NAME OF GOD IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
JEN(N)E RUNG NE RUUP NAHI
NAHEE KUCHH NAAM NE THHAAM RE
SO GUPTA PRAGATT BHAYO
LAAKH DHARO TISS NAAM RE
(BHUJ NIRINJIN-PIR SADRUDDIN)
Translation: That which does not have any colour or form, nor any name or abode; so when this hidden entity became manifest, it assumes hundreds of thousands of names.
The name God is given to the spirit or Supreme being or entity who is worshipped as the creator, owner, and ruler of the Universe.
There are more than 7000 languages spoken on planet Earth. All languages with its dialects carry name of God pronounced in different way.
Names in different languages, countries, and Religions:
American, British and mostly English speaking countries: God/Gad
Arabic: ALLAH (mostly in all Muslim countries)
Bengali : Allah, Khuda
Brazilian Portuguese: deus
Chinese: (Shanti/Shangdi)
Croatian: bog (mostly in Slavic langues)
Czech: bůh
Danish: gud
Dutch: god
Spanish: dios
Filipino : Diyos
Finnish: jumala
French: dieu
German: Gott
India : Om, Baghwan, Eshvar, Parmatma
Iran : Khuda, Parvardigar
Israel :El, Elohim,Adonai,YHWH,Shaddai
Italian : Dios
Greek: Seoce
Japanese: Kani
Norwegian: gud
Pakistan : Allah, Khuda, Rubb, Parvardigar
Polish: bóg
Portuguese: deus
Romanian: Dumnezeu
Russian: Bok
Shona: Mwari
Swahili: Mungu
Swedish: gud
Turkish: tanrı
Ukrainian: Bok
Pakistan : Allah, Khuda
Vietnamese: Thunk Dei
Zulu : Unkulunkul
Zoroastrianism : Ahora Mazda, Khuda
NAME OF GOD IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS
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swamidada786
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swamidada786
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Re: NAME OF GOD IN DIFFERENT LANGUES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS
Judaism
Names of God in Judaism
I Am that I Am, Yahweh, Tetragrammaton, Elohim, El Shaddai, and Elyon
El comes from a root word meaning "god" or "deity", reconstructed in the Proto-Semitic language as ʾil. Sometimes referring to God and sometimes the mighty when used to refer to the God of Israel, El is almost always qualified by additional words that further define the meaning that distinguishes him from false gods. A common title of God in the Hebrew Bible is Elohim. The root Eloah is used in poetry and late prose (e.g., the Book of Job) and ending with the masculine plural suffix "-im" creating a word like ba`alim ("owner(s)" and adonim ("lord(s), master(s)") that may also indicate a singular identity.
In the Book of Exodus, God commands Moses to tell the people that 'I AM' sent him, and this is revered as one of the most important names of God according to Mosaic tradition.
Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation".
Exodus 3:13-15
In Exodus 6:3, when Moses first spoke with God, God said, "I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make myself known to them by my name YHWH."
YHWH is the proper name of God in Judaism. Neither vowels nor vowel points were used in ancient Hebrew writings and the original vocalisation of YHWH has been lost.
Later commentaries additionally suggested that the true pronunciation of this name is composed entirely of vowels. However, this is put into question by the fact that vowels were only distinguished in the time period by their very absence due to the lack of explicit vowels in the Hebrew script. The resulting substitute made from semivowels and glottals, known as the tetragrammaton, is not ordinarily permitted to be pronounced aloud, even in prayer. The prohibition on misuse of this name is the primary subject of the command not to take the name of the Lord in vain.
Instead of pronouncing YHWH during prayer, Jews say "Adonai" ("Lord"). Halakha requires that secondary rules be placed around the primary law, to reduce the chance that the main law will be broken. As such, it is common religious practice to restrict the use of the word "Adonai" to prayer only. In conversation, many Jewish people, even when not speaking Hebrew, will call God HaShem, which is Hebrew for "the Name" (this appears in Leviticus 24:11).
Almost all Orthodox Jews avoid using either Yahweh or Jehovah altogether on the basis that the actual pronunciation of the tetragrammaton has been lost in antiquity. Many use the term HaShem as an indirect reference, or they use "God" or "The Lord" instead.
Names of God in Judaism
I Am that I Am, Yahweh, Tetragrammaton, Elohim, El Shaddai, and Elyon
El comes from a root word meaning "god" or "deity", reconstructed in the Proto-Semitic language as ʾil. Sometimes referring to God and sometimes the mighty when used to refer to the God of Israel, El is almost always qualified by additional words that further define the meaning that distinguishes him from false gods. A common title of God in the Hebrew Bible is Elohim. The root Eloah is used in poetry and late prose (e.g., the Book of Job) and ending with the masculine plural suffix "-im" creating a word like ba`alim ("owner(s)" and adonim ("lord(s), master(s)") that may also indicate a singular identity.
In the Book of Exodus, God commands Moses to tell the people that 'I AM' sent him, and this is revered as one of the most important names of God according to Mosaic tradition.
Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation".
Exodus 3:13-15
In Exodus 6:3, when Moses first spoke with God, God said, "I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make myself known to them by my name YHWH."
YHWH is the proper name of God in Judaism. Neither vowels nor vowel points were used in ancient Hebrew writings and the original vocalisation of YHWH has been lost.
Later commentaries additionally suggested that the true pronunciation of this name is composed entirely of vowels. However, this is put into question by the fact that vowels were only distinguished in the time period by their very absence due to the lack of explicit vowels in the Hebrew script. The resulting substitute made from semivowels and glottals, known as the tetragrammaton, is not ordinarily permitted to be pronounced aloud, even in prayer. The prohibition on misuse of this name is the primary subject of the command not to take the name of the Lord in vain.
Instead of pronouncing YHWH during prayer, Jews say "Adonai" ("Lord"). Halakha requires that secondary rules be placed around the primary law, to reduce the chance that the main law will be broken. As such, it is common religious practice to restrict the use of the word "Adonai" to prayer only. In conversation, many Jewish people, even when not speaking Hebrew, will call God HaShem, which is Hebrew for "the Name" (this appears in Leviticus 24:11).
Almost all Orthodox Jews avoid using either Yahweh or Jehovah altogether on the basis that the actual pronunciation of the tetragrammaton has been lost in antiquity. Many use the term HaShem as an indirect reference, or they use "God" or "The Lord" instead.
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swamidada786
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Re: NAME OF GOD IN DIFFERENT LANGUES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS
Christianity
Some biblical scholars say YHWH was most likely pronounced Yahweh. References, such as The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, validate the above by offering additional specifics to its (Christian) reconstruction out of Greek sources:
Early Christian writers, such as Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century, had used a form like Yahweh, and claim that this pronunciation of the tetragrammaton was never really lost. Other Greek transcriptions also indicated that YHWH should be pronounced Yahweh.
The Hebrew theonyms Elohim and YHWH are mostly rendered as "God" and "the LORD" respectively, although in the Protestant tradition of Christianity the personal names Yahweh and Jehovah are sometimes used. "Jehovah" appears in the Tyndale Bible, the King James Version, and other translations from that time period and later. Many English translations of the Bible translate the tetragrammaton as LORD, thus removing any form of YHWH from the written text and going well beyond the Jewish oral practice of substituting Adonai for YHWH when reading aloud.
English Bible translations of the Greek New Testament render ho theos as God and ho kurios as "the Lord".
Jesus (Iesus, Yeshua was a common alternative form of the name (Yehoshua – Joshua) in later books of the Hebrew Bible and among Jews of the Second Temple period. The name corresponds to the Greek spelling Iesous, from which comes the English spelling Jesus. Christ means 'the anointed'. Khristos is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah; while in English the old Anglo-Saxon Messiah-rendering haeland (healer) was practically annihilated by the Latin Christ, some cognates such as heiland in Dutch and Afrikaans survive—also, in German, the word Heiland is sometimes used as reference to Jesus, e.g., in church chorals).
In the Book of Revelation in the Christian New Testament, God is quoted as saying "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End". (cf. Rev. 1:8, 21:6, and 22:13)
Some Quakers refer to God as the Light. Another term used is King of Kings or Lord of Lords and Lord of Hosts. Other names used by Christians include Ancient of Days, Father/Abba which is Hebrew, ELI "Most High" and the Hebrew names Elohim, El-Shaddai, Yahweh, Jehovah and Adonai. Abba ('father' in Hebrew) is a common term used for the creator within Christianity because it was a title Jesus used to refer to God the Father.
Gudan is the Proto-Germanic word for God. It was inherited by the Germanic languages in Gud in modern Scandinavian; God in Frisian, Dutch, and English; and Gott in modern German.
Deus is the Latin word for God. It was inherited by the Romance languages in Deus in modern Portuguese; Déu in Catalan; Dios in Spanish; Dieu in French; Dio in Italian; and Dumnezeu (from Latin Domine Deus) in Romanian. It is distantly related, through Proto-Indo-European, to Theos the Greek word for God, and also to the word for God in the Celtic and Baltic languages (Lithuanian: Dievas; Latvian: Dievs; Welsh: Duw; Breton: Doue; Irish and Scottish Gaelic: Dia).
Bog is the word for God in most Slavic languages. (Cyrillic script: Бог; Czech: Bůh; Polish: Bóg; Slovak: Boh). The term is derived from Proto-Slavic bog, which originally meant 'earthly wealth/well-being; fortune', with a semantic shift to 'dispenser of wealth/fortune' and finally 'god'. The term may have originally been a borrowing from the Iranian languages.
Shàngdì (pinyin shàng dì, literally 'King Above') is used to refer to the Christian God in the Standard Chinese Union Version of the Bible. Shén (lit. 'God', 'spirit', or 'deity') was adopted by Protestant missionaries in China to refer to the Christian God. Zhǔ and Tiānzhǔ (lit. 'Lord' or 'Lord in Heaven') are equivalent to "Lord"; these names are used as formal titles of the Christian God in Mainland China's Christian churches.
Korean Catholics also use the Korean cognate of Tiānzhǔ, Cheon-ju, as the primary reference to God in both ritual/ceremonial and vernacular (but mostly ritual/ceremonial) contexts. Korean Catholics and Anglicans also use a cognate of the Chinese Shàngdì, but this has largely fallen out of regular use in favor of Cheon-ju. But now used is the vernacular Haneunim, the traditional Korean name for the God of Heaven. Korean Orthodox Christians also use Haneunim, but not Sangje or Cheon-ju, and with exception of Anglicans, most Korean Protestants do not use Sangje or Haneunim at all but instead use Hananim, which stemmed from Pyongan dialect for Haneunim.
Many Vietnamese Christians also use cognates of Thiên Chúa (expected to have a distribution in usage similar to Korean Christians, with Anglicans and Catholics using the cognates of Sangje in ritual/ceremonial contexts and Protestants not using it at all), to refer to the biblical God.
Tagalog-speaking Filipino Catholics and other Christians use Maykapal (glossed as 'creator') – an epithet originally applied to the pre-colonial supreme deity Bathala – to refer to the Christian godhead in most contexts. When paired with another term for God (e.g. Panginoong Maykapal 'Lord Creator', Amang Maykapal 'Father Creator'), it functions as a descriptor much like the adjectives in the English God Almighty or Latin Omnipotens Deus.
Mormonism:
In Mormonism the name of God the Father is Elohim and the name of Jesus in his pre-incarnate state was Jehovah. Together, with the Holy Ghost they form the Godhead; God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Mormons typically refer to God as "Heavenly Father" or "Father in Heaven".
Although Mormonism views the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as three distinct beings, they are one in purpose and God the Father (Elohim) is worshipped and given all glory through his Son, Jesus Christ (Jehovah). Despite the Godhead doctrine, which teaches that God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are three separate, divine beings, many Mormons (mainstream Latter-day Saints and otherwise, such as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) view their beliefs as monotheist since Christ is the conduit through which humanity comes to the God the Father. The Book of Mormon ends with "to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the eternal Judge of both the quick and dead. Amen."
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that God has only one distinctive name, represented in the Old Testament by the Tetragrammaton. In English, they prefer to use the form Jehovah. According to Jehovah's Witnesses, the name Jehovah means "He causes to become".
