INDIAN RELIGION
...hat a person's spiritual worth is a matter of birth. Buddhism today is divided into two major branches known to their respective followers as Theravada, the Way of the Elders, and Mahayana, the Great Vehicle. Followers of Mahayana refer to Theravada using the derogatory term Hinayana, the Lesser Vehicle. Buddhism has been significant not only in India but also in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, and Laos, where Theravada has been dominant; Mahayana has had its greatest impact in China, Japan, Taiwan, Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia, Korea, and Vietnam, as well as in India. The number of Buddhists worldwide has been estimated at between 150 and 300 million. The reasons for such a range are twofold: throughout much of Asia religious affiliation has tended to be non-exclusive; and Buddhism has been able to adapt itself to many different local religious and cultural traditions. It is especially difficult to estimate the continuing influence of Buddhism in Communist countries such as China. Buddha's Teachings The Buddha was an oral teacher; he left no written body of thought. His teachings were transmitted as an oral tradition for several centuries, and were subsequently systematized and interpreted by various individuals and schools within India and elsewhere. The Four Noble Truths At the core of the Buddha's enlightenment was the realization of the Four Noble Truths. (1) Life is suffering. This is more than a mere recognition of the presence of suffering in existence. It is a statement that, in its very nature, existence is essentially painful from the moment of birth to the moment of death. Even death brings no relief, for the Buddha accepted the prevailing Indian idea of life as cyclical, with death leading to further rebirth. (2) All suffering is caused by ignorance of the nature of reality and the craving, attachment, and grasping that arise from such ignorance. (3) Suffering can be ended by overcoming ignorance and attachment. (4) The path to the suppression of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right-mindedness, and right contemplation. These eight are usually divided into three categories that form the cornerstone of Buddhist faith: morality, meditation, and wisdom. Anatman Wheel of Life Buddhism analyses human existence as made up of five aggregates or ¡§bundles¡¨ (skandhas): the material body, feelings, perceptions, predispositions or karmic tendencies, and consciousness. A person is only a temporary composition of these aggregates, which are subject to continual change. Noone remains the same for any two consecutive moments. Buddhists deny that the aggregates individually or in combination may be considered a permanent, independently existing self or soul (atman). Indeed, they regard it as a mistake to conceive of any lasting unity behind the aggregates that constitute an individual. The Buddha held that belief in such a self results in egoism, craving, and hence in suffering. Thus he taught the doctrine of anatman, or the denial of a permanent soul. He felt that all existence is characterized by the three marks of impermanence (anitya), suffering (dukkha), and non-substantiality or no-soul (anatman). The doctrine of anatman made it necessary for the Buddha to reinterpret the Indian idea of repeated rebirth in the cycle of phenomenal existence known as samsara. To this end he taught the doctrine of pratityasamutpada, or dependent origination. This 12-linked chain of causation shows how ignorance in a previous life creates the tendency for a combination of aggregates to develop. These in turn cause the mind and senses to operate. Sensations result, which lead to craving and a clinging to existence. This condition triggers the process of becoming once again, producing a renewed cycle of birth, old age, and death. Through this causal chain a connection is made between one life and the next. What is posited is a stream of renewed existences, rather than a permanent being that moves from life to life¡Xin effect a belief in rebirth without transmigration. Karma Closely related to this belief is the doctrine of karma. The Sanskrit term karma literally means ¡§action¡¨, and as a technical term it referes to a person's intentional acts and their ethical consequences. Human actions lead to rebirth, wherein good deeds are inevitably rewarded and evil deeds punished. Nirvana The ultimate goal of the Buddhist path is release from the round of phenomenal existence with its inherent suffering. To achieve this goal is to attain nirvana, an enlightened state in which the fires of greed, hatred, and ignorance have been quenched. Not to be confused with total annihilation, nirvana is a state of consciousness beyond definition. After attaining nirvana, the enlightened individual may continue to live, burning off any remaining karma until a state of final nirvana (parinirvana) is attained at the moment of death. Monastic Life From the first, the most devoted followers of the Buddha were organized into the monastic sangha. Its members were identified by their shaved heads and robes made of unsewn orange cloth. The early Buddhist monks, or bhikkhus, wandered from place to place, settling down in communities only during the rainy season when travel was difficult. Each of the settled communities that developed later was independent and democratically organized. Monastic life was governed by the rules of the