The Religions Book

79 See also: The power of the shaman 26–31 ■ The African roots of Santeria 304–305 ■ The Pentecostal Church 336 T he ancient Gre ...

80 THE GODS ARE JUST LIKE US BELIEFS THAT MIRROR SOCIETY T he pantheon of ancient Roman gods was largely adapted from that of ot ...

81 See also: Beliefs for new societies 56–57 ■ The assimiliation of myth 78 ■ Living the Way of the Gods 82–85 ANCIENT AND CLASS ...

82 RITUAL LINKS US TO OUR PAST LIVING THE WAY OF THE GODS S hinto is the indigenous, traditional religion of Japan. Some say tha ...

83 See also: Making sense of the world 20–23 ■ Animism in early societies 24–25 ■ Beliefs for new societies 56–57 ■ Devotion thr ...

84 kami, although godlike, are not omnipotent: they have limitations and are fallible. However, not all kami are good—some can b ...

85 Rituals that please and propitiate the gods are among the oldest in history, and still reverently attended to by followers of ...

86 A sense of doom runs through the Norse mythology of the Vikings, for everything in it leads up to one calamitous moment, in w ...

87 See also: Making sense of the world 20–23 ■ The battle between good and evil 60–65 ■ Beliefs that mirror society 80–81 ■ Ente ...

HINDUIS FROM 1700 BCE ...

M ...

90 A lhough Hinduism could arguably be called the oldest of living religions, the term itself is a relatively modern one, which ...

91 (knowledge or insight), karma- marga (appropriate action or right behavior), and bhakti-marga (devotion to the gods). The mar ...

THROUGH SACRIFICE WE MAINTAIN THE ORDER OF THE UNIVERSE A RATIONAL WORLD ...

...

94 T here is, strictly speaking, no single religion that can accurately be called “Hinduism”; this is a modern Western term for ...

95 Hinduism is not just a faith. It is the union of reason and intuition that cannot be defined but is only to be experienced. R ...

96 We concentrate our minds upon the most radiant light of the Sun god, who sustains the Earth, the Interspace and the Heavens. ...

97 The dance of Shiva represents the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction, the balance between life and death. Shiva is the ...

98 Vaishyas are members of the merchant class, formed from Purusha’s thighs. Shudra is the class of the common working people, h ...