Primitive people believed in various sorts of deities to help them in their daily tasks; the ancient Hittites, Egyptians, Greeks, and the Babylonians worshipped many gods and goddesses to help them win wars, good harvest, as well as to ensure the safety of the whole empire. Because these societies lack the modern knowledge regarding scientific beliefs, religion played a very important role in shaping the society. Even today, interesting artifacts gathered from recent excavations were discovered by archaeologists of the modern times. These reliefs from the past told scholars about the power and influence of the priests (in Hittite, kings are sometimes the priests) in the Hittite society.1 Religion also became the basis for the existence of traditions such as the Onbashira (log riding) in Japan; the Shinto believes that the kami resides in the Suwa Grand Shrine and the practice of log-riding is to ensure the prosperity of the Nagano province. This festival originated about one thousand two hundred years ago and is performed every six years.2 Moving forward, this paper will explore the cultural significance of the religion in the various aspects of the human civilization. Religion created the civilization, philosophical beliefs, and the views of people about themselves and their society. The first part will tackle how religion shaped people’s views about themselves, society, and nature. The second part of the essay will discuss the similarities in which the religions of Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Polytheism address various issues such as the emergence of the culture, the purpose of one’s self, as well as the eternal relationship of mortals to the nature around them. Religion formed the culture whilst culture formed the civilization. Religious traditions provided
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1. Ilya Yakubovich, “Were Hittite Kings Divinely Anointed? A Palaic Invocation to the Sun-God and its Significance for Hittite Religion,” Koninklijke Brill, (2006), p. 122, http://www.imk.msu.ru/Structure/Linguistics/yakubovich/download/palaic1.pdf
2. “Onbashira Festival,” Japan Atlas Festivals, accessed June 27, 2015, http://web-japan.org/atlas/festivals/fes12.html
definite framework on how the people must act, how the society should be governed, whilst educating the humanity about the life-long cycle of nature and human relationship. According to the famed scholar of the Greek culture Edith Hamilton, she argued that the emergence of religious beliefs made the universe more rational to the earliest humans.3 Religion is a debatable topic for it deals with the study of non-existent deity. For thousands of years, the human society became engulfed in various traditions to please the divinities. In contrast to earliest polytheistic religions of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Hittite, and Babylonian, the Greek pantheon lifted the veils of uncertainty and transformed the world into a much pleasant familiar place.4 Mortals became familiar with their gods and goddesses; as such they tied their civilization just for the sake of pleasing them. Rituals were the most common practices of giving respect to these deities. The Aztecs sacrificed their enemies to their gods to make the sun continue to rise every morning. History also suggests that the Hittite king Mursili II also went to the temple of the Sun-goddess of Arinna in the Hatti (Modern Turkey) to seek guidance in order to remove the plague.5 These practices enabled people of the bygone era to understand that the universe is governed by the deities. People had to link every natural phenomenon to a certain god in order to explain the causes of lightning, storm, plague, and death.
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3. Edith Hamilton, Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, (New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2012), p. 16.
4. Ibid., 17.
5. Ilya Yakubovich, “Were Hittite Kings Divinely Anointed? A Palaic Invocation to the Sun-God and its Significance for Hittite Religion,” Koninklijke Brill, 2006, p. 122, http://www.imk.msu.ru/Structure/Linguistics/yakubovich/download/palaic1.pdf
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6. Linda Groff and Paul Smoker, “Spirituality, Religion, Culture, and Peace: Exploring the Foundations for Inner-Outer Peace in the Twenty-First Century,” The International Journal of Peace Studies 1, no. 1(n.d.): n.p. accessed June 27, 2015, http://www.gmu.edu/programs/icar/ijps/vol1_1/smoker.html
