ASIA 1111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Shinto, Ethnocentrism, Wilfred Cantwell Smith
Document Summary
=> the relationship between the physical being and the transcendent reality. => religion is the solution for the idea of afterlife. => religion consists of the idea of a never ending cycle of rebirth. => the importance of liberation in the samsara cycle. In east asia, buddhism flourished and broken down in three categories: confucianism (551 - 479 bce, taoism (6th or 4th century bce, shintoism (538 ce) West asia: judaism (3000 bce, christianity (28 - 30 ce, islam (570 - 632 ce) South asia: hinduism (1500 bce, buddhism (624 - 544 bce, jainism (540 - 468 bce, sikhism (1469 - 1539 ce) Focuses on specific category (what you are born into). Association with ethnic groups such as family and location (territories). Examples of ethnic religions: judaism, hinduism, confucianism and shintoism (focuses on ancestry). Reform was shift from ethnic identity to universal identity. Not by birth but based initially on association with the group.
