|
|
|
|
Site Map. Click [+] to expand.
|
|
Click 'More' for more detail,
'Next Page' (right arrow), or
'Quick Tour' (control right arrow).
If in a drill down:
you can use Shift-Down or Shift-Up,
or Ctrl-Shift up or down to exit.
If looping over a theme:
you can use Shift-Right or Shift-Left, or
Ctrl-Shift-Left or Right to exit.
When the option is available,
using Alt key toggles the option:
Alt-a - audio,
Alt-i - iconic menu,
Alt-m - music,
Alt-v - video.
View notes for page: Ctrl-Up.
Return to main page: Ctrl-Down
What do you think?
Click Feedback to email us or have your say at the end of most pages.
|
Acknowledge coding help from:
W3Schools: Best free web coding tutorials.
StackOverflow
Flaticon
ExtendsClass - PHP syntax checker
Tree Menu
Copyright (c) 2006 Mackley F. Pexton
User ID:
LFD= EN/EN/ SRC=Opt4Cur
LNM= EN TX#= '' SW#= ''
DVC= 'Dtop' BRS= 'Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)' SWF= 'AllWebSoftware'
SIT= 'GlobalBeliefs.org'
A= 'www.globalbeliefs.org'
RET= '' or ''
SLF= '/EN/4_3.php/GB_index.php' CUR= '4_3'
NXT= '4_4'
MVM= ','
'1,1'
'1,1'
|
|
4.3 Eastern
Eurasian Religions
Version 1.2 June 2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (Previous Version)
These are the questions we ask in
the introduction (Section
0.1.6 – paragraph 23):
If there is no god, and no other
supernatural entities, do the Eastern religions, such as Hinduism, Jainism,
Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, or Sikhism provide any insights for the
modern world? Is there such a thing as enlightenment or nirvana? Is there
any benefit in meditation or the way of mindfulness? Is the self real?Â
Should we practice non-violence? Is compassion the universal good? Was the
Buddha real, are his insights valuable? Should we follow any of the sayings
of Confucius? Should we seek the way of the Tao. Has the eternal Tao got
anything to do with physics?
|
This Chapter covers what are generally called Eastern religions,
but what that really means is east Eurasian religions. The previous Chapter
covers indigenous religions from the Americas, Africa and Australia. That
Chapter also briefly covers the indigenous religions also found in Eurasia.Â
Many of the east Eurasian religions are based on the belief
that after we die we are reincarnated in another body, perhaps as an animal or
as a human in a particular caste. This cycle of death and rebirth is called saṃsāra
in Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language. But in Part 1 (Philosophy) we
rejected the existence of gods, spirits, and reincarnation. What objective
evidence there is for reincarnation is considered in Part 2 (Science). But
there is plenty to learn without having to believe in reincarnation.
The concept of caste or class dominates many east Eurasian
religions. As discussed in Part 3 (History) early civilisations (towns and
cities) in many regions of the world divided society into 5 major groups:
priests, rulers and warriors, merchants, artisans and farmers, labourers, and
those ‘outside’ these 4 groups. Morality, in for example Hinduism (the
Bhagavad Gita) and Confucianism (the Analects), was based on doing one’s duty
according to one’s station in life – according to your caste or class, or
position in the family. As modern democrats, with equality as a core value, we
can’t accept this approach but there may still be insights to be gained from
other parts of these texts.
Many eastern religions, such as the various
forms of Hinduism, Daoism (the I Ching), and especially Buddhism are
attractive to modern affluent people seeking a spiritual path that seems to
connect with nature and provide valid insights into our psyches, but risk
using them as an escape rather than confronting the global crises we face (see
Section 0.1.7).
|
We propose to look at the great east Eurasian religions under
the following headings:
|
1. Hinduism:
|
What are the major varieties of this, the world’s oldest set
of religions?
|
|
2. Daoism:
|
Is this the environmentalists’ religion?
|
Is it
reasonable to break down this area into these topics at this level?
Click on
feedback, or add a comment below, to tell us if you agree or disagree, or
suggest improvements.
|
|
3. Jainism:
|
Can we learn non-violence from the Jains?
|
|
4. Confucianism:
|
Can we benefit from this tradition?
|
|
5. Buddhism:
|
Can mindfulness help us to cope?
|
|
6. Sikhism:
|
Is this relatively new religion any good?
|
As stated in
the chapter overview, this is the current summary of
our conclusions in this area:
In the great Eastern religions we see insights into
nature’s unity, the illusion of the self, the way of mindfulness, non-violence,
compassion, duty, seeking truth via personal development, from teachers rather
than saviours, and we can leave aside the bad science and beliefs in spirit
ancestors, reincarnation, karma and nirvana.
 more                                                             Statement
23
Members can tell us (publicly) what they think of this page. How can we improve it? Enter your comments.
Anyone can tell us (privately) what they think directly by email: click on 'Feedback' below.
* * * * * * *
|
Do you know of any great music that would go well with this
page?
Or any of the other pages?
IF
YOU DO, CLICK FEEDBACK.
It could be in any language, or have no words, or just be
instrumental. From pop, to classical, a cappella to orchestral!
Examples of the
music we seek:
● On
the Tenets page, accessed from the main menu, our current choice is a Song
Without Words from Mendelssohn (who died in 1847), Opus 14 Nbr 4, called Contentment. Check it out: the Tenets
conclude most
times, I have a measure of content.
● Chapter 2.3 covers the solar system
and Earth’s development. In there somewhere, surely we should be
hearing Gustav
Holst's The Planets, which premiered 100 years ago. There is a movement for
each of the planets.
Please tell as
much identifying information as you can: a link, and/or the name of the piece
and a person’s name may be enough, but if you know it please also send
the artist/performer, composer/lyricist, year written, year recorded, record
label, copyright owner, or similar details.
We have to worry
about copyright: acknowledge it, and not infringe on it. Music that is
out of copyright, or was never copyrighted (eg like real, ie very old, folk
music) is good. Some material is ‘open source’ allowing others
to use it for free. For newer restricted copyright music we may have to
seek permission to play it, but we can’t afford to pay for it. It
depends on the circumstances. In general, copyright in text, images and music lasts
for 70 years after the year of the creator's death, even if the creator does
not own copyright.
|
|
English (English)
Español (Spanish)
Français (French)