Scriptures frequently cited in support of the name include Isaiah 42:8: "I am Jehovah. That is my name", Psalms 83:18: "May people know that you, whose name is Jehovah, You alone are the Most High over all the earth", and Exodus 6:3: "And I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but with regard to my name Jehovah I did not make myself known to them."
While opposers of the faith critique their use of the form "Jehovah", Jehovah's Witnesses still hold on to their belief that, despite having scholars prefer the "Yahweh" pronunciation, the name Jehovah adequately transmits the idea behind the meaning of God's name in English. While they do not discourage the use of the "Yahweh" pronunciation, they highly consider the long history of the name Jehovah in the English language and see that it sufficiently identifies God's divine persona. This rationale is analogous to the widespread use of Jesus as the English translation of Yehoshua.
Note: In the Book of Revelation in the Christian New Testament, God is quoted as saying "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End". (cf. Rev. 1:8, 21:6, and 22:13)
Quran also says: HUWAL-AWWALU WAL- AKHIRU WAZ-ZAHIRU WAL-BATINU (He is the First and the Last and the Apparent and the Hidden).
Some Quakers refer to God as the Light. Another term used is King of Kings or Lord of Lords and Lord of Hosts. Other names used by Christians include Ancient of Days, Father/Abba which is Hebrew, ELI "Most High"..
Some Christian denominations believe GOD is LIGHT (NOOR), ABBA (SPIRITUAL FATHER),ELI (ALI- MOST HIGH); Ismailis also use the the same terminologies.
Some biblical scholars say YHWH was most likely pronounced Yahweh. References, such as The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, validate the above by offering additional specifics to its (Christian) reconstruction out of Greek sources:
Early Christian writers, such as Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century, had used a form like Yahweh, and claim that this pronunciation of the tetragrammaton was never really lost. Other Greek transcriptions also indicated that YHWH should be pronounced Yahweh.
The Hebrew theonyms Elohim and YHWH are mostly rendered as "God" and "the LORD" respectively, although in the Protestant tradition of Christianity the personal names Yahweh and Jehovah are sometimes used. "Jehovah" appears in the Tyndale Bible, the King James Version, and other translations from that time period and later. Many English translations of the Bible translate the tetragrammaton as LORD, thus removing any form of YHWH from the written text and going well beyond the Jewish oral practice of substituting Adonai for YHWH when reading aloud.
English Bible translations of the Greek New Testament render ho theos as God and ho kurios as "the Lord".
Jesus (Iesus, Yeshua was a common alternative form of the name (Yehoshua – Joshua) in later books of the Hebrew Bible and among Jews of the Second Temple period. The name corresponds to the Greek spelling Iesous, from which comes the English spelling Jesus. Christ means 'the anointed'. Khristos is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah; while in English the old Anglo-Saxon Messiah-rendering haeland (healer) was practically annihilated by the Latin Christ, some cognates such as heiland in Dutch and Afrikaans survive—also, in German, the word Heiland is sometimes used as reference to Jesus, e.g., in church chorals).
In the Book of Revelation in the Christian New Testament, God is quoted as saying "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End". (cf. Rev. 1:8, 21:6, and 22:13)
Some Quakers refer to God as the Light. Another term used is King of Kings or Lord of Lords and Lord of Hosts. Other names used by Christians include Ancient of Days, Father/Abba which is Hebrew, ELI "Most High" and the Hebrew names Elohim, El-Shaddai, Yahweh, Jehovah and Adonai. Abba ('father' in Hebrew) is a common term used for the creator within Christianity because it was a title Jesus used to refer to God the Father.
Gudan is the Proto-Germanic word for God. It was inherited by the Germanic languages in Gud in modern Scandinavian; God in Frisian, Dutch, and English; and Gott in modern German.
Deus is the Latin word for God. It was inherited by the Romance languages in Deus in modern Portuguese; Déu in Catalan; Dios in Spanish; Dieu in French; Dio in Italian; and Dumnezeu (from Latin Domine Deus) in Romanian. It is distantly related, through Proto-Indo-European, to Theos the Greek word for God, and also to the word for God in the Celtic and Baltic languages (Lithuanian: Dievas; Latvian: Dievs; Welsh: Duw; Breton: Doue; Irish and Scottish Gaelic: Dia).
Bog is the word for God in most Slavic languages. (Cyrillic script: Бог; Czech: Bůh; Polish: Bóg; Slovak: Boh). The term is derived from Proto-Slavic bog, which originally meant 'earthly wealth/well-being; fortune', with a semantic shift to 'dispenser of wealth/fortune' and finally 'god'. The term may have originally been a borrowing from the Iranian languages.
Shàngdì (pinyin shàng dì, literally 'King Above') is used to refer to the Christian God in the Standard Chinese Union Version of the Bible. Shén (lit. 'God', 'spirit', or 'deity') was adopted by Protestant missionaries in China to refer to the Christian God. Zhǔ and Tiānzhǔ (lit. 'Lord' or 'Lord in Heaven') are equivalent to "Lord"; these names are used as formal titles of the Christian God in Mainland China's Christian churches.
Korean Catholics also use the Korean cognate of Tiānzhǔ, Cheon-ju, as the primary reference to God in both ritual/ceremonial and vernacular (but mostly ritual/ceremonial) contexts. Korean Catholics and Anglicans also use a cognate of the Chinese Shàngdì, but this has largely fallen out of regular use in favor of Cheon-ju. But now used is the vernacular Haneunim, the traditional Korean name for the God of Heaven. Korean Orthodox Christians also use Haneunim, but not Sangje or Cheon-ju, and with exception of Anglicans, most Korean Protestants do not use Sangje or Haneunim at all but instead use Hananim, which stemmed from Pyongan dialect for Haneunim.
Many Vietnamese Christians also use cognates of Thiên Chúa (expected to have a distribution in usage similar to Korean Christians, with Anglicans and Catholics using the cognates of Sangje in ritual/ceremonial contexts and Protestants not using it at all), to refer to the biblical God.
Tagalog-speaking Filipino Catholics and other Christians use Maykapal (glossed as 'creator') – an epithet originally applied to the pre-colonial supreme deity Bathala – to refer to the Christian godhead in most contexts. When paired with another term for God (e.g. Panginoong Maykapal 'Lord Creator', Amang Maykapal 'Father Creator'), it functions as a descriptor much like the adjectives in the English God Almighty or Latin Omnipotens Deus.
Mormonism:
In Mormonism the name of God the Father is Elohim and the name of Jesus in his pre-incarnate state was Jehovah. Together, with the Holy Ghost they form the Godhead; God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Mormons typically refer to God as "Heavenly Father" or "Father in Heaven".
Although Mormonism views the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as three distinct beings, they are one in purpose and God the Father (Elohim) is worshipped and given all glory through his Son, Jesus Christ (Jehovah). Despite the Godhead doctrine, which teaches that God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are three separate, divine beings, many Mormons (mainstream Latter-day Saints and otherwise, such as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) view their beliefs as monotheist since Christ is the conduit through which humanity comes to the God the Father. The Book of Mormon ends with "to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the eternal Judge of both the quick and dead. Amen."
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that God has only one distinctive name, represented in the Old Testament by the Tetragrammaton. In English, they prefer to use the form Jehovah. According to Jehovah's Witnesses, the name Jehovah means "He causes to become".
Scriptures frequently cited in support of the name include Isaiah 42:8: "I am Jehovah. That is my name", Psalms 83:18: "May people know that you, whose name is Jehovah, You alone are the Most High over all the earth", and Exodus 6:3: "And I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but with regard to my name Jehovah I did not make myself known to them."
While opposers of the faith critique their use of the form "Jehovah", Jehovah's Witnesses still hold on to their belief that, despite having scholars prefer the "Yahweh" pronunciation, the name Jehovah adequately transmits the idea behind the meaning of God's name in English. While they do not discourage the use of the "Yahweh" pronunciation, they highly consider the long history of the name Jehovah in the English language and see that it sufficiently identifies God's divine persona. This rationale is analogous to the widespread use of Jesus as the English translation of Yehoshua.
Note: In the Book of Revelation in the Christian New Testament, God is quoted as saying "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End". (cf. Rev. 1:8, 21:6, and 22:13)
Quran also says: HUWAL-AWWALU WAL- AKHIRU WAZ-ZAHIRU WAL-BATINU (He is the First and the Last and the Apparent and the Hidden).
Some Quakers refer to God as the Light. Another term used is King of Kings or Lord of Lords and Lord of Hosts. Other names used by Christians include Ancient of Days, Father/Abba which is Hebrew, ELI "Most High"..
Some Christian denominations believe GOD is LIGHT (NOOR), ABBA (SPIRITUAL FATHER),ELI (ALI- MOST HIGH); Ismailis also use the the same terminologies.
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swamidada786
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Re: NAME OF GOD IN DIFFERENT LANGUES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS
The concept of Allah in Islam
Quran says; "Inna deena indalahil-Islam."
Certainly, the only acceptable way which Allah will accept is Islam, 3:19. This submission requires a fully conscious and willing effort to submit to the one Almighty God.
THE concept of Allah is very well described in Quran, Surah Ikhlas and in Surah Baqrah ayat 255.
Surah Ikhlas says;
SAY, HE IS ALLAH THE ONE. ALLAH IS ABSOLUTE. NONE IS BORN OF HIM AND NOR WAS HE BORN. AND THERE IS NONE LIKE HIM.
Al-Ikhlas means "the purity" or "the refining".
Surah Al-Ikhlas is considered foundational to Islamic theology. The oneness of God is the most fundamental belief in Islam, and this surah articulates it with great clarity. It serves as a reminder to Muslims of the core of their faith, emphasizing the importance of unwavering belief in God's oneness.
Allah is withot origin or end, there is no image of Him. God is beyond all human conceptions in the imagination and intellect. Quran says, "Laisa ka misli shai", means there is nothing to compare God with (in universe).
First paragraph of Sirmon # 1 of Nahjul Balagha says," Praise is due to Allah whose worth cannot be described by speakers, whose bounties cannot be counted by calculators and whose claim (to obedience) cannot be satisfied by those who attempt to do so, whom the height of intellectual courage cannot appreciate".
Apart from Quranic and Islamic teachings, for example, Islam rejects characterizing God in any human form or depicting him as favoring certain individuals on the basis of wealth, power or race. He created the human beings as equals. They may distinguish themselves and earn His favor through virtue and piety alone.
Muslims believe in the Oneness of God, the creator of all things, and that God is all-powerful and all-knowing. God has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life. He is NIRIJIN means spotless and pure.
Did Adam saw face of God when created? Ofcourse not, God talked to Adam as he talked to Moses behind veil. It is said 'seening is believing', when some one has not seen Him, how can one explain Him? Many scientists and religious philosophers have given different views and explanations about the existance of God but are they all valid? There is a saying of Mowla Murtaza Ali from Nahjul Balagha which is the best explanation in existance of God. Mowla Ali said,"I came to know Allah, the Glorified, through the breaking of determinations, change of intentions and losing of courage"(Nahjul Balagha, translated by Sayed Ali Raza, page # 620)". (Mowla Ali said this to explain existance of Allah for believers and non believers, and it is a best arguement).
God is what God knows about Himself and none else can explain about Him.
In Exodus 3:14, appearing before Moses as a burning bush, God reveals His name referring to himself in Hebrew tongue as “Yahweh” (YHWH) which translates to “I am who I am, or I am that I am”.
In the Torah as well as in the Quran, God speaks to Moses near the holy ground of the Burning Bush (valley of Aeimon) after he is asked to remove his sandals (Quran, 20:12-13). Moses then asks to see God but his request is not granted (Quran 7:143).
When God said I AM means He is the owner, manager of universe, He is the self-sufficient, self-sustaining God who was, who is, and who will be. “I am that I am” has a particular spiritual meaning, particularly within the religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The phrase can be interpreted in various ways. It is generally understood as a statement of self-existence, transcendence, and ultimate mystery. Famous Sufi poet of Sind, Sachal Sarmast has said," ko kein chavey, ko hein chavey, aauun jo ee ahiyaan so hi ahiyaan, (some say this some say that but I am what I am).
From a spiritual perspective, the phrase “I am that I am” can also be seen as an affirmation of the oneness of all things. This is because the “I am” refers not only to God, but also to the true nature of all beings and things. Quran has explained about ALLAH in a very precise manner in Surah Ikhlas.
