The "Children of Abraham"
The Biblical prophet Abraham is a central religious figure for Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. He is claimed by each as a biological progenitor: Jews (and thus Christians) trace their descent through Isaac, Abraham's son by his wife Sarah, while Muslims claim descent through Ishmael, his son by Sarah's handmaid Hagar (see Genesis 16 and 21). More important still, he is seen as a religious paradigm. Abraham's virtue as a religious figure stemmed from his uncompromising faith in his God, and his willingness to do whatever he was commanded: to leave his home and family in Ur, in search of a land his God had promised him, and even to sacrifice his only son as a testimony to his obedience. Jews see Abraham as making their original covenant with God, later refined at Sinai, while Muslims describe him as a paradigm for true "submission" (islam) to God.
Central to all three traditions is the belief in one supreme God as the sole divine power in the universe. This God has no history, no mythology, no beginning, and no end; He (and this deity has usually been described as male) has created the world and rules over it, but is not subject to its laws. Judaism and Islam profess a strict monotheism that sees this God as utterly undivided, while the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, formed to incorporate Christian convictions about Jesus, describes this One God as having three separate Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
All of these traditions also affirm that this God reveals His Presence and His will to human beings, in an effort to build relationships with them, as individuals and communities. There are many channels for such revelation, channels seen as reflecting both God's mercy, and God's wish to be known. All three traditions accept the existence of angels, who act as minions and messengers to human beings. All three believe in prophecy, that certain human beings can be designated as channels for God's commands. Another medium is history--one of the fundamental assumptions for all three is that this a God who reveals Himself in history, and that one can discern His purpose by studying the course of events. Finally, mystics in all three traditions have affirmed that if one looks deeply enough, His presence can be found in every heart. Given this stress on revelation, it is also not surprising that in all three a written scripture is central, to preserve this revelation for human guidance.
This is also a God who makes demands--not only for worship, but also that His followers live their lives according to certain standards. Human beings are commanded to follow a certain way of life, as both individuals and communities, about which there is no discussion. Inattention or infidelity to these demands brings punishment, while adhering to them brings rewards--either in the community's prosperity on earth, or in individual felicity after death. All three stress human moral responsibility, and this has often involved a call for social justice, to build a society in harmony with this moral law.
These similarities are striking, but there are also many differences. Given the emphasis that all these traditions have put on history, and their assumption that God reveals himself IN history, it could not be otherwise, for the unique circumstances in which each was formed have helped to shape their self-understanding.
Judaism is generally considered the oldest of the three, and is the only one which has not generated extensive missionary activity. To a large extent, Judaism remains an ethnic religion, the religion of the Jewish people. Even today their number is extremely small--by one estimate about 17 million people--but their historical importance remains. Christianity and Islam are both missionary religions that have spread to every corner of the globe, and between them command over two billion adherents. In terms of their historical relationships, Christianity is clearly a product of Judaism. Jesus and all of his early followers were Jews, although the early Christians reinterpreted the Jewish tradition. The relationship between Islam and the other two traditions is less clear. There are unmistakable relationships, parallels, and similarities, but no clear causal relationship.
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The central conception in Jewish self-understanding has been the idea of a covenant between the Jewish people and their God--formed first through the actions of Abraham, who was promised that his obedience would make him a father of nations, and ratified on Mt. Sinai, with the giving of the Torah ("teaching"). This covenant was a solemn agreement between the two parties, in which each had obligations to the other. If the Jewish people were faithful to their God and followed his commandments, they would be protected and prosper. Disobeying these commandments would bring punishment upon the whole people, yet they could regain God's favor by repentance and reforming their lives. Much of the Hebrew Bible describes the Jewish understanding of this relationship's changing contours. This cycle of sin, punishment, repentance, reconciliation, and redemption has been the paradigm through which they have interpreted their long and difficult history. Although their divinity has no myth, this paradigm is certainly mythic, since it seeks to give meaning and purpose to historical events (which by themselves are simply events, ascribing MEANING to those events means interpreting them according to certain assumptions).
Throughout their history this faith in and fidelity to the covenant has helped them ride through a series of setbacks and crises that would have destroyed many other communities. The first of these came in 587 BCE, when the Babylonians destroyed the First temple (built by Solomon) and carried the Jewish intelligentsia to exile in Babylon. The Jews refused to accept that this disaster demonstrated the superiority of the Babylonian gods over the Jewish god, which would have been the general interpretation in the ancient world. Instead, they maintained that the root of this misfortune was their disobedience to their God, who had used the Babylonians as an instrument to punish them, and who would restore them to Israel when they were again faithful to the covenant. The Babylonian exile saw the final revisions for much of the Hebrew Bible, although many of the books first date from a much earlier time.
After roughly fifty years, the Persians conquered Babylon, and the Jews in Babylon were allowed to return to Israel. The first returnees immediately began to rebuild the Temple, which was completed in 515 BCE. This Second Temple stood until 70 CE (nearly 600 years), and was the central focus of the Jewish community: for the daily sacrificial offerings, for individual atonement (through expiatory sacrifices known as sin-offerings), and as the concrete symbol of the relationship between God and Jewish people.
