Home›Taboos›TraditionBrowse ByTraditionThis page groups beliefs by the school of thought that holds them. Wikipedia notes that "eliminativists about belief ... argue that there is no phenomenon in the natural world which corresponds to our folk psychological concept of belief," one named position among several. Browsing by tradition lets a visitor read every belief from one named school together.FactsLearn MoreTraditionSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThings a tradition holds must not be done or touched because danger inheres in the thing itself, as distinct from acts forbidden by a stated rule. The English word is a loan from Polynesian tapu, taken up by Cook's expedition in 1777 and generalised by nineteenth-century anthropology; Polynesian tapu, Jewish and Islamic purity law and Indian notions of pollution do not share a mechanism. 2OriginsWhose Classification This IsWell-attestedThe generalisation of Polynesian tapu into a comparative category was the work of nineteenth-century anthropology - Robertson Smith, Frazer and Freud above all - and Franz Steiner's Oxford lectures, published in 1956, are the standard critique of it. 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedBeliefs & Restrictions 1StatusStanding as a Comparative CategoryWell-attestedUsed, but its validity as a comparative category is disputed 2Learn MoreThe Taboos This small group holds a taboo, a strict prohibition on contact with, or action toward, something set apart as sacred or dangerous, whose violation is held to bring pollution or harm. The concept, named from a Polynesian word, is found across the world's traditions. The browser will find the taboo the atlas classes here. The entry describes it in its own terms, noting the tradition in which it holds.TraditionFilter Results11 entriesAdherents Today MinimumAll6,630,000 (1)Bankruptcy FilingsAll1 (1)Basis of the Membership FigureAllChurch-Reported Rolls (2)Independent Survey (1)Basis of the Wealth FigureAllAudited Annual Report (1)Date of Separation End YearAll1966 (1)Date of Separation Start YearAll1966 (1)Defining Doctrinal PositionAllA perfected, deathless body attained through hatha yoga (1)Achintya bhedabheda: inconceivable oneness and difference (1)Achintya bhedabheda: inconceivable oneness and difference (1)Advaita: the self and Brahman are not different (1)Five deities worshipped as forms of one Brahman (1)Shiva as the supreme reality (1)Shiva as the supreme reality (2)The Goddess as the supreme reality (1)The Goddess as the supreme reality (1)Vishishtadvaita: non-duality qualified by real distinctions (1)Vishnu as the supreme reality (2)GovernanceAllA single central governing body over the whole movement (1)Authority in a living teacher and their succession (5)Authority in monastic seats (mathas) and their heads (4)Authority through monastic ordination lineage and its seats (1)No central authority (4)How the Expectation Is EnforcedAllCustomary Norm (1)Liturgical LanguageAllSanskrit (10)The vernacular (6)Membership Figure As OfAll2015-01-01 (1)2019-01-01 (1)2019-07-03 (1)OrdinationAllAuthority conferred by initiation rather than by ordination (6)Office passes by descent (6)Open to women and men (1)Restricted to men (4)Varies between provinces or member bodies (1)Origin Period End YearAll600 (1)900 (2)1137 (1)1200 (3)1300 (1)1534 (1)1966 (1)Origin Period Start YearAll800 BCE (1)200 BCE (1)400 (1)700 (1)800 (1)900 (2)1000 (1)1100 (1)1486 (1)1965 (1)Position on SexualityAllSame-sex orientation or practice is held to bar full membership or participation (1)Settlement TotalAll9,500,000 (1)Status TodayAllLiving tradition, practised today (11)Traditional CountAllTen Mahavidyas, the ten great wisdoms (1)Wealth Figure As Of YearAll2024 (1)Show ResultsBrowseCompareGaudiya VaishnavismTradition1 entryISKCON (Hare Krishna)Tradition1 entryKashmir ShaivismTradition1 entryLingayatismTradition1 entryNath SampradayaTradition1 entryShaivismTradition1 entryShaktismTradition1 entryShri VidyaTradition1 entrySmartismTradition1 entrySri VaishnavismTradition1 entryVaishnavismTradition1 entrySources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Tabootier 1Franz Steiner; edited by Laura Bohannan, preface by E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Cohen and West, 1956Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.