Clergy or clerics are formal leaders.
Outline
Hinduism is based on the four vedas or Śruti texts: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. Each veda contains four types of text: Upanishads (meditation and philosophy), Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), Brahmanas (instructions on rituals), and Aranyakas (philosophy of rituals).
Devas (male) or devi are benevolent gods. Yakshas are nature spirits. Asuras are demon gods and Rakshasas are demons.
Aditi is the goddess of infinity. She has twelve benevolent children, the Adityas led by Varuna, god of sky and water. Evil danavas are led by Vritra, god of drought.
Ganesha is the elephant-headed god of beginnings and wisdom, often riding a mouse.
Vishnu is the blue preserver god holding a discus (chakra), a conch shell (shankha), a lotus flower, and a mace, and reclining on the serpent Shesha. He incarnates on Earth as his avatars Rama and Krishna. Shiva is the destroyer god, often holding a trident. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth worshipped during the Diwali festival. Durga is the feminine energy (Shakti), a warrior goddess celebrated during Durga Puja.
Yama is the god of death residing in Naraka.
Lohri is the winter solstice festival celebrated in northern India.
Preta are hungry ghosts.
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Eight Auspicious Signs (Ashtamangala): parasol, pair of golden fish, conch, treasure vase, lotus, infinite knot, victory banner, and wheel.
400. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Sutras are aphorisms. Describes Ashtanga, the “eight limbs” of yoga.
1469. Sikhism by Guru Nanak. There are ten Sikh gurus, ending at Gobind Singh who names the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib as his successor. Sikhs believe in equality, social justice, service and community kitchens, and the five Ks, articles of devotion: kesh uncut hair as God’s will, kanaga wooden comb for cleanliness, kara steel bracelet for devotion to God, kachera cotton undergarments for purity, and kirpan steel sword to defend justice.
800 BC. Śramaṇa (seeker or ascetic) movement begins, which gives rise to Jainism and Buddhism. Predates and rejects the Vedas.
Jainism
500 BC. Buddhism. Now consists of Mahayana, Theravada, and Vajrayana schools. The Buddha Siddhartha Gautama founds a monastic order in Magadha during the reign of his friend and king Bimbisara. He is said to have attained enlightenment (bodhi) under the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya in northeastern India. Cosmic virtue (dharma 法) and a Middle Way between indulgence and asceticism leads to nirvana, a release from Saṃsāra. Mental factors (samsakara). Our karma builds merit and determines our next life. Being a person is pretty good, going to the western paradise is great (极乐世界). The leaders are the Buddha and the Arhats.
The Four Noble Truths are:
Immortal xian 仙 and many types of ghosts.
Yama 阎魔 or King Yan 阎王 is the king of diyu 地狱 at its capital Youdu 幽都.
The five precepts ban killing (including animals), theft, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxication.
Eight Treasures 八宝: pearl 宝珠 (granting of wishes), lozenge 方胜 (marriage), stone chime 磬 (virtue), rhino horns 犀角 (happiness), 双钱, ingot 锭, coral 珊瑚, ruyi scepter 如意.
Liberation Rite of Water and Land 水陸法會 is the greatest ritual.
A mudra is a spiritual gesture.
350 BC. First Buddhist schism at the Second Buddhist council (sangha). The minority Sthavira school adds ten Vinaya rules which ban accepting monetary donations and splits off from the Mahāsāṃghika.
268 BC. Ashoka becomes king and popularizes Buddhism. The flag of India contains the Ashoka Chakra depicting the wheel of dharma, and the emblem of India depicts the Lion Capital of Ashoka, a 7 ft sandstone sculpture.
Theravada is the oldest and more traditional school of Buddhism. It forms from the Kathavatthu doctrine at the third council which was convened by Ashoka. The Pali Canon or tripitaka consists of the Vinaya Pitaka (discipline), Sutta Pitaka (sutras and sermons of Buddha, the largest), and Abhidhamma Pitaka (systematic philosophy, very different from other schools). Pali is an Indo-Aryan language.