Despite the Temple's ritual and symbolic importance, Jewish religion at the end of this period was highly diverse, with many different emphases: the cult of sacrifice and service at the Temple (the priests), learning and the study of the Hebrew scriptures (the scribes), ritual purity, piety, and obedience to the Law (the Pharisees and the Qumran community), the expectation of the imminent coming of God's kingdom (the apocalyptic writers and Zealots), and the conviction that the messiah had already come, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth (the early Christians).
This age of diversity ended with the crisis created by the destruction of the Second Temple, by the Romans in 70 CE. Rabbinic Judaism was developed from the two groups who remained viable after this event: the Scribes, with their emphasis on scriptural study, and the Pharisees, with their emphasis on practice and purity. Both of these could be practiced anywhere (including in the home), which adapted them well to a world in which the Temple and its worship no longer existed. In place of this, rabbinic Judaism developed as a way of life faithful to God's commandments, and particularly stressed learning and scriptural study as religious duties. The ideal religious figure shifted from the priest to the teacher/scholar (rabbi), albeit a scholar for whom the ultimate purpose of learning was living a sanctified life.
Just as Christians interpret the meaning of the Old Testament through a second document, the New Testament, in the same way rabbinic Judaism interprets the Hebrew Bible (the written Torah) through a second document. This is the Mishnah, which was written down around 200 CE. According to the rabbis, God had given the Mishnah to Moses on Mt. Sinai, as the oral commentary on the written Torah. The Mishnah is essentially a law book, although in a broader sense than the usual use of "law"--the aim of the Mishnah is to detail a way of life whose every aspect is obedient to God's command. In the following centuries the rabbis argued and investigated the implications of the Mishnah's injunctions, writing extensive commentaries; around 500 CE these commentaries were combined with the Mishnah to form the Talmuds. Yet even after the compilation of the Talmud, learning and argument form the backbone of Jewish religious thought. In every generation, the truth can be found only through investigation, discussion, and argument.
The Judaism of the dual Torah (written and oral) was the normative Judaism until the late 1700s, when the social changes brought on by the Enlightenment began to dissolve the traditional corporate boundaries of European society. Whereas before the Enlightenment society had been seen as composed of different communities, the Enlightenment premise was that political rights were held by individuals. Individual Jews were offered the chance to participate fully in national life, but this entailed the loss of their corporate identity. Many Jews did take advantage of this offer, leading to splits between Jews wishing to assimilate (Reform Judaism) and those unwilling to change (Orthodox Judaism). The promise of equality was never fully realized, and had two major effects. The conviction among some Jews that they would never be fully accepted in Europe spawned Zionism, which emphasized that the Jews needed a homeland (and thus political identity) or their own. The other side of this imperfect acceptance was cyclical anti-Semitism, culminating in the Holocaust. In the 50 years after the Holocaust the struggles to find meaning in it have further fragmented the community, and the past two hundred years have seen the shift from a remarkably uniform tradition to an age of religious diversity.
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Christianity began its existence as a Jewish sect. Both Jesus and his earliest followers were Jews, and this world view was an essential element in shaping early Christianity. Palestine at the time of Jesus was bubbling with social and religious ferment--the Jews were chafing under Roman rule, the economy was in a shambles, many people were poverty-stricken, and wandering religious teachers abounded. Given the tone of the times, there was widespread speculation that a decisive moment in history was near, when God would send the Messiah ("Chosen One") who would free the country from foreign domination and inaugurate a new and golden age.
Like other itinerant preachers at that time, most notably John the Baptist, Jesus called people to repentance and proclaimed the imminent arrival of God's kingdom. He also performed healings and other miracles that convinced his followers he was the Messiah. The task of the earliest Christian community was to reconcile this conviction with his ignominious death by crucifixion, reserved at the time for common criminals, and his apparent worldly failure, which given Jewish expectations left many unconvinced. The early Christians claimed that the messianic activity of Jesus had not been to establish an earthly kingdom, but to point human beings toward a heavenly kingdom, which they believed was coming very soon. Nor was his death on the cross a sign of utter failure, but an act of sacrifice for the whole human race, to conquer sin, alienation, and ultimately death itself. His followers saw him as bringing a "new covenant," which superseded the earlier one, and they eagerly awaited the imminent end.
Had Christianity remained confined to the Jews, its influence would probably have been limited. Yet after the initial Jewish community, the new members were largely non-Jews (Gentiles), probably starting with the "righteous Gentiles" who went to synagogues, but did not have full status as Jews. In the early years there was considerable tension over how closely the new community should follow Jewish practice, and on questions of social and commensal relations between Jews and Gentiles (see Galatians and Acts). This issue faded within a generation, when most Christians had come from non-Jewish backgrounds, and was replaced by organizational and theological controversies.
