Asian Religions Overview
Introduction to Asian Religions
D. Berger
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dharma (Skt.) = “duty, obligation, law”
yoga (Skt) = “binding”: meditation
zongjiao 宗 教 (Ch) = “ancestral veneration”
shukyo (Jp) = “(foreign) orthodoxy”
shinto 神 道 (Jp) = “the way of the spirits”
PHILOSOPHY IN ASIA
darsana (Skt) = “worldview, school”
anviksiki (Skt) = “analysis”
zhexue/tetsugaku 哲学 (Ch/Jp) = “study
knowledge/wisdom”
jia 家 (Ch) = “family /school”
dao / do 道 (Ch/Jp) = “way of life/practice”
FEATURES OF ASIAN
THOUGHT 1
Divergent Notions of Ultimate Reality
brahman (impersonal, basic power)
istadeva (chosen, preferred god)
nirvana (extinction of life continuum)
tian 天 (ancestral spirits / nature)
dao 道 (the course of nature)
shen/kami (Ch/Jp) 神 (nature spirits)
Meditation as approach to divine
-- techniques of self-salvation
-- methods of self-transformation
-- identification with divine powers
-- philosophical method
FEATURES OF ASIAN
THOUGHT 3
De-emphasis on individuality
-- atman as cosmic and not personal self
-- anatman as “no-self, no-identity”
-- ren / jin as virtue of social selfhood
-- zhenren as genuine personhood
in natural continuity
FEATURES OF ASIAN
THOUGHT 4
Ethics of community, function, authority
-- caste responsibility
-- buddhahood as an ideal
-- social responsibility as familial
-- natural patterns as ethical guidelines
OVERVIEW 1
Brahmanism
-- Origins in Vedic Ritual (1000 BCE)
-- Classical Philosophy (800 BCE-1500 CE)
-- Bhakti Movements (500 CE-Present)
OVERVIEW 2
Buddhism
-- Theravada (400 BCE) South Asia
-- Mahayana (100 BCE) East Asia
-- Vajrayana (500 CE) Tibet
Confucianism
-- Classical Origins (500 BCE-220 CE)
Warring States Period/Han Dynasty
-- Neo-Confucianism (1000-1905)
Institutional Education
Daoism
-- Philosophical Texts (300 BCE-300 CE)
Warring States / Han Dynasty
-- Religious Daoism (50-Present)
Monastic / Medicinal / Artistic