|
This section, "Eastern Faiths"
will answer questions most asked about the faiths of the East. This classification
includes Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese Religion, Shinto, Jainism
and a smattering of other faiths, though you may not find questions and answers
on all of them (remember, this is just a FAQ page not an intro to religions).
Remember, if you're searching
for something specific, hit "control F" at any time to do a keyword
search on this page.
Q. Do Hindus worship cows?
A. No, but they believe they
are sacred and will not harm them. Most Hindus (and Buddhists and Jains)
are vegitarians, but not because they worship animals.
Q. Do Buddhists worship Buddha?
A. No, Buddhists do not see the
Buddha as a deity, but rather as an enlightened mortal man.
Q. I hear Hindus have thirty
million gods. Is this true?
A. Sort of. Hindus have
one "ultimate reality" called Brahman that takes millions of incarnations.
I say "ultimate reality" because the term "god" implies that
it is a personal, metaphysical being. Brahman is not a being, but an unknownable
force. Brahman appears in three main deity incarnations -- Brahma
(the creator), Vishnu (the preserver) and Shiva (the destroyer). Each of
these three gods have many additional incarnations, as well, of both the masculin
and feminine form. Brahma is rarely worshipped, Vishnu is the most worshipped
of the three. Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu, is very popular and has
many sects devoted entirely to him.
Holy Scriptures
• The
Bhagavad-Gita (translated by Barbara Stoler Miller).
• Tao
Te Ching (translated by Victor Mair).
• The
Tibetan Book of the Dead (translated by Robert Thurman).
• Buddhist
Wisdom: Containing the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra by Edward
Conze
v Confucius:
The Analects by Confucius
v
The
Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version by R. K. Narayan, Kampar
Ramayanam
Intro Texts and Textbooks
• Sikhism
by Hew McLeod.
v
Eastern
Ways of Being Religious by Gary E. Kessler.
• The
Essentials of Hinduism: A Comprehensive Overview by Swami Bhaskarananda
• Jainism
and the New Spirituality by Vastupal Parikh
v
Commentaries
on the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita by Sri Chinmoy
• Indian Myths and Legends, K.E. Sullivan
Miscellaneous
v
Dharma
Bums by Jack Kerouac
|