A review of “Confucianism and Taoism” (audiobook)

“Citizens of the People’s Republic of China shall enjoy freedom of religious belief. No state organ, social organization or individual shall coerce citizens to believe in or not to believe in any religion, nor shall they discriminate against citizens who believe in or do not believe in any religion. The state shall protect normal [but, apparently, only “normal”] religious activities.” 

– Chapter II, Article 36 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (ratified 1954)

In communist China, Chairman Mao persecuted both the Confucian and Taoist religions. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China pays lip service to “freedom of religious belief.” But, in practice, freedom of religion is actually quite limited there. This may be why it’s hard to come up with reliable statistics for the relative size of the country’s religions. In fairness, persecution of both the Confucian and Taoist faiths in China predates the communist revolution there. But this persecution went into high gear, when Mao took over the mainland of China in 1949. The government of the older “Republic of China” then retreated to the nearby island of Taiwan. Taiwan is a much freer country today. Thus, it’s easier to see the influence of the “Chinese folk religions” there, as they are now called, in the country’s demographics.

A review of “Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Chinese Philosophy” (audiobook)

In the West, Confucius may be the most admired of all of the Eastern philosophers. When Westerners are asked to give the name of a non-Western philosopher, Confucius is probably the one that would most often be cited. There has long been some debate in the West, surrounding whether Confucianism is a “philosophy” or a “religion.” Similar debates apply with Taoism – or “Daoism,” as they pronounce it here. Regardless, I might mention that this company (Knowledge Products) actually did another audiobook on this same subject. Specifically, it was called “Confucianism and Taoism.” But, to me, “Confucianism and Taoism” seemed to focus more on the two belief systems as religions. By contrast, this audiobook (“Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Chinese Philosophy”) seemed to be approaching both belief systems from a philosophical perspective. And, in many noticeable ways, they were trying to capture the richness of Chinese philosophy.

Jainism and Sikhism: Two of the minority religions of India

“The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.”

– Part III, Article 15 of the current Constitution of India – which came into force in the year 1950

India has one billion people. Thus, even the country’s minority religions can be big ones …

India has more than one billion people. Some even believe that it may have overtaken China as the most populous nation in the world. If not, it is easily still the second most populous. Thus, even the country’s minority religions can be big ones today. Hinduism, as you may know, is the largest religion in India today. Nearly 80% of the country are Hindus, according to an Indian census in 2011. The second largest religion in India today, as it turns out, is Islam. Nearly 15% of the country are Muslims. It would probably be even more, if you were to include nearby Pakistan and Bangladesh – both of which were once parts of British India, along with what is today “India.” If you do the math, these two religions alone would thus account for more than 90% of the current population of India. But what about the rest of the country? The third largest religion there is Christianity, with roughly 2% of the country. The influence of prior British colonization may help to explain this Christian segment somewhat. But here, I will be focusing on two lesser-known religions, whose very names are often unknown to many of my fellow Americans. Thus, in the interest of education, I would like to focus on Jainism and Sikhism, two of the important minority religions of India. I will start here by talking about Jainism.

Guru Nanak explaining Sikh teachings to Sadhus

A review of David Grubin's “The Buddha: The Story of Siddhartha” (PBS)

For practicing Buddhists, Siddhartha Gautama was just the first Buddha …

At the time I write this, I have watched eight other films by David Grubin – and I am a fan of all of them. These include Marie Antoinette, Napoleon, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, FDR, Truman, LBJ, and RFK (a lot of initials there). Every film on this particular list is a biography, and David Grubin is very good at making them. But as you may have noticed, all of these other biographies are about Western individuals; and few of his films cover more Eastern topics. As far as I know, this was his first foray into Asian history; but seems to have been a good one despite this lack of prior experience with the region. It is a good introduction to understanding Buddhism, because it examines the life of Siddhartha Gautama, the man whom Buddhists revere as the first “Buddha.” In the Buddhist religion, any good person can become a “Buddha”; so he is only held to be the first of them. Nonetheless, there’s a reason that most people think of Siddhartha Gautama when they hear a phrase like “the Buddha.” He was the founder of the religion, and one of the world's great religious leaders.