Intro to World Religions

Once one achieves Moksha, their Atman, or self, escapes the cycle of rebirth and joins the universal soul, Brahman.

Atman is the human soul. According to Hinduism, it only knows a lower level of consciousness and one has to let go of Atman in order to enter a new state of consciousness, Brahman.

Initially, Buddhism met with resistance in China since its beliefs in transmigration and asceticism conflicted sharply with the ancestor veneration and filial piety associated with Confucianism.

Confucianism, like Taoism, had several beliefs that conflicted sharply with Buddhist tradition. Eventually, however, Buddhist beliefs and rituals were modified to accommodate many of the indigenous beliefs.

The oldest and most respected Hindu sacred literature can be found in four collections of hymns and ritual texts called the Vedas.

The Vedas, traditionally said to be written between 1500 BC and 600 BC, represent India's earliest surviving compositions.

Several sects and schools made up Neo-Taoism --a multi-faceted movement that transformed Taoism in the third to sixth centuries when China was in political and cultural turmoil.

The many different rationalist, aesthetic, and iconoclastic changes made to Taoism at this time were all part of the movement known as Neo-Taoism.

Two figures, Nehemiah and Ezra, were prominent in reviving and completing the restoration of Jerusalem and its spiritual life after the Babylonian captivity.

Under the leadership of Nehemiah the breaches in the walls and the burnt gates of the city were repaired after over 150 years of lying in ruins. Ezra was a priest who brought a copy of the scripture that he read to the citizens of the rebuilt Jerusalem and caused them to reform their lives.

Mahayana Buddhism is a branch of Buddhism whose name is translated as "Greater Vehicle." This name reflects their practitioners' belief that enlightenment or salvation is universally accessible to everyone.

Unlike Theravada Buddhism, where a strict monastic lifestyle is necessary for enlightenment, Mahayana Buddhism teaches that all can be enlightened--even laymen.

Rosh Hashanah, or the Jewish New Year, begins a period of penitence that culminates with the next Jewish holiday-- Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement.

Yom Kippur is the holiest of all the Jewish holidays. Abstaining from work, food, and drink, Jewish people spend the day at the synagogue, offering prayers for forgiveness of sins and reconciliation.

Zen is a school of Buddhism that has influenced many aspects of Japanese culture like the tea ceremony, landscape gardening, flower arrangement and martial arts.

Zen Buddhism was founded during the sixth century by a monk named Bodhidharma in India. In the 12th and 13th century it developed into a major branch of Japanese Buddhism. The tea ceremony, landscape gardening, martial arts, and flower arrangements in Japanese culture all show influences of Zen Buddhism.

When God demanded a human sacrifice of his son Isaac, Abraham set out to obey but God substituted a ram

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As a member of the lowest class of society, a Shudra had no other duty than to serve the other classes, especially the brahmins. This class could neither learn nor teach the Vedas.

A shudra, which is generally translated to mean "servant," needed to serve the other classes in the Hindu caste system if they wanted to obtain good karma.

Being far from their homeland of Jerusalem, the Jews of the Diaspora created the institution of the Synagogue, which literally means an assembly.

A synagogue can exist anywhere that there is a copy of the Scripture and ten adult males.

A member of the third, or mercantile, class of Hindu society was called a Vaishya.

A vaishya was a member of the mercantile class, which was responsible for wealth and economic decisions.

The Jewish people consider themselves as having descended from the Patriarchs, a group of figures described in the Book of Genesis who formed a covenant with God.

Abraham, his son Isaac, his grandson Jacob, and Jacob's twelve sons are considered the patriarchs of the Jewish people.

The Hindu religion believes that the universe has been created and destroyed many times.

According to the Hindus, the universe will continue to be destroyed and created without end. They believe that this earth is in Kali Yuga, or the fourth and last age, and has around 400,000 years before its destruction.

The Talmud is an encyclopedic collection of Jewish commentaries. It is considered the literary source of postbiblical Judaism.

Adding diverse commentaries known as Gemara together with the Mishnah, the Talmud was created. There are two Talmudim - one created in Palestine and one in Babylonia.

Hanukkah is known as the Festival of Lights and is celebrated for eight days in December.

Also known as the Feast of Lights, Hanukkah is a Jewish festival which commemorates the rededication of the Temple by Judas Maccabeus in 165 BC.

Whereas atman is an important term to Hinduism's discussion of the individual soul, Anatman is the word Buddhism uses to discuss the impermanence of a being's sense of self (a characteristic also referred to as "no-soul").

Anatman is a Sanskrit term meaning "without atman." Unlike Hindus, the Buddhists deny the existence of an eternal, unchanging self.

Between 1750 BC and 1500 BC, thousands of Indo-Europeans, known as Aryans, began to migrate to the Indian subcontinent, where the fusion of their faith with the indigenous religious beliefs created the Hindu tradition.

Aryans migrated to India and mixed with the indigenous Harappa culture, forming the religion of the Vedic period.

In the past half century, the West has added a third branch of Buddhism to accompany the traditional two, Theravada and Mahayana. Recognition of this branch, called Vajrayana Buddhism, has emerged largely due to the growing accessibility of Tibet, the region where it is preserved.

As more access to Tibet and its sacred texts have been gained, the more it has been recognized that this is a wholly separate branch of Buddhism.

The eighteenth-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant demonstrated that one cannot gain knowledge through empirical reason; i.e., through the senses.

Immanuel Kant argued that religious affirmations are unprovable and that it's the operation of the moral will--not cognitive reason--that makes people religious.

The Indian Emperor Asoka believed Buddhism to be a world religion and sent missionaries and ambassadors of the religion to lands far and near.

Asoka's emissaries reached Syria, Egypt, Cyrene and Greece.

The most comprehensive collection of Kabbalah writings is called the Zohar.

In Judaism, the discussion of magic, charms, numerology, angels, demons, witches, ghouls and other mystical topics all come under the term Kaballah.

Because the term "primitive" holds connotations of backwardness and simplicity, most scholars now use the term Basic, rather than primitive, when describing prehistoric or pretechnological religions.

Basic religions refers to the beliefs of prehistoric people and people of less developed areas of the world today.

The final plague upon Egypt was the death of every firstborn Egyptian child. The Jewish people commemorate this event with the holiday known as Passover.