7. Ibid., n.p.
8. Yijie Tang, “Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, and Chinese Culture,” The Council for Research Values and Philosophy Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Life 3, (1991): p. 52. Google Book, https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=ZnNvEOjlJ8YC&pg=PA52&dq=true+purpose+of+oneself+according+to+confucianism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=zDaOVcOzE4K5mAXXhazICA&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=true%20purpose%20of%20oneself%20according%20to%20confucianism&f=false
The emperor was regarded to be the ‘father’ of the society. Therefore, he alone can make or break the ‘home’ (society) without proper observation and thinking. Xiao is the main core of this philosophy. It is often translated in English as ‘filial piety’ wherein one gives respect to the elders of the family and high-ranking officials. In addition, Confucius also noted of the eternal cycle of nature and the humans. For scholars of his texts, Confucianism also places a high regard on man’s interaction with nature. “To lead one’s existence in the world and be a man, one must find in doing so and appreciate the creation of universe.”9 On the other hand, Taoism also posits similar teachings to Confucianism. Its founder Lao-Tzu was also a Chinese philosopher. One of the well-known quote attributed to him was the quote, “watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character it becomes your destiny.”10 Although considered a religion by the majority, Taoism and Confucianism were nothing more than a philosophy created to maintain peace and observe the right decorum in order to attain stability. The yinyang of Taoism symbolizes that everything in the universe whether human, animal, plants, mountains, wind, and other things found in nature have an invisible yet everlasting connection to each other. Simply put, man cannot survive without depending on nature, and nature cannot maintain itself without man taking care of it. The purpose of human’s life according to the Taoist philosophy is to maintain this harmonious relationship between living things and nature. Buddhism which was founded by Gautama Buddha was considered the role model for the existence of the Taoist canons.11
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9. Ibid., 54.
10. “Lao-Tzu Quotes, Famous Sayings,” Positive Inspiring Quotes, last modified October 12, 2013, http://positiveinspiringquotes.com/tag/confucius-quotes/#.VY5CkBuqqko
In his teachings, the world knows that Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree in order to attain enlightenment, which he did. Buddhism originated from the belief that in order to attain true wisdom, one must first seek it within oneself. Buddha was a prince and he was wealthy, but he abandoned all the luxuries in life just to seek enlightenment. The teachings of Buddhism explain that suffering is the root of favor for material things which cannot be used to make the soul go into nirvana. The main core is simplicity and appreciation towards nature very much the same like the Shintoism. Islam is a monotheistic religion founded by Mohammed and its deity is Allah. Islamic studies values peace and humanity as the humble steward of Allah because they have the power to express and control over things. Islam also regards other living things in nature as co-existent; meaning, the others will not exist without the benefit from other organism. Therefore, such symbolic relationship must be valued; for example, humans ate meat. According to the Islamic law, eating pork is forbidden and even today, this can be observed on the Muslim dining facilities. Next, only the meat of cows, goats, and lamb were allowed to be eaten by Muslim citizens. Hence, killing these animals must not prolong their suffering. Muslims views this as a sign of respect and valuing the sacrifice of an animal’s life for the benefit of the other. Furthermore, Mohammed also encouraged his compatriots to ensure that the teachings of Islam will not be forgotten. Hence, his followers erected mosques on various places so that Muslims can still worship even if they are away from home. Additionally, the Islam values the quest for knowledge; a trait which some scholars believed to be one of the greatest contributions of Islam to the world. According to the scholar Laleh Baktiar, the book written by Al-Tirmidhi argues that it is a “duty of every Muslim regardless of gender to seek knowledge even as far as China.” 12 This meant that above all, Islam desired to help the society by encouraging its people to follow the right path as directed by Allah. The earliest Christianity on the other hand, also originated later compared to Islam and according to some Muslims, it is a religion founded by Jesus Christ who was arguably one of the prophets of Mohammed. Christian teachings originated from simple to complex due to various interpretations. The Bible states that the human body is the temple of God; which means that one should respect themselves first before they can attain respect of the others. Moving forward, Hinduism was an indigenous polytheistic religion of India which originates from the Brahman beliefs. Within this religion, each individual is classified according to their rank and social status in the society. The caste system is systematized; the Brahmans (priests) are placed on the top of the system whilst the untouchables or people who do not belong to the society were placed at the bottom. Some of the untouchables were not allowed to be seen with a member of the upper caste, and most of them were assigned to do jobs that a higher rank will not accept. This caste philosophy still remains in the people of India; therefore if analyzed properly, the main goal of Hinduism is to impose the border dividing the social rank between its members. In simple terms, there are people who are born to enjoy a life of wealth and power whilst others are born in servitude. Hindus are also encouraged to bathe in the river Ganges mainly because it is a sacred river in India. Millions of Hindus bathe and worship in the Ganges River for the belief that the waters will cleanse their soul. This shows that Hindus respect the nature given to them by their gods. As a conclusion, the existence of religions became the reason for the emergence of beliefs and practices which are still performed even in the twenty-first century. Religion became the motif for arts, traditions, and the very first law used to govern the nation. In fact, most of the oldest traditions still exist because many people still practice the religions mentioned above, even in the age wherein science and technology prevails.
