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| Eastern spirituality | |
|---|---|
| Name | Eastern spirituality |
| Region | Asia |
| Major traditions | Hinduism; Buddhism; Taoism; Confucianism; Jainism; Sikhism; Shinto; Zen; Tantra |
Eastern spirituality is an umbrella term referring to religious, philosophical, and meditative systems that originated in Asia and emphasize transcendence, inner transformation, and techniques for altered states of consciousness. It encompasses diverse lineages, scriptures, monastic institutions, and lay movements that influenced societies from the Indian subcontinent to East Asia and Southeast Asia. Scholars, practitioners, and institutions across history — from royal courts to monastic universities — have shaped its doctrines and practices.
Scholars classify traditions through comparative approaches developed at institutions such as University of Oxford, University of Vienna, University of Chicago, Harvard University, Columbia University, and University of Cambridge; prominent figures in the field include Max Müller, Wilhelm Halbfass, Mircea Eliade, Ananda Coomaraswamy, and Graham Harvey. Major canonical texts studied include the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Vedas, Tao Te Ching, Zhuangzi, Analects, Dhammapada, Tipitaka, Agamas, and Guru Granth Sahib. Institutions preserving lineages include Nalanda University, Takshashila, Shaolin Monastery, Koyasan, Nishi Honganji, Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, and Amaravati (Buddhist site). Academic debates engage names like E. J. Thomas, A. K. Coomaraswamy, Thomas McEvilley, and Romila Thapar.
Origins trace to Bronze Age and Iron Age South Asia connected to cultures in the Indus Valley Civilization, interactions along the Silk Road, and exchanges with Central Asian polities like the Kushan Empire and Maurya Empire. Development proceeded through eras involving figures and movements such as Siddhartha Gautama, Mahavira, Adi Shankara, Ashoka, Ashvaghosha, Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, Bodhidharma, Huineng, Zhu Xi, Laozi, Confucius, Kabir, and Guru Nanak. Transmission involved landmark events and sites including the Council of Chalcedon-era contacts no, correction—cross-cultural missionary activity like the missions during the Gupta Empire, medieval pilgrimages to Varanasi, the spread under the Tang dynasty, and maritime trade networks linking Srivijaya and Majapahit. Colonial encounters with British Raj, Tokugawa shogunate, and contacts with Portuguese India and Dutch East India Company influenced reinterpretation and revival movements led by figures like Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Dayananda Saraswati, Meiji Restoration-era reforms, and Kukai.
Prominent schools include Advaita Vedanta, Visishtadvaita, Dvaita Vedanta, Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, Zen Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism, Nichiren Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism, Jainism, Sikhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto. Subtraditions and orders feature Rinzai, Soto, Gelug, Kagyu, Nyingma, Soto Zen, Shingon, Tendai, Jodo Shinshu, Nichiren Shu, ISKCON, Ramakrishna Order, Arya Samaj, and Brahmo Samaj. Lineages associated with teachers include Patrul Rinpoche, Dalai Lama, Karmapa, Hakuin Ekaku, Dogen Zenji, Rumi—note: Rumi is linked to Persian Sufism rather than Asian lineages—scholars also study interactions with Sufism, Christian monasticism, and movements like Theosophical Society.
Core doctrines revolve around notions found in texts and teachers such as karma, discussed in the Bhagavata Purana and Manusmriti; dharma as elaborated by Yajnavalkya and Manu; moksha in Upanishads; nirvana in the Pali Canon; emptiness taught by Nagarjuna; qi as in Huangdi Neijing and Zhuangzi; wu wei from Tao Te Ching; and ren from Analects. Practices include meditation systems recorded in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and ritual manuals of Tantric text lineages; devotional bhakti centered on deities described in the Ramayana and Mahabharata; monastic rules preserved by councils like the First Buddhist Council and prescriptions in Vinaya Pitaka. Techniques trace to teachers such as Patanjali, Bodhidharma, Huineng, Lama Tsongkhapa, and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
Ritual repertoires appear in temple complexes like Angkor Wat, Brihadeeswarar Temple, Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Golden Temple (Amritsar), Borobudur, Todaiji, and Meiji Shrine. Devotional movements include bhakti traditions around saints like Tulsidas, Surdas, Mirabai, Ravidas, Ramanuja, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu; Sects such as Aghori practices and tantric lineages with texts like the Kularnava Tantra; Shinto rituals codified at Ise Grand Shrine; Sikh practices centered on Guru Granth Sahib and institutions like Akal Takht. Ethical teachings derive from exemplars including Ashoka’s edicts, Confucius’s teachings at Qufu, Mahavira’s tirthankara tradition, and Buddhist precepts transmitted in sites like Sarnath.
Eastern spiritual themes shaped monumental works and artists across regions: sculpture at Ajanta Caves and Ellora Caves, murals of Sigiriya, gardens like Ryoan-ji, poetry by Kalidasa, Li Bai, Du Fu, Basho, Kabir’s couplets, and philosophical literature such as Shobogenzo and Tattvartha Sutra. Courtly patronage under dynasties including the Gupta Empire, Chola dynasty, Tang dynasty, Song dynasty, Ming dynasty, Silla kingdom, and Heian period fostered iconography preserved in museums like British Museum, Louvre, and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Social reforms and law were influenced by movements such as Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Bhakti movement, and leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, B. R. Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Mao Zedong responding to spiritual discourse.
Global spread accelerated via figures and organizations including Swami Vivekananda at the Parliament of the World's Religions, Paramahansa Yogananda and the Self-Realization Fellowship, Sri Aurobindo and Auroville, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Sathya Sai Baba, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Transcendental Meditation, Thich Nhat Hanh, Dalai Lama, Chögyam Trungpa, Tarthang Tulku, Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle—note: Tolle is a contemporary writer influenced by multiple streams—and movements like New Age movement, Theosophical Society, Beat Generation interactions with Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, yoga commercialization through companies and festivals, university programs at SOAS, Harvard Divinity School, and legal-cultural encounters such as court cases in the United States, debates in European Court of Human Rights, and policy discussions in India. Contemporary scholarship engages digitization of manuscripts from Sanskrit Library Project initiatives, preservation at UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and intercultural dialogues at forums like United Nations events.