About World Religions

[suchandra]

Summarization by cai - finally someone who admits that the illusion of Buddhism enters our brains due our suffering, but why this Nihilism is called a world religion remains a puzzle.

 

Sunday, September 7, 2008

About World Religions

Thanks, Wikipedia and The New Straits Times.

Universalism.

Universalism is the common values that unites the human race.

It holds that all persons and creatures are related to God and will be reconciled to God.

A common principle is that love is a universal binding force.

A belief in one common truth is also another important tenet. The living truth is seen as more far-reaching than national, cultural or religious boundaries.

All humans are born Universalists and the first Universalists were Adam and Eve.

Every other religion contains the religion of Universalism inside it.

Sabianism.

Sabianism is a monotheistic faith.

It is the primordial faith of the Semitic (Arab) people.

Sabians traditionally practiced initiation through submersion in water, intended to represent the inundation of the world during the time of Noah which cleansed man's sins.

Hence ablution is an important part of the Sabian religion.

The word Sabian means Submitter To God.

Sabians are also called Hanifs or Monotheists.

They believe in all Prophets of God from Adam to Muhammad.

All Arabs who did not worship false gods and who worshipped God were Sabians prior to the coming of Muhammad.

There are not many Sabians in the world today.

The very few Sabians live in Iraq.

Most ex-Sabians became Christians and Muslims over the centuries.

Both Islam and Christianity recognise the Sabian faith as their predecessor and ancestor.

Hinduism.

The religion of nature, practised by the non-Semites is Hinduism, even though that term is specifically used for Indian Hinduism, the Vedic Hinduism.

It is also called Sanatana Dharma (the Original Way).

Indian Hinduism has as its scriptures the Vedas and Upanishads.

The Bhagavad Gita is the summary of the spiritual teachings of the Vedas. It is a section of the Indian fable called Mahabharata.

Hinduism is often characterised with the belief in reincarnation and that salvation is freedom from repeated birth and death. Buddhism believes in this, too.

The prominent themes in Hindu beliefs are Dharma (duties and ethics), Samsara (birth and rebirth), Karma (action and subsequent reaction), Moksha (liberation from Samsara) and Yoga (personal communication with God).

Hindus can pray to God directly via Yoga (meditation) or through the worship of various humanistic spirits called Devas (or Devis in the female form).

Ultimately, all Devas are manifestations of the Mahadeva (Supreme Deva or Ishvara or Brahman) which is the Holy Spirit within the human heart (Atman).

Diwali, the festival of lights, is the prime festival of Hinduism. It celebrates the eternal triumph of good over evil.

Some Hindus are vegetarians, while some do not eat beef. They believe that eating meat means taking the lives of animals which are God’s creatures and the ox is among the most sacred in Indian Hinduism.

Judaism.

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. In 2007, the world Jewish population was estimated at 13.2 million people.

Judaism is a monotheistic religion based on principles and ethics embodied in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and further explored and explained in the Talmud.

The Jews or Israelis (Israelites) are descendants of Jacob the Palestinian Arab prophet who was the grandson of the Iraqi Arab prophet Abraham.

Jews follow the teachings of Abraham and Jacob, elaborated by their descendant Moses who received the 10 Commandments from God.

They believe that God is One, that Moses is His Messenger, that the Law (Ethics) of God (Torah) is true and that humans must love one another.

The basis of Jewish tradition (or ethics or law) (halakha) is the Torah (also known as the Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses).

Traditionally, Jews recite prayers three times daily, with a fourth prayer added on holidays.

The most important part of the Jewish prayer is the affirmation that God is one.

Yom Kippur is the Jewish Day of Atonement. On that day, Jews fast and pray for forgiveness for one's sins.

The laws of kashrut (keeping kosher) are the Jewish dietary laws. Food in accordance with Jewish laws is termed kosher.

The Torah cites no reason for the laws of kashrut, other than health benefits.

Kashrut involves the abstention from consuming birds and beasts that prey on other animals and creatures that roam the sea floor eating the excretions of other animals.

A major prohibition exists on eating pork.

Meat is ritually slaughtered and drained of blood and meat and milk are not eaten together.

Buddhism.

Buddhism is both a world religion and a philosophy with distribution throughout the world.

It is virtually a branch of Indian Hinduism centred on the life and teachings of the Buddha (the Enlightened One), Prince Siddharta Gautama of Nepal (then in India).

Hindus can be Buddhists and Buddhists can be Hindus. Both religions overlap.

Buddhism is centred on the Four Noble Truths - we suffer, suffering is because of attachment, we can free ourselves of it, and it is done by following the path of moderation.

It teaches ethical conduct, the cultivation of wisdom, the cleansing of the heart and mind, and moderation.

The Three Jewels of Buddhism are the Buddha (Siddharta), the Dharma (his Ethics or Laws) and the Sangha (his Followers).

The Buddhist scriptures are known as the Tripitaka or Three Jewels.

Christianity.

Christianity is a monotheistic religion centred on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament.

Its followers, known as Christians, believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah (Christ) prophesied in the Old Testament (the part of scripture common to Christianity and Judaism).

To Christians, Jesus Christ is a teacher, the model of virtuous life, the revealer of God and most importantly the saviour of humanity who suffered to save humanity from sin or evil.

Christians maintain that Jesus ascended into heaven and will return to judge the living and the dead, granting everlasting life to the good.

Christians call the message of Jesus Christ the Gospel (good news).

The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah (Christ or Chosen One).