Etymologically, the name Allah is probably a contraction of the Arabic al-Ilah, “the God.” The name’s origin can be traced to the earliest Semitic writings in which the word for god was il, el, or eloah, the latter two used in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Allah is the standard Arabic word for God and is used by Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews as well as by Muslims. The association of the word specifically with Islam comes from the special status of Arabic as the language of Islam’s holy scripture, the Quran: since the Quran in its original language is considered to be the literal word of The God, it is believed that God described himself in the Arabic language as ALLAH. The Arabic word thus holds special significance for Muslims, regardless of their native tongue, because the Arabic word was spoken by God himself.
Ayatul Kursi, this Ayat is the best for introduction of Allah;
Allah! There is no god but He, the Living, The Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him Nor Sleep. His are all things In the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede In His presence except As he permits. He knows What Before or After or Behind them. Nor shall they compass Aught of His knowledge Except as He will. His throne do extend Over the heavens And on earth, and He feels No fatigue in guarding And preserving them, For He is 'Aliyyul Azeem' the Most High, The Supreme." Quran 2:255
Quran says; "Inna deena indalahil-Islam."
Certainly, the only acceptable way which Allah will accept is Islam, 3:19. This submission requires a fully conscious and willing effort to submit to the one Almighty God.
THE concept of Allah is very well described in Quran, Surah Ikhlas and in Surah Baqrah ayat 255.
Surah Ikhlas says;
SAY, HE IS ALLAH THE ONE. ALLAH IS ABSOLUTE. NONE IS BORN OF HIM AND NOR WAS HE BORN. AND THERE IS NONE LIKE HIM.
Al-Ikhlas means "the purity" or "the refining".
Surah Al-Ikhlas is considered foundational to Islamic theology. The oneness of God is the most fundamental belief in Islam, and this surah articulates it with great clarity. It serves as a reminder to Muslims of the core of their faith, emphasizing the importance of unwavering belief in God's oneness.
Allah is withot origin or end, there is no image of Him. God is beyond all human conceptions in the imagination and intellect. Quran says, "Laisa ka misli shai", means there is nothing to compare God with (in universe).
First paragraph of Sirmon # 1 of Nahjul Balagha says," Praise is due to Allah whose worth cannot be described by speakers, whose bounties cannot be counted by calculators and whose claim (to obedience) cannot be satisfied by those who attempt to do so, whom the height of intellectual courage cannot appreciate".
Apart from Quranic and Islamic teachings, for example, Islam rejects characterizing God in any human form or depicting him as favoring certain individuals on the basis of wealth, power or race. He created the human beings as equals. They may distinguish themselves and earn His favor through virtue and piety alone.
Muslims believe in the Oneness of God, the creator of all things, and that God is all-powerful and all-knowing. God has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life. He is NIRIJIN means spotless and pure.
Did Adam saw face of God when created? Ofcourse not, God talked to Adam as he talked to Moses behind veil. It is said 'seening is believing', when some one has not seen Him, how can one explain Him? Many scientists and religious philosophers have given different views and explanations about the existance of God but are they all valid? There is a saying of Mowla Murtaza Ali from Nahjul Balagha which is the best explanation in existance of God. Mowla Ali said,"I came to know Allah, the Glorified, through the breaking of determinations, change of intentions and losing of courage"(Nahjul Balagha, translated by Sayed Ali Raza, page # 620)". (Mowla Ali said this to explain existance of Allah for believers and non believers, and it is a best arguement).
God is what God knows about Himself and none else can explain about Him.
In Exodus 3:14, appearing before Moses as a burning bush, God reveals His name referring to himself in Hebrew tongue as “Yahweh” (YHWH) which translates to “I am who I am, or I am that I am”.
In the Torah as well as in the Quran, God speaks to Moses near the holy ground of the Burning Bush (valley of Aeimon) after he is asked to remove his sandals (Quran, 20:12-13). Moses then asks to see God but his request is not granted (Quran 7:143).
When God said I AM means He is the owner, manager of universe, He is the self-sufficient, self-sustaining God who was, who is, and who will be. “I am that I am” has a particular spiritual meaning, particularly within the religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The phrase can be interpreted in various ways. It is generally understood as a statement of self-existence, transcendence, and ultimate mystery. Famous Sufi poet of Sind, Sachal Sarmast has said," ko kein chavey, ko hein chavey, aauun jo ee ahiyaan so hi ahiyaan, (some say this some say that but I am what I am).
From a spiritual perspective, the phrase “I am that I am” can also be seen as an affirmation of the oneness of all things. This is because the “I am” refers not only to God, but also to the true nature of all beings and things. Quran has explained about ALLAH in a very precise manner in Surah Ikhlas.
Etymologically, the name Allah is probably a contraction of the Arabic al-Ilah, “the God.” The name’s origin can be traced to the earliest Semitic writings in which the word for god was il, el, or eloah, the latter two used in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Allah is the standard Arabic word for God and is used by Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews as well as by Muslims. The association of the word specifically with Islam comes from the special status of Arabic as the language of Islam’s holy scripture, the Quran: since the Quran in its original language is considered to be the literal word of The God, it is believed that God described himself in the Arabic language as ALLAH. The Arabic word thus holds special significance for Muslims, regardless of their native tongue, because the Arabic word was spoken by God himself.
Ayatul Kursi, this Ayat is the best for introduction of Allah;
Allah! There is no god but He, the Living, The Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him Nor Sleep. His are all things In the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede In His presence except As he permits. He knows What Before or After or Behind them. Nor shall they compass Aught of His knowledge Except as He will. His throne do extend Over the heavens And on earth, and He feels No fatigue in guarding And preserving them, For He is 'Aliyyul Azeem' the Most High, The Supreme." Quran 2:255
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swamidada786
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Re: NAME OF GOD IN DIFFERENT LANGUES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS
HINDUISM
OM
OM is a foundation of Hinduism, The Upanishads claim that Om is indeed God in the form of sound.
OM (or Aum) Sanskrit: ॐ, ओम्, is the sound of a sacred spiritual symbol in Indic religions. The meaning and connotations of Om vary between the diverse schools within and across the various traditions. It is part of the iconography found in ancient and medieval era manuscripts, temples, monasteries, and spiritual retreats in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. As a syllable, it is often chanted either independently or before a spiritual recitation and during meditation in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
In Hinduism, wherein it signifies the essence of the Ultimate Reality (parabrahman) which is consciousness (paramatman), OM is one of the most important spiritual symbols. It refers to Atman (Self within) and Brahman (ultimate reality, entirety of the universe, truth, divine, supreme spirit, cosmic principles, knowledge). The syllable is often found at the beginning and the end of chapters in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and other Hindu texts. It is a sacred spiritual incantation made before and during the recitation of spiritual texts, during puja and private prayers, in ceremonies of rites of passage (sanskara) such as weddings, and during meditative and spiritual activities such as Pranava yoga
The syllable OM is also referred to as Onkara/Omkara and Pranav/Pranava among many other names.
Regardless of its original meaning, the syllable OM evolves to mean many abstract ideas even in the earliest Upanishads. Max Müller and other scholars state that these philosophical texts recommend OM as a "tool for meditation", explain various meanings that the syllable may be in the mind of one meditating, ranging from "artificial and senseless" to "highest concepts such as the cause of the Universe, essence of life, Brahman, Atman, and Self-knowledge".
The syllable OM is first mentioned in the Upanishads, the mystical texts associated with the Vedanta philosophy. It has variously been associated with concepts of "cosmic sound" or "mystical syllable" or "affirmation to something divine", or as symbolism for abstract spiritual concepts in the Upanishads. In the Aranyaka and the Brahmana layers of Vedic texts, the syllable is so widespread and linked to knowledge, that it stands for the "whole of Veda". The symbolic foundations of Om are repeatedly discussed in the oldest layers of the early Upanishads. The Aitareya Brahmana of Rig Veda, in section 5.32, for example suggests that the three phonetic components of Om (a + u + m) correspond to the three stages of cosmic creation, and when it is read or said, it celebrates the creative powers of the universe. The Brahmana layer of Vedic texts equate Om with bhur-bhuvah-svah, the latter symbolising "the whole Veda". They offer various shades of meaning to Om, such as it being "the universe beyond the sun", or that which is "mysterious and inexhaustible", or "the infinite language, the infinite knowledge", or "essence of breath, life, everything that exists", or that "with which one is liberated". The Samaveda, the poetical Veda, orthographically maps Om to the audible, the musical truths in its numerous variations (Oum, Aum, Ovā Ovā Ovā Um, etc.) and then attempts to extract musical meters from it.
OM
OM is a foundation of Hinduism, The Upanishads claim that Om is indeed God in the form of sound.
OM (or Aum) Sanskrit: ॐ, ओम्, is the sound of a sacred spiritual symbol in Indic religions. The meaning and connotations of Om vary between the diverse schools within and across the various traditions. It is part of the iconography found in ancient and medieval era manuscripts, temples, monasteries, and spiritual retreats in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. As a syllable, it is often chanted either independently or before a spiritual recitation and during meditation in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
In Hinduism, wherein it signifies the essence of the Ultimate Reality (parabrahman) which is consciousness (paramatman), OM is one of the most important spiritual symbols. It refers to Atman (Self within) and Brahman (ultimate reality, entirety of the universe, truth, divine, supreme spirit, cosmic principles, knowledge). The syllable is often found at the beginning and the end of chapters in the Vedas, the Upanishads, and other Hindu texts. It is a sacred spiritual incantation made before and during the recitation of spiritual texts, during puja and private prayers, in ceremonies of rites of passage (sanskara) such as weddings, and during meditative and spiritual activities such as Pranava yoga
The syllable OM is also referred to as Onkara/Omkara and Pranav/Pranava among many other names.
Regardless of its original meaning, the syllable OM evolves to mean many abstract ideas even in the earliest Upanishads. Max Müller and other scholars state that these philosophical texts recommend OM as a "tool for meditation", explain various meanings that the syllable may be in the mind of one meditating, ranging from "artificial and senseless" to "highest concepts such as the cause of the Universe, essence of life, Brahman, Atman, and Self-knowledge".
The syllable OM is first mentioned in the Upanishads, the mystical texts associated with the Vedanta philosophy. It has variously been associated with concepts of "cosmic sound" or "mystical syllable" or "affirmation to something divine", or as symbolism for abstract spiritual concepts in the Upanishads. In the Aranyaka and the Brahmana layers of Vedic texts, the syllable is so widespread and linked to knowledge, that it stands for the "whole of Veda". The symbolic foundations of Om are repeatedly discussed in the oldest layers of the early Upanishads. The Aitareya Brahmana of Rig Veda, in section 5.32, for example suggests that the three phonetic components of Om (a + u + m) correspond to the three stages of cosmic creation, and when it is read or said, it celebrates the creative powers of the universe. The Brahmana layer of Vedic texts equate Om with bhur-bhuvah-svah, the latter symbolising "the whole Veda". They offer various shades of meaning to Om, such as it being "the universe beyond the sun", or that which is "mysterious and inexhaustible", or "the infinite language, the infinite knowledge", or "essence of breath, life, everything that exists", or that "with which one is liberated". The Samaveda, the poetical Veda, orthographically maps Om to the audible, the musical truths in its numerous variations (Oum, Aum, Ovā Ovā Ovā Um, etc.) and then attempts to extract musical meters from it.
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swamidada786
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- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2025 8:56 pm
Re: NAME OF GOD IN DIFFERENT LANGUES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS
A comparative study of the concept of God in Hinduism and Islam:
In Islam and Hinduism, monotheism is at the core of both these religions. Islam is strictly monotheistic but Hinduism has pantheistic and henotheistic tendencies as well. While monotheism means the oneness and transcendence of God, pantheism means that the Supreme Being is immanent in His creation and is present everywhere and in everything. Henotheism is the belief in one Supreme Divinity with the belief in other lesser deities.
The concept of God is the basic tenet of almost all religions. Theologians usually define God as all-powerful, all-knowing,
transcendent, eternal and infinite. Hinduism is pantheistic when Vedanta is taken into consideration, Islam is purely monotheistic. Most of the Hindus worship many gods andgoddesses but they believe that they are the manifestations of One Absolute Being.
