The purpose of this research is to examine the concept of the divine in selected Asian religious traditions. The plan of the research will be to set forth key concepts in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto and to argue that concepts of divinity and worshipful practice are secondary in these religions to social and ethical concerns.
Hinduism dominates virtually all aspects of Indian society. To see why Hindu culture predominates in India, it is important to know that its history extends to about 1500 BCE. There is evidence of Indus worship of a mother goddess, as well as sacred animals, with some deities posed in yoga fashion (Molloy 76ff). The Hindu pantheon absorbed multiple deities of the Indus and Aryan peoples, with the gods Brahmin and Varuna in particular representing or protecting cosmic order (Van Voorst 41).
The multiple gods of Hinduism seem to suggest that they are of utmost importance to Hindus. However, Hinduism's key concepts do not emphasize worship but human relationships. The Upanishads articulate concepts such as the Atman, which Molloy calls "deepest self" (83), to distinguish it from Western concepts of the soul; maya, the notion of everyday experience; samsara, the "wheel of life, the circle of constant rebirth; and moksha, which "includes the notion of getting beyond egotistic responses . . . which limit the individual" (Molloy 83).
A relationship with the gods is secondary to the relationship to reality, or materiality, via meditation, which is described as "more than emptying the mind" (Molloy 90). It is certainly not the same as prayer and worship. Meditation, indeed, can be interpreted as a mechanism of avoiding reality. Highly structured as Hinduism is, it lends legitimacy to India's caste system. Van Voorst (39) says that in modern India the caste system is being diluted; however, the divisions of man cited in the Rig-Veda 10.90 (39-40) establish spiritual and mat...