This page groups religions by whether they are open to anyone who wishes to join or reserved for a closely defined community. Wikipedia notes that while some religions claim to be universal, "others are intended to be practiced only by a closely defined or localized group." Browsing this way separates missionary faiths that actively seek converts from traditions that restrict who may take part.
Facts
Status
Standing as a Comparative CategoryContested: Dharmic is a modern cover term, and dharma does not carry the same sense in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain usage. The family resemblance is real; the shared word conceals as much as it shows. 2 Overview
What Defines This GroupingTraditions of Indian origin sharing the vocabulary of dharma - the order of things and the conduct proper to it - together with karma, rebirth, and release from the cycle of rebirth as the goal. 2 Learn More
The Dharmic Traditions
This group holds religions of Dharmic classification, the family of traditions that arose in the Indian subcontinent and share the vocabulary of dharma (cosmic and moral order), karma (the moral law of action), and rebirth, with liberation from the cycle of rebirth as the ultimate goal.
The browser will find the Indian-origin religions grouped here by this shared framework. The entries describe each in its own terms; other classification tabs separate the Dharmic traditions further by their stance on the divine, polytheistic, monotheistic or nontheistic.
Closed Practice Status
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005s.v. DharmaView the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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