Because the angel of death passed over all the Jewish households that had smeared lamb's blood on their doorposts, the holiday is known as Passover.

In the nineteenth century, Bishop Codrington reported that the Melanesian people were aware of an unseen force called Mana --a mysterious, invisible force that causes nature to act as it does.

Belief in mana is what Codrington believed was humankind's original impetus to adopt religion.

Brahmins make up the priestly class of Hindu society. They are the only ones allowed to teach and learn the Vedas

Brahmins sat atop the Hindu caste system. Their authority to teach the Vedas was jealously guarded, and for centuries they did not even allow the hymns to be written down.

Buddha taught that any person regardless of sex or Caste could reach enlightenment.

Buddha became enlightened when he was about thirty-five and spent the remaining years of his life teaching his disciples.

A Mandala is a geometric arrangement that maps divine beings in their cosmic connections. It is often used as a focus of meditation in Vajrayana and Mahayana Buddhism.

Buddhists often meditate on a particular buddha or bodhisattva portrayed on a mandala.

Taoists practice meditation and breathing exercises known as Ch'i-kung in hope of connecting their bodies with the gods, thereby ridding the body of evil toxins

Ch'i-kung exercises are part of what Taoists consider inner alchemy--a cleansing of the physical body.

The formal beginning of institutional Taoist religion is often identified with the founding of the Heavenly Masters sect in the second century--a sect founded under Chang Ling.

Chang Ling founded the Heavenly Masters sect, after claiming that Lao-tzu appeared to him in a cave in 142 and made him the Heavenly Master.

During the twentieth century a strong Buddhist revival developed in Japan and southern Asia, caused by the arrival of Christian missionaries and the rise of Asian nationalism.

Christian missionaries, seeking to convert Asia, translated hundreds of Asian classics and consequently opened the eyes of Asians to the riches of their own cultures.

Though the influence of Christianity has had a powerful effect on Native American religion, traditional practices and beliefs from both cultures now are often being practiced side-by-side.

Christianity has resulted in most of today's Native Americans considering themselves Christians. Native American Christianity, however, is as complex and variable as the cultures where it is found.

The text Chuang-tzu was written in the third or fourth century BC. Even more than Tao-te ching, it describes the mystical aspects of Taoism--the transcendence of the distinctions between one's self and the universe.

Chuang-tzu was a text presumably written by an author of the same name. It is noted for its emphasis on transcendence through non-rational means.

To Hindus, the concept of Dharma means social or religious duty. Buddhists, on the other hand, use the same word to connote the teaching or truth of Buddhism concerning the ultimate order of things.

Dharma, to Hindus, is a social and moral obligation. To Buddhists, it is a universal truth into the nature of humans and suffering.

Divination is a method of predicting the future and communicating with spirits through magical means. In African religions, this practice is performed by a variety of means, including casting dice or reading the pattern of a pattern of nuts.

Divination, in some African communities, is primarily for investigating the causes of trouble. In others, it is used mostly for prediction.

Eventually, a group of people considered outcasts or, as they are commonly referred to in English, Untouchables, formed a separate class considered excluded from the caste system.

Due to mixed marriages and forbidden occupations, a group called the untouchables was formed. It wasn't until the mid 1900s that legislation banned discrimination against them.

The most famous artifacts associated with prehistoric religions are the cave paintings of Cro-Magnon times, found throughout France and Spain. They were made, it is believed, before hunts in hopes of predicting success.

In addition to cave paintings, other artifacts indicative of Cro-Magnon religion include the famous carved figurines depicting a human female form.

In a 1996 report, two thirds of Israel's Jews described themselves as Secular.

Secular means "non religious". In the same year, 80 percent of American Jews identified themselves as Reform or Conservative.

A Sephardic Jew follows the customs and traditions of Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the late fifteenth century.

Sephardim are, primarily, the descendants of Jews from the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal). They may be divided into the families that left in the Expulsion of 1492 and those that remained as crypto-Jews and left in the following few centuries.

Tantric teachings began to gain importance in the Hindu tradition around the fifth century. They essentially center upon a body of ritual practices that are otherwise socially unacceptable and are outside the Vedric and brahminical tradition.

Tantric teachings have influenced a number of specific sectarian movements in Hinduism, but because many of the practices are not universally acceptable, many of its practices have remained esoteric.

In The Classic of the Great Peace, Taoism offers a doctrine of salvation, looking forward to a future epoch where a divine man will restore peace to the world.

The Classic of the Great Peace is considered by many to be the most important text of religious Taoism after Tao-te Ching.

The Dhammapada is a collection of poems drawn from various discourses given by the Buddha.

The Dhammapada collects sayings by the Buddha and is a favorite text of Buddhists

The Karaites are a sect within Judaism which denies the authority of the Talmud and desires to live exclusively by the five books of the Torah.

The Karaite movement has splintered into many sub sects because it has stressed the individual interpretation of scriptures.

A first-century text called the Laws of Manu discussed the nature of righteousness, moral duty, and law, and helped form the basis for later Hindu laws.

The Laws of Manu was the most famous of several treatises written on these subjects. In particular, it discusses in detail the intricacies of the Hindu caste system.

After the diaspora created by the destruction of the Second Temple, the Rabbi replaced the priest.

The diaspora refers to the dispersion of Jews outside of Israel from the sixth century B.C., when they were exiled to Babylonia. Rabbis were around for a long time, but it wasn't until the destruction of the Second Temple that they became the sole teachers of the Jewish people. The temple system was also replaced by the synagogue at this time.

The characteristic of non-violence is central to Buddhist political theory. As a result, an ideal Buddhist ruler does not punish with unnecessary harshness, does not fight wars of aggression, and maintains a police force and army only for defensive purposes.

The ethic of non-violence is central to all Buddhist thought, particularly its political theory. In fact, non-violence rituals, such as the release of caged animals into the wild, are prevalent in Buddhist festivals even today.

One of the fundamental beliefs of Taoism is P'U, the uncarved block.

The fundamental nature of the uncarved block is that things in their original form contain their own natural power, power that is easily spoiled and lost when that form is changed.

The Minyan, which in Hebrew means "number", is the ten adult Jews that are required for certain prayers.