Many Christians believe the Holy Spirit (Spirit of Jesus), Jesus and God are One. They are known as Trinitarians.

However, the Unitarians believe that Jesus is not God, but His Son and Messenger.

Christianity regards the Bible, a collection of canonical books in two parts (the Old Testament and the New Testament), as its scripture.

Christians believe that human beings experience divine judgement and are rewarded with eternal life or appropriate punishment.

Christians believe that at the second coming of Christ at the end of time, all who have died will be resurrected bodily from the dead for the Last Judgment, whereupon Jesus, by God’s orders, will reward or punish human beings based on their earthly conduct.

Islam.

Islam is a monotheistic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure.

The word Islam means Submission to God. Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam has its origins in the Sabian faith.

The word Islam is used to define the faith of Muhammad today but in Islamic scripture, the Quran (Recitation), it refers to Universalism.

Universalism is seen as the Islam of Prophet Adam, Sabianism the Islam of Prophet Abraham, Judaism the Islam of Prophet Moses, Christianity the Islam of Prophet Jesus, and Islam the Islam of Prophet Muhammad.

Muslims believe that God revealed the Quran to Muhammad, God's final prophet, and regard the Quran and the Sunnah (words and deeds of Muhammad) as the fundamental sources of Islam.

They do not regard Muhammad as the founder of a new religion, but as the restorer of the original monotheistic faith of Adam.

Adherents are generally required to observe the Five Pillars of Islam, which are five duties that unite Muslims into a community, the family of Muhammad.

The ethics, laws and customs of Muslims are known as Sharia.

Muslims believe in God, His revelations, His angels, His Messengers and in the Day of Judgment.

Muslims believe that prophets are human and not divine, though some are able to perform miracles to prove their claims.

Islamic prophets are considered to be the closest to perfection of all humans and are uniquely the recipients of divine revelation.

Islam's fundamental theological concept is tawhid — the belief that there is only one God.

The first of the Five Pillars of Islam expresses this concept as the shahadah (testimony), which reads that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God's Messenger.

The second pillar is to pray five times a day, facing the Kaaba (holiest shrine and the place Adam landed after descending from Heaven) in Mecca.

The third pillar is to redistribute wealth from high-income groups to low-income groups.

The fourth pillar is to fast from sunrise to sunset for a month during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar (the calendar begins on the day Muhammad established the Islamic State in Medina in 622).

It is aimed at instilling a sense of compassion towards the less fortunate, to purify the soul and to cleanse the body.

The fifth pillar is to perform the hajj or pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Mecca at least once in a lifetime in remembrance of all Prophets from Adam to Muhammad.

Muslims consider the Quran to be the literal word of God. It is the central religious text of Islam.

Muslims believe that the verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad by God through the angel Gabriel on many occasions between 610 and his death in 632.

Belief in angels is crucial to the faith of Islam. The Arabic word for Angels (malak) means "messenger", like its counterparts in Hebrew (malakh) and Greek (angelos).

According to the Quran, angels do not possess free will and worship God in perfect obedience.

Muhammad (570 – 632) was an Arab religious, political and military leader.

He re-oriented the Peninsular Arabs or Bedouins to the teachings of Jesus, Moses and Abraham.

He also founded the Islamic State which was centred in Mecca and Medina, Arabia, and known as the Caliphate (Government of the Disciples) after his death.

The Islamic State was the first country on earth to uphold universal human values and respect for human diversity. It came to an end in 1924 when its last leader, Turkish President Mustapha Kamal Attaturk declared its abrogation.

Muslims, like Jews, do not consume blood or pork as well as intoxicants.

The concept of jihad in Islam means struggling to conquer one’s selfish desires. All Muslims have to perform it by remembering God every day of their lives.

The main festivals of Islam are Aidil Fitri which marks the end of the fasting month or Ramadan and Aidil Adha which celebrates the completion of the Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca).

The advancement of European civilisation was largely aided by the Muslims of Arab and Iranian stock who lived under the Caliphate as well as in India.

Sikhism.

Sikhism, founded on the teachings of Nanak and nine successive gurus (teachers) in 15th century India is a monotheist religion practised by a minority of the Punjabi people of India.

It is also called Gurmat (the Teachings) or Sikh Dharma (Sikh Ethics or Laws).

Sikh means Student.

Sikhs believe that God is One and share pretty much the same beliefs as Muslims and Jews. Sikh teachings are also very close to Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sabianism.

Sikhism advocates the pursuit of salvation through disciplined, personal meditation on the name and message of God.

The followers of Sikhism follow the teachings of the 10 Sikh gurus as well as the holy scripture called Guru Granth Sahib, which includes selected works of Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus.

The text was decreed by Gobind Singh, the 10th guru.

The essence of Sikh teaching is summed up by Nanak in these words: "Realisation of Truth is higher than all else. Higher still is truthful living".

Sikhism, like Islam, believes in the equality of all humans.

According to Sikhism, the goal of life for a person is to progress on a spiritual scale from self-centred-ness to God-centred-ness.

Gurmukh (God-centred-ness) implies the qualities of humility and selfless service.

Sikhism tells humans to avoid the Five Evils namely ego, anger, greed, attachment and lust.

Salvation can be reached only through rigorous and disciplined devotion to God in deeds, words and thoughts.

Nanak stressed that a Sikh should balance work, worship and charity, and should defend the rights of all creatures, and in particular, fellow human beings.

Sikh temples are called gurdwara (gateway to God) and the main Sikh temple is in the city of Amritsar in Punjab, India.