At first, the nascent Christian community used the Jewish Bible (probably the Greek translation known as the Septuagint), but after a time distinctively Christian texts emerged. The earliest parts of the New Testament are the letters of Paul, which were written to churches in Asia Minor to advise them on points of doctrine. As described in Acts, Paul had vigorously persecuted the early Christian community, but after receiving a vision of the risen Christ, became an equally tireless advocate. His missionary journeys and his use of Greek (the lingua franca of the eastern world) made him a major force behind the spread of Christianity, particularly among the Gentiles. The next texts were the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles: the former gave four differing perspectives on the life and ministry of Jesus, whereas the latter described the spread of the early church. The other writings in the New Testament were composed in the first through third centuries CE, usually to respond to specific organizational and theological problems.
For the first 250 years of its history Christianity had no political power. It was a socially marginal, underground movement, at times subject to persecution. This changed with the conversion of the Roman emperor Constantine, who believed that the Christian God had helped him win a battle in 312 CE. With his conversion Christianity not only became socially respectable, but in time gained wealth and significant political power. Whereas the early church had been decentralized, with bishops in each area having control over their jurisdiction, in later centuries the bishop of Rome gained primacy, and with the development of the Papacy came to be regarded as the leader of the Christian church.
Since the earliest Christians were convinced that the end of time was imminent, there was little interest in theology. As time went by conflicting opinions arose, bringing with them the need to define doctrine more specifically. Historically, the Christian church has laid great stress on orthodoxy ("having correct beliefs") as a way to separate those who belonged in the community from those who did not. Not surprisingly, the earliest disagreements were over the status of Jesus, particularly his relationship to the Jewish God. Arius of Alexandria (d. 336) insisted that because Jesus had suffered and died, he was not fully divine, but of some lower status (based on the premise that God, as perfect, could not suffer). At the council of Nicea, called by the Emperor Constantine in 325 CE, the assembled bishops affirmed the full divinity of Jesus, and thus that the same divine power was behind both creation and redemption. Further controversies arose on other theological questions. Two of the most prominent were the relationship between the divine and human natures of Jesus (affirmed as both fully present in one person by the Council of Chalcedon in 451 CE), and over the propriety of creating icons (upheld).
Other controversies arose on political, moral, and organizational grounds--disagreements on how the Church should be organized, the issue of corruption in the Church, and particularly the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome. In 1054, these tensions produced the schism between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox churches, which remains to this day. In the 1500s disagreements over theology, organization, and politics led to the Protestant Reformation; the Protestants were "protesting" the corruption of the Catholic church, and (in their minds) "re-forming" it to recapture the spirit of the earliest Christian community. The Protestant Reformation sparked a Counter-Reformation in the Catholic Church, which made some much-needed organizational reforms.
In terms of practice, the Catholic (and Orthodox) churches have stressed the importance of the sacraments as channels for receiving divine grace, and have insisted on the authority of their traditions as well as the scriptures. Although some Protestant churches have retained sacraments, they have tended to put far more emphasis on the Word--both on preaching the Gospel, and on the principle that all believers should read and interpret the Bible for themselves. This stress on individual interpretation has tended to fragment Protestant Christianity, as people have disagreed on interpretation of scripture or its application, a process that continues to the present.
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Islam ("submission" to Allah) is the youngest of the Children of Abraham, although from its beginning it has claimed to be the latest in a series of revelations by the same divine being. Unlike Christianity, which clearly grew out of Second Temple Judaism, Islam has no clear antecedents in Judaism or Christianity. Certainly the ideas of both traditions were present in seventh century Arabia--there were Jewish communities scattered through the peninsula, the bishop of Yemen had sent missionaries to Mecca to preach the gospel, and both Jews and Christians were involved in trade with the Meccan Arabs. Nevertheless, the best guess is that these contacts were at best indirect influences in the formation of Islam.
The critical figure in the rise of Islam is the Prophet Muhammad (570-632), whom Muslims deem the final prophet in Allah's long history of revelation. Muhammad was born into a minor branch of Mecca's ruling clan, and for most of his life did not seem marked for greatness, although he was respected as honest and upright, and had been fairly successful in business. This all changed in 610 CE, the year he turned 40. Muhammad had a reflective nature, and would often meditate in a cave outside Mecca, sometimes staying for days. One night he had a vision of an angel, who informed him that the one true God, Allah, had designated Muhammad as His messenger to the Arabs. At first Muhammad was frightened (not to mention worried that he was losing his mind), and even though the revelations continued, it was three years before he had the courage to preach publicly.
Late in the sixth century Mecca was undergoing profound changes, brought on by its newfound prosperity as a trading city. This flush of wealth had enriched many people, but it had also strained the traditional social fabric, particularly the tribal ethos on caring for their less fortunate members: widows, orphans, and the poor. People without protection were in dire straits, since the major control on people's behavior was the fear of vengeance--at the that time there was no conception of an afterlife, or of rewards and punishments for one's deeds. Meccan religion was polytheistic, with each clan worshipping its tutelary deities, and although people acknowledged the existence of Allah, the high god, they considered Him remote from human affairs.