The minimum of ten is evidently a survival from the old institution in which ten heads of families made up the smallest political subdivision. The rule is laid down in the Mishnah, saying, "They do not...lift their hands,...read from the Law,...nor use God's name in preparing for grace after meals, with less than ten."

Two prophets, Ezekiel and Isaiah, were influential during the Israelites' exile from Jerusalem. The latter, in particular, argued that Yahweh wasn't a local deity housed only in the temple, but was in fact a God of people all over the world.

The prophet Isaiah changed the Israelites perspective. As Yahweh's chosen people, they were charged with the mission to spread his message to all the world's nations.

A common core among all Buddhists is that they follow the Triple Gem of Buddhism, which consists of the Buddha, the dharma, and the Samgha, or Order of Disciples.

The samgha is the community of ordained Buddhist nuns and monks.

Because Yahweh forbid David from building a temple in his lifetime, his son and successor, Solomon, built it. The temple housed the Ark of the Covenant, and a formal class of priests was attached to it.

The temple of Solomon made the worship of Yahweh much more formal, and Israelite religion at the time is sometimes referred to as the temple cult.

The major founder of Conservative Judaism was Rabbi Zecharias Frankel.

The term conservative was meant to signify that Jews should attempt to conserve Jewish traditions, rather than reform or abandon them. In 1845, Frankel had parted company with the German Reform Judaism movement, over its rejection of the primacy of the Hebrew language in Jewish prayer and the rejection of the laws of kashrut.

Buddhist scriptures are traditionally divided into what are called the Three baskets of sacred texts. Because these texts were recorded for the first time in the Pali language, they are sometimes also known as the Pali canon.

The three baskets of sacred texts are divided by category into the Sutra Pitaka (discourse basket), the Vinaya Pitaka (discipline basket), and Abhidarma Pitaka (further discourses basket).

The fourth of the Four Noble Truths is known as the truth of the Eightfold Path. It describes how to alleviate human suffering by following its prescribed paths of self improvement.

The truth of the Eightfold Path lists eight paths of self-improvement: right view, right thought, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditation.

The Native American Church's use of Peyote has been controversial throughout the twentieth century. The Church used the buttons of this plant for its powerful hallucinogenic effects.

The various U.S. courts have had a running battle with the Native American Church over its use of peyote. In 1990, the US Supreme Court upheld state laws that banned the use of peyote in Native American Church rituals.

Theravada Buddhism, also called pejoratively Hinayana Buddhism, is a conservative branch of Buddhism, dedicated to preserving the religion in its original form.

Theravada Buddhism is noted for its conservative approach to Buddhism and for its literal rendering of the religion.

During Jewish Passover, the whole family is assembled and passages from the Haggadah are read to retell the story of Exodus and the purpose of the Passover rite itself.

This is called the Seder Feast and it is observed on the eve of the first or second day of Passover.

Pure Land Buddhism is a sectarian movement within Buddhism that developed in first-century India and later became a leading movement in both China and Japan. This movement believes that followers can be reborn in a Western Paradise, where they can subsequently make the final strives towards nirvana.

Today, Pure Land Buddhism remains the most popular form of Buddhism in East Asia.

Though Buddhists believe that men and women are equal, they believe that the two genders have different roles.

Traditional Buddhists believe that both women and men are equal; however, the man's job is to provide for the family while the woman's job is to care for it. So while the male monks go out to collect alms, the female monks maintain and supervise the convent (a religious residence where monks live together) and clean and cook for the men.

A theological approach to religion does not follow a mere description and explanation of the facts, but rather, it uses its own particular religious faith as its absolute.

Unlike the approach of a religious scientist, a theological approach looks at a particular religion accepting its dogma as truth.

After Israel's split, the southern nation called Judah survived until 586 BC, when the Babylonians conquered them and destroyed Solomon's temple.

Unlike the northern nation of Israel, Judah was able to maintain their identity and their religious customs while in captivity under Babylon.

"Jehovah" is one of the English renderings of the Hebrew YHVH.

Whenever YHVH occurs in scriptures it is pronounced by Jews as "Adonai" (Lord). Judaism teaches that any usage of God's name could violate the 3rd commandment, not to take the Lord's name in vain.

Approximately 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust.

It is estimated that six million Jews died during the Holocaust and that the Jewish population was cut by as much as one-third.

The Sacred is experienced through the fear or awe one feels in the presence of a spirit or god.

It is the experience of the sacred that first awakens reverential awe, a prerequisite to religion.

One of the four aims of life according to Hindu tradition, Kama is sensual pleasure including, but not limited to, sexual pleasure and the appreciation of beauty

Kama includes all kinds of sensual pleasure, including sexual pleasure (the Kama Sutra is a Hindu text and was the first book written about sex).

Karl Marx saw the origin and development of religion as stemming from the social and economic struggle between classes.

Karl Marx viewed religion as a manmade construct meant to soothe the difficulties of living in a class society. His famous quote is "It [Religion] is the opium of the people."

The Upanishads feature the first mention of Karma, a term denoting the system of rewards and punishments attached to various actions. The cumulative effects of these actions may span several lifetimes.

Karma, meaning one's actions, is believed to have a determining effect on the quality of rebirth in future existences.

Following the Shabbat synagogue service, Jews enjoy a meal which begins with the Kiddush blessing over a glass of wine or grape juice.

Kiddush includes recitation of Genesis 2:1-3, most likely said in Hebrew.

Gandhi, who led a campaign to gain independence for India from British rule, strongly endorsed Satyagraha, commonly referred to as non-violence.

Literally translated as "truth and persuade", it is non-violent civil disobedience, which Gandhi used very effectively to end British rule over India.

Animism is the belief that nature is alive and filled with unseen spirits that may be worshipped or placated.

Many basic religions believe that trees, stones, rivers, mountains, etc. all have anima (spirit); these spirits have feelings and can be communicated with and worshipped.

The communicating of God's laws to the Israelites through Moses occurred on Mt. Sinai.

On Mt. Sinai, God gave Moses the ten absolute laws that are the basis of Jewish life.

Stupas are hemispherical mounds built to contain or memorialize a Buddhist relic.

Over time, particularly as Buddhism moved to East Asia, these stupas were added to or developed into more elaborate forms like pagodas.

The Key to understanding Tillich's theology is his "method of correlation."

Paul Tillich's method of correlation was a way of establishing a connection between Christian revelation and the issues presented by existential philosophical analysis.

