returned to His Father
in heaven. Christians therefore believe in a living Christ not a dead hero. The
crucifix and the cross have become the symbols of the suffering Savior and the
risen Lord.
The Christians believe that Jesus Christ is both Son of God
and Son of Man – fully human and fully
divine and without sin. In Him, One God, Creator of the heavens and the earth,
came down to men, in order to raise men to be with God. This is the
incarnation, achieved through his birth of a virgin mother, conceived by the
Holy Spirit Jesus took on himself the limitations of human nature.
He also took responsibility for the sins of the human race,
reconciling God with men and men with God. This is the atonement, achieved
through his death. But he died only to rise again to new life. This is the
resurrection.
Those who believe in Jesus are
not only saved from their sins but will be raised to new life when Jesus comes
again. Meanwhile, through the Spirit of God living in them, they are guided and
strengthened in their pilgrimage on earth.
The Christian canon of scripture, known as the Bible, was finally agreed on between AD
170 and 220. It contains 39 books of Jewish scriptures ( the old
testament) and 27 books of Christian scriptures, (The New
Testament). Some people add to these the Apocrypha, a collection
of Jewish writings which formed part of Greek version of the Jewes scriptures,
but which were excluded from the accepted Hebrew Canon.
The New Testament
consist of four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles or the Letter
of Paul, the General Letters and the Revelation to St. John. The Christians believe
that the Bible is the written Word of God, which bears witness to Jesus, the
Living Word (Logos). (Langley, 1987)
ISLAM
Islam is which literally means submission to God is one of the three monotheistic religions in the World. Its followers, the Muslims, are those who commit themselves in the surrender to the will of God (Allah).
Islam traces its origin to the
Prophet Muhammad, who was born in Mecca, Arabia, about AD 571, the time where a
power vacuum existed between two great empires of East and West – Persia and
Byzantine. Muhammad, who was orphaned at an early age, was looked upon by his
relatives until a rich uncle sent him on trading expeditions to the north where
it is reported that he met Christians. At the age of 25, a rich forty year old
widow named Khadija proposed to him and eventually bore him three daughters but
no son.
In middle life, Muhammad began to show mystical traits and developed habit of withdrawing to the hills for contemplation. On one such occasion, at the age of forty he received a revelation calling him to denounce the paganism and polytheism of Mecca and preach the existence of one God – Allah.
Then in 622, at the request of the people of Medina, he left Mecca for Medina accompanied by his followers. This is known as celebration of hijra or emigration – the event from which the Muslim calendar begins.
Meanwhile Muhammad had expelled most of the Jewish tribes to whom he hoed to win and gradually incorporated the Bedouin tribes of Western and Central Arabia into the Muslim community.
In 630, he attacked Mecca and
captured Muhammad immediately set about eliminating the polytheists and
rededicated the ancient sanctuary of the Ka’aba to Allah, making it the central
shrine of pilgrimage for Muslims. In 632 Muhammad died without naming a
successor. He was succeeded by a series of Caliphs, (successors) the first
being Abu Bakr and Umar.
The Islamic faith is centered on the Five Pilalrs of Islam:
1. Shahada (confession of faith) – There is no other God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.
2. Salat (prayer) – Muslims pray five times daily facing Mecca – at daybreak, noon, mid afternoon, after sunset and early in the night. They also go to the Mosques during Fridays.
3. Zakat (almsgiving) – Muslims give 21/2 and a half percet of their income and other properties to charity.
4. Ramadan (fasting) – During this period the Muslims do not eat, drink, smoke or engage in sex between dawn and sunset.
5.
Hajj
(pilgrimage) – A Muslim is required to go to Mecca at least once in his
lifetime.
Soon after the death of Muhammad, the revelations which he
received were put together from oral and written sources to form the Qur’an
(recitation), which the Muslims believe as the infallible word of God sent down
from heaven and that nothing has changed it. Next in importance to the Qur’an
is the Hadith (tradition), which is the record of the life and activities of
Muhammad and the early Muslim communities. It contains the Sunna (Example) of
the prophet and the standards which all the Muslims should follow. The Qur’an
and the Sunna have combined to form the Shiari’a (law) an extraordinary
comprehensive guide to life and conduct (Langley, 1987)