Eastern/Western religion - compare themes or aspects - Essay Example

emes existing within varied religions, but are also concerned about the direct impact of these themes on the civilizations within which the specific religions thrived and evolved. In that context, it will be really interesting to look for some single feature that is common to major Eastern and Western religions. Without tending to sound blasphemous, ‘God’ is a concept or theme that is common to most of the Eastern and Western religions. To deduce whether the Eastern and Western religions are basically different in their character or not, it will be worthwhile to analyze the concept of ‘God’ in Confucianism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam.

Confucianism though being a major Eastern religion is not very vociferous about the existence or concept of ‘God’. Realistically speaking, it would be safe to say that Confucianism has no God. It is more of a doctrine or a way of leading life, which gives apt importance to peace, love and natural harmony. Thus, a practitioner of Confucianism is practically free to follow any religion or religions, as long as their preaching seamlessly harmonize with the basic tenants of Confucianism. Confucianism abounds in many practices and rituals that it borrowed from the ancient Chinese traditions, which includes ancestor worship, literally deifying the spirits of ancient Chinese kings and Confucius, making elaborate sacrifices to the spirits of ancestors or to some abstract divine spirit that cannot be known by limited human intellect or wisdom.

The Confucian dogmas lay stress on maintaining absolute decorum and propriety. All the ceremonial rituals and beliefs are in fact meant to sanctify the indispensable social and celestial harmony. Hinduism is a very complex Eastern Religion that evolved over thousands of years. The peculiar thing about this religion is its predilection to adapt the concept of ‘God’ to be in consonance with multiple levels of human intellect and consciousness. Like most of the Western religions,