In most Native American religions, the primary purpose of ritual is to communicate and maintain good relationships with the inhabitants of the spirit world.

A common Native American belief is that there is an unseen spirit world that shares the world with humans.

Before leaving the palace to seek enlightenment the Buddha saw an old man, a diseased man, a rotting corpse and an ascetic.

Having lived his life in a palace he had never experienced anything unpleasant. A a result of seeing these four depressing sights, the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) vowed to devote his life to asceticism. He believed that by living a life of extreme denial he could achieve enlightenment and thereby avoid old age, sickness and death.

Orthodox Judaism represents the largest group within Judaism today. It strives to preserve traditional Jewish culture and to resist the secularizing effects of modernity.

Hebrew is still the language used in Orthodox Judaism. It attempts to deviate as little as possible from biblical and talmudic Judaism.

Shabbat is the Jewish Sabbath, celebrated every week from sundown on Friday to nightfall of Saturday.

Jews from different movements observe Shabbat in different ways. For example, one rule of Shabbat is that no work be done between Friday night and Saturday evening. Conservative and Orthodox Jews may include in the definition, turning on lights or driving a vehicle, as types of work. As well, cooking is work, so meals must be prepared in advance of Shabbat.

One of the four aims of life according to Hindu tradition, Moksha is liberation from samsara, or the repeating cycle of rebirths.

Moksha is liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

The idea in ancient China that the emperor was the Son of Heaven is an example of sacred kingship, a notion found in many ancient cultures where rulers were regarded either as gods themselves or as representatives of the gods.

Sacred kingship explains why so many taboos surrounded ancient rulers, often preventing contact with them.

From its beginning, Zionism was widely supported among Orthodox Jews.

Reform Jews originally opposed the establishment of a Jewish state as reactionary and impractical, although they later supported the idea.

Reform Judaism does not accept the Talmud as authoritative.

Reform Jews view the Talmud simply as a historical document.

Reform Judaism is the largest denomination of Jews in the United States today.

Reform Judaism is distinguished by a liberal attitude toward Jewish law and rejects virtually all ceremonial and dietary restrictions.

The Children of Israel were in the Sinai desert for forty years.

At the end of the forty years, Moses and most of that generation died. Joshua the son of Nun then lead them into the land of Canaan which they renamed "Israel."

Rituals that mark the passage from one phase of life to another (birth, puberty, marriage, death, etc.) are called rites of passage.

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The nature-worship theory, put forth by Max Muller in the nineteenth century, is similar to the animistic theory. It stated that religion developed as "primitive" people observed the patterns of nature and tried to personalize them.

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The word "bhakti" itself means "Devotion", and more specifically is defined as ardent and hopeful devotion to a particular deity in recognition of aid received or promised.

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A historical approach to religion studies the stages in the development of religions and attempts to understand how these developments arise out of the premises of each faith.

A general historical approach to religion strictly emphasizes the facts behind the religion's development.

A Mantra is an expression chanted repeatedly as a focus of concentration in meditation.

A mantra is a short syllable or phrase believed to have sacred qualities. Hindus believe that properly controlled and articulated sounds can lead to mystical experiences.

Among Native American cultures, a number of taboos exist relating to women who are menstruating. It is believed that these women have been set apart by the spirit world as ones who can participate in child birth.

A menstruating woman is thought to have special powers. Some believed her gaze could destroy the magic of hunting weapons and that her mere presence in a forest could drive game away permanently.

Faulting other Buddhist views of salvation as being self-centered, Mahayana Buddhism encouraged its followers to take the Bodhisattva vows. During this ritual, one vowed to become a buddha one day, but after enlightenment to remain dedicated to the salvation of all living beings.

According to Mahayana Buddhist doctrine, Bodhisattvas are an innumerable company of supernatural beings who hear prayers and provide help for people struggling with the problems of life. Bodhisattvas are sometimes called future Buddhas.

At the end of the nineteenth century, unfair treatment of the Jewish people led to the creation of Zionism, a movement pleading for the creation of a Jewish state.

Although Zionism initially made only a general plea for land, it became clear in the early 1900s that Jewish people wanted to reclaim their holy land in Palestine. So many Jews relocated to Palestine that a 1939 law began limiting the annual number of Jewish immigrants.

Hinduism refers to the religious faith held by the majority of the people on the Indian subcontinent.

Although most of the people on the Indian subcontinent do not commonly use the word themselves, Hinduism is the word commonly used to describe their religion.

According to most sources, the history of Buddhism begins in the Sixth century BC, with the life of Gautama Buddha.

Although the exact dates of his life vary, most traditional sources have the Buddha living most of his life in the sixth century BC.

According to Chinese yin-yang classification, Taoism is more aligned with the peace and quiet associated with the yin force.

As opposed to Confucianism and its emphasis on action and aggression with the yang force, Taoism is more closely associated with the yin force.

The term Taoism refers to both a philosophy and a religion, originating in ancient China and advocating a life of natural simplicity and selflessness.

Besides being a philosophy and a religion, Taoism has also contributed to fields such as medicine and the martial arts, making it difficult to give an exact definition of the term.

Theosophy is a religion that was created by Madame Blavatsky in the late 1800s.

Blavatsky, a psychic, claimed to have "channeled" a set of religious teachings from a group of mystics called the Trans-Himalayan Brotherhood.

The birth story of the Buddha is similar in several ways to that of Jesus, another important religious figure.

Buddha and Jesus were both born asexually, without normal human intercourse. They were both born outside of the house, with a bright light announcing their births. In both cases, sages forecasted future greatness for the children and angels appeared in the sky to announce the births.

Mahayana Buddhism spread from Korea to Japan in the mid-sixth century.

Buddhism arrived in Japan in the sixth century. Of all the lands to which Mahayana Buddhism spread, Japan offers the broadest surviving range of its varieties.

Buddhism has mostly disappeared from India, the country in which it originated.

Buddhism originated in India, which explains why several of the terms and some of the beliefs have Hindu origins.

The science of comparative religion analyzes the varieties of religious experience by comparing religions to find typical developments and characteristic traits.

Comparative religion, also known as religions phenomenology, attempts to analyze cross sections throughout the various religions.