In Hinduism the Upanishads are the basic philosophical treatises describing the nature of the God and soul. Quran is the main source of theology believed to be revealed from God to Prophet Muhammad. Quran stresses the oneness of God and how people should relate to Him.
The concept of God in Hinduism is found in the Upanishads or Vedanta. Although the Vedas precede Upanishads they contain
hymns to various gods and goddesses which are regarded as the entities ruling nature. But these deities are not divine in the strict sense of the word, rather they are considered as a host of natural powers and symbols of the laws embedded in the visible universe.
The four Vedas at their ends contain philosophical books known as Upanishads and these are the treatises which contain the description of the Supreme Divinity.
Upanishads are usually in the form of dialogues between masters and disciples. Furthermore Bhagavad Gita, 18th chapter of Mahabharata, is also viewed as an Upanishad because of its resemblance to the philosophy of Upanishads and its being a dialogue between Arjun as a seeker and Krishna as a teacher.
The importance of Upanishads over Vedas is clearly described in Chandogya Upanishad where Narada comes Sanatkumar to grasp the
meaning of soul and Supreme Divinity. Narada tells him that he has learnt all the Vedas including all other subjects prevailing at that time. Narada comes to know that this knowledge of Vedas, legend, mathematics, logic, astrology, science of gods or devavidya etc is not enough until one grasps and realizes the Self and the Supreme Soul.
Furthermore in Gita Krishna tells Arjuna, "He is free from Karmic involvement who is contented with whatever comes to him uninvited; who is even minded and untouched by duality; who is without envy, jealousy and animosity; and who finally views success and failure with equanimity. All the effects of karma (action) are nullified, and one achieves liberation, when ego attachment ceases, when one becomes centered in wisdom, and when one’s actions are offered up to the Infinite in sacrifice. For such a person, both the act of self offering and the offering itself are, equally, aspects of the One Spirit. The fire (of wisdom) and the person making the offering are both Spirit. In this realization, the Yogi, freed from egoidentification, goes straight to Brahman (Spirit).” These verses depict the deep spiritualistic ethos of Hinduism without ritualistic emphasis. This also shows the importance of philosophical Upanishads over ritualistic Vedas.
About the philosophy of Upanishads and the deep meaningful myths contained in the puranas, professor Radhakrishnan writes, “The Gita and the Upanishads are not remote from popular belief. They are the great literature of the country, and at the same time vehicles of the great systems of thought. The puranas contain the truth dressed up in myths and stories, to suit the weak understanding.
In Islam the concept of Tawhid is well explained in Surah Ikhlas:
Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;
Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;
And there is none like unto Him.
In Islam and Hinduism, monotheism is at the core of both these religions. Islam is strictly monotheistic but Hinduism has pantheistic and henotheistic tendencies as well. While monotheism means the oneness and transcendence of God, pantheism means that the Supreme Being is immanent in His creation and is present everywhere and in everything. Henotheism is the belief in one Supreme Divinity with the belief in other lesser deities.
The concept of God is the basic tenet of almost all religions. Theologians usually define God as all-powerful, all-knowing,
transcendent, eternal and infinite. Hinduism is pantheistic when Vedanta is taken into consideration, Islam is purely monotheistic. Most of the Hindus worship many gods andgoddesses but they believe that they are the manifestations of One Absolute Being.
In Hinduism the Upanishads are the basic philosophical treatises describing the nature of the God and soul. Quran is the main source of theology believed to be revealed from God to Prophet Muhammad. Quran stresses the oneness of God and how people should relate to Him.
The concept of God in Hinduism is found in the Upanishads or Vedanta. Although the Vedas precede Upanishads they contain
hymns to various gods and goddesses which are regarded as the entities ruling nature. But these deities are not divine in the strict sense of the word, rather they are considered as a host of natural powers and symbols of the laws embedded in the visible universe.
The four Vedas at their ends contain philosophical books known as Upanishads and these are the treatises which contain the description of the Supreme Divinity.
Upanishads are usually in the form of dialogues between masters and disciples. Furthermore Bhagavad Gita, 18th chapter of Mahabharata, is also viewed as an Upanishad because of its resemblance to the philosophy of Upanishads and its being a dialogue between Arjun as a seeker and Krishna as a teacher.
The importance of Upanishads over Vedas is clearly described in Chandogya Upanishad where Narada comes Sanatkumar to grasp the
meaning of soul and Supreme Divinity. Narada tells him that he has learnt all the Vedas including all other subjects prevailing at that time. Narada comes to know that this knowledge of Vedas, legend, mathematics, logic, astrology, science of gods or devavidya etc is not enough until one grasps and realizes the Self and the Supreme Soul.
Furthermore in Gita Krishna tells Arjuna, "He is free from Karmic involvement who is contented with whatever comes to him uninvited; who is even minded and untouched by duality; who is without envy, jealousy and animosity; and who finally views success and failure with equanimity. All the effects of karma (action) are nullified, and one achieves liberation, when ego attachment ceases, when one becomes centered in wisdom, and when one’s actions are offered up to the Infinite in sacrifice. For such a person, both the act of self offering and the offering itself are, equally, aspects of the One Spirit. The fire (of wisdom) and the person making the offering are both Spirit. In this realization, the Yogi, freed from egoidentification, goes straight to Brahman (Spirit).” These verses depict the deep spiritualistic ethos of Hinduism without ritualistic emphasis. This also shows the importance of philosophical Upanishads over ritualistic Vedas.
About the philosophy of Upanishads and the deep meaningful myths contained in the puranas, professor Radhakrishnan writes, “The Gita and the Upanishads are not remote from popular belief. They are the great literature of the country, and at the same time vehicles of the great systems of thought. The puranas contain the truth dressed up in myths and stories, to suit the weak understanding.
In Islam the concept of Tawhid is well explained in Surah Ikhlas:
Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;
Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;
And there is none like unto Him.
-
swamidada786
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- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2025 8:56 pm
Re: NAME OF GOD IN DIFFERENT LANGUES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS
CONCEPT OF GOD IN HINDUISM
by Dr. Zakir Naik
Hinduism is commonly perceived as a polytheistic religion. Indeed, most Hindus would attest to this, by professing belief in multiple Gods. While some Hindus believe in the existence of three gods, some believe in thousands of gods, and some others in thirty three crore i.e. 330 million Gods. However, learned Hindus, who are well versed in their scriptures, insist that a Hindu should believe in and worship only one God.
The major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim perception of God is the common Hindus’ belief in the philosophy of Pantheism. Pantheism considers everything, living and non-living, to be Divine and Sacred. The common Hindu, therefore, considers everything as God. He considers the trees as God, the sun as God, the moon as God, the monkey as God, the snake as God and even human beings as manifestations of God!
Islam, on the contrary, exhorts man to consider himself and his surroundings as examples of Divine Creation rather than as divinity itself. Muslims therefore believe that everything is God’s i.e. the word ‘God’ with an apostrophe ‘s’. In other words the Muslims believe that everything belongs to God. The trees belong to God, the sun belongs to God, the moon belongs to God, the monkey belongs to God, the snake belongs to God, the human beings belong to God and everything in this universe belongs to God.
Thus the major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim beliefs is. The Hindu says everything is God. The Muslim says everything belong to God.
Concept of God according to Hindu Scriptures:
We can gain a better understanding of the concept of God in Hinduism by analysing Hindu scriptures.
BHAGAVAD GITA
The most popular amongst all the Hindu scriptures is the Bhagavad Gita.
Consider the following verse from the Gita:
"Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures."
[Bhagavad Gita 7:20]
The Gita states that people who are materialistic worship demigods i.e. ‘gods’ besides the True God.
UPANISHADS:
The Upanishads are considered sacred scriptures by the Hindus.
The following verses from the Upanishads refer to the Concept of God:
"Ekam evadvitiyam"
"He is One only without a second."
[Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1]1
"Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah."
"Of Him there are neither parents nor lord."
[Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:9]2
"Na tasya pratima asti"
"There is no likeness of Him."
[Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:19]3
The following verses from the Upanishad allude to the inability of man to imagine God in a particular form:
"Na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam."
"His form is not to be seen; no one sees Him with the eye."
[Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:20]4
1[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 447 and 448]
[Sacred Books of the East, volume 1 ‘The Upanishads part I’ page 93]
2[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 745]
[Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page 263.]
3[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 736 & 737]
[Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page no 253]
4[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 737]
[Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page no 253]
THE VEDAS
Vedas are considered the most sacred of all the Hindu scriptures. There are four principal Vedas: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda.
Yajurveda
The following verses from the Yajurveda echo a similar concept of God:
"na tasya pratima asti
"There is no image of Him."
[Yajurveda 32:3]5
"shudhama poapvidham"
"He is bodyless and pure."
[Yajurveda 40:8]6
"Andhatama pravishanti ye asambhuti mupaste"
"They enter darkness, those who worship the natural elements" (Air, Water, Fire, etc.). "They sink deeper in darkness, those who worship sambhuti."
[Yajurveda 40:9]7
Sambhuti means created things, for example table, chair, idol, etc.
The Yajurveda contains the following prayer:
"Lead us to the good path and remove the sin that makes us stray and wander."
[Yajurveda 40:16]8
5[Yajurveda by Devi Chand M.A. page 377]
6[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith page 538]
7[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith page 538]
8[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Griffith page 541]
Atharvaveda
The Atharvaveda praises God in Book 20, hymn 58 and verse 3:
"Dev maha osi"
"God is verily great"
[Atharvaveda 20:58:3]9
Rigveda
The oldest of all the vedas is Rigveda. It is also the one considered most sacred by the Hindus. The Rigveda states in Book 1, hymn 164 and verse 46:
"Sages (learned Priests) call one God by many names."
[Rigveda 1:164:46]
The Rigveda gives several different attributes to Almighty God. Many of these are mentioned in Rigveda Book 2 hymn 1.
Among the various attributes of God, one of the beautiful attributes mentioned in the Rigveda Book II hymn 1 verse 3, is Brahma. Brahma means ‘The Creator’. Translated into Arabic it means Khaaliq. Muslims can have no objection if Almighty God is referred to as Khaaliq or ‘Creator’ or Brahma. However if it is said that Brahma is Almighty God who has four heads with each head having a crown, Muslims take strong exception to it.
Describing Almighty God in anthropomorphic terms also goes against the following verse of Yajurveda:
"Na tasya Pratima asti"
"There is no image of Him."
[Yajurveda 32:3]
Another beautiful attribute of God mentioned in the Rigveda Book II hymn 1 verse 3 is Vishnu. Vishnu means ‘The Sustainer’. Translated into Arabic it means Rabb. Again, Muslims can have no objection if Almighty God is referred to as Rabb or 'Sustainer' or Vishnu. But the popular image of
9[Atharveda Samhita vol 2 William Dwight Whitney page 910]
Vishnu among Hindus, is that of a God who has four arms, with one of the right arms holding the Chakra, i.e. a discus and one of the left arms holding a ‘conch shell’, or riding a bird or reclining on a snake couch. Muslims can never accept any image of God. As mentioned earlier this also goes against Svetasvatara Upanishad Chapter 4 verse 19.
"Na tasya pratima asti"
"There is no likeness of Him"
The following verse from the Rigveda Book 8, hymn 1, verse 1 refer to the Unity and Glory of the Supreme Being:
"Ma cid anyad vi sansata sakhayo ma rishanyata"
"O friends, do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One. Praise Him alone."
[Rigveda 8:1:1]10
"Devasya samituk parishtutih"
"Verily, great is the glory of the Divine Creator."
[Rigveda 5:1:81]11
Brahma Sutra of Hinduism:
The Brahma Sutra of Hinduism is:
"Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste neh na naste kinchan"
"There is only one God, not the second; not at all, not at all, not in the least bit."
Thus only a dispassionate study of the Hindu scriptures can help one understand the concept of God in Hinduism.
