Bön vs. Confucianism
As the world revolved, landscapes changed, and humans traversed lands, the religious or spiritual aspect of life became imminent. The expansion and influence of religion or spiritual system created diversity within cultures, lands, and societies. Tribes or primitive groups of people started with spiritual beliefs were the forces and entities of Earth played a big part in people’s lives. Eventually, with the advancement of societies, humans began adapting prominent religious sanctities and factions. As a result, large institutionalized religions started to organize with its believers creating a community under a faith. One example of a small traditional religious or spiritual system is Bön, while one example of a large institutionalized …show more content…
As mentioned before, Bönpos conduct varying rituals and rites, such as funeral, divination, healing, ransom, etc. For instance, according to Changing World Religions, Cults & Occult by Jerry Stokes, “Bön rituals include, iconography, and meditation on peaceful and wrathful deities.” This means that Bön rituals specifically are ideological, as means of performing rites to control sentiments and values of society; religious, as to use religious iconography to appease deities; and revitalization, as to conjure out malevolent spirits. Stokes added that these rituals are included in a collection of excerpts called “the Nine Ways of Bön”. The Nine Ways of Bön include: the Way of Prediction, which includes astrology, ritual, and prognostication; the Way of the Visual World, which explains the psychological universe; the Way of Illusion, which performs rites for dispersing adverse forces; the Way of Existence, which performs funeral and death rituals; the Way of a Lay Follower, which guides those who follow this path; the Way of a Monk, which provides rules of monastic discipline; the Way of Primordial Sound, which utilizes ritual on an exalted practitioner to transcend to the highest enlightenment; the Way of Primordial Shen, which shows matters of practice and behavior; and lastly, …show more content…
By origins, Bön established that the world and humans were created in tandem of the good and evil principles (Leeming, pg. 70). As was mentioned before, Bön and their creation myth have varying versions that ultimately relate back to the coexistence of the good and the bad. Meanwhile, Confucianism does not have a unique creation story due to it being a philosophy; however, through human actions, good and bad things will happen accordingly. Both religions note that humans are to gain enlightenment, and at the same time, fulfill their role in society with honor, loyalty, and modesty. Bön and its followers uses “the Nine Ways of Bön” to fully understand and live the purpose they are given. While, Confucianism would submit to meditation to pave way to self-actualization and eventually enlightenment. When it comes to the topic of death or afterlife, both religions have varying answers. For Bön, the topic of afterlife and death itself is as relevant as the rituals and rites they perform for it. For instance, in the book Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism by John Powers, Powers describes funeral rites or death ritual involved for a dead to transcend into reincarnation. “The rituals of the bon often involved sacrificing animals, mainly horses, yaks, and sheep, making offerings of food and drink, and burying the dead with precious jewels, the benefits of which were apparently
As the world revolved, landscapes changed, and humans traversed lands, the religious or spiritual aspect of life became imminent. The expansion and influence of religion or spiritual system created diversity within cultures, lands, and societies. Tribes or primitive groups of people started with spiritual beliefs were the forces and entities of Earth played a big part in people’s lives. Eventually, with the advancement of societies, humans began adapting prominent religious sanctities and factions. As a result, large institutionalized religions started to organize with its believers creating a community under a faith. One example of a small traditional religious or spiritual system is Bön, while one example of a large institutionalized …show more content…
As mentioned before, Bönpos conduct varying rituals and rites, such as funeral, divination, healing, ransom, etc. For instance, according to Changing World Religions, Cults & Occult by Jerry Stokes, “Bön rituals include, iconography, and meditation on peaceful and wrathful deities.” This means that Bön rituals specifically are ideological, as means of performing rites to control sentiments and values of society; religious, as to use religious iconography to appease deities; and revitalization, as to conjure out malevolent spirits. Stokes added that these rituals are included in a collection of excerpts called “the Nine Ways of Bön”. The Nine Ways of Bön include: the Way of Prediction, which includes astrology, ritual, and prognostication; the Way of the Visual World, which explains the psychological universe; the Way of Illusion, which performs rites for dispersing adverse forces; the Way of Existence, which performs funeral and death rituals; the Way of a Lay Follower, which guides those who follow this path; the Way of a Monk, which provides rules of monastic discipline; the Way of Primordial Sound, which utilizes ritual on an exalted practitioner to transcend to the highest enlightenment; the Way of Primordial Shen, which shows matters of practice and behavior; and lastly, …show more content…
By origins, Bön established that the world and humans were created in tandem of the good and evil principles (Leeming, pg. 70). As was mentioned before, Bön and their creation myth have varying versions that ultimately relate back to the coexistence of the good and the bad. Meanwhile, Confucianism does not have a unique creation story due to it being a philosophy; however, through human actions, good and bad things will happen accordingly. Both religions note that humans are to gain enlightenment, and at the same time, fulfill their role in society with honor, loyalty, and modesty. Bön and its followers uses “the Nine Ways of Bön” to fully understand and live the purpose they are given. While, Confucianism would submit to meditation to pave way to self-actualization and eventually enlightenment. When it comes to the topic of death or afterlife, both religions have varying answers. For Bön, the topic of afterlife and death itself is as relevant as the rituals and rites they perform for it. For instance, in the book Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism by John Powers, Powers describes funeral rites or death ritual involved for a dead to transcend into reincarnation. “The rituals of the bon often involved sacrificing animals, mainly horses, yaks, and sheep, making offerings of food and drink, and burying the dead with precious jewels, the benefits of which were apparently