According to Jewish tradition, a boy technically becomes a man on his thirteenth birthday. This occasion is recognized by a festive ceremony called Bar Mitzvah.

In response to the Bar Mitzvah, some more modern Jewish groups--such as the Reform congregations--offer the Bat Mitzvah, a similar ceremony for girls.

The most widely known crypto-Jews publicly professed Roman Catholicism after the Alhambra decree of 1492 and during the Spanish Inquisition.

Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith, usually Catholicism.

While Theravada Buddhism spread and remains in other areas of Southeast Asia, it still remains strongest upon the island nation of Sri Lanka.

Despite its proximity to India and centuries of Christian missionary efforts, Sri Lanka remains the center of Theravada Buddhism.

The Hasidic movement was founded in Poland in the seventeenth-century by Israel bec Eliezer. It taught that God could be found only through simple, straightforward faith--not scholarly learning.

Despite the disapproval of Orthodox rabbis, the Hasidic movement attracted a great following and was accepted widely in Eastern Europe.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna urges Arjuna not to act according to karma, which cultivates an attachment to an action's consequences, but rather according to Dharma, or one's religious and social duty.

Dharma is the Hindu term for one's religious and social duty, including righteousness and faith.

One of the primary functions of religion is its aid in the formation of a society's Ethics --a code of conduct or moral order.

Ethics can be defined as the system or code of morals of a particular person, religion, group, etc.

In Japan, Buddhism became associated with the indigenous shrine tradition, known as Shinto.

Eventually, the elements of Buddhism and Shinto combined to such an extent that they formed a syncretic system, sometimes called Dual Shinto.

As Buddhism became more popular among the Chinese, the Taoists began to recognize it as a threat.

Fierce struggles arose between the two groups over who would influence leaders and control the provinces. Taoists destroyed many Buddhist temples and Buddhists influenced rulers to persecute the Taoists.

Although more foreigners know of Zen Buddhism, it is actually Japan's Pure Land Buddhism school, known as Jodo, that commands a greater number of followers.

Jodo, like China's Pure Land Buddhism, is similar to Christianity in that the religion looks to the grace of a savior for salvation.

In his influential work The Golden Bough, Sir James George Frazer argues that religion begins as an attempt to control nature through magic.

Frazer's magic theory identifies a belief in magic as a step in the evolution of the human mind. The highly evolved person, Frazer argues, will turn away from magic and religion, and embrace science.

Though this language is not spoken in everyday usage, scholars still study the Vedas in their original language of Sanskrit.

Hindus believe that the language of Sanskrit is sacred, and for that reason, they refuse to translate it. Hindus believe it is the language God used when he authored the Vedas.

Mordecai Kaplan was the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism.

His first major book, Judaism as a Civilization (1934), contained a detailed critique of existing Jewish movements and a call for the "reconstruction" of Jewish life. Kaplan saw Judaism not as a religion, but as a civilization, characterized by beliefs and practices, as well as language, culture, literature, ethics, art, history, social organization, symbols, and customs.

Traditionally, Lao-tzu was said to have been born in the sixth century BC. He wrote the founding text of Taoism, called Tao-te ching.

Historical information on Lao-tzu (literally meaning "old master") is scarce, and scholars do not even agree on whether or not he was an actual historical person.

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat visited Jerusalem in 1977 and in 1978 joined Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in the historic Camp David agreements.

In 1981, Sadat was assassinated by members of the Takfir wal Hijra, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Japanese Zen Buddhism was derived from China's Ch'an Buddhism. Both schools are noted for their emphasis on direct intuition, outside of conscious thought, as the means towards enlightenment.

In Japan, Zen Buddhism splintered into several different divisions. The most important, by far, are the Rinzai and Soto schools.

Theologically, Paul Tillich is best known for his major three-volume work, Systematic Theology.

In Systematic Theology, Tillich first proposed his "method of correlation", a system of exploring the symbols of Christian revelation as answers to the problems of human existence produced by contemporary existential philosophical analysis.

Priests in ancient Babylon had different responsibilities, some served the gods with hymns and liturgy; others practiced divination and astrology, and still others were concerned with protecting people from demons.

In ancient Babylon demons were considered actual creatures with individual shapes and names. They were restrained by magic, exorcism, and daily recitations.

The Holocaust has had a substantial effect on Jewish theology. In After Auschwitz, Richard Rubenstein made the statement that, to the Jewish people, God died in the Holocaust.

In his famous statement, Rubenstein said that God died in the Holocaust. Before the Nazi years, God had answered the cries of the Jewish people during persecution. In the Holocaust, these cries went unanswered.

Native Americans will often undertake a vision quest in order to put themselves in contact with the spirit world. Such an undertaking usually involves a journey into the wilderness and several days of fasting.

In several cultures, a young Native American on a vision quest is sent away from the family and required to live alone until a vision is received.

Although most African religions are Polytheistic and worship a number of gods, there is nonetheless a belief in many religions that there is one High God who created the universe and the lesser deities.

In such polytheistic religions, a common belief is that this High God withdrew to a distant place after creating the universe and that he allows the lesser spirits and gods to oversee day-to-day activity.

Following some disastrous dealings with humankind, God forms a covenant with Abraham and his descendants, through which Abraham is to become the father of a great nation blessed by God.

In the Bible, the covenant is God's agreement with humankind. If Abraham remains faithful to God, then God will reward him and his descendants.

A wave of about 1.4 million Jews came from Eastern Europe to America during the early twentieth century.

Jewish communal settlement dates from 1654 with Jews of Spanish and Portuguese origin, called Sephardim. However, their numbers before 1800 were very limited--the first major immigration came from Central Europe from 1830-1880 to escape special taxes and restrictions on Jews. Still, the population at around 1880 was only around 250,000. Starting in 1881, increasing persecution in Russia caused Jews to leave Eastern Europe for America. By 1900, there were another half million Jewish immigrants. Between 1900 and 1924, before the Immigration Acts effectively closed the doors to newcomers, 1.4 million Jews migrated from Eastern Europe.

Holi is the most popular Hindu festival and is dedicated to the god Krishna.

Krishna is one of the eight incarnations of the god Vishna and is one of the most popular Hindu gods. Holi is celebrated in February/March to welcome spring.

Unlike Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism had no fixed corpus of sacred texts. Thus, legendary Chinese translators like Kumarajiva, who translated the most influential Mahayana scriptures until his death in 413, are famous for their contribution to Buddhism's spread through China.

