Asia--Religions+and+Beliefs

__Religions and Beliefs in Asia__

__By:Grettie__          Asia is home to many religions and beliefs. Each with many different aspects and practices. Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Shamanism,Shinto, and Zoroastrianism are only a few of the many religions practiced in Asia.

Founded by Siddhartha Gautama, Buddhism can be found being practiced all over Asia. Although there are many ways of teaching the religion of Buddhism, the four noble truths always stay the same. They are; life is filled with anguish, Nirvana (the end of suffering or pain) exists, clinging to or seeking permanence in a world where all things change leads to anguish, and that the Eightfold path leads to the end of suffering and that it breaks the circle of rebirth and death. Today in many civilizations the religion of Buddhism is learned in many diverse ways. The Theravada Buddhism, which is mostly in Southwest Asia, Zen Buddhism, which can be found in Japan and China, and Lamaism Buddhism, which is practiced most commonly by Tibetans despite the Chinese oppression.

Attracting more followers than any other religion, Christianity is one of the main religions is Asia. According to this belief there is only one God. The son of God was known to have come down to Earth as Human and to have lived among the people. Jesus (the son of god) had many followers who were first called Jews. However, not only Jews were interested in his teachings but also pagans who lived in Asia Minor and Syria. His closest followers were known as his disciples. They were known to have spread Jesus’ teachings, proclaiming Christianity as the religion of the Romans after Jesus Christ’s death. Through the journey and the beliefs that God’s son had left behind, the New Testament or bible was made to share the teachings of Jesus.  Valuing goodwill, wisdom, trustworthiness, duty, and manners, Confucianism is throughout the continent of Asia. Though Confucians have many strong beliefs its main ones include honoring and respecting your parents, making for a better community and family and the moral opinions of the societies leaders. The founder of this unique religion was K'ung Fu-tzu. Although he died early on after his teachings, //The Analects// or a book of the religion was created. The Confucianism religion can be seen at practice in Singapore, China, and Korea.

Being the most ancient major religion in the world, the beliefs of Hinduism were founded in the Indus Valley. After the collision of the Aryans and the Indus Valley people’s cultures the most famous scripture called the Rig Veda was created. As time passed the civilians were divided into groups by occupation. This division of the people helped form a caste system. That caste system stated how a person’s life style and morals affected the rebirth circle. This  <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> religion is extremely popular to the point that over one billion of India’s people are Hindu. <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">     <span style="FONT-SIZE: 90%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">  The religion of Islam has sacred beliefs along with many other religions. The Islam religion preaches that there is only one god called Allah. Allah’s messenger, Muhammad, believed in the Christians and the Jews singular god, unlike many other Arabs who believed in more than one. An angel who told him the teachings of god visited Muhammad and Muhammad collected followers that believed in his encounter with the angel. His followers also believed in Allah and that there is only one god. Though they were tortured and even killed for their beliefs, they managed to win the journey known as Hegira. This was the beginning of the calendar created by Muslims. After years past, Muhammad as his followers conquered Mecca a city they devoted to their God where Muslims travel to in memory of Muhammad.

The oldest of the three main religions believing in God, Judaism is mainly known in Israel but is taught over all of Asia. Unlike Christianity and Islam the Jews first believed in many gods but later on were convinced by Abraham to worship only one. The one God they worshiped was called Yahweh. After they were grouped they were known as Israelites. Many sicknesses swept over these civilizations moving them to Egypt where they were forced to be slaves. There, Moses led the Israelites to freedom and was given an ark with God’s teachings. Later on, the Torah was created which told of the Jews travels and the creation of the human race.

Believing in a good and an evil, the religion of Shamanism is one of the few religions that have a villager that the civilization believes in. The Shaman or the priest of a town is a heeler. They are believed to travel into a separate spirit worlds. In these worlds the Shamans can conquer evil and even find souls. If the Shaman's journey is not successful they can become sick and the travel may result in death. Mainly, the Evenek people created Shamanism. More powerful than other Shamans, the Evenek Shamans can cure illness or cause it and predict the future. There are many places in Asia that practice Shammanism and they all have very unique rituals.

The ancient religion of Japan, Shinto is a religion that does not have a scheduled worship. The followers of Shito may worship whenever they please. There are annual festivals were the followers can gather together to worship. Meaning the "way of gods", the religion of Shinto respects ancestors and is very strict when it comes to purity and life without flaw. Though there are no scriptures of this religion, the followers of Shito often believe in spirits called Kami.

Believing in a single supreme being, Zoroastrianism is a religion that is practiced all over Asia. It is mostly located in Iran but also is practiced highly in India. Like many other religions, Zoroastrians believe in good and evil forces. They also believe that good will always win over evil. With this belief the followers of the religion of Zoroastrianism strongly promote good deeds, thoughts, and words. Though this religions is much like many other religions in Asia, the unique aspect of Zoroastrianism is that they don't cremate nor bury their dead. Instead, they lay them on a large stone to ware away with natural causes.

There are many religions in Asia, each having a unique characteristic and all are different. From the four noble truths of Buddhism to the natural passing of Zoroastrianism.

For other pages go to these two links; Click Asia Religions and Beliefs Locationfor the locations on religions <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> Please click here <span style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> for more popular religions and beliefs in Asia

Go to these four "four more information links" to learn more about the beliefs and religions; Click [|here] for more knowledge on Sikhism ( another belief of Asia) For more research and information on the religion of Taoism click [|here] For more information on the location of the religions please click [|here] Click [|here] for more information on the types of beliefs