Religion is commonly understood as the set of beliefs and practices held by a community or group. As a belief system, it affects the values, customs, rites and the behavioral patterns of its followers. Religion may affect the individual, the community and the nation in general. It plays a crucial role in the society.
The primary function of religion in the society is to explain to the people their origins, the nature of life, the functions and purpose of life and the reasons for their existence. In the past, it is used as a control mechanism or a way of obtaining order. Religion may dictate a set of accepted standards and those who wants to remain in that society must practice adherence to those standards.
The most fundamental aspect in all religions is the concept of relationships. This relationship may be physical or spiritual, real or imagined. Devotee can communicate in formal and organized manner as with a priest or a shaman. Communication can also be informal where the individual can communicate anytime. In this regard, individuals rely on religious objects. Beliefs and values are also essential to the religion. The values that a society holds are often incorporated to those of the religion. Together they form the morality of the society. This morality is reflected in the laws and regulations governing the community.
Religion can be considered as a social process which results from the human minds and social entities that are passed down from generation to generation. As a product of the society it is related to other social products including politics, economics, law, music and art. However, it has its own power which when born can develop and generate rules. Generally, it is only essential to the people belonging to the community or culture where the religion existed. Religion is transferable from culture to culture although the process is difficult.
Most religions tend to focus of the figure of God while others have more than one God either as an object or subject of worship. The dependence on religious symbols is prevalent in all religions as with the belief in the reincarnation or the life after death. Religious practices are varied due to the diversity of cultures and the direction human chose in order to make sense of the world. There are practices that are written in documents that serve as enlightenment to the follower. For the Christians there is the bible, the Vedas for the Hindus, the Talmud for the Jews, the Koran for the Muslims and Confucian writings for the Chinese (Murphy, 1999).
Religions also hold the presence of a divine creator that existed in a world of suffering and pain. They have introduced an evil being or an adversary to the God. The Judaeo and Christian Religions have a Satan, in Hinduism they have the Ashi and Shiva, and Buddhism has Mara and some mischievous figures in other African religions. In addition to this, most of the religions also give importance to the concept of death and burial. People greatly differ in the treatment of this phenomenon but hey view it as a significant social event
Indeed, world’s religions differ in some aspect but also share certain commonalities. While they may have different sets of values, beliefs and practices, these religions ultimately contribute to man’s understanding of his world and the formation of the society.
The Development of Hinduism
Hinduism originated in the Indian subcontinent. Its origins are traced back from the vedic civilization and have no known founder. Hinduism provides a wide range of scriptures which expound on theology, philosophy and mythology. Among these scriptures, Vedas and the Upanishads are considered to be the foremost in importance. Among the prominent themes of this religion are the Dharma, Samsara, Karma and the Moksa.
Over time, the beliefs and practices of the people who migrate in the continent took up residence and interacted so that the modern tradition is a mixture of influences brought together. The Aryans became the dominant forces in northern India and gradually their influences spread to the south. The indo Europeans were nomadic, pastoral people and their religious practices were transferable. When they arrived in India, they took with them the sacred language of Sanskrit, a belief in the deities, religious practices centered on fire practices and a hierarchal social structure. The earliest religious compositions are the Indo European texts called the Vedas.
The word veda meant knowledge and the information contained in the texts are necessary in performing sacred fire rituals. Each of the vedic collections has three kinds of additional material. The first is called the Brahmanas which describes the rules for rituals and provides explanation for their purpose and meaning. The second are the compositions of the forest or the aranyakas which supplements the Brahmanas focusing on the rites. Finally, the Upanishads which further developed the ideas of the aranyakas by explaining the true nature and meaning of the rituals when the focus is shifting away from the performance towards knowledge.
When the Upanisadic religion (Brahmanism) evolved out of the Vedism (Brahmanism), it has fallen to the same exclusivity that may have called it into existence. While suffering is alleviated with mediation and the samadhi, the results are rather temporary. Permanent conditions are possible only for those whose guna nature fits the yoga of knowledge that leads to moksa. Brahmanism identified the causes of samsara as ignorance and the desire with stress on the former. Since ignorance can be overcome by knowledge and that ability depends on the guna nature, the way to knowledge and release form the samsara would be the exclusive prerogative of the Brahmins (Herman, 1991, p.88).
