The World Religions
Instructor: Jason Swedene
A sketch of the 5 major World Religions
I
Hinduism
Brahmins- priests
Kshatriya- warriors
Vaishya- merchants/ business people
S(h)udra- lower working class (servants)
Pariahs- outcasts; “untouchables”
Brahman- universal spirit
Atman- individual soul (has divinity as well)
Samsara- reincarnation
Moksha- release from earth; reunion of atman with Brahman
Dharma- set of religious and ethical duties; vary between castes
Kharma- set of activities of each creature and the effects these activities have on
its atman.
Maya- “illusion”; this describes how the Hindu individual sees life on this earth. The
ultimate reality is with Brahman.
II
Buddhism
Born in India within the culture of Hinduism circa 500-600 BCE
Like Hinduism, it questioned the reality of this earthly world.
Siddharta Gautama (the original Buddha) left his sheltered home upon witnessing four
troubling sights: an old man, a sick person, a corpse, and a beggar.
He lived as an ascetic for a while, but ultimately hoped that meditation would explain to
him the nature of existence.
Upon mediating for 49 days under a tree, he reaches Enlightenment. He then proclaims
the Four Noble Truths.
1) Life is Suffering
2) Suffering has a cause: craving and attachment
3) Craving and attachment can be overcome
4) The path toward the cessation of craving and attachment is an Eightfold Path:
a. Right understanding
b. Right purpose
c. Right speech
d. Right conduct
e. Right livelihood
f. Right effort
g. Right alertness
h. Right concentration
Nirvana- release from this world; shedding the illusion of selfhood; a “blissful nothingness”
The World Religions
Instructor: Jason Swedene
III
Judaism
Monotheistic- belief in one God.
Abraham-circa 18th century BCE
Moses- circa 15th and 14th century BCE
Essential beliefs:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
IV
A single caring God who demands obedience and rewards/ punishes fairly based on
his fixed laws.
Yahweh is a “God of history.”
The Jews are His directly chosen family and ethnic group.
God has a specified geographic promised land for his chosen people.
A legal system guiding behavior.
Christianity
Jesus (born ~4 BCE) taught compassion, salvation, and (arguably) eternal life.
-concern for poor
-Jesus was born into Jewish community. He did not reject Judaism but actively sought to
re-emphasize aspects of the covenant that were being forgotten amidst Jewish legalism.
-After Jesus’ death, his followers believed that he had risen from the dead.
V
Islam
Founder- Muhammed (b. 570- d. 632 CE)
“There is no God but Allah and Muhammed is His prophet.”
-Christians, in their belief in God incarnate, and Jews, in their hope for God incarnate,
distort the true message of monotheism.
Islam has shared prophets with Judaism and Christianity, but claims to be the only true
monotheists.
Five Pillars of Islam:
1.
Creed
2.
Prayers to be recited five times daily and Fridays at midday (in public
assembly) facing Mecca.
3.
2 1/2 % Almsgiving to the poor
4.
Month of Fasting: Ramadan
5.
Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in lifetime.