Muhammad's earliest preaching centered around the call to worship Allah alone, denunciations of polytheism, idolatry, and social injustice, and the continual reminder that all people would answer for their deeds on the Day of Judgment. In six years he made a small band of about 100 followers, largely young men, but his harsh message (and the threat to local interests) made him unpopular with most Meccans. For several years he was protected by his uncle Abu Talib, but when his uncle died in 619, the situation became grim.
Two years later he received an offer from the leaders of Yathrib, an agricultural oasis 300 miles north of Mecca. The community was hopelessly deadlocked between competing clans, and they invited Muhammad to be their leader, agreeing to accept Islam. In 622 CE Muhammad and his followers went to Yathrib (later renamed Medina), and the Muslim community had become a reality. As a mark of how important this moment was perceived, the Islamic calendar dates from that event.
The Meccans were delighted to see Muhammad go, and were convinced that they had seen the last of him. When Muhammad and his followers began to disrupt the caravan trade, in a bid to strangle Meccan commerce, the Meccans realized that he was not going to simply fade away, and they actively sought to destroy him. The Meccans were the richest, most powerful group on the Arabian peninsula, but bad luck, unreliable allies, and (not least) Muhammad's diplomatic and military skills frustrated all their efforts. Muhammad's unlikely success helped convince people of his prophetic mission, and by 630 he had conquered Mecca, removed the idols from the central shrine (the Kaba) and rededicated it to the worship of Allah. By his death two years later, the entire Arabian peninsula had accepted Islam, and 150 years later Muslim territory stretched from the Indus to the Pyranees.
While Muhammad was alive he served as the community's military, political, and religious leader, revealing the wishes of Allah and helping the community to implement them. After his death, new resources became necessary. Jurists began from the premise that there was a way of life according to which human beings should live, in obedience to Allah, and they carefully worked out its dimensions in the Shari'a, the Muslim law. The Shari'a is not so much a book of laws as a blueprint for living, intended to guide the faithful in every facet of life. It was developed using four bases of authority: (1) the Qur'an (as Allah's revelation the most authoritative, but more often concerned with ideals and attitudes than practical behavior); (2) the Traditions (hadith) of the Prophet Muhammad, which served as an authoritative example; (3) Analogy from a known to an unknown example, and (4) the Consensus of Legal Scholars. With the completion of the Shari'a (ca. 10th c. CE), the "gates of interpretation" were declared closed, and remained so until the modern era. Once this way of life had been laid out, the task of good Muslims was not to question it, but to follow it.
The basis of Islamic practice is the 5 Pillars, which demonstrate a Muslim's submission to Allah. These are: (1) The Profession of Faith ("There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Prophet"), (2) Required Prayers five times daily, (3) Almsgiving to support the poorer members of the community (reflecting Muhammad's initial call for social justice), (4) Fasting during the day in the month of Ramadan (the month in which the first revelation came to Muhammad), and if possible, (5) the Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in one's life. Note that only the first of these can be construed as "belief." The other four are all actions, reflecting the Islamic stress on deeds as visible evidence of submission to Allah.
Islam has taken root in many parts of the world, and in each has been greatly affected by local culture. This has generated enormous variations, and the Islam in one part of the world often has a substantially different tone than the Islam in another. Much has been made of the Islamic revival (so-called fundamentalism) in the past thirty years, and even though it has had considerable influence in some cases (such as in Iran), on the whole it is mistaken to portray renascent Islam as the new Cold War. For one thing, Islam is not monolithic, and a careful look at countries in the "Islamic bloc" reveals great diversity in the way that they understand and practice Islam, as well tension and hostility between them. The other thing to remember is that the root of Islamic revival is often the desire to construct a modern identity true to their own culture, rather than one based on western and/or Christian models. This is a question not so much about the rebirth of fanaticism than a search for their own cultural heritage.
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Indian Religion
India is the cradle of two major world religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, of significant but lesser-known religious communities such as the Jains and the Sikhs, and countless smaller sects. This fecundity has probably been due to the unformed and highly decentralized nature of Hinduism, which we shall consider shortly. Hinduism is still found mainly in India, where it is followed by about 85% of the population, and in places Indians have migrated (Fiji, England, the Caribbean, etc.) In contrast, Buddhism has largely disappeared from India, but has spread through much of the rest of Asia.
The universal assumption in Indian religion has been the belief in reincarnation, which is determined by one's karma (which literally means "action," but also includes words and thoughts). Good karma will bring a good rebirth, bad karma a bad rebirth; as one sows, so shall one reap. Karma is seen as a purely physical process, operating without any need for a divine overseer (just as we see no need for God to administer the law of gravity). The actions one performs, for good or ill, become causes for future effects--some in this life (which is less problematic, since most of us believe that our actions have consequences), and some in future lives (more difficult to prove conclusively). Since the general tone of one's life is seen as more important than a few isolated acts, we might compare the idea of karma with our notion of a person's "character" (which also recognizes the psychological dimension, the way that we are shaped by our habitual ways of thinking and acting).