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11. Yijie Tang, “Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, and Chinese Culture,” The Council for Research Values and Philosophy Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Life 3, (1991): p. 71.
12. Laleh Baktiar, “Medicine and Healing in Traditional Islam,” Voices of Islam: Voices of Art, Beauty, and Science, Ed. Vincent J. Cornell, (Westport: Praeger, 2007), 154. Google Book, https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=RNTAHx95RqQC&pg=PA153&lpg=PA153&dq=medicine+and+healing+in+traditional+islam+bakhtiar&source=bl&ots=XQhH4yuHar&sig=i7nGNCcz2JRVgEN6LYxun_XoNJ4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=m16OVaLkAsfg8AXV1ZqoBA&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=medicine%20and%20healing%20in%20traditional%20islam%20bakhtiar&f=false
Bibliography
Baktiar, Laleh. “Medicine and Healing in Traditional Islam.” Voices of Islam: Voices of Art, Beauty, and Science. Ed. Vincent J. Cornell. Westport: Praeger, 2007. Google Book. https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=RNTAHx95RqQC&pg=PA153&lpg=PA153&dq=medicine+and+healing+in+traditional+islam+bakhtiar&source=bl&ots=XQhH4yuHar&sig=i7nGNCcz2JRVgEN6LYxun_XoNJ4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=m16OVaLkAsfg8AXV1ZqoBA&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=medicine%20and%20healing%20in%20traditional%20islam%20bakhtiar&f=false
Groff, Linda and Paul Smoker. “Spirituality, Religion, Culture, and Peace: Exploring the Foundations for Inner-Outer Peace in the Twenty-First Century.” The International Journal of Peace Studies 1, no. 1(n.d.): n.p. accessed June 27, 2015, http://www.gmu.edu/programs/icar/ijps/vol1_1/smoker.html
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2012.
“Lao-Tzu Quotes, Famous Sayings.” Positive Inspiring Quotes. Last modified October 12, 2013. http://positiveinspiringquotes.com/tag/confucius-quotes/#.VY5CkBuqqko
“Onbashira Festival.” Japan Atlas Festivals. Accessed June 27, 2015. http://web-japan.org/atlas/festivals/fes12.html
Tang, Yijie. “Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Christianity, and Chinese Culture.” The Council for Research Values and Philosophy Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Life 3. (1991): p. 52. Google Book. https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=ZnNvEOjlJ8YC&pg=PA52&dq=true+purpose+of+oneself+according+to+confucianism&hl=en&sa=X&ei=zDaOVcOzE4K5mAXXhazICA&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=true%20purpose%20of%20oneself%20according%20to%20confucianism&f=false
Yakubovich, Ilya. “Were Hittite Kings Divinely Anointed? A Palaic Invocation to the Sun-God and its Significance for Hittite Religion.” Koninklijke Brill. (2006). http://www.imk.msu.ru/Structure/Linguistics/yakubovich/download/palaic1.pdf
