India - Vedic Religion (Hinduism). Later, Early Buddhism (Nikaya Buddhism), then Mahayana Buddhism (Great Vehicle Buddhism)
China - Confucianism, Daoism. Later, Mahayana Buddhism
Japan - Shinto. Later, Mahayana Buddhism
Mahayana Buddhism spreads from India - North to Tibet, Nepal, and Mongolia, East to China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam
Early Budddhism (Nikaya Buddhism) spreads from India - South to Sri Lanka, Southeast to Burma, Thailand (Myanmar), Cambodia
II. Class Foci:
1. Sacred Texts in translation: Central ideas and practices
2. Cultural factors and Historical Context: Gender, class, ethnicity,
gender relations, sexuality, and others
3. Orientation in Time: Linear historical versus other conceptions of
time: cyclical, momentary, timelessness
Also: Diverse religious traditions arising independently from one
another in time and space, e.g. Vedic Religion (Hinduism) in India,
Confucianism in China, Shinto in Japan
4. Logic: Aristotelian Syllogism versus Non-linear or Four-step Logic
(Sanskrit: Catus-koti)
Aristotelian, propositional (term) logic:
All Greeks are men
All men are mortal
__________________All Greeks are mortal
Tetralemma or Four-step Logic; Catus-koti:
A exists
A doesn't exist
A both exists and doesn't exist
A neither exists nor doesn't exist
_______________________________
No final propositional conclusion
5. Definition of Religion
God, The Holy, Sacred, Ultimate Concern, Ultimate Reality
Symbol, Myth, Ritual
Social and Institutional Structure