Vinaya, one of the three canonical collections of scripture. Fortnightly, a formal assembly of monks, the uposatha, was held in each community. Central to this observance was the formal recitation of the Vinaya rules and the public confession of all violations. The sangha included an order for nuns as well as for monks, a unique feature among Indian monastic orders. Theravada monks and nuns were celibate and obtained their food in the form of alms on a daily round of the homes of lay devotees. The Zen school came to disregard the rule that members of the sangha should live on alms. Part of the discipline of this sect required its members to work in the fields to earn their own food. In Japan the popular Shin school, a branch of Pure Land, allows its priests to marry and raise families. Among the traditional functions of the Buddhist monks are the performance of funerals and memorial services in honour of the dead. Major elements of such services include the chanting of scripture and transfer of merit for the benefit of the deceased. One of the lasting strengths of Buddhism has been its ability to adapt to changing conditions and to a variety of cultures. It is philosophically opposed to materialism, especially of the Marxist-Communist variety. Buddhism does not recognize a conflict between itself and modern science. On the contrary, it holds that the Buddha applied the experimental approach to questions of ultimate truth. Growing interest in Asian culture and spiritual values in the West has led to the development of a number of societies devoted to the study and practice of Buddhism. Zen has grown in the West to encompass meditation centres and a number of actual monasteries. Interest in Vajrayana has also increased. As its influence in the West slowly grows, Buddhism is once again beginning to undergo a process of acculturation to its new environment. Although its influence in the West is still small, it seems that new, distinctively Western forms of Buddhism may eventually develop. JAINISM Jaya Stahamba Temple Jainism, one of the great classical religions of India, with Hinduism and Buddhism. Although the Jain community is now much smaller than in the past, it continues to sustain a tradition which is highly influential in both the ethical and economic spheres. There are some three to four million Jains in India today, divided between two major sects, the Shvetambaras and the Digambaras. They are concentrated in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, and there are also communities in most of the larger cities, notably Ahmadabad and Mumbai. Some six to seven thousand of these Jains are ascetics or renouncers, usually referred to as sadhus or munis (monks), and sadhvis (nuns). The nuns (nearly all Shvetambara) outnumber the monks by four to one, and this imbalance seems to have been the case throughout Jain history. Many lay Jains are merchants or businessmen, although agriculture has also been a common occupation, especially in the south. It is alleged, with some justification, that much of the commercial wealth of India passes through Jain hands. Although the Jains have evolved a caste structure under the influence of Hinduism, today it is largely economic status rather than relative purity which determines ranking. Parsis or Parsees (Old Persian Parsa, ¡§Persia¡¨), followers of the ancient Persian religion known as Zoroastrianism, living in India, Iran, and Pakistan. Their ancestors fled from Persia in the 7th and 8th centuries to avoid persecution by Muslim invaders. They now number some 155,000, of whom some 90,000 live in and around Mumbai; many Indian Parsis are engaged in business. Pakistani Parsis, some 5,200, live mainly in KarƒÑchi. The Parsis divided into two sects in the 18th century over a calendar disagreement, and almost all present-day Parsis belong to either one of these sects. The religious and ethical literature of the Parsis is derived chiefly from the Avesta. Their priesthood is hereditary, and they regard fire as purifying and sacred. A fire is kept constantly burning in the main temples by priests, and prayers and sacrifices are offered before this fire on all festival days. In the past, to avoid defilement, the Parsis left their dead exposed on towers to vultures and other carrion-eating birds, but this practice is no longer widely followed. Islam: Arab traders brought Islam to South India in the seventh century. After them came the Afghans and the Moghuls, among whom the most enlightened was the Emperor Akbar. Akbar almost succeeded in founding a new religion Din-e-Elahi, based on both Hinduism and Islam, but it found few adherents. Islam has flourished in India through the centuries. Muslim citizens have occupied some of the highest positions in the country since independence in 1947. The famous 17th century mosque, Jama Masjid in Delhi Pakistan and India¡¦s Dispute over Kashmir the long-running dispute between the nations of India and Pakistan regarding the state of Kashmir. Kashmir was one of the ¡§loose ends left dangling¡¨ when the British Empire came apart at the seams. At the time of the 1947 partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan, more than 560 states had to join one of the two new nations. Kashmir has always been in dispute with a third of the contested area absorbed into Pakistan as Azad (¡§free¡¨) Kashmir. Because it is India¡¦s only predominantly Muslim state, the issue has accelerated into something akin