Eastern Religions

Hinduism

Basic Beliefs

• No single founder
• No single sacred text
• Countless gods and goddesses, also many worships

Polytheistic v. Monotheistic

• Hinduism is polytheistic, believing in many gods
• They know god is one, but they know god by many names
• Some Hindus are monotheistic

Sacred Text

• Hindus teachings were recorded in them
• Spells out many ethical ideas towards Hiduism

Goal of Life

• Atman, the persons' essential self
• Union with Brahman, or Moksha, was an ultimate goal
• Reincarnation helps to achieve Moksha

Karma

• Believed a way to get closer to Moksha
• People who live virtuously earn good kharma, not like the ones who acquire bad
• All actions done in the lifetime reflects to their fate

Dharma

• A way to escape the wheel of fate
• Vary from class, occupation, gender, and age
• Religious and moral duties of an individual

Reincarnation

• Rebirth of the soul in another bodily form
• Through several lifetimes Moksha could be achieved

Moksha

• Union with Brahman
• Free one with selfish desires

Ahmisa

• Nonviolence
• Hindus believed people and things are aspects Brahman therefore needed to be respected

Buddhism

Siddhartha Guatama

• Founder of the new religion
• Important Buddah
• He was known to be the enlightened one

Early Life

• Born about 566 B.C. to a high caste family
• Dreams led to a prophet that he would be a wandering holy man
• He was married and had a son

The Search

• Saw three types of people: sick, old, and dead
• He was aware of human suffering
• For 48 days he meditated, making evil attempt to make him give up

Four Noble Truths

• What the Buddha learned from his research
• Life was about suffering, pain, and sorrow; because of selfish desires
• Overcome desires are the cure, and to follow the Eightfold Path

Eightfold Path

• Middle way between life devoted to pleasure
• One base on harsh self denial
• The right way to live and stop suffering

SPREAD OF BUDDHISM

• The Buddha preached his first sermon at Sarnath
• Spread through Ceylon, Burma, Nepal, Tibet, central Asia, China, and Japan

Sacred Text

• Is a collection of all the teachings of the Buddha in the Theravada tradition
• Also called Tripitaka

Two Major Sects of Buddhism

• Theravada (The school of the Elders)
• Mahayana (The Great Vehicle) are the two main branches

Confucius

Life of Confucius

• Confucius was an infamous Chinese thinker and educator
• He was the founder of the Ru School of Chinese

A Philosophy v. A Religion

• Characterized as a system of social and ethical philosophy rather than a religion
• But can be debatable to be a religion

Five Relationships

• Ruler and subject
• Father and son
• Elder brother and younger brother
• Husband and wife
• Friend and friend

Filial Piety

• Virtue of respect for one's father, elders, and ancestors

Confucianism and Government

• Confucianism is a way of life taught by Confucius in the 6th–5th century BC
• Basic order in the universe and a natural harmony linking man, nature, and the cosmos (heaven)

Spread of Confucianism

• From China to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam
• It was spread in a "soft power" way through significant Chinese influence at the time