Kumarajiva translated several definitive editions and lay the groundwork for the formation of the Chinese Buddhist canon.

Vajrayana Buddhism is closely associated with Tantric Buddhism. This esoteric form of Buddhism practices various techniques such as sexual yoga that relate to a religious manifestation of universal power.

Like Hindu tantrism, tantric Buddhism developed around the third century and remains esoteric due to some of its controversial practices.

Much of Jewish law is dedicated to the discussion of what is Kosher, or ritually clean and acceptable.

Literally meaning "fit" or "proper," kosher is a term usually applied to food or food preparation.

In African religions, the most commonly recognized spiritual forces are Ancestors. Thus, respect and concern for the dead is usually much more important than their fear of the gods.

Only in China and Japan can one find such apparent regard for ancestors. In Africa, ancestors are powerful spirits with the ability to either hurt or help the living.

The Ramayana is a great epic that focuses on the young prince Rama, an incarnation of the god Vishnu.

The Ramayana recounts the story of Rama. Hindu tradition says that the story of Rama and his wife Sita will be told as long as the rivers flow on Earth and as long as human beings live.

The Kabbalah movement deals with elements of the occult and other esoteric subjects not covered in the mainstream Jewish canon.

Many groups involved in the Kabbalah movement attempt to predict when the Messiah will come and rescue the Jewish people. For this reason, this movement is particularly popular to Jews during times of persecution.

The two Taoist sects surviving today are the Heavenly Masters sect and the Perfect Truth sect, which is the sect that shows the greatest Buddhist influence.

The Perfect Truth sect was developed around the thirteenth century. It is noted for its fasting and its devoted pursuit of inner alchemy and meditation.

Hindu worship takes many forms, with the least frequent being the Congregational form common with most Western religions.

Most Western religions worship as a congregation led by a priest or some other religious leader. Much of Hindu worship is very personal. Each Hindu chooses how and when and which god or goddess they worship, whether it be through singing hymns, reciting sacred words or texts, offering sacrifices, etc..

Following the final destruction of the Jerusalem temple, one of the issues debated was what books belonged in the Jewish scripture, known as the Torah.

Most agreed that the Pentateuch and most of the books of the prophets belonged in the Torah. However, there was great debate around the books classified as "the writings," which included books like Psalms and Job.

Max Muller was convinced that human beings first developed their religions from their observations of the forces of nature.

Muller further believed that all of the stories of the gods and heroes in Indo-European cultures were originally solar myths.

Most religions teach their beliefs on how to attain salvation, or a deliverance or freedom from the hardships and evils of this world, and Buddhism is no exception. In Buddhism, salvation comes in the form of Nirvana.

Nirvana is to be released from this world's unending cycle of suffering and is also known as enlightenment.

Nearly all religions have rules of Taboo, which marks specific beings and things as forbidden. An example is the uncleanness of pigs to Jewish followers.

Not only are unclean things considered taboo, but holy things and places can also be considered taboo in that they are forbidden to the religion's followers.

In the 1500s, the Mongol leader Altan Khan gave the visiting Tibetan missionary the title of Dalai Lama, meaning "Ocean of Wisdom." This title is still used to designate the recognized leader of Tibet.

Not only is the Dalai Lama considered to be a reincarnation of a bodhisattva, but each one is also said to be the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama.

It is difficult to define Judaism because of its various ethnic, cultural, and religious connotations. As a religion, its followers generally all believe in the oneness of a God who works through historical events and has chosen them as His agents.

Overall, Judaism is difficult to define. Although this definition discusses the religious aspects of Judaism, it excludes those people who consider themselves Jewish yet are atheists.

The Sun Dance was practiced by the Native American tribes of the plains. This ceremony would take place in the summer in a specially built lodge around a ceremonial pole. Often, participants had their flesh pierced with thongs and were then hung from the center pole.

Participants in the Sun Dance sought a vision and an identification with the divine.

Reincarnation is the word we commonly use in English for the Hindu concept of samsara, or the repeating cycle of rebirths.

Reincarnation is the belief that the soul reappears after death in another and different bodily form.

Besides being a very doctrinal religion, Confucianism also relied heavily upon Ritual. For example, the ancestor cult required that one make regular offerings to one's ancestors.

Ritual acts and observances are those done formally in accordance with a culture's prescribed rules and customs.

Ritual Circumcision is often performed on boys and, in some cultures, girls as puberty rites. Increasingly, however, health concerns are lowering the frequency of this practice, particularly among females.

Ritual circumcision in males is often regarded as a sign of courage, since it is performed without the use of anesthetic. Female circumcision seems to serve no clear purpose, although it is sometimes argued that it helps control erotic desire.

Kings and rulers came from the Kshatriya class of Hindu society. Their dharma was to protect the people and the country.

Royalty was represented by the kshatriya class. They were the second highest class in the caste system and were allowed to learn but not teach the Vedas.

The great god Shiva is often seen as having several simultaneous and mutually contradictory roles; he is portrayed as threatening but benevolent, both creator and destroyer.

Shiva was portrayed in this manner. In the post-Upanishadic era, his creative energy was also commonly symbolized or manifested in sexual terms.

After gaining enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, Gautama Buddha, or Siddhartha Gautama, traveled around the Gangetic Plain of central India teaching.

Siddhartha Gautama was born a prince, but decided to become a monk and seek after Truth; his enlightenment lead to his being called Gautama Buddha. After learning the four noble truths, he wandered throughout central India teaching people the path to Nirvana. It is interesting to note that Buddha never left India. As a matter of fact, he never traveled further than 200 miles from his birthplace, but after his death, the religion spread from India to Asia through Buddhist missionaries and diplomatic missions to various countries. Another factor that helped the spread of Buddhism was the Silk Road, which had many Buddhist temples that serviced travelers between east and west.

In the early twentieth century, the psychoanalytic approach of Sigmund Freud argued that religion originated as guilt that men allegedly feel in hating their fathers.

Sigmund Freud believed that all males possessed a tendency to desire their mothers and hate their fathers. He stated that guilt over this hate is what resulted in the creation of religion. He cited the myth of Oedipus and totemic religions as distinctive examples of this development.

