Has anybody ever studied the history of world religions? I read a magazine article recently that made me want to further research some stuff. There was this thing in Mental Floss Magazine that discussed the 7 stories that shaped world religion… kind of like myths or history stories. Let me know if you have more information on any of them:
the woman who fell from the sky - iroquois
the Popol vuh - mayan
the bhagavad gita - hindu
the dhammapada - buddhist
the tao te ching - taoist
the tibetan book of the dead
7)… well i don’t remember the seventh one
Where’s any mention of Judaism/Christianity/Islam? I mean, Bhagavad Gita is the only oe which could have affected them. Well, theoretically Tao Te Ching and Bok of the dead, too, but it isn’t likely.
Tao Te Ching (an excellent read, but more philosophical then religious, IMHO), was thought to be based on the Toa-chia, developed ~600 BC - 200 BC, and I believe that Judaism is rather older then that.
I minored in religion, and have taken quite a few “world religion” (by which I mean religions other than Christianity) classes. I think the list that the magazine offered is pretty general and generic.
For example, the Upanishads are way more important to the development of modern hinduism than the bhagavad gita. the upanishads (the last book of the vedas) is where you first learn about karma, dharma, samsara, moksha, reincarnation- all the big hindu ideas.
Just to pipe in on the Tao Te Ching thing. It is my favorite religious text, and it is great because it does not necessitate a belief in god. It is more philosophical than religious in that sense, as someone noted earlier.
How good it is really depends on the translation, though. I recommend the “Tao of Pooh” and “Te of Piglet” for anyone interested in Taoism. I have two translations of the Tao Te Ching, and my favorite is called “The Way of Life” (a rough translation of ‘tao te ching’) by Lao Tzu (the author of the text and founder of Taoism) as translated by Witter Bynner.