This page groups religions by how they conceive of the divine, since traditions disagree sharply about whether there is one god, many, or none in the usual sense. Wikipedia notes that Hinduism's many deities, "Deva (masculine) and Devi (feminine)," are often understood as aspects of "the same Ultimate Reality called Brahman," a very different picture from the strict monotheism of the Abrahamic faiths. Browsing by conception of the divine lets a visitor compare how differently two religions answer the same basic question.
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.
Conception of the Divine
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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