The Chinese upper classes and intellectuals of today continue to read Tao Te Ching and other classics of philosophical Taoism, but they tend to regard the religion itself as being fit only for the ignorant masses.

Taoism continues to be popular among the common people into the 21st century.

The country with the strongest Taoist following besides China is Korea.

Taoism was imported into Korea in the seventh century. Since then, it has shown itself resilient, even while other religions--like Buddhism--have lessened in influence.

The rites of the Atharva-Veda were those of the common people in their homes and villages; it abounds in magic blessings and curses.

The Atharva-Veda is a book of charms, incantations and spells similar to European magic.

In the story described in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna describes to his cousin Arjuna the three ways Hindus believe one can be liberated from the cycle of birth and death.

The Bhagavad Gita recounts Krishna's descriptions of the way of action, the way of knowledge, and the way of devotion - three different paths one can take to find liberation.

One of the most important factors affecting Hinduism has been its encounter with Christianity and its European and American representatives.

The British invaded India and established the British East India Company in the seventeenth century. This opened the door for Christian missionaries to enter the country to convert the Indians.

Buddhism reached its height in India under the Emperor Asoka in the third century BC. His promotion of dharma subsequently became a model for later Buddhist rulers.

The Emperor Asoka is said to have converted to Buddhism after seeing the horrible carnage of a particularly bloody war, thus devoting himself to a dharma conquest in place of his former military role.

The Exodus is the most important event in Judaism, delivering the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and bringing them into their homeland of Canaan.

The Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and their conquest of Canaan had to be performed before God's original promise to Abraham could be fulfilled.

Although Christianity's main goal during the Crusades was to win back holy places in Palestine, it simultaneously set off widespread persecution against Jews across Europe.

The First Crusade took place in the late 11th Century, about three centuries after Charlemagne was crowned the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The persecution against Jews during the Crusades became so severe that many Jews began to flee to Poland or Islamic countries, where there was more tolerance.

The Buddha taught his disciples the Four Noble Truths, a series of insights which shows human craving, or desire, to be the source of all suffering.

The Four Noble Truths detail the origin of suffering and how one can cease this suffering by following the Eightfold Path.

After a Hindu dies and is cremated, his ashes are scattered in a river, preferably the Ganges.

The Ganges River is the most sacred place to scatter ashes according to the Hindus. The reason that they are cremated is to free the soul, which otherwise would linger for days or months. The only people that are not cremated are the unnamed babies, holy men, and the untouchables, who are buried.

The Gupta period lasted approximately from the years 320-540. It was during this time that Hindu tradition came to dominate India, as other major religions - such as Buddhism - receded.

The Gupta period saw the rise of Hinduism and the crystallization of the Hindu tradition as we know it today.

Popularly known as the Indian civilization, the Harappa culture lived along the banks of the Indus River as early as 2750 BC.

The Harappa culture populated India's Indus Valley towns along the Indus River. Some of Hinduism's features can be traced to the Harappa's religious culture.

The San-lun school is the Chinese extension of the Indian Mahayana philosophy known as Madhyamika, meaning the "Middle Way."

The Madhyamika movement neither affirms nor denies statements about reality, saying that all such statements are equally "empty" of absolute truth.

Besides the Four Noble Truths, one of the other key teachings of the Buddha was the Middle Way, which was a principle of moderation between asceticism and indulgence.

The Middle Way is such an important concept to Buddhist thought, that some interpreters even refer to Buddhism as simply "the Middle Way."

In the second century, Judaism collected all the legal commentary that had been collected since the days of Ezra. This collection was called the Mishnah.

The Mishnah was collected under the leadership of Judah ha-Nasi and is a milestone in Jewish literary history.

In Germany, the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 took away several rights from Jews including the right to vote, hold office, marry non-Jews, and to work in most professions.

The Nuremberg Laws were a sign of things to come and many Jews tried to leave Germany at the time. Because of immigration restrictions in several countries, however, most could not leave.

The Rig Veda is the oldest of the four Vedas. Completed by 1200 BC, it is the earliest, oldest scripture in the world.

The Rig Veda is a collection of 1,054 hymns written in Sanskrit. In addition to religious verses, it also includes important social and political ones.

The Tao can best be translated as the "Way." To Taoists, it describes both the unchanging first principle by which all things came to be, as well as the ideal naturalness that should govern human affairs.

The Tao defies exact definition. Through contemplation of the universe, Taoists hope to discover this nameless first principle and its secrets.

The Taoist canon is an immense collection of over 1,000 volumes compiled over fifteen centuries. The texts are organized according to the Three Caverns --a tripartite division that arose in the fifth century.

The Taoist canon is divided into the Three Caverns. The term "cavern" is used because the principle texts were allegedly discovered by hermits in caves.

The goal of Theosophists is Enlightenment through reincarnation and karma.

The Trans-Himalayan Brotherhood consists of a group of mystics who have all achieved Enlightenment, but remain with humanity in order to assist others along the Path towards Enlightenment.

In 1948, the Zionists' dreams of a Jewish state were partially answered when Israel filed for statehood.

The United Nations decision to divide Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish state was controversial. Immediately after proclaiming its statehood, Israel was attacked by five neighboring Arab states.

The Upanishadic era came in between the Vedic period and the period known as classical Hinduism.

The Upanishadic era fell in between the periods of Vedic religion and classical Hinduism. It was a time when critical thinking urged a reformulation of the earlier Vedic texts.

While the Vedic texts demonstrated an early sacrificial worldview of Hinduism, the Upanishads were philosophical texts written around the sixth century BC which speculated on the nature of knowledge and the theory behind Vedic ritual.

The Upanishads do not reject the Vedic texts, but rather demonstrate a critical rethinking of the earlier material.

Hindus consider the Vedas to be transhuman, meaning that they were of divine origin and not of the authorship of man.

The Vedas are considered transhuman, although Hindu schools disagree on whether this term means that God authored the texts or that the texts are merely eternal and authorless.

The Caste system is the term commonly used to describe the stratification and boundaries of Hindu social communities.

The basic Hindu caste system is a four-tiered hierarchy. A person's past karma determines to which of the four classes they belong.

Totemism is a practice among certain basic religions around the world. It recognizes a relationship between a certain kind of animal and a group of people. The animal becomes sacred to that group and can only be killed under specific ritual conditions.