One can be reborn in any number of ways--good karma can lead to birth in heaven (as a god, since gods live in heaven), bad karma can lead to birth in hell, as an animal, or as a wandering spirit. ALL OF THESE STATES, BOTH GOOD AND BAD, ARE ULTIMATELY IMPERMANENT: the gods are enjoying the rewards from their past actions, but will be born elsewhere when their accumulated merit is exhausted; others are enduring punishment for their sins, but when this is done they will be reborn in happier circumstances. In the spectrum of possible incarnations, any human birth is considered a great opportunity. Unlike animals, which are governed by instinct, human beings can make conscious decisions, yet the vicissitudes of earthly life (unlike heaven, which is always pleasant) serve as a warning to pay attention to spiritual life.
Although New Age proponents usually describe reincarnation as an opportunity, in the Indian context (Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh) it has always been seen as a tremendous burden, and the ultimate goal of religious life has been to bring it to an end. THIS IS THE FUNDAMENTAL ASSUMPTION IN ALL INDIAN RELIGIOUS THOUGHT. Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains disagree on what happens after the "wheel of birth" has ended, but they are unanimous that halting it is the central religious problem. With these assumptions in mind, we can begin to examine Hinduism and Buddhism in greater depth.
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The nature of "Hinduism" is difficult to define, for it lacks many of the features we tend to associate with religion--it has no founder, no definitive scripture, no centralized authority, no single supreme god, and no creed of essential beliefs (and thus no heresy). The word "Hinduism" is itself a term made up by foreigners (in this case, the British) which until quite recently had no analogue in Indian languages. In its original meaning, the word "Hindu" refers to the people living in "Hind," which is what Greek and Muslim travelers called the Indian subcontinent. For most of its history the word "Hinduism" has been an umbrella term referring to ANY and ALL forms of religious belief and practice in the land of India, from the least sophisticated nature worship to the most highly developed ritual and philosophical systems. They are all called by the same name, but they share few (if any) common features.
What the different parts of the tradition do have is a history of evolution, a continuous process in which new religious forms arise from the older ones, but the older ones (usually) continue to exist. The salient metaphor for Indian religion is the banyan tree, which aside from normal upward spreading branches, also has branches which grow down, take root, and become trunks in their own right. An old banyan tree can be hundreds of feet in diameter, and it is often difficult to discern which is the original trunk. In the same way, what we call Hinduism is the result of this history of expansion, diffusion, and change.
For much of its history, the real binding force in Indian culture has not been religious belief, but the social structure, which has been as sharply defined as religious practice has been open. Traditional Indian society was sharply hierarchical, and to some extent this remains true today. In theory, society was divided into four groups (given here in descending order): the brahmins were scholars and religious technicians, the kshatriyas were warriors and rulers, the vaishyas were artisans and farmers, and the shudras served the others. Membership in a particular group came by being born into it, and nothing one did could change this. Society was seen as an organic whole, in which some parts had higher status than others, but where every part was necessary for the whole to function smoothly.
In actual practice, each of these four groups was split into hundreds of sub-groups, usually based on the group's hereditary occupation, and a group's relative status in a particular place was subject to all kinds of local variables. What this did mean was that every individual, as a member of a particular family and group, had a well-defined social role, and there was great stress on the individual's obligation to fulfill these social duties. Hindu society is thus better characterized as orthoprax (stressing correct behavior) rather than orthodox (stressing correct belief).
This stress on orthopraxy has allowed people to believe pretty much what they wanted, and this has given rise to an incredible number of sects and subsects. Despite this variety, Hindus recognizes three basic spiritual paths: Wisdom (jnana), Action (karma), and Devotion to God (bhakti). Individual talents and inclinations may render one of these paths more suitable for a person than the others, but all of them are accepted as valid and proven ways to attain moksha, the liberation of the soul that is the ultimate goal.
The Path of Wisdom is rooted in the teachings of the Upanishads (ca. 800-300 BCE), which are the latest stratum of text in the Vedas, the most authoritative Hindu scriptures. Whereas earlier Vedic texts had stressed the power of ritual sacrifice (and the need to perform it exactly right), the Upanishads speculated on the power behind the sacrifice, which made it efficacious. The Upanishads are about the search for first principles, fueled by the conviction that some single unifying power lies behind the world's apparent diversity. They also attempt to discern the essential nature of both the universe and the human being. The heart of the Upanishads lies in these speculative questions, but they are not systematic--the answer one finds in one place may be contradicted later in the same text, or in another Upanisad.
In the end, the Upanishads describe the essence of the cosmos as an impersonal power called brahman, for which the best translations might be "Being" or "Reality." The core of the human being is called atman ("Self"), which is eternal and unchanging, even though it takes on various bodies in varying births (as a person changes clothes). The essential insight of the Upanisads is the identity of brahman and atman, macrocosm and microcosm. Realization of this identity (usually described as a flash of mystical insight) breaks the cycle of reincarnation; the individual soul is liberated and merges with brahman, just as rivers flow into the ocean, and become one with it.
