Other Religions

1. Other Religions

2. Jainism • Jain, a break-off from Hinduism, is an ethical system which believes that our souls are originally perfect, but karma corrupts the soul; yet the soul can be purified through right living. • Jainism, a religion that branched out from Hinduism and Buddhism, has the main goal of reaching moksha (breaking the cycle of reincarnation) by avoiding as much karma as possible.

3. Sikhism • Sikhism, a blend of Hinduism and Islam, believes in the cycle of reincarnation as a means for coming closer to satnam (the monoist deity) and emphasizes an individual’s religious state rather than the performance of certain rituals. • Sikhism, which takes elements from Hinduism and Islam, follows monistic pantheism, believe in the cycle of reincarnation which is broken when you achieve union with satnam.

4. Baha’i • Baha’i, a break-off from Islam, is a monotheistic religion that teaches that most religions are valid, emphasizing unity of God, religion and humanity. • A recent religion, Baha’i is monotheistic and combines all main religions, stressing unity of God, religion and the human race.

5. Shinto • Shinto is a polytheistic Japanese ethical system in which adherents worship their ancestors and Shinto gods, while also permitting Buddhist religious thought and practices. • Shinto, a Japanese ethical system, is polytheistic and focuses on the four affirmations or beliefs, yet also borrows from Buddhism for the understanding of the afterlife.

6. Confucianism

7. Confucianism—Basic Data

8. Kung Fu Tze • 551 BC (BCE) • Born of low-level nobility • Desired to be politician in order to improve society and bring about good government • His integrity, principles and ideals prevented him • Turned to teaching his political theory • Died 479 BC (BCE) with only modest success

9. What is Confucianism? • Not really a religion but an ethical system • “How can you hope to understand the spirits? First you must seek to understand the living” • Seeks a well-ordered society • Opposed to self-interest • Seeks the common good

10. Well-Ordered Society • Keys to a well-ordered society • Social order, harmony, and good government should be based on family relationships. • Respect for parents and elders is important to a well-ordered society. • Education is important both to the welfare of the individual and to society • At the heart of these three key elements is tradition • Tradition must be deliberately and consciously enacted by the individual • Tradition shifts from an unconscious to a conscious foundation

11. Importance of Rituals • Rituals are the “glue” that cultivates good human beings and good relationships • The rituals are • Ren: goodness or human-heartedness; it can be understood as the notion that a relationship is not an objective thing but rather a relational event. • Chun Tze: the noble person; the ideal partner or participant in a relationship. • Li: • (1) the proper manner or orderliness with which sacred ritual acts are carried out; • (2) the idea that one's social comportment is just such a ritual act • De: power by moral example; ruling by how you handle yourself and behave is better than ruling through intimidation and fear

12. Li: The Five Basic Relationships • The Five Basic Relationships are • parents and children • spouse and spouse • older and younger siblings (brothers and sisters) • older and younger friends • ruler and subject (and by extension, employer and employee; teacher and student) • Family relationships are the basis of the others • Xiao ("Filial Piety"): the veneration and respect for all members of one's family

13. Daoism (Taoism)

14. Daoism—Basic Data

15. Daoism in Perspective • Religion in China has essentially been a threefold hybrid of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism. • Confucianism is about relation • Buddhism is about release. • Daoism is about balance.  • Some Chinese say that • In business, one should be a Confucianist, • in retirement and withdrawal from worldly activities, one should be a Daoist, • Just prior to death, one should be a Buddhist. • For the Chinese, "covering all the bases" is not a trivializing of the sacred. • The three religions demonstrate that we are multi-faceted

16. Daoism—Philosophy • An attempt to codify and organize the wisdom and experience of the natural world • The Dao (“Way”) and the De (“Power”) • The Doa is • the "transcendent Dao," or the Dao of ultimate reality. In this sense, the Dao is the very ground of all being, the principled source of all that is. • the "immanent Dao," or the Dao of the universe. This is the energies and rhythms of nature that are all around us. • To be with or in the Dao is to be in balance and to live one's life in accordance with the natural rhythms and patterns of the universe. • If one's life or affairs are in turmoil and conflict, one is not living in accordance with the Dao . For this reason, the Dao is often associated with the metaphorical image of water.

17. Daoism—Philosophy • The De is • Efficiency: Making the most out of the least • Harmony without friction, without extremes, within the rhythm and energies of the universe • Wu Wei, or "actionless action." Not “going with the flow” (being carried along) but acting in harmony with the tide (maximizing the tide’s energy). • Right being leads to right doing • For the Confucianist, right doing leads to right being

18. Daoism—Religion • The natural order is more important than the social order. • A universal force guides all things. • Human beings should live simply and in harmony with nature.

19. Daoism—Religion • Harmony is demonstrated by the yin & yang • The circle represents harmony of yin ( earth, female, passive) and yang (heaven, male, active); natural order • Non-ceasing interaction of give and take, the rhythm and interplay of the universe as it ebbs and flows • It is not about opposites in a conflict that must be resolved