0[Rigveda Samhita vol. 9, pages 2810 and 2811 by Swami Satya Prakash Sarasvati and Satyakam Vidyalankar]
11[Rigveda Samhita vol. 6, pages 1802 and 1803 by Swami Satya Prakash Saraswati and Satyakam Vidyalankar]
Allah's oneness is well explained in surah Ikhlas, and about The Prophet the Qur’an says in Surah Saba Chapter 34 verse 28 (34:28):
"We have send you as a universal (Messenger) to men, giving them glad tidings and warning them (against sin), but most men understand not."
by Dr. Zakir Naik
Hinduism is commonly perceived as a polytheistic religion. Indeed, most Hindus would attest to this, by professing belief in multiple Gods. While some Hindus believe in the existence of three gods, some believe in thousands of gods, and some others in thirty three crore i.e. 330 million Gods. However, learned Hindus, who are well versed in their scriptures, insist that a Hindu should believe in and worship only one God.
The major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim perception of God is the common Hindus’ belief in the philosophy of Pantheism. Pantheism considers everything, living and non-living, to be Divine and Sacred. The common Hindu, therefore, considers everything as God. He considers the trees as God, the sun as God, the moon as God, the monkey as God, the snake as God and even human beings as manifestations of God!
Islam, on the contrary, exhorts man to consider himself and his surroundings as examples of Divine Creation rather than as divinity itself. Muslims therefore believe that everything is God’s i.e. the word ‘God’ with an apostrophe ‘s’. In other words the Muslims believe that everything belongs to God. The trees belong to God, the sun belongs to God, the moon belongs to God, the monkey belongs to God, the snake belongs to God, the human beings belong to God and everything in this universe belongs to God.
Thus the major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim beliefs is. The Hindu says everything is God. The Muslim says everything belong to God.
Concept of God according to Hindu Scriptures:
We can gain a better understanding of the concept of God in Hinduism by analysing Hindu scriptures.
BHAGAVAD GITA
The most popular amongst all the Hindu scriptures is the Bhagavad Gita.
Consider the following verse from the Gita:
"Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures."
[Bhagavad Gita 7:20]
The Gita states that people who are materialistic worship demigods i.e. ‘gods’ besides the True God.
UPANISHADS:
The Upanishads are considered sacred scriptures by the Hindus.
The following verses from the Upanishads refer to the Concept of God:
"Ekam evadvitiyam"
"He is One only without a second."
[Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1]1
"Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah."
"Of Him there are neither parents nor lord."
[Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:9]2
"Na tasya pratima asti"
"There is no likeness of Him."
[Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:19]3
The following verses from the Upanishad allude to the inability of man to imagine God in a particular form:
"Na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam."
"His form is not to be seen; no one sees Him with the eye."
[Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:20]4
1[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 447 and 448]
[Sacred Books of the East, volume 1 ‘The Upanishads part I’ page 93]
2[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 745]
[Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page 263.]
3[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 736 & 737]
[Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page no 253]
4[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 737]
[Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page no 253]
THE VEDAS
Vedas are considered the most sacred of all the Hindu scriptures. There are four principal Vedas: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda.
Yajurveda
The following verses from the Yajurveda echo a similar concept of God:
"na tasya pratima asti
"There is no image of Him."
[Yajurveda 32:3]5
"shudhama poapvidham"
"He is bodyless and pure."
[Yajurveda 40:8]6
"Andhatama pravishanti ye asambhuti mupaste"
"They enter darkness, those who worship the natural elements" (Air, Water, Fire, etc.). "They sink deeper in darkness, those who worship sambhuti."
[Yajurveda 40:9]7
Sambhuti means created things, for example table, chair, idol, etc.
The Yajurveda contains the following prayer:
"Lead us to the good path and remove the sin that makes us stray and wander."
[Yajurveda 40:16]8
5[Yajurveda by Devi Chand M.A. page 377]
6[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith page 538]
7[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith page 538]
8[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Griffith page 541]
Atharvaveda
The Atharvaveda praises God in Book 20, hymn 58 and verse 3:
"Dev maha osi"
"God is verily great"
[Atharvaveda 20:58:3]9
Rigveda
The oldest of all the vedas is Rigveda. It is also the one considered most sacred by the Hindus. The Rigveda states in Book 1, hymn 164 and verse 46:
"Sages (learned Priests) call one God by many names."
[Rigveda 1:164:46]
The Rigveda gives several different attributes to Almighty God. Many of these are mentioned in Rigveda Book 2 hymn 1.
Among the various attributes of God, one of the beautiful attributes mentioned in the Rigveda Book II hymn 1 verse 3, is Brahma. Brahma means ‘The Creator’. Translated into Arabic it means Khaaliq. Muslims can have no objection if Almighty God is referred to as Khaaliq or ‘Creator’ or Brahma. However if it is said that Brahma is Almighty God who has four heads with each head having a crown, Muslims take strong exception to it.
Describing Almighty God in anthropomorphic terms also goes against the following verse of Yajurveda:
"Na tasya Pratima asti"
"There is no image of Him."
[Yajurveda 32:3]
Another beautiful attribute of God mentioned in the Rigveda Book II hymn 1 verse 3 is Vishnu. Vishnu means ‘The Sustainer’. Translated into Arabic it means Rabb. Again, Muslims can have no objection if Almighty God is referred to as Rabb or 'Sustainer' or Vishnu. But the popular image of
9[Atharveda Samhita vol 2 William Dwight Whitney page 910]
Vishnu among Hindus, is that of a God who has four arms, with one of the right arms holding the Chakra, i.e. a discus and one of the left arms holding a ‘conch shell’, or riding a bird or reclining on a snake couch. Muslims can never accept any image of God. As mentioned earlier this also goes against Svetasvatara Upanishad Chapter 4 verse 19.
"Na tasya pratima asti"
"There is no likeness of Him"
The following verse from the Rigveda Book 8, hymn 1, verse 1 refer to the Unity and Glory of the Supreme Being:
"Ma cid anyad vi sansata sakhayo ma rishanyata"
"O friends, do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One. Praise Him alone."
[Rigveda 8:1:1]10
"Devasya samituk parishtutih"
"Verily, great is the glory of the Divine Creator."
[Rigveda 5:1:81]11
Brahma Sutra of Hinduism:
The Brahma Sutra of Hinduism is:
"Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste neh na naste kinchan"
"There is only one God, not the second; not at all, not at all, not in the least bit."
Thus only a dispassionate study of the Hindu scriptures can help one understand the concept of God in Hinduism.
0[Rigveda Samhita vol. 9, pages 2810 and 2811 by Swami Satya Prakash Sarasvati and Satyakam Vidyalankar]
11[Rigveda Samhita vol. 6, pages 1802 and 1803 by Swami Satya Prakash Saraswati and Satyakam Vidyalankar]
Allah's oneness is well explained in surah Ikhlas, and about The Prophet the Qur’an says in Surah Saba Chapter 34 verse 28 (34:28):
"We have send you as a universal (Messenger) to men, giving them glad tidings and warning them (against sin), but most men understand not."
-
swamidada786
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2025 8:56 pm
Re: NAME OF GOD IN DIFFERENT LANGUAS AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS
Concept of God in Primitive Religions
Primitive religion is a name given to the religious beliefs and practices of those traditional, often isolated, preliterate cultures which have not developed urban and technologically sophisticated forms of society. The term is misleading in suggesting that the religions of those peoples are somehow less complex than the religions of "advanced" societies. In fact, research carried out among the indigenous peoples of Oceania, the Americas, and sub Saharan Africa have revealed rich and very complex religions, which organize the smallest details of the people's lives.
The religions of archaic cultures - the cultures of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic ages - are also referred to as primitive. The available evidence for prehistoric religions is so limited as to render any reconstruction highly speculative. Scholars such as Mircea Eliade, however, have emphasized the importance of contemporary fieldwork in recapturing a sense of the religious life of early humankind.
Since the 17th century in the Western world scholars have speculated on the problem of the beginnings of human culture by making use of the empirical data collected about religious belief and practice among the non European cultures of the New World, Africa, Australia, the South Pacific, and elsewhere. Religion thus became one of the areas of study that shaped current ideas about the origins of human consciousness and institutions. Religion, both as a human experience and as an expression of that experience, was viewed as a primitive model of human consciousness, most clearly seen in primitive cultures. It is significant that the first systematic treatise in the discipline of Anthropology, Edward B Tylor's Primitive Culture (1871), had "Religion in Primitive Culture" as its subtitle, and that the first person to be appointed to a professorial chair of social anthropology in Britain was Sir James Frazer, author of the monumental study of comparative folklore, magic, and religion, "The Golden Bough".
Theories of Primitive Religion
Theories of the nature of primitive religion have moved between two poles: one intellectualistic and rational, the other psychological and irrational. Tylor and Frazer, both of whom saw primitive religion as characterized preeminently by a belief in magic and unseen forces or powers, represent the intellectual - rational position. Tylor based his interpretation of primitive religion on the idea that primitive people make a mistaken logical inference - an intellectual error. He thought that they confuse subjective and objective reality in their belief that the vital force (soul) present in living organisms is detachable and capable of independent existence in its own mode. Dreams, he thought, might be a basis for this error. Tylor's definition of primitive religion as Animism, a belief in spiritual beings, expresses his interpretation that the basis of primitive religion is the belief that detached and detachable vital forces make up a suprahuman realm of reality that is just as real as the physical world of rocks, trees, and plants.
An opposing interpretation of primitive religion comes from an experimental and psychological approach to the data. R H Codrington's study The Melanesians (1891), in which he described the meaning of Mana as a supernatural power or influence experienced by the Melanesians, has provided a basis for other scholars to explain the origin and interpretation of primitive religion as rooted in the experience by primitive peoples of the dynamic power of nature. The most prominent interpreter of this point of view was the English anthropologist Robert R Marett. Variations of this theory may be seen in the works of Lucien Levy - Bruhl, who distinguished between a logical and prelogical mentality in analyzing the kind of thinking that takes place through this mode of experience, and the writings of Rudolf Otto, who described the specific religious meaning of this mode of human consciousness.
Another intellectual - rationalist approach to primitive religion is exemplified by Emile Durkheim, who saw religion as the deification of society and its structures. The symbols of religion arise as "collective representations" of the social sphere, and rituals function to unite the individual with society. Claude Levi - Strauss moved beyond Durkheim in an attempt to articulate the way in which the structures of society are exemplified in myths and symbols. Starting from the structural ideas of contemporary linguistics, he argued that there is one universal form of human logic and that the difference between the thinking of primitive and modern people cannot be based on different modes of thought or logic but rather on differences in the data on which logic operates.
Religious Experience and Expression
Whichever approach - psychological or intellectual - is accepted, it is clear that primitives experience the world differently than do persons in modern cultures. Few would hold that that difference can be explained by a different level of intelligence. Levi - Strauss, as has been indicated, believes that the intellectual powers of primitive peoples are equal to those of humans in all cultures and that differences between the two modes of thought may be attributed to the things thought upon. He refers to primitive thought as concrete thought. By this he means that such thought expresses a different way of relating to the objects and experiences of the everyday world. This form of thinking, he says, expresses itself in myth, rituals, and kinship systems, but all of these expressions embody an underlying rational order.
Mircea Eliade expressed a similar position. For him, primitive cultures are more open to the world of natural forms. This openness allows them to experience the world as a sacred reality. Anything in the world can reveal some aspect and dimension of sacredness to the person in primitive cultures. This mode of revelation is called a hierophany. In Eliade's theory, the revealing of the sacred is a total experience. It cannot be reduced to the rational, the irrational, or the psychological; the experience of the sacred includes them all. It is the way in which these experiences are integrated and received that characterizes the sacred. The integration of many seemingly disparate and often opposed meanings into a unity is what Eliade means by the religious symbol.
A myth is the integration of religious symbols into a narrative form. Myths not only provide a comprehensive view of the world, but they also provide the tools for deciphering the world. Although myths may have a counterpart in ritual patterns, they are autonomous modes of the expression of the sacredness of the world for primitive peoples.
Rituals
One of the most pervasive forms of religious behavior in primitive cultures is expressed by rituals and ritualistic actions. The forms and functions of rituals are diverse. They may be performed to ensure the favor of the divine, to ward off evil, or to mark a change in cultural status. In most, but not all, cases an etiological myth provides the basis for the ritual in a divine act or injunction.