The Path of Action is essentially based on fulfilling one's social role--as an individual, family member, and member of society--as mandated in the Dharmashastras ("books on dharma"), which were first composed around the time that the final Upanisads were being written. Dharma is a fundamental Hindu concept, which in different contexts can mean "religion," "duty," "law," or "social order," as well as many others. The word dharma is derived from a verb meaning "to support" or "to uphold." This is the function that dharma plays in society, which shows why all those translations could make sense in context.
The dharmashastras, often referred to as the "Law Books," are most concerned with laying down guidelines for an organized, orderly society, in which each person has a well-defined status and role, based on social status, age, and gender. The dharmashastra writers presupposed an unequal society, in which birth into high or low status groups was determined by the quality of one's karma (good, bad, or mixed). Although various groups had unequal status, they were all necessary for society to function harmoniously.
The Path of Action lay in meticulously fulfilling one's prescribed social role, performing one's particular role not for personal gain, but as a duty (dharma) whose performance upheld society. This commitment to virtue and righteousness not only gave the personal satisfaction of having fulfilled one's duty, but was also the means for an individual to gain a better rebirth (through the good karma this would generate), and ultimately liberation. Although in some cases this seems like the perfect ideology of oppression (keeping the poor in their place by telling them it is their religious duty), it also renders being a parent (or child, or husband, or wife) not only personally fulfilling, but as a means for spiritual life and practice.
With their stress on personal realization, the Upanishads are profoundly elitist--it is never assumed that anyone but the most spiritually advanced can fruitfully tread the path of Knowledge, and attain final liberation. The Law Books give the second path, the Path of Action, which stresses performing one's duty AS duty, without thought of personal, individual reward. This is open to everyone, but means buying into a highly stratified, profoundly hierarchical social system. The final Path, Devotion to God (bhakti), has been the strongest influence on Indian religious life for the past thousand years. By basing personal worth not on conventional social status, but solely the depth of one's devotion, it not only provided a spiritual path that was open to everyone, but subverted the established social order.
The bhakti movement began in South India around the 5th century CE, and in the next thousand years spread northward throughout the subcontinent, taking on individual and distinctive forms as it moved from one area to another. Despite these regional differences, and enormous variety in the deities worshipped, three characteristics remain constant: equality, accessibility, and community.
The bhakti movement promoted equality by insisting that what really mattered about a person was not birth, but the depth of devotion to God. Devotees did not deny conventional social distinctions, but transcended them by focusing on religious equality before God. Unlike earlier movements, the bhakti poets come from all strata of society--from the highest to the lowest--and include women as well as men. The strongest factor promoting accessibility was that bhakti poetry was generally written not in Sanskrit (priestly, elitist language) but in the vernacular language of the region, which everyone could understand. The major vehicle was not the written text (property of the literate, socially elevated brahmins) but songs and poetry which ordinary people could hear, remember, and transmit to one another. Finally, bhakti poets tend to come in "families," groups of people freely associating with each other. These "families" contain people from all sorts of social backgrounds, and usually include at least one woman. Here we see the formation of a parallel community to earthly society, but based on different values.
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Buddhism originated in the teaching of Siddhartha Gautama, called the Buddha ("Enlightened One"). One of the great Asian religions, it is divided into two main schools: the Theravada or Hinayana predominates in Sri Lanka and SE Asia, while the Mahayana spread to Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan. As mentioned in the introduction, Buddhism has largely disappeared from India, except for refugees from the Communist Chinese regime in Tibet.
During the lifetime of the Buddha (5th c. BCE), India was in a state of religious and cultural ferment. Sects, teachers, and wandering ascetics abounded, espousing widely varying philosophical views and religious practices. According to tradition Siddhartha Gautama was born a prince and raised in luxury, but renounced the world at the age of 29 to search for an ultimate solution to the problem of the suffering innate in the human condition. After six years of spiritual searching he achieved supreme enlightenment, and spent the remaining 45 years of his life teaching and establishing a community of monks (sangha) to continue his work.
The Buddha spoke of himself as a physician trying to cure the afflictions of the world, and his teachings aimed at giving people useful advice for identifying and ultimately transcending life's problems. The core doctrines of early Buddhism, which remain common to all Buddhism, are stated in the "Four Noble Truths": (1) Existence is difficult, frustrating, and often dissatisfying (dukhka); (2) this frustration has a cause, namely craving and attachment (trishna); (3) there is a cessation of suffering, which is nirvana; and (4) there is a path to the cessation of suffering, the "eightfold path" (right views, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration).
One of the fundamental Buddhist assumptions is that all things are impermanent--that they arise in dependence on causes and conditions, and must inevitably decay (attachment to such perishable things is one source of life's frustrations). This doctrine of impermanence applies not only to the world, but also to human beings--one of the uniquely Buddhist doctrines, "no-self" (anatman), affirms that there is no independently existent, immutable self. Human personality is analyzed as the sum of five aggregates (skandhas). The first of these, form, refers to material existence; the following four--sensations, perceptions, dispositions, and consciousness--refer to mental and psychological processes. Each of these aggregates is constantly changing, based on and formed by the results of one's previous actions (karma). Past actions influence the present, present actions shape the future, and thus, even though there is no eternal self, karmic momentum brings on constant rebirth through a mutually dependant process. The release from this cycle of rebirth and suffering is the total transcendence called nirvana.