The discussion of Hindu views of self is completed in consideration of two familiar notions, karma and yoga. Karma is often associated with fatalism and reincarnation and yoga practiced to improve health and well being. The law of karma guarantees that since actions produce consequences, no effort is in vain. Therefore the right efforts rightly applied yield right results and the appropriate yoga rightly applied leads to the expected results. The Gita tells the sufferer that the prescription given to solve the problem by treating the causes is guaranteed to work because the entire process is in the hands of the powerful person or principle. Generally, this principle is the law of karma and that person is the Lord Krsna. He possesses extraordinary powers and that power gives him the ability to annul the effects of karma thus making him more powerful than karma itself (Herman, 1991, p.128).
Buddhism
Buddhism is a dharmic religion and philosophy. It is also known as the Buddha Dharma or Dhamma. Buddhism denies the existence of a creator God but recognizes the existence of supernatural beings such as gods and spirits. Buddhists in Asia do not use the term ‘Bhuddism’ to refer to their religion and refer to it as the Dharma (law) or the Buddha-sasana (teachings of the Buddha). The foundation of the Buddhist ethics is the belief in the sacredness of life. This ideal was promoted by the unorthodox renouncer movements such as the Buddhism and Jainism. Animal sacrifice was rejected by both as cruel and barbaric (Keown, 1999, p.99).
The core doctrines are contained in a series of interlinked propositions known as the Four Noble Truths. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to end suffering and rebirth. An individual who completes the state of self realization is said to achieve nirvana which is considered to be the final and highest good. The truth perceived by Buddha during his enlightenment was set forth in his sermon which includes interlinked proposition known. The Four noble truths assert that (1) life is suffering, (2) suffering is caused by craving (3)suffering will have an end and (4) there is a path that leads to the end of the suffering (Keown, 1993, p.43).
The truth of suffering is supplied with Buddha’s vision of three of the four signs- the old man, the sick man and the corpses and the realization that life is full of all kinds of sufferings and unhappiness. Although the place life was comfortable, Buddha yearned for spiritual satisfaction. This disaffection is represented in the four visits of Buddha outside the palace. . Buddha encountered an old man and was struck by the discovery of old age. In the second journey, he encountered a sick man and in the third a corpse being carried to the cremation ground. With these experiences, he realized the passing nature of human existence and that nothing can keep suffering and death. On the fourth trip, Buddha encountered a religious mendicant and was inspired with the idea that he can seek spiritual solution to the problems of humans (Keown, 1993, p.43).
The eight fold path is known as the ‘middle way’ because it guides the direction between the life of indulgence and that of harsh austerity. It is composed of eight factors that are divided into three categories of morality, mediation and wisdom. These define the limitation of human good and determine where the scope for human flourishing lies. In morality, the virtues are perfected while the intellectual virtues are developed in the category of wisdom
This eight fold path exemplifies the ways in which morality, wisdom and mediation are to be developed continually. Right View means the acceptance of the Buddhist teachings. Right Resolve means committing to the development of right attitudes. Right Speech means telling the truth and speaking in sensitive way. Right Action means abstaining from wrongful behaviors while abstaining from occupations harmful to others is referred to the Right Livelihood. Right Effort means talking control of one’s thought and developing positive state of mind. Right Mindfulness is the cultivation of constant awareness while Right Mediation is the development of a deep sense mental calm (Keown, 1996, p. 54).
Taoism and Confucianism
Confucianism was started by Confucius who explored and elaborated on the principles of what was to become Confucianism. The co existence of Confucianism with other religions has enabled the Confucians to engage in dialogue with many different doctrines. One of the aspects of Confucian religion is collective rituals. Individual Confucians engage themselves in a set of spiritual practices in which a sense of eternity is sought in the pursuit of secular learning and discipline (Yao, 2000, p.190).
The Confucian understanding believes that the world is sustained by three ultimate (sanji), which are also called the three powers of the universe (sancai); tian (heaven), di (earth) and ren (humans). These three powers work together so that heaven and earth and humans are the origins of all things. The heaven generates them, earth nourishes them and humans perfect them (Yao, 2000, p.139). Confucian masters focus on how to apply the principles that govern heaven and earth to human life and society and how to find the Way to maintain a harmonious world.