Generally, rituals express the great transitions in human life: birth (coming into being); puberty (the recognition and expression of sexual status); marriage (the acceptance of an adult role in the society); and death (the return to the world of the ancestors). These passage rites vary in form, importance, and intensity from one culture to another for they are tied to several other meanings and rituals in the culture. For example, the primitive cultures of south New Guinea and Indonesia place a great emphasis on rituals of death and funerary rites. They have elaborate myths describing the geography of the place of the dead and the journey of the dead to that place. Hardly any ritual meaning is given to birth. The Polynesians, on the other hand, have elaborate birth rituals and place much less emphasis on funerary rituals.
Almost all primitive cultures pay attention to puberty and marriage rituals, although there is a general tendency to pay more attention to the puberty rites of males than of females. Because puberty and marriage symbolize the fact that children are acquiring adult roles in the kinship system in particular, and in the culture in general, most primitive cultures consider the rituals surrounding these events very important. Puberty rituals are often accompanied with ceremonial circumcision or some other operation on the male genitals. Female circumcision is less common, although it occurs in several cultures. Female puberty rites are more often related to the commencement of the menstrual cycle in young girls.
In addition to these life cycle rituals, rituals are associated with the beginning of the new year and with planting and harvest times in agricultural societies. Numerous other rituals are found in hunting - and - gathering societies; these are supposed to increase the game and to give the hunter greater prowess.
Another class of rituals is related to occasional events, such as war, droughts, catastrophes, or extraordinary events. Rituals performed at such times are usually intended to appease supernatural forces or divine beings who might be the cause of the event, or to discover what divine power is causing the event and why.
Rituals are highly structured actions. Each person or class of persons has particular stylized roles to play in them. While some rituals call for communal participation, others are restricted by sex, age, and type of activity. Thus initiation rites for males and females are separate, and only hunters participate in hunting rituals. There are also rituals limited to warriors, blacksmiths, magicians, and diviners. Among the Dogon of the western Sudan, the ritual system integrates life cycle rituals with vocational cults; these in turn are related to a complex cosmological myth.
Divine Beings
Divine beings are usually known through the mode of their manifestation. Creator - gods are usually deities of the sky. The sky as a primordial expression of transcendence is one of the exemplary forms of sacred power. Deities of the sky are often considered to possess an ultimate power.
The apparent similarity in form between the supreme sky deities of primitive cultures and the single godheads of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Zoroastrianism has led some Western students of religion to speak of a "primitive monotheism." By this they were suggesting a devolution of religion rather than the more rationalistic evolution of religion from Polytheism, through henotheism (the presence of several gods, but with one dominant), to Monotheism. The most avid proponent of the primitive monotheism was Wilhelm Schmidt, an Austrian Roman Catholic priest who was also an ethnologist. In his view the original sacred form was a creator - god of the sky. This original and first revelation of deity was lost or obscured by the attention evoked by other lesser sacred beings, and throughout the history of human culture this original creator - sky - god has been rediscovered or remembered in the monotheistic religions. This position has been largely rejected by contemporary scholars.
Allied to and existing within the same sphere as the sky - god are the manifestations of divine presence in the sun and the moon. The symbolism of the sun, while sharing the transcendent power of the sky, is more intimately related to the destiny of the human community and to the revelation of the rational power necessary to order the world. Sun - deities are creators by virtue of their growth - producing powers, whereas the sky - god creators often create ex nihilo ("out of nothing"); they do not require human agency in their creative capacities, and in many instances they withdraw and have little to do with humankind.
The manifestation and presence of the deity in the moon is different from that of the sun. Moon - deities are associated with a more rhythmic structure; they wax and wane, seem more vulnerable and more capable of loss and gain. Moon - deities are often female in form and associated with feminine characteristics. The moon - goddess is the revelation of the vulnerability and fragility of life, and unlike solar gods, her destiny is not the historical destiny of powerful rulers and empires, but the destiny of the human life cycle of birth, life, and death. Other places where deities show themselves are in the natural forms of water, vegetation, agriculture, stones, human sexuality, and so on.
The pattern of deities, of course, varies markedly among different types of societies. Hunting - and - gathering cultures, for example, not only have language and rituals related to hunting, but also often have a Lord, Master, or Mistress of Animals - a divine being who not only created the world of humans and animals but who also cares for, protects, and supplies the animals to the hunters. Religious cultures of this kind still exist among the Mbuti pygmies, the San of the Kalahari desert in Africa, Australian Aborigines, and Eskimo.
A somewhat more complex religious culture is found in early agricultural societies. It is commonly accepted that the earliest form of agriculture was both a feminine rite and a female right. This means that the gift and power of agriculture provided a means by which the sacredness of the world could be expressed in the femininity of the human species. Agricultural rituals became a powerful symbolic language that spoke of gestation, birth, nurture, and death. This development does not imply an early Matriarchy nor the dominance of society by females. In agricultural societies males dominate in the conventional sense of the term, but the power of women is nevertheless potent and real.
In some cultures of West Africa three layers of cultural religious meaning may be discerned. One refers to an earlier agriculture, in which the feminine symbolism and power predominated. In the second the theft of the ritual and rights of agriculture is portrayed in masculine symbolism and language. By contrast, the equal cooperation of masculine and feminine in the power and meaning of cultural life is symbolized in the third level. In present cultures of this area the older layer can be seen in the Queen Mother, who is "owner of the land"; the second layer in the kingship system; and the third layer in the myths associated with egg symbolism, which on the cosmological level are a means of transmuting sexual tensions into practical harmonies.
Sacred Personages
Just as sacredness tends to be localized in the natural forms of the world in primitive religious cultures, sacred meaning is also defined by specific kinds of persons. On the one hand, sacredness may be located in and defined by office and status in a society. In such cases the role and function of the chief or king carries a sacred meaning because it is seen as an imitation of a divine model, which is generally narrated in a cultural myth; it may also be thought to possess divine power. Offices and functions of this kind are usually hereditary and are not dependent on any specific or unique personality structure in the individual.
On the other hand, forms of individual sacredness exist that do depend on specific types of personality structures and the calling to a particular religious vocation. Persons such as shamans fall into this category. Shamans are recruited from among young persons who tend to exhibit particular psychological traits that indicate their openness to a more profound and complex world of sacred meanings than is available to the society at large. Once chosen, shamans undergo a special shamanistic initiation and are taught by older shamans the peculiar forms of healing and behavior that identify their sacred work. Given the nature of their sacred work, they must undergo long periods of training before they are capable practitioners of the sacred and healing arts. The same is true of medicine men and diviners, although these often inherit their status.
Each person in a primitive society may also bear an ordinary form of sacred meaning. Such meaning can be discerned in the elements of the person's psychological structure. For example, among the Ashanti of Ghana, an individual's blood is said to be derived from the goddess of the earth through that individual's mother, an individual's destiny from the high - god, and personality and temperament from the tutelary deity of the individual's father. On the cosmological level of myths and rituals all of these divine forms have a primordial meaning that acquires individual and existential significance when it is expressed in persons.
Summary
Underlying all the forms, functions, rituals, personages, and symbols in primitive religion is the distinction between the sacred and the profane. The sacred defines the world of reality, which is the basis for all meaningful forms and behaviors in the society. The profane is the opposite of the sacred. Although it has a mode of existence and a quasi - reality, reality is not based on a divine model, nor does it serve as an ordering principle for activities or meanings. For example, the manner in which a primitive village is laid out in space imitates a divine model and thus participates in sacred reality. The space outside of the organized space of the village is considered profane space, because it is not ordered and therefore does not participate in the meaning imparted by the divine model.
This characteristic distinction between the sacred and the profane is present at almost every level of primitive society. The tendency to perceive reality in the terms provided by the sacred marks a fundamental difference between primitive and modern Western societies, where this distinction has been destroyed. The openness to the world as a sacred reality is probably the most pervasive and common meaning in all forms of primitive religion and is present in definitions of time, space, behaviors, and activities.
The sacred is able to serve as a principle of order because it possesses the power to order. The power of the sacred is both positive and negative. It is necessary to have the proper regard for the sacred; it must be approached and dealt with in very specific ways.
A kind of ritual behavior defines the proper mode of contact with the sacred. Failure to act properly with respect to the sacred opens the door to the negative experience and effects of sacred power. The specific term for this negative power among the Melanesians is Taboo. This word has become a general term in Western languages expressing the range of meanings implied by the force and effects of a power that is both negative and positive and that attracts as well as repels.
Charles H Long
(Adopted)
Primitive religion is a name given to the religious beliefs and practices of those traditional, often isolated, preliterate cultures which have not developed urban and technologically sophisticated forms of society. The term is misleading in suggesting that the religions of those peoples are somehow less complex than the religions of "advanced" societies. In fact, research carried out among the indigenous peoples of Oceania, the Americas, and sub Saharan Africa have revealed rich and very complex religions, which organize the smallest details of the people's lives.
The religions of archaic cultures - the cultures of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic ages - are also referred to as primitive. The available evidence for prehistoric religions is so limited as to render any reconstruction highly speculative. Scholars such as Mircea Eliade, however, have emphasized the importance of contemporary fieldwork in recapturing a sense of the religious life of early humankind.
Since the 17th century in the Western world scholars have speculated on the problem of the beginnings of human culture by making use of the empirical data collected about religious belief and practice among the non European cultures of the New World, Africa, Australia, the South Pacific, and elsewhere. Religion thus became one of the areas of study that shaped current ideas about the origins of human consciousness and institutions. Religion, both as a human experience and as an expression of that experience, was viewed as a primitive model of human consciousness, most clearly seen in primitive cultures. It is significant that the first systematic treatise in the discipline of Anthropology, Edward B Tylor's Primitive Culture (1871), had "Religion in Primitive Culture" as its subtitle, and that the first person to be appointed to a professorial chair of social anthropology in Britain was Sir James Frazer, author of the monumental study of comparative folklore, magic, and religion, "The Golden Bough".
Theories of Primitive Religion
Theories of the nature of primitive religion have moved between two poles: one intellectualistic and rational, the other psychological and irrational. Tylor and Frazer, both of whom saw primitive religion as characterized preeminently by a belief in magic and unseen forces or powers, represent the intellectual - rational position. Tylor based his interpretation of primitive religion on the idea that primitive people make a mistaken logical inference - an intellectual error. He thought that they confuse subjective and objective reality in their belief that the vital force (soul) present in living organisms is detachable and capable of independent existence in its own mode. Dreams, he thought, might be a basis for this error. Tylor's definition of primitive religion as Animism, a belief in spiritual beings, expresses his interpretation that the basis of primitive religion is the belief that detached and detachable vital forces make up a suprahuman realm of reality that is just as real as the physical world of rocks, trees, and plants.
An opposing interpretation of primitive religion comes from an experimental and psychological approach to the data. R H Codrington's study The Melanesians (1891), in which he described the meaning of Mana as a supernatural power or influence experienced by the Melanesians, has provided a basis for other scholars to explain the origin and interpretation of primitive religion as rooted in the experience by primitive peoples of the dynamic power of nature. The most prominent interpreter of this point of view was the English anthropologist Robert R Marett. Variations of this theory may be seen in the works of Lucien Levy - Bruhl, who distinguished between a logical and prelogical mentality in analyzing the kind of thinking that takes place through this mode of experience, and the writings of Rudolf Otto, who described the specific religious meaning of this mode of human consciousness.
Another intellectual - rationalist approach to primitive religion is exemplified by Emile Durkheim, who saw religion as the deification of society and its structures. The symbols of religion arise as "collective representations" of the social sphere, and rituals function to unite the individual with society. Claude Levi - Strauss moved beyond Durkheim in an attempt to articulate the way in which the structures of society are exemplified in myths and symbols. Starting from the structural ideas of contemporary linguistics, he argued that there is one universal form of human logic and that the difference between the thinking of primitive and modern people cannot be based on different modes of thought or logic but rather on differences in the data on which logic operates.
Religious Experience and Expression
Whichever approach - psychological or intellectual - is accepted, it is clear that primitives experience the world differently than do persons in modern cultures. Few would hold that that difference can be explained by a different level of intelligence. Levi - Strauss, as has been indicated, believes that the intellectual powers of primitive peoples are equal to those of humans in all cultures and that differences between the two modes of thought may be attributed to the things thought upon. He refers to primitive thought as concrete thought. By this he means that such thought expresses a different way of relating to the objects and experiences of the everyday world. This form of thinking, he says, expresses itself in myth, rituals, and kinship systems, but all of these expressions embody an underlying rational order.