From the beginning, moral behavior has been the basis of religious life, and both monks and laity are bound by the five precepts--to abstain from taking life, stealing, lying, sexual impropriety, and drinking intoxicants. Householders were called to observe this basic morality, to give to the Order as they were able, and to perform certain ritual acts, such as the veneration of relics, in the expectation that the religious merit generated by these actions would bring better rebirths in their next lives.
Whereas householders aimed for the proximate goal of a better rebirth, monks (and nuns) strove for the ultimate goal, nirvana. In early Buddhism the monks were seen as the spiritual elite, and even today the community of monks (sangha) is one of Buddhism's "three jewels," along with the Buddha and his teaching (dharma). With this elite status came greater demands and the expectation of a far more disciplined life. Monks were subject to five additional moral precepts, as well as 227 rules of monastic discipline. Monastic practice also put great stress on meditation, as a tool for developing insight. The religious ideal for these early Buddhist monks was the perfected saint (arhant), who had attained nirvana by purifying himself of all defilements and desires.
After the Buddha's death his teachings were transmitted orally until the 1st century BCE, when they were first committed to writing by the Theravada school in Sri Lanka. This long period of oral transmission limits our awareness of early differences, but different sects arose very quickly. The initial disagreements related to monastic practice, whereas later splits tended to be on doctrinal and philosophical issues. Although the Theravada ("doctrine of the elders") was only one of the 18 early Buddhist schools, it is generally accepted that their beliefs accurately represent early Buddhist doctrine.
Some of these early Buddhist schools developed the lines of thought that led to Mahayana ("great vehicle") Buddhism; which gave itself this name to distinguish itself from groups it polemically called Hinayana ("lesser vehicle"), that is, the Theravada and related schools. The Mahayana emerges as a definable movement in the 1st century BCE, with the appearance of a new class of literature called the Mahayana sutras.
The Mahayana differed from earlier Buddhism on at least three major issues: the nature of reality, the nature of the Buddha, and the dominant religious ideal. Whereas early Buddhists had affirmed that the world was real, albeit impermanent, the Mahayana insisted on the emptiness (sunyata) of all things, as a way to remove all attachment to the world. Whereas early Buddhists affirmed the Buddha was merely a human being, although an extraordinary one, the Mahayana developed the doctrine of the Buddha's "three bodies," in which the Buddha's earthly appearance was a temporary manifestation of the eternal and absolute "Buddha-nature" pervading the universe.
The most significant difference, however, is their religious ideal. The Mahayana characterized the arhant ideal as individualistic and self-centered, since it encouraged people to seek nirvana for themselves, without concern for the suffering of others. The Mahayana religious ideal was the bodhisattva, who voluntarily postponed entry into nirvana until all beings could be enlightened and saved. The motive for this was altruistic compassion for the suffering beings in the world, and the desire to work for their welfare. The bodhisattva was both an actual religious goal for both lay and monastic Buddhists, and was also the name for a class of celestial beings who were worshiped along with the Buddha.
By the 13th century Buddhism had largely disappeared from India, driven out by the revival of Hinduism, and a series of invasions. In the meantime, however, its beliefs had spread widely: to Sri Lanka (3rd c. BCE), where it remains the national religion even today; in the 7th century to Tibet, where it flourished until the Chinese occupation in the 1950s; to SE Asia in the first five centuries CE, and along the Silk Road to China in the 1st century CE. Although Buddhism in China adapted to Chinese society, it was never fully accepted. From China Buddhism went to Korea and to Japan, where it has been completely integrated into the national fabric.
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Chinese Religion
The most important forms of religious thought in classical China were Confucianism and Taoism, whose contradictory teachings have both shaped the Chinese worldview. Although these two teachings have very different emphases, the Chinese have seen them not as mutually exclusive, but as each containing valuable insights. The salient symbol for understanding their relationship is the yin/yang, whose dark and light halves represent the polar opposites that make up the world (day and night, man and woman, summer and winter, etc.). Just as the tension between the light and dark halves makes up the totality of the yin/yang symbol (neither half better, but simply opposite tendencies), in the same way Confucianism (yang, stressing strong government and conscious self-development) and Taoism (yin, stressing naturalism and noninterference in the universe) were both seen as giving valuable orientations toward life. Neither way of thought should be considered a "church" demanding exclusive loyalty from its followers, and even today Chinese people can consider themselves Confucians and Taoists--at the same time!
Aside from the general assumption that these were parts of some larger whole, Confucianism and Taoism share at least two other things. One is that both use some parts the Five Chinese Classics (I Ching, History, Odes, Spring and Autumn Annals, and Rites), although for the Taoists only the I Ching is important. The other common feature, very different from many of our assumptions about religion, is that both are exclusively concerned with the question of how to live in this world, and pay little or no attention to what happens to people after death.