to another holy war.. Sikhism: Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism in the 15th century, stressed the unity of God and the brotherhood of man. Sikhism, with its affirmation of God as the one supreme truth and its ideals of discipline and spiritual striving, soon won many followers. It was perhaps possible only in this hospitable land that two religions as diverse as Hinduism and Islam could come together in a third, namely Sikhism. The Sisganj Gurudwara in Delhi, an important Sikh shrine Christianity: Christianity reached India not long after Christ's own lifetime, with the arrival of St. Thomas, the Apostle. The Syrian Christian Church in the south traces its roots to the visit of St. Thomas. With the arrival of St.Francis Xavier in 1542 the Roman Catholic faith was established in India. Today Christians of several denominations practise their faith freely. Zoroastrianism: In the days of the old Persian Empire, Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion in West Asia, and in the form of Mithraism, it spread over vast areas of the Roman Empire, as far as Britain. After the Islamic conquest of Iran, a few intrepid Zoroastrians left their homeland and sought refuge in India. The first group is said to have reached Diu in about 766 A.D. The total number of Zoroastrians probably does not exceed 130,000. With the exception of some 10,000 in Iran, almost all of them live in India, the vast majority concentrated in Mumbai. The Parsees excel in industry and commerce, and contribute richly to the intellectual and artistic life of the nation. Judaism: Jewish contact with the Malabar Coast in Kerala dates back to 973 BC when King Solomon's merchant fleet began trading for spices and other fabled treasures. Scholars say that the Jews first settled in Cranganore, soon after the Babylonian conquest of judea in 586 BC. The immigrants were well received and a Hindu king granted to Joseph Rabbaln, a Jewish leader, a title and a principality. The Sign of the Swastika Throughout India, the image of the swastika is as ubiquitous as the image of the serpent. It appears on Siva temples, the doors of homes, as a decoration on mobile food-stalls, in folk art and on rugs, and exists as a significant design or yantra at ceremonial occasions. All over India and much of the East, the swastika in either of its configurations, is commonly regarded as a sign of `good luck'. Good luck is related to the literal translation of `Swastika' which is `well-being', and is understood in its munde aspect by most of the populace. The idea of well-being originates from the principle of balance; in relation to a human being a harmonious cohesion or union of spirit, mind and body. This allows a state of health to exist whereas imbalance and chaos create illness. Widely used as a talisman to counteract possible negative or demonic influences, it is particularly evident during ceremonial occasions such as weddings (the union of male and female principles) and at births. The origin of the swastika has become a source of speculation for researchers over time. Mentioned in the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Mahabharata, the symbol has its origin with the Vedic Aryans, its meaning having been clearly defined by the Nagas or Vedic Initiates. One Naga king was named Swastika. The serpent and the swastika are siblings; the serpent as the energizing creative force in the Universe, the swastika as that force in motion. Both are fundamental aspects of Vedic cosmology. Ananta Sesha, the cosmic serpent, symbolic of timeless eternity, displays the swastika on its multi-hooded image. The symbol reflects and distills the wisdom of its original architects; those who understood that the forces of attraction and repulsion form the underlying substance in the creative scenario and apply to every facet of life from tiny atom to distant star. MODERN INDIA The rise of religious nationalism and fundamentalism in India during the 1980s and 1990s has increased political and social tensions in some areas, and at times¡Xsuch as the 1992 and 1993 riots in Punjab and elsewhere¡Xhas erupted into violence. Magazine & Newspaper Articles Hindu and Muslim strife in India. Contemporary Review, June 2002 v280 i1637 p340(4 HINDU versus Muslim is an issue big enough, bad enough and deep enough for anyone. But in India it is a sub-text to a subject which, if that is possible, is even bigger and deeper. That subject is whether secularism or religion is to form the basis of future Indian society and the Republic itself where 82 per cent are Hindu and 12 per cent Muslim. The independent state was founded on the principles of secularism - the exclusion of religion from government, and the encouragement of religious freedom. These are the tenets advocated by Mahatma Gandhi and, under his leadership and that of his immediate successors, are enshrined in the Constitution. Indeed, Gandhi was assassinated by Hindu nationalists and religious extremists and such fundamentalism has been until now a pariah movement in the country. Furthermore, in the recent past India has accused Pakistan of having a government which cannot control its Muslim fanatics. Last month's murder of 31 Indians was blamed on three suicide attackers. India has scored points with the West by attributing terrorism and murder as well as Pakistani incursions into Kashmir to Muslim fundamentalism. The government has used the countering of Pakist...