52 



INTRODUCTION. 



Brahma and Vishnu. 



6. Brahmanism Brahmanism recognises the existence of a supreme intellig-'< ce, Brahm, 



but teaches, that he governs the world through 

 the medium of numerous subordinate deities. 

 The principal of these are Brahma, the Crea- 

 tor, who presides over the land ; Vishnu, the 

 Preserver, presiding over water ; and Siva, 

 the Destroyer, who presides over fire ; these 

 three persons are, however, but one God, and 

 form the Trimourti or Hindoo Trinity. The 

 Hindoos, who profess this faith, have several 

 sacred books, called Vedas, written in San- 

 scrit, and forming their code of religion and 

 philosophy ; they teach the metempsychosis 

 or transmigration of souls, and the immortality 

 of the soul, and prescribe a great number of 

 fasts, penances, and rites. Pilgrimages, vol- 

 untary death, self-torment, ablutions, &c. are 

 practised, and the females of the two higher 

 castes are required to burn themselves on the 

 dead bodies of their husbands. 



7. Buddhism. Buddhism resembles Brahmanism in many points ; it is the prevailing religion 

 in Thibet, Ceylon, the Birman empire, and Annam ; and is professed by a portion of the peo- 

 ple of China, Corea, and Japan. Buddhism teaches, that the universe is inhabited by several 

 classes of existences, partly material and partly spiritual, which rise by successive transmigra- 

 tions to higher degrees of being, until they arrive at a purely spiritual existence, when they are 

 termed Buddhas. These holy beings descend from time to time upon earth in a human form, 

 to preserve the true doctrine among men ; four Buddhas have already appeared, the last under 

 the name of Shigemooni or Godama. 



8. JS'anekism. Nanekism, or the religion of the Seiks, founded by Nanek in the fifteenth 

 century, is a mixture of Mohammedanism and Brahmanism. The Seiks adore one God, be- 

 lieve in future rewards and punishments, and reject the use of images as objects of worship ; 

 they receive the Vedas and the Koran, as sacred books, but think that the Hindoos have cor- 

 rupted their religious system by the use of idols. 



9. Doctrines of Confucius. The Doctrine of the Learned, or the Religion of Confucius, 

 is the received religion of the educated classes of China, Annam, and Japan ; it uses no ima- 

 ges, and has no priests, the ceremonies being performed by the civil magistrates. The rites, 

 such as the worship of the heavens, stars, mountains, and rivers, genii, and souls of the depart- 

 ed, are esteemed merely civil institutions. 



10. JVIagianism. Magianism or the Religion of Zoroaster, teaches the existence of a su- 

 preme being, Zervan or the Eternal, subordinate to whom are Ormuzd, the principle of good, 

 and Ahriman, the principle of evil, who wage a perpetual warfare ; numerous inferior deities 

 and genii take part in the struggle, in which Ormuzd will finally prevail. The sacred books of 

 he Magians are called the Zendavesta. The ceremonies consist chiefly in purifications, ablu- 

 tions, and other rites, performed in the presence of the sacred fire, the symbol of the primeval 

 'ife ; hence the Magians are erroneously called fire-worshippers. 



11. The number of the adherents of each religious system have been estimated as follows : 



Christianity. 



Roman Catholics 

 Greek Catholics 

 Protestants 



139,000,000 

 62,000,000 

 59,000,000 



Total. 260,000,000 



Judaism 



Mohammedanism 

 Brahmanism 

 Buddhism 

 Other Religions 



4,n00,000 

 96,000,000 

 60,000,000 

 170,000,000 

 147,000,000 