This latter emphasis helped to foster the popularity of Buddhism, which first came to China in the first century CE. The Buddhist world view had a well-developed picture of the afterlife, as well as rites for saving the souls of the dead, or at least ameliorating their suffering. This worldview (combined with the Chinese stress on filial piety, which could now continue after the death of one's parents) provided a ready niche in which it could find some acceptance. For some time Buddhism was accepted as one more way of thinking that could complement both Confucianism and Taoism (the so-called "three teachings" notion), but as an "alien" (non-Chinese) worldview Buddhism could never fully overcome Chinese ethnocentrism, even though it gradually acculturated to the Chinese worldview.
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The origins of Confucianism go back to the Analects, the sayings attributed to Confucius, and to ancient commentaries, including that of Mencius. In its early form (before the 3rd century BCE) Confucianism was primarily a system of ethical precepts for the proper management of society. It envisaged human beings as essentially social creatures bound to their fellows by jen, a term often rendered as "humanity," or "human-kind-ness." Jen is expressed through the five relations--parent and child (by far the most important), sovereign and subject, elder and younger brother, husband and wife, and friend and friend. In all these relationships (except for friends) the first member of the pair has higher status. Confucian ideology assumes that such hierarchy is necessary for society to run smoothly, but stresses the obligations that EACH member of this pair has toward the other (thus children must obey their parents, but parents must also care for their children). The relations are made to function smoothly by adhering to li, a term denoting a combination of etiquette and ritual. Correct conduct, however, proceeds not through compulsion, but through a sense of virtue inculcated by observing suitable models of deportment.
The most prominent model was Confucius himself, who, after a brief and largely unsuccessful career in government, spent most of his life as a teacher. The Confucian picture of human beings assumes an almost unlimited capacity for self-development and self-transformation, primarily through the medium of learning. Confucians characterize learning as either Elementary Learning (directed by others, and largely concerned with socialization) or as Great Learning, in which the person takes conscious responsibility for self-development. Hard work and persistence are necessary to bring this to fruition, although in theory the process never ends--to the end of his life Confucius spoke of himself not as a teacher, but as a learner.
Confucianism often had to contend with other religious systems, notably Taoism and Buddhism, and at times suffered a marked decline, especially from the 3rd to the 7th cent CE. It was not until the Sung dynasty (960-1279), with the emergence of neo-Confucianism, that Confucianism became the dominant ideology among educated Chinese. The most important Neo-Confucian thinker was Chu Hsi (1130-1200), whose teachings stressed the hierarchical political and social vision of the early Confucian teachings. The overthrow of the Manchu Dynasty (1911-12) of the monarchy, with which Confucianism had been closely identified, led to the disintegration of Confucian institutions and a decline in Confucian traditions, a process accelerated by the 1949 Communist revolution. Even though at times the Communist regime has officially condemned it, certain Confucian values--the importance of family, duty, hard work, and education--have become permanently embedded in Chinese culture.
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The philosophical roots of Taoism stem largely from the Tao Te Ching, a text traditionally ascribed to Lao Tzu but probably written in the mid-3rd century BCE. The Tao, in the broadest sense, is the way the universe functions, the path (Chin. tao=path) taken by natural events. It is characterized by spontaneous creativity, and by regular alternations of phenomena (such as day following night) that proceed without effort. Effortless action may be illustrated by the conduct of water, which unresistingly accepts the lowest level and yet wears away the hardest substance. Human beings, following the Tao, must abjure all striving. The ideal state of being, fully attainable only by mystical contemplation, is simplicity and freedom from desire, comparable to that of an infant or an "uncarved block." Both are completely unformed, and thus have limitless potential; both also exist in their unaltered, natural state (this is in sharp contrast to the Confucian stress on learning and self-development). Taoist political doctrines reflect this quietistic philosophy; the ruler's duty is to impose a minimum of government, while protecting his people from experiencing material wants or strong passions. The social virtues expounded by Confucius were condemned as symptoms of excessive government and disregard of effortless action.
Second only to Lao Tzu as an exponent of philosophical Taoism was Chuang Tzu, who authored brilliant satirical essays. He did differ sharply from Lao Tzu on the question of political involvement, which Chuang Tzu deemed totally incompatible with the Tao, and to be avoided at all costs. Later Taoism emphasized the techniques for realizing the effects supposed to flow from the Tao, especially long life and physical immortality. The search for the elixir of life and the philosopher's stone stimulated the study of alchemy.
By the 5th century CE, Taoism was a fully developed religious system with many features adopted from Mahayana Buddhism: a large pantheon (probably incorporating many local gods), monastic orders, and lay masters. Taoist ideals, particularly the stress on the natural and the unformed, had great influence on Chinese literature, painting, and calligraphy, and also played a significant role in the development of Ch`an (Zen) Buddhism. Throughout its history Taoism has provided the basis for many Chinese secret societies, and in the 1950s, after the establishment of the Communist regime, Taoism was officially proscribed, but it is still practiced to some degree in modern China, particularly at the local level.
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