Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
1/2010
THE RELIGIONS of ASIA
Middle Central East Far East
East Asia Asia Asia
Indian
Religions
Hinduism
Buddhism
Jainism
Sikhism
Chinese
Religions
Daoism
Confucianism
Buddhism
Jap. Religions
Shinto
Buddhism
Confucianism
Relief Map of the Indian Subcontinent
Dissuade me not from the path of love. Who can hold the boats on the move?
Stupid, I joined the boatman’s squad. Your love has made me dance like mad.
Trimurti “3 images”
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-july-28-
2005/this-week-in-god---scientology
TRIMURTI:
Skt., “three
Images”
The Christian
Version of the
Trimurti?
The Trinitarian
Christ
How to Look
at an Image
A depiction of
Shiva, shakti,
and the lingam
and yoni.
How to Look at or Understand an Image
Questions?
Contempo-
rary
Swedish
Depiction of
Jesus
How to Look at
an Image
Forensic anthropo-
logical reconstruction
of how Jesus pro-
bably looked.
(Popular Mechanics, 12/2000, p. 69)
How to Look at
an Image
Jesus depicted as a
Confucian Sage at the
Last Supper and as a
Chinese boy helping
Joseph with carpentry.
How to Look at
an Image
Jesus depicted as
African and as
“Rasta-Christ”
How to Look
at an Image
Jesus
depicted as
Native
American
How to Look at an Image
Jesus depicted as a
Hindu god, meditating
guru & co-equal with
Shiva
Jesus: As an Avatar of Vishni
Brahma: the Creator
Saraswati:
Consort of Brahma
and goddess of
learning & the arts
Vishnu:
the
Preserver
Bringing into
being
Brahma the
Creator
Hindu
Gods:
Vishnu:
the
Preserver
Hindu
Gods:
Vishnu
and
Lakshmi
Hindu Gods:
Vishnu
Hindu Gods:
Shiva (Skt.,
“the kind one,”
or the friendly
one”): the god
of destruction
Hindu Gods:
Shiva: 3rd Eye
Hindu
Gods:
Shiva
Hindu Gods:
Kali: is also the
consort of Shiva
Hindu Gods:
Durga: is also the
consort of Shiva
and is often
called the Divine
Mother. She
depicts woman
as both strong
and beautiful.
Hindu
Gods:
Shiva,
Parvati,
Ganesha,
and the
lingam
and yoni
Hindu
Gods:
Shiva as
Nataraja:
“the Lord
of the
Dance”
Hindu Gods: Ganesha
Hindu
Gods:
Ganesha
Hindu Gods:
Hindu
Gods:
The Ten
Avatars
or
Incarna-
tions of
Vishnu
Hindu Gods:
Rama or Rama-
chandra, the 7th
avatar of Vishnu
Hindu Gods:
Rama & Hanuman
Hindu Gods:
Rama, Sita &
Hanuman
Hanuman:
the monkey king
of the
Ramayana
Krishna and
Arjuna
depiction
from the
Bhagavad-
Gita
Hindu Gods:
Krishna and
Arjuna
depiction from
the
Bhagavad-
Gita
Hindu Gods:
Krishna and
Arjuna,
depiction from
the
Bhagavad-
Gita
Hindu Gods:
Krishna and
Arjuna,
depiction
from the
Bhagavad-
Gita
Hindu Gods:
Krishna and
Arjuna
depiction
from the
Bhagavad-
Gita
Krishna &
Arjuna
Sacred
Trees
Hindu
Gods:
Ganga: the
Ganges
river -- the
holiest
river in
India
Hindu Festival, Ganges River
Sacred Ganges River
Aum or Om
Air = Brahman
Up = 4 yogas, 4 margas,
4 stages of life, & 4
varnas
Water = samsara
Bubble = atman
Harappan Civilization, Indus Valley
Aboriginal Dravidian culture which thrived from 2500 – 1500 B.C.E.
Major fortified cities, elaborate plumbing and irrigation systems.
Mohenjo-daro means
"mound of the dead”
HINDU SACRED WRITINGS
Two Types:
1. SHRUTI ("heard"):Revealed or sacred
texts considered to be eternal and not
authored by a person (apaurusheya).
a. VEDAS ("sacred knowledge"):
Hinduism's earliest writings believed to
be heard by the rishis or sages 8000-
6000 BCE, written down 1500-500 BCE).
2. SMARTI ("remembered"): Inspired texts
derived from the Vedas and composed
by human authors.
HINDU SACRED WRITINGS: Shruti
VEDAS ("sacred knowledge"): written 1500-500 BCE, 6
times the size of the Bible.
A. SAMHITAS ("collections"): The first three were used
principally by the elite in the Vedic sacrifices.
1. Rig-Veda ("knowledge of hymns"): Collection of
religious poetry in 10 books containing 1028 hymns
(suktas) to various gods.
A. SAMHITAS ("collections")
3. Yajur-Veda ("knowledge of rites"): Collection of
dedications, prayers and litanies used to accompany
the devotional use of the Rig-Veda.
