Old Religions

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ORIGINS: - ancient Persia, polytheistic - Zoroaster (1700- 600 BCE) believed polytheism not meeting needs of people - went off to meditate on his own - early attempt at conversion failed but by his death at 77 - received revelation: universe ruled by one god “Ahura Mazda” BELIEFS - Ahura Mazda governing Lord of the Universe - main rival Angra Mainyu (similar power & represents evil) - battle between good and evil over 12,000 years - Ahura Mazda has upper hand and is slightly more powerful - belief significant: parallels battle between good and evil in everyone SYMBOLS - Darkhamas are important symbols in the Zoroastrianism - They are around, open-air structures with high walls were the deceased body of Zoroastrian is placed - Another symbol is the sudreh, a white undershirt with a symbolic bag to gather good deeds - it is worn by the body after death SACRED WRITINGS Arestan Scriptures: combination of hymns, laws, prayers, theological teachings CULTURAL IMPACT - India & Iran: 140, 000 in the world today - North America: 12,000 - Toronto: 4,000 - Historical Contributions: concepts of life after death, final judgment, redemption, Satan as God’s rival, may have influenced Monotheism in Judaism Jainism ORIGINS - Vardhamana Mahavira was born in the northern part of India and lived between the y years 599 and 627 BCE - he was the founder of Jainism and as he grew up he became more of a believer in non- violence - were Vardhamana Mahavira grew up the main religion was Hinduism - he felt the religion Hinduism was good but a few changes should be made BELIEFS - the main beliefs in Jainism are karma, non-violence, truthfulness, no stealing, sexual purity and non-possession - people who follow this religion believe that you should treat others how you would like to be treated - they also believe that every living thing on earth has a soul SYMBOLS - the main symbol in Jainism is Sellekhana - Sellekhana is suicide by voluntary starvation - they do not believe in suicide - it’s only done by nuns and monks and it’s a sacred holy practice SACRED WRITINGS - Jains believe in two sacred writings such as the sky-clad and the white-clad also known as the Digambaras and the Svetambaras CULTURAL IMPACT - there are around 4 million Jains throughout the world - many of the people who follow Jainism live in India, Canada, and the United Kingdom - people believe Jainism influenced Mohandas Gandhi and his teaching...