Nāṭya Śāstra (0 CE) is an encyclopedic Sanskrit book on the performing arts.
Lotus Sutra (100 CE).
Chinese guardian lion statues protect from evil spirits.
200 CE. Hindu synthesis of Brahmanism and local religious traditions, including Sramanic influences. Hinduism teaches the Puruṣārtha, the four goals of a good life: dharma (moral values), artha (economic prosperity), kama (love), and moksha (liberation and self-actualization). The Smriti are secondary Hindu texts in Sanskrit, including the Itihasas on mythological rulers and wars and philosophical treatises. The Mahabharata (c. 300 BC) contains the Bhagavad Gita. The Ramayana follows the life of Rama, who becomes king of Kosala. Ravana steals Rama’s wife Sita. Dharmasūtras and Dharmaśāstras.
319. Gupta Empire. The Jāti caste system emerges, including dalit (“untouchable”).
400. Meghaduta (“Cloud Messenger”) by Kalidasa.
400 Lushan Huiyuan founds Pure Land Buddhism and the Donglin Temple at the foot of 庐山. He also founds the first White Lotus Society which protests the Mongol Yuan dynasty’s rule, gets banned, and becomes a secret society.
400 CE Mahayana buddhism includes the majority of buddhists and follows the Mahayana sutras, some of which are not accepted by Theravada buddhism. Mahayana sutras include the Lotus Sutra and the prajnaparamita (“perfection of wisdom”). Mahayana focuses on the bodhisattva path and sees the arhat as lacking compassion towards others (bodhicitta).
495 Chan Buddhism 禅 (“meditation”) is a school of Mahayana founded at the Shaolin Monastery in Henan. The koan gong’an (“public cases”) develops from snippets of dialogue, commentary, and literary games.
1000 BC Zoroastrianism becomes the official religion of Achaemenid Persia. Ahura Mazda, god of the sky, will defeat the evil Ahriman and the daeva, false gods. Avesta religious texts include Yasna recitations.
300 Manichaeism sees the world as a dichotomy of good and evil.
622 Muhammad founds Islam and conquers Mecca from Medina. Ali is the fourth caliph.
Shia Islam follows Ali’s descendants, while Sunni Islam follows political dynasties. Disbelievers are kafir.
Djinn or genies are invisible or shapeshifting spirits. Ghouls are monsters with cloven feet. Ifrit are demons or dead spirits.
The Five Pillars of Islam are: Shahada creed that there is no god but Allah, salah prayer, zakat charity, sawm fasting. Hajj pilgrimage includes Talbiyah prayer. Prayer is towards the kabba and includes bowing with hands on knees, standing, prostrating and sitting. Muslims pray five times a day at Fajr (dawn), Dhuhr (noon), ʿAṣr (afternoon), Maghrib (evening), and ʿIshāʾ (night). Muslims wash hands, face and feet, known as wudu, before praying. Muslims fast during daylight hours during the holy month of Ramadan, avoiding food, drink, sex, and smoking. Ramadan ends with the Eid al-Fitr.
The hajj occurs on the last Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah and ends in the Eid al-Adha (feast of sacrifice). consists of wearing a pure unstitched ihram, walking counterclockwise seven times around the kaaba, kiss the black stone (Hajar al-Aswad) on the eastern corner, walk between the hills of Safa and Marwah seven times, drink from the Zamzam Well, stand vigil in the plains of Mount Arafat, spends a night in the plain of Muzdalifa, and hit three pillars in the Stoning of the Devil.
Tawhid is the oneness of God.
Sharia is Islamic law. Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Islamic jurists (ulama) interpret (ijtihad) the Quran and issue rulings (fatwa). There are four schools of thought (madhhab).
Holy sites
750 Sufism is ascetic, mystic Islam emphasizing love and personal experience of God. Whirling Dervishes perform devotional dance. Attar of Nishapur writes the mystic poem The Conference of the Birds (1177).
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