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The Dharmic faiths According to the Encarta encyclopedia published by Microsoft Corporation:
Hinduism Hinduism (Devanagari: हिन्दू धर्म – Hindū Dharma or सनातन धर्म – Sanātana Dharma or the eternal dharma) is considered to be the oldest living religion in the world. Unlike most other major religions, Hinduism has no single founder and is based on a number of religious texts developed over many centuries that contain spiritual insights and practical guidance for religious life. Among such texts, the Vedas are the most ancient. Other scriptures include the eighteen Puranas and the epic poems Mahabharata and Ramayana. The Bhagavad Gita, which is contained within the Mahabharata, is a widely studied scripture that summarizes the spiritual teachings of the Vedas. Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world, with approximately 1 billion adherents (2005 figure), of whom approximately 890 million live in India. Buddhism Buddhism (also known as Buddha Dharma (Pali: धमा Dhamma), "the teachings of the awakened one") is a dharmic, non-theistic religion, a way of life, a practical philosophy, and arguably a form of psychology. Buddhism focuses on the teachings of Gautama Buddha (Pali: Gotama Buddha), who was born in Kapilavastu, ancient India which now falls under modern day Nepal, with the name Siddhārtha Gautama (Pāli: Siddhattha Gotama) around the fifth century BCE. Buddhism spread throughout the Indian subcontinent in the five centuries following the Buddha's passing, and propagated into Central, Southeast, and East Asia over the next two millennia. Today, Buddhism is divided primarily into three traditions: Theravāda (Sanskrit: Sthaviravāda), Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna. Buddhism continues to attract followers worldwide, and it is considered a major world religion. According to one source (*), "World estimates for Buddhists vary between 230 and 500 million, with most around 350 million." However, estimates are uncertain for several countries. Buddhism is the fifth-largest religion in the world behind Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and traditional Chinese religion, respectively. Buddhism is the fourth-largest organised religion in the world, and the monks' order Sangha is amongst the oldest organisations on earth. Jainism
Sikhism Sikhism (IPA: or ; , , IPA: ) is a religion that began in sixteenth century Northern India with the teachings of Nanak and nine successive human gurus. This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally known as the Gurmat (literally the teachings of the gurus) or the Sikh Dharma. Sikhism comes from the word Sikh, which in turn comes from the Sanskrit root meaning "disciple" or "learner", or meaning "instruction."•• Sikhism is the fifth-largest organised religion in the world. The principal belief in Sikhism is faith in one God—Vāhigurū—represented using the sacred symbol of . Sikhism advocates the pursuit of salvation through disciplined, personal meditation on the name and message of God. The followers of Sikhism are ordained to follow the teachings of the ten Sikh gurus, or enlightened leaders, as well as the holy scripture—the Gurū Granth Sāhib—which includes the selected works of many authors from diverse socioeconomic and religious backgrounds. The text was decreed by Gobind Singh, the tenth guru, as the final guru of the Khalsa Panth. Sikhism's traditions and teachings are distinctly associated with the history, society and culture of the Punjab. Adherents of Sikhism are known as Sikhs (students or disciples) and number over 23 million across the world. However, most Sikhs live in the state of Punjab in India; prior to partition, millions of Sikhs lived in what is now the Punjab province of Pakistan. What is Dharma? The word Dharma (Sanskrit; "धर्म" in the Devanagari script) or dhamma (Pali) is used in most or all philosophies and religions of Indian origin, the dharmic faiths, namely Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma), Buddhism, Jainism. Dharma also is practiced in the Surat Shabda Yoga traditions. In its oldest form, dharman, it first appears in the Vedas. It is difficult to provide a single concise definition for Dharma (life fails to convey its connoted complexity). The word has a long and varied history and complex set of meanings and interpretations. Certain Westerners and Orientalists have proposed a number of possible translations, from "justice" to "religion", however these definitions have evolved with their associated usage in western culture. "Dharma" derives from the verbal root dhri, which simply means "manner of being." The term must therefore be understood in its original (i.e. metaphysical) context, that of a conformity to a divine or creative principle at work in an individual and in nature. It represents the individual's internal law, to which obedience must be given if that individual life is to live in accordance with a divine will. This is what Hindus consider the sole or primary purpose of life. It explains how justice finds its place among the many modern definitions of the word dharma. Rene Guenon, father of the 20th century school of perennial philosophy, defines it as such:
This said, certain Western definitions of the word must be considered in the light of this original definition—that is, as branches from a single root. Monier Monier-Williams, for example (while covering the entire scope it would seem), gives its primary definition as:
of which the first, "that which is established or firm" seems to be the most ancient and etymological. Dharma is cognate with the Latin firmus, the origin of the word firm. Meanings related to law, morality, scripture, and teachings were probably acquired through analogy, by being regarded as firm and called as such. For the phenomenological or psychological meaning, see below. Dr. David Frawley, an expert on Hindu philosophy and religion, describes Dharma as:
According to the Natchintanai Scripture:
Yama, the lord of death, is also known as Dharmaraj, since he works within the laws of karma and morality, regulated by divine principles. More familiar is the embodiment of Dharma in Lord Rama, an avatar of Vishnu. The eldest Pandava, Yudhishthira was referred to as Dharmaraj owing to his steadfastness to Truth & Dharma. In scripture translations dharma is often best left untranslated, as it has acquired a lively life of its own in English that is more expressive than any simplistic translation. Common translations and glosses include right way of living, divine law, path of righteousness, order, faith, natural harmony, rule, fundamental, and duty. Dharma may be used to refer to rules of the operation of the mind or universe in a metaphysical system, or to rules of comportment in an ethical system. Status in India
Birth and history The earliest ancestor of Dharmic religions was the Vedic religion of the ancient Vedic civilization in ancient India. Vedic religion laid the foundations to modern Hinduism. The four Vedas composed during the Vedic civilization, i.e. Rigveda, Samaveda, Atharvaveda and Yajurveda form the holiest texts of Hinduism. The founders of all Dharmic reliigons have been influential Hindus who explored and concentrated on specific aspects of Hinduism to form a distinctive and relatively limited set of beliefs. Ancient Hindu kingdoms arose and spread the religion and traditions across South East Asia, particularly Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and what is now central Vietnam. A form of Hinduism different from Indian roots is practised in Bali, Indonesia, where Hindus form 90% of the population. Indian migrants have taken Hinduism and Hindu culture to South Africa, Fiji, Mauritius and other countries in and around the Indian Ocean, and in the nations of the West Indies and the Caribbean. In addition, Hinduism does not allow conversion of individuals from other religions to it. The spread of Indian culture coupled with the non-conversion principles of Hinduism allowed later dharmic religions, like Buddhism, to be readily adopted by the natives who took to Indian culture but could not convert to Hinduism. These religions had similar features to those introduced by the ancient Hindu kingdoms which added to their popularity. Exchanges with Abrahamic religions Dharmic religions and Abrahamic religions were conceived over 7,000 years ago in two opposite parts of Asia, and share a complex and conflicting dynamic. Possible connections between Indo-Aryan traditions and Hebrew culture may date back to Abraham himself, since the Mitanni influenced areas associated with him, notably Haran. The root of the words "Abraham" and "Brahma" (Hindu God of Creation) also appear to be the same. The inscriptions found from excavations in ancient Mitanni sites reveal agreements entered into by invoking the names of Vedic gods such as Mitra and Varuna, thus possibly indicating that the Vedic religion predated the Abrahamic religions by a fair amount of time. More direct connections would have followed the absorption of Judea into the Persian empire in which Zoroastrianism was the dominant faith. Some speculative writers have claimed that Jesus visited India and learned spiritual practices there from Buddhist and Hindu monks. There is a passage in Bhavishya Purana mentioning a man named Issa from the Middle East that have been used to support this theory. This and other passages in this particular Purana are however later insertions as seen from an Arabic-styled spelling. In Indonesia, many Javanese Muslims practice a version of Islam deeply influenced by the Agama Hindu Dharma, known as Abangan. Dharma and Taoism Taoism, which is rooted in ancient Chinese philosophies, includes philosophical ideas which are similar to Dharmic concepts. In fact, the term 'Tao' itself has been translated by some Chinese scholars as 'The Way' or 'The Natural Way' -- much in the manner of some translations of 'Dharma'. See also Further reading | ||||||||||||||
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