The best known examples of totemism can be found among the Native American cultures of the Pacific Northwest.

Most of Hinduism's history developed in north India. However, the Bhakti movement thrived in South India, focusing on the lives of twelve poet-saints who lived during the seventh to ninth centuries and composed hymns in the southern Indian language of Tamil.

The bhakti movement believed that deities entered the world as gracious beings for the benefit of humans. A similar movement developed in north India in the eleventh century.

David captured the city of Jerusalem and made it his capital. Its location amongst the hills made it easy to defend and it may have already had a history of being a sacred site.

The city of Jerusalem became the capital of Israel. Beginning with David, the city's location and its sacred connotations made it one of the most disputed cities in the world.

In the Jewish tradition, the first five books of the Bible are collectively called the Pentateuch. It codifies the laws that regulate every area of Jewish life.

The laws given to Moses and the further codification of the laws throughout the Pentateuch defined Judaism primarily as a religion concerned with obeying the laws of God.

While in exile, Moses encountered God in the desert and was charged with returning to Egypt to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

The leader of the Exodus was Moses. After a series of miraculous plagues upon the Egyptians, he succeeded in having the Israelites freed.

Popular in the United States and in Europe, Reform Judaism is the most modern and liberal branch of Judaism. It is not as strict as the more conservative traditions and it does not enforce all of the kosher food laws and talmudic restrictions.

The liberalism of Reform Judaism led to the creation of Conservative Judaism, a branch which lies between the strictness of Orthodox Judaism and Reform Judaism's excess.

In 922 BC, following the reign of Solomon, a rebellion split the nation in two. The larger, northern nation was known as Israel. It would later be destroyed by Assyrians in 721 BC.

The northern nation kept the name of Israel. Following its defeat, its population was dispersed and enslaved. Because of the uncertain fate of the Israelites, they became known as the ten lost tribes of Israel.

The Israelite Prophets were not always concerned with prediction of future events as the term usually implies. Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah, for example, are better known for their poetic denunciations of social conditions in eighth-century BC Israel.

The prophets of Israel were diverse. While some attached themselves to the royal household, others preached in more troubled times and criticized the wickedness of both the peasants and the royalty.

Tao-te ching is divided into two sections. While the first part is more concerned with the general theory of the Tao, the second part is more concerned with Te, or the power by which the universal Tao becomes particular in the world.

The second part focuses on te. This section particularly discusses the role of the Tao in political life

Built sometime around 1400BC, the Oracle of Delphi was the most important shrine in ancient Greece.

The shrine was built over a crack in the Earth from which mind altering vapors emanated. The Oracle would inhale the vapors and prophesy

The 19th century religion, Theosophy, is very similar to Hinduism.

The similarities between Theosophy are many; they include a belief in karma, reincarnation, the wheel of rebirth, and the idea of Brahman.

For a Hindu outcast to hope for a better caste in the next life they must accept the Dharma of this life and not rebel against it.

The untouchables in Hindu society perform duties which bring them into constant contact with sources of pollution (street sweeping, cleaning latrines, washing clothes, handling the dead, etc.).

The Zionist movement obtained international notice when Theodore Herzl published the book The Jewish State in 1896.

Theodor Herzl was an Austrian journalist who came to believe that Jewish people would never be treated fairly until they had a land of their own.

In ancient Greece, the gods granted a special communication of counsel through individuals known as oracles.

These communications, it was believed, were made by Zeus and especially by Apollo, who was the god of prophecy, the Revealer. The most renowned of the oracles were that of Zeus at Dodona, in Epirus, and that of Apollo at Delphi, in Phocis.

A ritual common in Theravada Buddhism is the Dana ritual. This "giving" ritual is characterized by Buddhists bhiksus visiting family homes to conduct chants and culminates with a ceremony performed for the transfer of merit (good karma).

These dana rituals are examples of the merit-making rituals that are central to Theravada Buddhism. Other examples include almsgiving and the Buddha Day Festival.

The Australian Aboriginal religion is based on the belief that in the time before living memory, called the Dreamtime, the spirit ancestors traveled throughout the land giving it shape and creating all living creatures.

This is known as the Dreamtime or Dreaming. They believed that after they died, their spirits would return to be with their ancestors.

The covenant made with Abraham was the first covenant God made with the Jews. Later a second covenant was made at Mount Sinai which reinforced the covenant made with Abraham.

This second covenant was delivered to Moses on Mount Sinai, reinforcing the first covenant.

Over the centuries, the Taoist religion was noted for its alchemical experiments in which it tried to create an elixir of Immortality.

Though Taoism may have failed in creating an elixir of immortality, their attempts did help further the field of scientific experimentation

While meditating under the pipal tree, the Buddha is confronted by Mara, who repeatedly tries to move the bodhisattva and prevent him from reaching enlightenment.

Through his role as tempter, Mara plays a role similar to that of Satan's in Christianity.

The British were the last in a string of foreign rulers who ruled over a united India.

Throughout India's history, it has been ruled by foreigners--most recently by the British. The British weren't the only Europeans to try to dominate India. The Portuguese, Dutch, and the French also had small holdings in India and competed for territory, but ultimately it was the British who came to dominate the entire subcontinent. The most notable empires which encompassed the whole of India before the British were the Mauryas, the Guptas, and the Mughals.

The Christian theologian Paul Tillich defined religion as that which is of "ultimate concern."

Tillich believed that a person's religion was whatever was most important to them. Using this definition, a person's religion could be their family, their country, their job, or anything else that an individual is willing to place first above all other considerations.

The deity Vishnu has several incarnations throughout Hindu tradition. He comes down to the world in these multiple animal and human forms to rid it of evil and establish dharma.

Vishnu repeatedly comes to earth in various incarnations, including one of his most famous as Krishna, as recounted in the Bhagavad Gita.

The first truly effective king of the Israelites was David, whose abilities as a military leader and administrator built Israel into a somewhat influential and wealthy nation of the ancient Middle East.

When David became king of the Israelites, it marked the beginning of the period known historically as the Jewish Monarchy.

The term Wu-wei literally means "non-action." Tao-te ching describes this as the preferred path of least resistance--the path of natural simplicity that is in accordance with the Tao.

Wu-wei does not signify the absence of actions, but rather, acting without artificiality or overaction.