Mircea Eliade expressed a similar position. For him, primitive cultures are more open to the world of natural forms. This openness allows them to experience the world as a sacred reality. Anything in the world can reveal some aspect and dimension of sacredness to the person in primitive cultures. This mode of revelation is called a hierophany. In Eliade's theory, the revealing of the sacred is a total experience. It cannot be reduced to the rational, the irrational, or the psychological; the experience of the sacred includes them all. It is the way in which these experiences are integrated and received that characterizes the sacred. The integration of many seemingly disparate and often opposed meanings into a unity is what Eliade means by the religious symbol.
A myth is the integration of religious symbols into a narrative form. Myths not only provide a comprehensive view of the world, but they also provide the tools for deciphering the world. Although myths may have a counterpart in ritual patterns, they are autonomous modes of the expression of the sacredness of the world for primitive peoples.
Rituals
One of the most pervasive forms of religious behavior in primitive cultures is expressed by rituals and ritualistic actions. The forms and functions of rituals are diverse. They may be performed to ensure the favor of the divine, to ward off evil, or to mark a change in cultural status. In most, but not all, cases an etiological myth provides the basis for the ritual in a divine act or injunction.
Generally, rituals express the great transitions in human life: birth (coming into being); puberty (the recognition and expression of sexual status); marriage (the acceptance of an adult role in the society); and death (the return to the world of the ancestors). These passage rites vary in form, importance, and intensity from one culture to another for they are tied to several other meanings and rituals in the culture. For example, the primitive cultures of south New Guinea and Indonesia place a great emphasis on rituals of death and funerary rites. They have elaborate myths describing the geography of the place of the dead and the journey of the dead to that place. Hardly any ritual meaning is given to birth. The Polynesians, on the other hand, have elaborate birth rituals and place much less emphasis on funerary rituals.
Almost all primitive cultures pay attention to puberty and marriage rituals, although there is a general tendency to pay more attention to the puberty rites of males than of females. Because puberty and marriage symbolize the fact that children are acquiring adult roles in the kinship system in particular, and in the culture in general, most primitive cultures consider the rituals surrounding these events very important. Puberty rituals are often accompanied with ceremonial circumcision or some other operation on the male genitals. Female circumcision is less common, although it occurs in several cultures. Female puberty rites are more often related to the commencement of the menstrual cycle in young girls.
In addition to these life cycle rituals, rituals are associated with the beginning of the new year and with planting and harvest times in agricultural societies. Numerous other rituals are found in hunting - and - gathering societies; these are supposed to increase the game and to give the hunter greater prowess.
Another class of rituals is related to occasional events, such as war, droughts, catastrophes, or extraordinary events. Rituals performed at such times are usually intended to appease supernatural forces or divine beings who might be the cause of the event, or to discover what divine power is causing the event and why.
Rituals are highly structured actions. Each person or class of persons has particular stylized roles to play in them. While some rituals call for communal participation, others are restricted by sex, age, and type of activity. Thus initiation rites for males and females are separate, and only hunters participate in hunting rituals. There are also rituals limited to warriors, blacksmiths, magicians, and diviners. Among the Dogon of the western Sudan, the ritual system integrates life cycle rituals with vocational cults; these in turn are related to a complex cosmological myth.
Divine Beings
Divine beings are usually known through the mode of their manifestation. Creator - gods are usually deities of the sky. The sky as a primordial expression of transcendence is one of the exemplary forms of sacred power. Deities of the sky are often considered to possess an ultimate power.
The apparent similarity in form between the supreme sky deities of primitive cultures and the single godheads of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Zoroastrianism has led some Western students of religion to speak of a "primitive monotheism." By this they were suggesting a devolution of religion rather than the more rationalistic evolution of religion from Polytheism, through henotheism (the presence of several gods, but with one dominant), to Monotheism. The most avid proponent of the primitive monotheism was Wilhelm Schmidt, an Austrian Roman Catholic priest who was also an ethnologist. In his view the original sacred form was a creator - god of the sky. This original and first revelation of deity was lost or obscured by the attention evoked by other lesser sacred beings, and throughout the history of human culture this original creator - sky - god has been rediscovered or remembered in the monotheistic religions. This position has been largely rejected by contemporary scholars.
Allied to and existing within the same sphere as the sky - god are the manifestations of divine presence in the sun and the moon. The symbolism of the sun, while sharing the transcendent power of the sky, is more intimately related to the destiny of the human community and to the revelation of the rational power necessary to order the world. Sun - deities are creators by virtue of their growth - producing powers, whereas the sky - god creators often create ex nihilo ("out of nothing"); they do not require human agency in their creative capacities, and in many instances they withdraw and have little to do with humankind.
The manifestation and presence of the deity in the moon is different from that of the sun. Moon - deities are associated with a more rhythmic structure; they wax and wane, seem more vulnerable and more capable of loss and gain. Moon - deities are often female in form and associated with feminine characteristics. The moon - goddess is the revelation of the vulnerability and fragility of life, and unlike solar gods, her destiny is not the historical destiny of powerful rulers and empires, but the destiny of the human life cycle of birth, life, and death. Other places where deities show themselves are in the natural forms of water, vegetation, agriculture, stones, human sexuality, and so on.
The pattern of deities, of course, varies markedly among different types of societies. Hunting - and - gathering cultures, for example, not only have language and rituals related to hunting, but also often have a Lord, Master, or Mistress of Animals - a divine being who not only created the world of humans and animals but who also cares for, protects, and supplies the animals to the hunters. Religious cultures of this kind still exist among the Mbuti pygmies, the San of the Kalahari desert in Africa, Australian Aborigines, and Eskimo.
A somewhat more complex religious culture is found in early agricultural societies. It is commonly accepted that the earliest form of agriculture was both a feminine rite and a female right. This means that the gift and power of agriculture provided a means by which the sacredness of the world could be expressed in the femininity of the human species. Agricultural rituals became a powerful symbolic language that spoke of gestation, birth, nurture, and death. This development does not imply an early Matriarchy nor the dominance of society by females. In agricultural societies males dominate in the conventional sense of the term, but the power of women is nevertheless potent and real.
In some cultures of West Africa three layers of cultural religious meaning may be discerned. One refers to an earlier agriculture, in which the feminine symbolism and power predominated. In the second the theft of the ritual and rights of agriculture is portrayed in masculine symbolism and language. By contrast, the equal cooperation of masculine and feminine in the power and meaning of cultural life is symbolized in the third level. In present cultures of this area the older layer can be seen in the Queen Mother, who is "owner of the land"; the second layer in the kingship system; and the third layer in the myths associated with egg symbolism, which on the cosmological level are a means of transmuting sexual tensions into practical harmonies.
Sacred Personages
Just as sacredness tends to be localized in the natural forms of the world in primitive religious cultures, sacred meaning is also defined by specific kinds of persons. On the one hand, sacredness may be located in and defined by office and status in a society. In such cases the role and function of the chief or king carries a sacred meaning because it is seen as an imitation of a divine model, which is generally narrated in a cultural myth; it may also be thought to possess divine power. Offices and functions of this kind are usually hereditary and are not dependent on any specific or unique personality structure in the individual.
On the other hand, forms of individual sacredness exist that do depend on specific types of personality structures and the calling to a particular religious vocation. Persons such as shamans fall into this category. Shamans are recruited from among young persons who tend to exhibit particular psychological traits that indicate their openness to a more profound and complex world of sacred meanings than is available to the society at large. Once chosen, shamans undergo a special shamanistic initiation and are taught by older shamans the peculiar forms of healing and behavior that identify their sacred work. Given the nature of their sacred work, they must undergo long periods of training before they are capable practitioners of the sacred and healing arts. The same is true of medicine men and diviners, although these often inherit their status.
Each person in a primitive society may also bear an ordinary form of sacred meaning. Such meaning can be discerned in the elements of the person's psychological structure. For example, among the Ashanti of Ghana, an individual's blood is said to be derived from the goddess of the earth through that individual's mother, an individual's destiny from the high - god, and personality and temperament from the tutelary deity of the individual's father. On the cosmological level of myths and rituals all of these divine forms have a primordial meaning that acquires individual and existential significance when it is expressed in persons.
Summary
Underlying all the forms, functions, rituals, personages, and symbols in primitive religion is the distinction between the sacred and the profane. The sacred defines the world of reality, which is the basis for all meaningful forms and behaviors in the society. The profane is the opposite of the sacred. Although it has a mode of existence and a quasi - reality, reality is not based on a divine model, nor does it serve as an ordering principle for activities or meanings. For example, the manner in which a primitive village is laid out in space imitates a divine model and thus participates in sacred reality. The space outside of the organized space of the village is considered profane space, because it is not ordered and therefore does not participate in the meaning imparted by the divine model.
This characteristic distinction between the sacred and the profane is present at almost every level of primitive society. The tendency to perceive reality in the terms provided by the sacred marks a fundamental difference between primitive and modern Western societies, where this distinction has been destroyed. The openness to the world as a sacred reality is probably the most pervasive and common meaning in all forms of primitive religion and is present in definitions of time, space, behaviors, and activities.
The sacred is able to serve as a principle of order because it possesses the power to order. The power of the sacred is both positive and negative. It is necessary to have the proper regard for the sacred; it must be approached and dealt with in very specific ways.
A kind of ritual behavior defines the proper mode of contact with the sacred. Failure to act properly with respect to the sacred opens the door to the negative experience and effects of sacred power. The specific term for this negative power among the Melanesians is Taboo. This word has become a general term in Western languages expressing the range of meanings implied by the force and effects of a power that is both negative and positive and that attracts as well as repels.
Charles H Long
(Adopted)
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swamidada786
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Re: NAME OF GOD IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS
It is time now for a greater comprehension of God and an expanded understanding of God, who is the Source and Author of your life and of all life within this world and throughout the Greater Community of worlds in which you live.
This new understanding is not to correct previous understanding as much as it is to expand it, to make it more complete, to leave the door open for a greater experience of the Divine Will and Presence in your life.
In presenting a New Message from God, it is necessary then to renew this experience, to freshen it, to separate it from all the things that have been added by human institutions and human inventions, to bring it into greater focus and clarity for you.
Here it is important not to confuse God with religion, for many terrible things have been done in the name of religion and in the name of God. But God exists far beyond all of these things—far beyond human error, far beyond human imagination, far beyond human invention and far beyond human corruption.
It is necessary now for you to consider God within the larger arena of intelligent life in which you live, which includes all life within this world, but extends beyond it into the Greater Community [the universe].
You must gain a Greater Community understanding of GodTo have a pure experience of the Divine Reality and the Divine Will for your life, you must gain this Greater Community understanding of God.
Otherwise, you will think of God as a projection of your own personality, as a projection of your own emotions, thoughts and feelings. You will project onto God your anger, your preferences, your judgments, whatever sense of revenge you might have, your notions of justice and punishment and so forth.
But God exists beyond all of this—the real God, the pure God that has been shining like the sun upon you. Regardless of the clouds in the sky, regardless of the pollution in the atmosphere and the turbulence on the ground, God is like the sun shining upon you.
But God is beyond the sun, beyond any definition that you can make. Beyond your histories, beyond the great teachers and the great Messengers from God, beyond the great spiritual books and testimonies, there is God the Creator and the Author of your life and existence.
What God has created in you lives within you now. It lives beyond your intellect, beyond your thoughts and understanding, beyond your concepts, beyond your ideas and beliefs in a deeper place within you—a deeper mind, a mind that in the New Message is called Knowledge. It is the mind that knows. It is the mind that waits. It is the mind that sees clearly without distortion, without fear, without preference, without confusion, without speculation—a deeper mind within you.
This is what God has created in you that is permanent, that will last forever. Beyond your temporary identity in this world, beyond all the events of this world and all other worlds, beyond the river of your experience in this life, there is Knowledge within you, and it is God that is the Author of this Knowledge.
If you think of God within this greater context, you can begin to appreciate the power and magnificence of God’s Creation, in the world and eventually within yourself.