Taoism is the most distinct contribution of the Chinese in the religious thought. It teaches harmonious living with the universe. The Tao of a man is to be natural and not to live artificially. This is the quietism of Taoism and in this regard, it opposes Confucianism with its rules, morality and artificial knowledge (Parrinder & Harrap, 1963, p.82). Its teaching is against the imposed rules and in favor of inward peace. The wise man that rules through the Tao allows spontaneous development. He works by wu wei, non action activity. If there is difficulty ion governing the people, it is because of their ruler’s interference and if they are left alone they would be naturally good. This teaching assumes that he others will be influenced by the wise men though his example and no words. Taoism is both religious and moral. It identifies Tao with heaven and illustrates the union with Tao makes the spirit immortal. The things showing Tao’s greatness are kindness, frugality and service.
Zen is the Japanese form of the Chinese word Ch’an and Sanskrit Dhyana which means meditation. It refuses to base itself in scriptures and has a low view of book learning. In Zen monasteries, sacred texts are recited and one of the most popular is the Kwannon. Zen adept seeks enlightenment which is said to come like a flash of insight. It became the inspiration of Japanese military classes mainly because discipline appealed to the soldiers (Parrander & Harrap, 1963, p.71).
Japan also has its ancient indigenous religion called the Shinto. It was not literate until the Chinese came and then the Japanese with their flair of adaptation lent heavily on Buddhism and to some extent Taoism and Confucianism. The sanctuaries of Shinto are surrounded by trees on hills or near the sea expressing the love of nature which is characteristic to the Japanese. The most effective and influential of Shinto movements are the sectarian or church organizations that have grown to the modern times. Some of these sects are referred to as the Pure Shinto because their teachings are traditional. They engage in pilgrimages and some in magical practices, faith healing and walking in fire. The largest are the faith healing sects which have historical founders, sacred scriptures and are influenced by Buddhism and Christianity (Parrander & Harrap, 1963, p. 95).
Judaism, Christianity and Islam
The great stream of religious thought that came from the Western word arose in Palestine and Arabia. Judaism and Christianity and then Islam that are great monotheistic religions believed in one God and in his righteousness and universality.
Judaism is the religious front from which Christianity and to some extent Islam derived their view of God and the universe. During the twelfth century A.D. Moses Maimonides set out the thirteen articles of faith which became the accepted covenant of Jewish beliefs. First is the faith in God as the creator, his unity, formlessness, eternity and all knowledge. He alone must be worshipped. Then comes the belief in the words of the prophets, in Moses as the chief of the prophets, belief in the Law (Torah) and the belief in its changelessness. Lastly, there is the belief in the rewards and punishment, in the coming of the Messiah and the resurrection of the dead (Parrander & Harrap, 1963, p. 160).
Christianity is the largest of all the religions. It centers on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth which is presented in the New Testament. Christians believed Jesus as the Son of Goad and the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. Among its largest Christian organization is the Roman Catholic Church. It stresses a great place of devotion for the virgin Mary. There is similar devotion in the Eastern Orthodox Churches but these doctrines have not been decreed. Protestant and Anglican churches have rejected this devotion. The Roman Catholic worship centers in the mass. It is fundamentally the Eucharist or the Holy Communion which other churches celebrate in memory of Christ’s crucifixion (Parrander & Harrap, 1963, p.188)
Muhammad, the founder of Islam lived in Arabia during the sixth century A.D. Even before his time, Mecca has been a place of pilgrimage containing idols of pagan gods and goddesses although there was no religious literature before his time. The religion taught by Muhammad is called Islam which meant ‘surrender’ (to God), ‘submission’ and ‘resignation’. The follower of Islam is called Muslim and he is a surrendered man. The name for God, Allah simply means ‘the God’ and is best rendered to the English word God because it is close to the Jewish and Christian usage (Parrander & Harrap, 1963, p.125).
The Quoran is considered by the Muslims as eternal and the uncreated word of God. So holy this book, no criticism of it is allowed. In fact it is believed that Quoran holds the place in Islam that Christ holds in Christianity as the living word of God. The principal religious teachings of the Islam are in the five pillars foundations: Witness, Prayer, Alms, Fasting and Pilgrimage. The Witness is the confession of faith represented in the formula which makes a Muslim. Prayer is performed by Muslims five times daily and is observed regularly. One of the religious duties is almsgiving to the poor and the mosque. No collection of money is doe for the mosque services but people give money to the needy. Fasting is obligatory on all adult and healthy Muslims during the day hours in the month of Ramadan. And lastly, Muslims must be performed the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime (Parrander & Harrap, 1963, p.134).
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