Adherents: 3% or about 23
million
Location: Calcutta ("city of
Kali")
Principal Scriptures: Tantras
and Puranas
Lush, sensual, & erotic
imagery
RELIGIOUS UNITY
1. The truth is one and sages call it by different names
(Sanskrit, Ekam sad viprah bahuda vadanti). (Rig
Veda)
2. They have called him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, and
the divine fine-winged Garuda; they speak of Indra,
Yama, Matrarisvan: The One Being sages call by
many names. (Rig Veda 1:164:46)
3. By their wordings they made him logically manifold
who is but One. (Rig Veda, 10:114:5)
4. Truth has many aspects. Infinite Truth has infinite
expressions. Though the sages speak in diverse
ways, they express one and the same Truth. (Srimad
Bhagavatam, 11:15, qtd in. TTW, p. 798
RELIGIOUS UNITY (cont.)
5. Cows are of many different colors, but the milk of all
is of one color, white; so the proclaimers who
proclaim the Truth use many varying forms to put it in,
but yet the Truth enclosed in all is One. (Upanishads,
The Essential Unity of All Religions, p. 52)
6. Just as light is diffused from a fire which is confined to
one spot, so is this whole universe the diffused
energy of the Supreme Brahman. And as light shows
a difference, greater or less, according to its nearness
or distance from the fire, so is there variation in the
energy of the impersonal Brahman. Brahma, Vishnu,
and Shiva are his chief energies. The deities are
inferior to them ... (Vishnu Purana, 1:22, qtd. in World
Scripture, p. 53)
RELIGIOUS UNITY (cont.)
7. Like the bee, gathering honey from different flowers,
the wise man accepts the essence of different
scriptures and sees only the good in all religions. (Sri
Bhagavatam 11:3, qtd. in World Scripture, p. 40)
8. The different paths followed by Hindus and Moslems,
Saktas and Vaishnavas, reunite in the end at the door
of the divine Being. (Ananda Moyi, qtd. in TTW, p. 798)
9. As the different streams, having their sources in
different places, all mingle their waters in the sea, O
Lord, the different paths which me take through
different tendencies, various though they appear,
crooked or straight, all lead to Thee. (well known hymn
of the Hindu tradition, qtd. in Norder, The Eternal Voice, p.12)
RELIGIOUS UNITY (cont.)
10. Hindus, Mussalmans, and Christians are
going to the same destination by different
paths. (Sri Ramakrishna, qtd. in TTW, p. 795)
11. The whole world is one family. (Vasudhaiva
kutubakam, a popular Hindu motto)
12. The goal for all is the same. Yet different
names are given to the goal only to suit the
process preliminary to reaching the goal.
(Ramana Maharshi, qtd in. TTW, p. 798)
13. The devotee meditates on one and the same
God; he gives different images to the same
deity. (Chaitanya, qtd in TTW, p. 777)
RELIGIOUS UNITY (cont.)
14. If you asked me which form of God you should
meditate upon, I should say: Fix your attention on
that form which appeals to you most; but know for
certain that all forms are the forms of one God
alone.... Siva, Kali, and Hari are but different forms
of that One. He is blessed indeed who has known all
as one. (Sri Ramakrishna, qtd in TTW, p. 778)
15. Are all the religions of the world contradictory?... I
mean the internal soul of every religion.... I believe
that they are not contradictory; they are supple-
mentary. Each religion, as it were, takes up one part
of the universal truth, and spends its whole force
embodying and typifying that part of the great truth.
(Vivekanada, Jnana-Yoga, p. 352)
RELIGIOUS UNITY (cont.)
15. Every vision of truth that a man has, is a vision of
[God] and of none else. Suppose we all go with vessels
in our hands to fetch water from the lake....The water in
each case naturally takes the form of the vessel carried
by each of us. He who brought the cup has the water in
the form of the cup; he who brought a jar -- his water is
in the shape of a jar, and so forth; but in every case,
water, and nothing but water, is in the vessel. So it is in
the case of religion; our minds are like those vessels,
and each one of us is trying to arrive at the realization of
God. God is like that water filling these different vessels,
and in each vessel the vision of God comes in the form
of the vessel. Yet He is One. He is God in every case.
(Vivekanada, 1863-1902, Jnana-Yoga, 1976, pp. 379ff)
RELIGIOUS UNITY (cont.)
God has made different religions to suit different aspirants,
times, and countries. All doctrines are only so many paths; but a
path is by no means God Himself. Indeed, one can reach God if
one follows any of the paths with whole hearted devotion. One
may eat a cake with icing either straight or sidewise. It will taste
sweet either way. As one and the same material, water, is called
by different names by different people, one calling it water,
another eau, a third aqua, and another pani, so the Everlasting-
Intelligent-Bliss is invoked by some as God, by some as Allah, by
some as Jehovah, and by others as Brahman.
As one can ascend to the top of a house by means of a ladder
or a bamboo or a staircase or a rope, so diverse are the ways and
means to approach God, every religion in the world shows one of
these ways….The devotee who has seen God in one aspect only,
knows Him in that aspect alone. But he who has seen him in
manifold aspects is alone in a position to say, "All these forms are
of one God and God is multiform." He is formless and with form,
and many are his forms which no one knows. (Teachings of Sri
Ramakrishna, #686, 694, 699)