Your body, your mind, your personality—these are all temporary vehicles whose greater purpose is to express your relationship with God and the Wisdom that God has given to you to communicate and to contribute to a world in need.
Think then of your mind, your body, your intellect as vehicles of expression, valuable in and of themselves, but not as valuable as that which they are meant to express and to serve.
Then you will begin to see that God permeates all things, lives within all things and yet is beyond all things—all at the same time.
You can feel this Presence wherever you are, and you can find and follow Knowledge wherever you are.
Therefore, to fully understand and experience God within your life, you must come to Knowledge within yourself, which is the Greater Intelligence, the permanence that God has created within you and for you. It is who you really are, beyond all concepts, ideas and delusions. It is your true nature.
It is by gaining a connection with Knowledge, by learning to discern Knowledge and to follow Knowledge that you learn to experience the Presence, the Power and the Will of God in your life.
Beyond this, God remains forever beyond the concepts of the intellect, beyond all human inventions, beyond all individual and collective philosophies. For what set of ideas or concepts can contain a God of the Greater Community, the Author of countless races of beings, all unique and different from one another in so many ways?
You will need more than belief to have an understanding of GodTo come to God then is to come to Knowledge within yourself, for this is what calls you to God. Perhaps you will be called to a certain place or to a certain person, but it is for this purpose—to experience the Presence within yourself. For you will need more than belief to appreciate, comprehend and follow what God has given you to see, to know and to do.
Let this then be the starting place for you, where you take the Steps to Knowledge, where you take the steps to God. And you do this whether you are a Christian, a Buddhist or a Muslim. Whatever faith tradition you adhere to, or even if you do not have a faith tradition, there are still the Steps to Knowledge.
Knowledge is what created all the world’s religions, and Knowledge is what unites them still, despite all of the separation and conflict that exist between them. For these are a human invention and not a Divine invention.
The Calling reverberates through all of these traditions—within them and beyond them. It is a Calling that sounds throughout the universe to return to the power and presence of Knowledge, to discover what Knowledge has for you to do, to see and to know. This initiates the return—the Calling, the listening, the responding and the return.
/www.newmessage.org/the-message/volume-1 ... ending-god
This new understanding is not to correct previous understanding as much as it is to expand it, to make it more complete, to leave the door open for a greater experience of the Divine Will and Presence in your life.
In presenting a New Message from God, it is necessary then to renew this experience, to freshen it, to separate it from all the things that have been added by human institutions and human inventions, to bring it into greater focus and clarity for you.
Here it is important not to confuse God with religion, for many terrible things have been done in the name of religion and in the name of God. But God exists far beyond all of these things—far beyond human error, far beyond human imagination, far beyond human invention and far beyond human corruption.
It is necessary now for you to consider God within the larger arena of intelligent life in which you live, which includes all life within this world, but extends beyond it into the Greater Community [the universe].
You must gain a Greater Community understanding of GodTo have a pure experience of the Divine Reality and the Divine Will for your life, you must gain this Greater Community understanding of God.
Otherwise, you will think of God as a projection of your own personality, as a projection of your own emotions, thoughts and feelings. You will project onto God your anger, your preferences, your judgments, whatever sense of revenge you might have, your notions of justice and punishment and so forth.
But God exists beyond all of this—the real God, the pure God that has been shining like the sun upon you. Regardless of the clouds in the sky, regardless of the pollution in the atmosphere and the turbulence on the ground, God is like the sun shining upon you.
But God is beyond the sun, beyond any definition that you can make. Beyond your histories, beyond the great teachers and the great Messengers from God, beyond the great spiritual books and testimonies, there is God the Creator and the Author of your life and existence.
What God has created in you lives within you now. It lives beyond your intellect, beyond your thoughts and understanding, beyond your concepts, beyond your ideas and beliefs in a deeper place within you—a deeper mind, a mind that in the New Message is called Knowledge. It is the mind that knows. It is the mind that waits. It is the mind that sees clearly without distortion, without fear, without preference, without confusion, without speculation—a deeper mind within you.
This is what God has created in you that is permanent, that will last forever. Beyond your temporary identity in this world, beyond all the events of this world and all other worlds, beyond the river of your experience in this life, there is Knowledge within you, and it is God that is the Author of this Knowledge.
If you think of God within this greater context, you can begin to appreciate the power and magnificence of God’s Creation, in the world and eventually within yourself.
Your body, your mind, your personality—these are all temporary vehicles whose greater purpose is to express your relationship with God and the Wisdom that God has given to you to communicate and to contribute to a world in need.
Think then of your mind, your body, your intellect as vehicles of expression, valuable in and of themselves, but not as valuable as that which they are meant to express and to serve.
Then you will begin to see that God permeates all things, lives within all things and yet is beyond all things—all at the same time.
You can feel this Presence wherever you are, and you can find and follow Knowledge wherever you are.
Therefore, to fully understand and experience God within your life, you must come to Knowledge within yourself, which is the Greater Intelligence, the permanence that God has created within you and for you. It is who you really are, beyond all concepts, ideas and delusions. It is your true nature.
It is by gaining a connection with Knowledge, by learning to discern Knowledge and to follow Knowledge that you learn to experience the Presence, the Power and the Will of God in your life.
Beyond this, God remains forever beyond the concepts of the intellect, beyond all human inventions, beyond all individual and collective philosophies. For what set of ideas or concepts can contain a God of the Greater Community, the Author of countless races of beings, all unique and different from one another in so many ways?
You will need more than belief to have an understanding of GodTo come to God then is to come to Knowledge within yourself, for this is what calls you to God. Perhaps you will be called to a certain place or to a certain person, but it is for this purpose—to experience the Presence within yourself. For you will need more than belief to appreciate, comprehend and follow what God has given you to see, to know and to do.
Let this then be the starting place for you, where you take the Steps to Knowledge, where you take the steps to God. And you do this whether you are a Christian, a Buddhist or a Muslim. Whatever faith tradition you adhere to, or even if you do not have a faith tradition, there are still the Steps to Knowledge.
Knowledge is what created all the world’s religions, and Knowledge is what unites them still, despite all of the separation and conflict that exist between them. For these are a human invention and not a Divine invention.
The Calling reverberates through all of these traditions—within them and beyond them. It is a Calling that sounds throughout the universe to return to the power and presence of Knowledge, to discover what Knowledge has for you to do, to see and to know. This initiates the return—the Calling, the listening, the responding and the return.
/www.newmessage.org/the-message/volume-1 ... ending-god
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swamidada786
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2025 8:56 pm
Re: NAME OF GOD IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS
Concept Of God In Confucianism
There is no direct concept of God in Confucianism.
Confucianism is one of the most influential religious philosophies in the history of China, and it has existed for over 2,500 years. It is concerned with inner virtue, morality, and respect for the community and its value.
Confucianism is a philosophy and belief system from ancient China, which laid the foundation for much of Chinese culture. Confucius was a philosopher and teacher who lived from 551 to 479 B.C.E. His thoughts on ethics, good behavior, and moral character were written down by his disciples in several books, the most important being the Lunyu. Confucianism believes in ancestor worship and human-centered virtues for living a peaceful life. The golden rule of Confucianism is “Do not do unto others what you would not want others to do unto you.”
There is debate over if Confucianism is a religion. Confucianism is best understood as an ethical guide to life and living with strong character. Yet, Confucianism also began as a revival of an earlier religious tradition. There are no Confucian gods, and Confucius himself is worshipped as a spirit rather than a god. However, there are temples of Confucianism, which are places where important community and civic rituals happen. This debate remains unresolved and many people refer to Confucianism as both a religion and a philosophy.
The main idea of Confucianism is the importance of having a good moral character, which can then affect the world around that person through the idea of “cosmic harmony.” If the emperor has moral perfection, his rule will be peaceful and benevolent. Natural disasters and conflict are the result of straying from the ancient teachings. This moral character is achieved through the virtue of ren, or “humanity,” which leads to more virtuous behaviours, such as respect, altruism, and humility. Confucius believed in the importance of education in order to create this virtuous character. He thought that people are essentially good yet may have strayed from the appropriate forms of conduct. Rituals in Confucianism were designed to bring about this respectful attitude and create a sense of community within a group.
The idea of “filial piety,” or devotion to family, is key to Confucius thought. This devotion can take the form of ancestor worship, submission to parental authority, or the use of family metaphors, such as “son of heaven,” to describe the emperor and his government. The family was the most important group for Confucian ethics, and devotion to family could only strengthen the society surrounding it.
While Confucius gave his name to Confucianism, he was not the first person to discuss many of the important concepts in Confucianism. Rather, he can be understood as someone concerned with the preservation of traditional Chinese knowledge from earlier thinkers. After Confucius’ death, several of his disciples compiled his wisdom and carried on his work. The most famous of these disciples were Mencius and Xunzi, both of whom developed Confucian thought further.
Confucianism remains one of the most influential philosophies in China. During the Han Dynasty, emperor Wu Di (reigned 141–87 B.C.E.) made Confucianism the official state ideology. During this time, Confucius schools were established to teach Confucian ethics. Confucianism existed alongside Buddhism and Taoism for several centuries as one of the most important Chinese religions. In the Song Dynasty (960–1279 C.E.) the influence from Buddhism and Taoism brought about “Neo-Confucianism,” which combined ideas from all three religions. However, in the Qing dynasty (1644–1912 C.E.), many scholars looked for a return to the older ideas of Confucianism, prompting a Confucian revival.
There is no direct concept of God in Confucianism.
Confucianism is one of the most influential religious philosophies in the history of China, and it has existed for over 2,500 years. It is concerned with inner virtue, morality, and respect for the community and its value.
Confucianism is a philosophy and belief system from ancient China, which laid the foundation for much of Chinese culture. Confucius was a philosopher and teacher who lived from 551 to 479 B.C.E. His thoughts on ethics, good behavior, and moral character were written down by his disciples in several books, the most important being the Lunyu. Confucianism believes in ancestor worship and human-centered virtues for living a peaceful life. The golden rule of Confucianism is “Do not do unto others what you would not want others to do unto you.”
There is debate over if Confucianism is a religion. Confucianism is best understood as an ethical guide to life and living with strong character. Yet, Confucianism also began as a revival of an earlier religious tradition. There are no Confucian gods, and Confucius himself is worshipped as a spirit rather than a god. However, there are temples of Confucianism, which are places where important community and civic rituals happen. This debate remains unresolved and many people refer to Confucianism as both a religion and a philosophy.
The main idea of Confucianism is the importance of having a good moral character, which can then affect the world around that person through the idea of “cosmic harmony.” If the emperor has moral perfection, his rule will be peaceful and benevolent. Natural disasters and conflict are the result of straying from the ancient teachings. This moral character is achieved through the virtue of ren, or “humanity,” which leads to more virtuous behaviours, such as respect, altruism, and humility. Confucius believed in the importance of education in order to create this virtuous character. He thought that people are essentially good yet may have strayed from the appropriate forms of conduct. Rituals in Confucianism were designed to bring about this respectful attitude and create a sense of community within a group.
The idea of “filial piety,” or devotion to family, is key to Confucius thought. This devotion can take the form of ancestor worship, submission to parental authority, or the use of family metaphors, such as “son of heaven,” to describe the emperor and his government. The family was the most important group for Confucian ethics, and devotion to family could only strengthen the society surrounding it.
While Confucius gave his name to Confucianism, he was not the first person to discuss many of the important concepts in Confucianism. Rather, he can be understood as someone concerned with the preservation of traditional Chinese knowledge from earlier thinkers. After Confucius’ death, several of his disciples compiled his wisdom and carried on his work. The most famous of these disciples were Mencius and Xunzi, both of whom developed Confucian thought further.
Confucianism remains one of the most influential philosophies in China. During the Han Dynasty, emperor Wu Di (reigned 141–87 B.C.E.) made Confucianism the official state ideology. During this time, Confucius schools were established to teach Confucian ethics. Confucianism existed alongside Buddhism and Taoism for several centuries as one of the most important Chinese religions. In the Song Dynasty (960–1279 C.E.) the influence from Buddhism and Taoism brought about “Neo-Confucianism,” which combined ideas from all three religions. However, in the Qing dynasty (1644–1912 C.E.), many scholars looked for a return to the older ideas of Confucianism, prompting a Confucian revival.