Major World Religions (Other Than Christianity)
Buddhism
Founded: About 525 bc, reportedly near Benares, India.
Founder: Gautama Siddhartha (c 563-483 bc), the Buddha, who achieved enlightenment through intense meditation.
Sacred Texts: The Tripitaka, a collection of the Buddha’s teachings, rules of monastic life, and philosophical commentaries on the teachings; also a vast body of Buddhist teachings and commentaries, many of which are called sutras.
Organization: The basic institution is the sangha, or monastic order through which the traditions are passed to each generation. Monastic life tends to be democratic and anti-authoritarian. Large lay organizations have developed in some sects.
Practice: Varies widely according to the sect, and ranges from austere meditation to magical chanting and elaborate temple rites. Many practices, such as exorcism of devils, reflect pre-Buddhist beliefs.
Divisions: A variety of sects grouped into 3 primary branches: Theravada (sole survivor of the ancient Hinayana schools), which emphasizes the importance of pure thought and deed; Mahayana (includes Zen and Soka-gakkai), which ranges from philosophical schools to belief in the saving grace of higher beings or ritual practices and to practical meditative disciplines; and Tantrism, an unusual combination of belief in ritual magic and sophisticated philosophy.
Location: Throughout Asia, from Sri Lanka to Japan. Zen and Soka-gakkai have several thousand adherents in the U.S.
Beliefs: Life is misery and decay, and there is no ultimate reality in it or behind it. The cycle of endless birth and rebirth continues because of desire and attachment to the unreal “self.” Right meditation and deeds will end the cycle and achieve Nirvana, the Void, nothingness.
Hinduism
Founded: About 500 bc by Aryan invaders of India where their Vedic religion intermixed with the practices and beliefs of the natives.
Sacred texts: The Veda, including the Upanishads, a collection of rituals and mythological and philosophical commentaries; a vast number of epic stories about gods, heroes, and saints, including the Bhagavadgita, a part of the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana; and a great variety of other literature.
Organization: None, strictly speaking. Generally, rituals should be performed or assisted by Brahmins, the priestly caste, but in practice, simpler rituals can be performed by anyone. Brahmins are the final judges of ritual purity, the vital element in Hindu life. Temples and religious organizations are usually presided over by Brahmins.
Practice: A variety of private rituals, primarily passage rites (for example, initiation, marriage, death, etc.) and daily devotions, and a similar variety of public rites in temples. Of the public rites, the puja, a ceremonial dinner for a god, is the most common.
Divisions: There is no concept of orthodoxy in Hinduism, which presents a variety of sects, most of them devoted to the worship of one of the many gods. The 3 major living traditions are those devoted to the gods Vishnu and Shiva and to the goddess Shakti; each is divided into further subsects. Numerous folk beliefs and practices, often in amalgamation with the above groups, exist side by side with sophisticated philosophical schools and exotic cults.
Location: Mainly India, Nepal, Malaysia, Guyana, Suriname, Sri Lanka.
Beliefs: There is only one divine principle; the many gods are only aspects of that unity. Life in all its forms is an aspect of the divine, but it appears as a separation from the divine, a meaningless cycle of birth and rebirth (samsara) determined by the purity or impurity of past deeds (karma). To improve one’s karma or escape samsara by pure acts, thought, and/or devotion is the aim of every Hindu.
Islam
Founded: ad 622 in Medina, Arabian peninsula.
Founder: Muhammad (c 570-632), the Prophet.
Sacred texts: Koran, the words of God; Hadith, collections of the sayings of the Prophet.
Organization: Theoretically, the state and religious community are one, administered by a caliph. In practice, Islam is a loose collection of congregations united by a very conservative tradition. Islam is basically egalitarian and nonauthoritarian.
Practice: Every Muslim has 5 duties: to make the profession of faith (“There is no god but Allah 1/4”), to pray 5 times a day, to give a regular portion of his goods to charity, to fast during the day in the month of Ramadan, and to make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca if possible.
Divisions: The 2 major sects of Islam are the Sunni (orthodox) and the Shia (Shiites). The Shia believe in 12 imams, perfect teachers, who still guide the faithful from Paradise. Shia practice tends toward the ecstatic; however, the Sunni is staid and simple. The Shia affirm human free will; the Sunni are deterministic. The mystic tradition in Islam is Sufism. A Sufi adept is someone who believes he or she has acquired a special inner knowledge direct from Allah.
Location: From the west coast of Africa to the Philippines across a broad band that includes Tanzania, Central Asia and western China, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Islam has several million adherents in the U.S.
Beliefs: Strictly monotheistic. God is creator of the universe, omnipotent, just, and merciful. The human being is God’s highest creation, but limited and commits sins. Humans are misled by Satan, an evil spirit. God revealed the Koran to Muhammad to guide humans to the truth. Those who repent and sincerely submit to God return to a state of sinlessness. In the end, the sinless go to Paradise, a place of physical and spiritual pleasure, and the wicked burn in Hell.
Judaism
Founded: About 1300 bce.
Founder: Abraham is regarded as the founding patriarch, but the Torah of Moses is the basic source of the teachings.
Sacred Texts: The 5 books of Moses constitute the written Torah. Special sanctity is also assigned other writings of the Hebrew Bible–the teachings of oral Torah are recorded in the Talmud, in the Midrash, and in various commentaries.
Organization: Originally theocratic, Judaism has evolved a congregational polity. The basic institution is the local synagogue, operated by the congregation and led by a rabbi of their choice. Chief rabbis in France and Great Britain have authority only over those who accept it; in Israel, the 2 chief rabbis have civil authority in family law.
Practice: Among traditional practitioners, almost all areas of life are governed by strict religious discipline. Sabbath and holidays are marked by special observances, and attendance at public worship is regarded as especially important then. The chief annual observances are Passover, celebrating the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt and marked by the ritual Seder meal in the home, and the 10 days from Rosh Hashana (New Year) to Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), a period of fasting and penitence.
Divisions: Judaism is an unbroken spectrum from ultraconservative to ultraliberal, largely reflecting different points of view regarding the binding character of the prohibitions and duties–particularly the dietary and Sabbath observations–traditionally prescribed for the daily life of the Jew.
Location: Almost worldwide, with concentrations in Israel and the U.S.
Beliefs: Strictly monotheistic. God is the creator and absolute ruler of the universe. Men and women are free to choose to rebel against God’s rule. God established a particular relationship with the Hebrew people: by obeying a divine law God gave them, they would be a special witness to God’s mercy and justice. The emphasis in Judaism is on ethical behavior (and, among the traditional, careful ritual obedience) as the true worship of God.