The Great Religions of the World

From the earliest times mankind has been aware of the transcendental power which governs and sustains the Universe. From the beginning mankind has hungered for knowledge of this Power and has longed for understanding. It is an inate need of all mankind. Development of the Idea of God through the centuries has brought forth a variety of creeds. When the world's great religions are examined we discover that all the various religions and creeds have more or less the same idea of God - though God, the Creative Power is called by many different names throughout the world, and the attributes of God are viewed from many different perspectives.

All religions have, with one voice, ascribed three fundamental qualities of God ---
They are: Omnipotence - all powerful; Omniscience - all knowing; and Omnipresence - presence in all things.

The primary tenet of all religions is that God is the perfect embodiment of Love, Grace and Compassion; is absolute perfection; and is the source of all creation. All creatures are God's children. That is the central truth of all the world's great religions. God is One, though the various religions personify and speak of God in many ways. Each religion is a revelation in its own way of this great truth, the Oneness of All Creation. GOD is not the monopoly of any particular creed or religion, as all share in this Oneness. In fact, GOD is not religion at all, GOD simply IS!

From this perspective, without God's Grace and Love nothing can exist and without God's Power nothing is done in this Creation. All the different religions, large and small, are various paths leading to the same goal -- an understanding of the morality and ethics of successful life, our relationship as individuals to God, and the afterlife when the physical body returns whence it came.

The central message of all religion is that in the diminishment of our Self-centeredness, our sense of Self-righteousness and Self-importance, our egocentricity, in service to our fellow man, we become less fearful of living and of dying. We become more loving and less defensive as we lift our eyes off ourselves and to the Creator, and are truly able to recognize and love our brothers as ourselves, experiencing a deeper sustained happiness and connectedness with the Creator and the details of life. We begin to understand the great Truth, "Life without the death of Self has no meaning.", and we find Life more Abundant.

In these times of uncertainty, and of an upwelling of the Hunger for Spiritual Understanding, the following links are given to enable the Seeker after Spiritual Truth to explore and understand the teachings of the World's great religions. They are by no means inclusive of all religions, nor of all links which might be explored. According to the Atlas of World Cultures (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1981), there were in 1971 at least 1,264 distinct cultures on the planet, and since the majority of these cultures are tribal with distinct forms of religious beliefs and practices, it is safe to say that a least a thousand different religions have survived into the twentieth century.

These links are merely a starting point for the Seeker. From here to his final destination the Seeker must find his Own Path. It is not an easy journey.

Major Religions

"Had the teachings of the messengers of Allah, such as Jesus Christ and Moses among the Jews and the Holy Prophet of Islam among the Muslims been realized the way they wished, the present, existing problems of human beings would have never existed." ... Ayatullah Khomeini (December 23, 1979)

Baha'i = http://www.bahaindex.com/ - a relative newcomer to the world faiths which attempts to integrate the Truth of all religions

Buddhism = http://www.buddhanet.net/

Christianity = http://www.crosssearch.com/

Confucianism =http://www.thespiritualsanctuary.org/Confucianism/Confucianism.html

Hinduism = http://www.hinduism.co.za/

Islam = http://www.islam.com/

Jainism = http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/jainhlinks.html

Judaism = http://shamash.org/trb/judaism.html

Shintoism = http://shinto.org/

Sikhism = http://www.sikhs.org

Taoism = http://www.taoism.net/

Zoroastrianism = http://www.avesta.org/

and Deism, the True Basis from which spring all of the World's Religions, "Revealed" and "Naturistic", as each Culture Seeks to Understand Creation, Morality and Ethics for Itself, "God as We Understand It" = http://www.barefootsworld.net/founding.html#paine

Aboriginal Resources

Native African Religions = http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/

Native American Religions = http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/6777/native.am.html

Native Australian Religions = http://www.geocities.com/frostburgpagan/aborigine.html

Folklore = http://solar-center.stanford.edu/folklore/folklore.html

Study Resources

In your seeking, work your way through all the auxiliary links on the above links -- very enlightening -- Be warned, you may get pissed off as you attempt to defend you ego and the absurdities of your own beliefs that you have picked up from the garbage dumps of others. Be willing with open mind to change -- Seek Truth and Spiritual Growth.

"Let him who seeks not cease until he finds, and when he finds he shall wonder; wondering he shall reign, and reigning shall rest." -- Gospel of Thomas 2

"When you are awake the dream is gone...
When you are Enlightened the 'world of illusion' is gone...
...and the TRUTH will make you FREE."

"There is no religion higher than TRUTH"

Have Fun on Your Journey of Seeking, May You Walk the Paths of LIFE
Happy, Joyous and FREE!

This page is dedicated to the Seekers of the World In Love and In Peace.

We Are In His Care Always
As We Trudge The Road To Happy Destiny
And leave our Footprints In The Sand of Time!!
Mizpah!!

Barefoot's World

This page created Dec 21, 1997 in the Spirit of Love and Peace

Three mighty important things, Pardn'r, LOVE And PEACE and a Personal HIGHER POWER