Religions

Hamilton, New Zealand
May 2024

"Truthfulness is the foundation of all human virtues."
- Baháʼu'lláh

Religion is typically defined as the belief in and worship of a god or gods, or any such system of belief and worship​ (1). Depending how strictly this definition is applied, there are anywhere from 2,200 to 10,000 religions in the world (2,3). The largest of all of these are the monotheistic religions, which all believe in and worship only one god.

Christianity is the largest religion in the world, with 2.4 billion followers (4,5). Many of the teachings of Christianity are written in a sacred book known as the Bible, which contains two parts or "testaments." The Old Testament is an anthology of writings by various authors, much of which describes the history of the Israelites. Conversely, the New Testament describes the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who is believed to be the Son of God, or Yahweh (also known as Jahweh, Jehovah, and dozens of other names). There are six major branches of Christianity, including Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Restorationism, and the Church of the East. 

Islam is the second-largest religion, with 1.9 billion followers, although it is growing fast and is expected to surpass Christianity by the latter half of the century (4,7). Many Islamic teachings are written in the Quran, which is considered the literal word of God, or Allah (also known as The Beneficient, The Merciful, The King...there are 99 names in total). Beyond the Quran, Islam is also based on the life and teachings of its founder, the divinely inspired prophet Muhammad. The two main branches of Islam are Sunni and Shia Islam, which mainly differ with respect to the rightful successor of Muhammad. 

The next-largest monotheistic religions are Sikhism, Judaism, and the Baháʼí Faith, the last of which has about 6 million followers (4,8). The Baháʼí Faith was founded by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century. This faith teaches the essential worth of all religions and strives for the unity of all people under God (who has many names, but the favoured name is Baha, which means "All-Glorious"). Given this stated aim, the concept of branches seems to run against the entire concept of the Baháʼí Faith. Nonetheless, there have been a dozen or so attempted schisms (9). Some people also claim that many branches of the Baháʼí Faith exist, each of which refers to itself as the "true faith," such that it has seen more divisions than any other religion (10).

The many depictions of Jesus Christ.

Muhammad, visited by the angel Gabriel.

​Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Baháʼí Faith.

Religious Philosophies

“The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.”
- Lao Tzu

In other areas of the world, religion has been combined with philosophy, which may be defined the use of reason in understanding such things as the nature of the real world and existence, the use and limits of knowledge, and the principles of moral judgment (11). This has led to many different religious philosophies, which are similar to religions but do not quite emphasize the existence of a God or prophet in the same way.

Hinduism is the largest and oldest religious philosophy in the world, with 1.2 billion followers (4,12). Hinduism does not claim the existence of one God, although it does describe god-like forces, the most powerful of which is Brahma, the supreme God force present in all things. Hinduism encompasses a wide diversity of practices and traditions, but prominent themes include Karma, which is the concept that a person's intents and actions will often have consequences that come back at them in some other way, as well as the four Purusarthas (or proper ways of living), which include dharma (the foremost goal and "right way of living"), artha (the right way to be wealthy and secure), kama (the right way to enjoy pleasure), and moksha (a liberation from passion and suffering). The major branches of Hinduism include Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and the Smarta tradition.

The second-largest religious philosophy (better described as a method) is Buddhism, with 0.5 billion followers (4,13). Buddhism does not claim the existence of any God and is based on the teachings of its founder, a wandering ascetic and religious teacher named Siddhartha Gautama, or The Buddha ("Awakened One"). Buddhism teaches the importance of pursuing the Four Noble Truths, which include dukha (suffering is real), samudaya (the cause of this is desire), nirodha (desire can be renounced, which leads to the cessation of suffering), and marga (through the right path, a person can be liberated from their passions leading to an enlightened state of Nirvana, a perfect state of peace and happiness). The two major extant branches of Buddhism are Theravada, which emphasizes the attaining of nirvana, and Mahayana, which emphasizes that the liberation of all sentient beings. In turn, Mahayan contains many different schools of tradition and thought, such as Zen, Pure Land, Nichiren, Tiantai, Tendai, and Shingon.

The next-largest religious philosophies are Shinto, Voodoo, and Taoism, the last of which is difficult to estimate with respect to its number of followers (4,14). Taoism does not claim the existence of God and is primarily based on the teachings of Lao Tzu (Laozi), who explained the primal importance of the Tao (or Dao), which he described as the natural way of the universe (although many Chinese Taoists claim that the Yellow Emperor formulated most of their precepts, rather than Lao Tzu). The Tao is "eternally nameless" and cannot be described or conceptualized; all entities in the universe are but manifestations of the Tao, and any attempt to describe or conceptualize the Tao itself is not the Tao. Thus, it cannot be known. There are two sects in Taoism, which are Zhengyi and Quanzhen Taoism.

Painting of Brahma.

The Buddha, teaching the Four Noble Truths.

Lao Tzu, riding an ox.

Caligraphy of the Tao.

Awareness

All these religions and religious philosophies have a supreme strength (or fatal weakness, depending how you look at it) in that each emphasizes the importance of conforming to a "right way" of perceiving, thinking, or behaving in reality. Interestingly, despite the inordinate emphasis on this right way, divisions have formed within each of these religions and religious philosophies. Moreover, all of them emphasize the existence of a divine being, be it Yahweh, Allah, Baha, or Brahma, a perfect state, such as Nirvana, or an unknowable notion, like the Tao. 

Rather than focusing on the divine, perfect, or unknowable, I would rather focus on awareness, which acknowledges that many other things exist that I may not understand, but that does not mean that these things are divine, perfect, or unknowable, only that my understanding of them at the present time is not complete. Since it simultaneously encapsulates both achievement and humility, I see an awareness of the self, the world, and the moment as the highest moral and ethical ideal...never complete, can always improve. Awareness involves no claim about being divine, perfect, or unknowable, and there is no need to conform; indeed, a heightened awareness will lead to a diversity of perceptions, thoughts, and behaviours in accordance with the diversity of possibilities that can occur in the universe. 

I truly enjoy reading about the rich history of all these religions and religious practices (not to mention the many wise quotes), but at the end of the day they all emphasize the importance of conforming to a path that is seen as "right" in accordance with the idea of a perfect being, place, or notion. Ultimately, this conformity - paradoxically - seems to invite divisiveness.

There is no need to conform to the path set by another. Instead, let us live by enhancing our awareness of the universe, each in our own way...to the greatest extent that we are currently capable.

​Solace.

References
​(1) https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/religion.
​(2) https://web.archive.org/web/19990422162501/http://www.adherents.com/.
(3) https://populationeducation.org/world-population-by-religion-a-global-tapestry-of-faith/.
(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_religious_groups.
(5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity.
(6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam.
(7) https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2011/11/11/99-names-allah-asma-al-husna/.
(8) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%CA%BC%C3%AD_Faith.
(9) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_schisms_in_the_Bah%C3%A1%CA%BC%C3%AD_Faith.
(10) https://www.thesectsofbahais.com/​.
(11) https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/philosophy.
​(12) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism.
(13) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism.
(14) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism.