"0.3% of its population identifying as Buddhist, Libya has the largest proportion of Buddhists of any North African country. Many Buddhists are immigrants from Asia. However, there are no Buddhist pagodas or temples in Libya. There are very few Hindus, mainly went from India for working there. Around 15-16 Thousand Hindus resided till 2011. But when war break out, many returned to India. Religion in Libya Sunni Islam of Maliki school of jurisprudence is the dominant religion in Libya. Other than the overwhelming majority of Sunni Muslims, there are also small Christian communities, composed exclusively of foreigners. Coptic Orthodox Christianity,"
"The 9th and 8th centuries BCE witnessed the composition of the earliest Upanishads with such ideas. Other ancient Principal Upanishads were composed in the centuries that followed, forming the foundation of classical Hinduism and the Vedanta (conclusion of the Veda) literature. Increasing urbanisation of India between 800 and 400 BCE, and possibly the spread of urban diseases, contributed to the rise of ascetic movements and of new ideas which challenged the orthodox Brahmanism. These ideas led to Sramana movements, of which Mahavira (c. 549–477 BCE), proponent of Jainism, and Buddha (c. 563-483), founder of Buddhism, were the most prominent icons."
"between 1800 and 1500 B.C. The religion of the Indo-Aryans was a regional variant of Indo-European practices, called either Vedism or Brahmanism. Unlike the peaceful agrarians of the Indus Valley, these people were rough cattle herders. As they acquired political and military power, their religion became classical Hinduism. While it is doubtful whether the office of priest (Brahmana) was hereditary among the early Indo-Aryans, by the time the Buddha taught, only members of the Brahmin caste (varna) could become priests. It was considered a personal honor to worship. Buddhism later branched off from that same stock, which grew and flourished"
"century BC. Over time, a great variety of religions developed around the world, with some of the earliest major ones being Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism in India, and Zoroastrianism in Persia. The Abrahamic religions trace their origin to Judaism, around 1800 BC. The ancient Indian philosophy is a fusion of two ancient traditions: Sramana tradition and Vedic tradition. Indian philosophy begins with the ""Vedas"" where questions related to laws of nature, the origin of the universe and the place of man in it are asked. Jainism and Buddhism are continuation of the Sramana school of thought. The Sramanas cultivated a"
"religious ideas of Indo-Europeans who migrated into the Indus River valley region of the subcontinent, whose religion relied on the Vedic corpus including the early Upanishads. Brahmanism, according to Heesterman, refers to the religion that had expanded to a region stretching from the northwest subcontinent to the Ganges valley. Brahmanism included the Vedic corpus and non-Vedic literature such as the ""Dharmasutras"" and ""Dharmasastras"", and was the version of ancient Hinduism that gave prominence to the priestly (Brahmin) class of the society. According to the ""Encyclopædia Britannica"", Brahmanism refers to both the predominant position of the priests (Brahmans) and the importance"
"Brahmanism is related to the metaphysical concept of Brahman that developed during the Vedic era. The concept of Brahman is posited as that which existed before the creation of the universe, which constitutes all of existence thereafter, and into which the universe will dissolve into, followed by similar endless creation-maintenance-destruction cycles. According to Indologist Jan Heesterman, the terms Vedism and Brahmanism are ""somewhat imprecise terms"". They refer to ancient forms of Hinduism based on the ideologies found in its early literary corpus. Vedism refers to the oldest version, states Heesterman, and it was older than Brahmanism. Vedism refers to the"
"religious practices and beliefs were reassessed. The brahmins and the rituals they performed no longer enjoyed the same prestige they had in the Vedic period"". According to Muesse, some of the fundamental concepts of Hinduism, namely karma, reincarnation and ""personal enlightenment and transformation"", which did not exist in the Vedic religion, developed between 800 BCE and 200 BCE: Some scholars consider the term Brahmanism as synonymous with Hinduism and use it interchangeably. Others consider them different, and that the transition from ancient Brahmanism into schools of Hinduism that emerged later as a form of evolution, one that preserved many of"
"CE. Historically, the roots of Buddhism lie in the religious thought of Iron Age India around the middle of the first millennium BCE. This was a period of great intellectual ferment and socio-cultural change known as the ""Second urbanisation"", marked by the composition of the Upanishads and the historical emergence of the Sramanic traditions. New ideas developed both in the Vedic tradition in the form of the Upanishads, and outside of the Vedic tradition through the Śramaṇa movements. The term Śramaṇa refers to several Indian religious movements parallel to but separate from the historical Vedic religion, including Buddhism, Jainism and"
"a separate stage of Vedic Sanskrit, younger than the text of the samhitas (the ""mantra"" texts of the Vedas proper), ca. 1000 BCE, but for the most part are older than the text of the Sutras. As with the whole of Vedic literature, no dating more precise than within a few centuries is possible. The Brahmanas as a whole are generally placed in the first half of the 1st millennium BCE, with the oldest parts perhaps dating to about 900 BCE, and the youngest Brahmanas (such as the Shatapatha Brahmana), may date to the 7th or 6th century BCE. According"
"one – or ""ima-koko"" – now-here). The Buddha grew up around 500 B.C.E. in a time of great political and spiritual upheaval. The brahmanas, the spiritual orthodoxy, followed the teachings of the Vedas (written in the ninth century B.C.E.) and the Upanishads (compiled from around the seventh century B.C.E.). Ritual and offering were central to their beliefs, and these could only be performed by the spiritual caste, the Brahmins. The ritual act of making offerings was even, at times, venerated even more than the gods themselves, and as a consequence the Brahmins became very powerful and secretive. A number of"
"with the Vedic religion. These indigenous religions ""eventually found a place under the broad mantle of the Vedic religion"". When Brahmanism was declining and had to compete with Buddhism and Jainism, the popular religions had the opportunity to assert themselves. According to Embree, According to Larson, the Brahmins responded with assimilation and consolidation. This is reflected in the ""smriti"" literature which took shape in this period. The ""smriti"" texts of the period between 200 BCE-100 CE proclaim the authority of the Vedas, and acceptance of the Vedas became a central criterium for defining Hinduism over and against the heterodoxies, which"
"approximation of c. 1700–1100 BCE has also been given. The first half of the 1st millennium BCE was a period of great intellectual and social-cultural ferment in ancient India. New ideas developed both in the Vedic tradition in the form of the Upanishads, and outside of the Vedic tradition through the Śramaṇa movements. For example, prior to the birth of the Buddha and the Mahavira, and related Sramana movements, the Brahmanical tradition had questioned the meaning and efficacy of Vedic rituals, then internalized and variously reinterpreted the Vedic fire rituals as ethical concepts such as Truth, Rite, Tranquility or Restraint."
"to Jan Gonda, the final codification of the four Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and early Upanishads took place in pre-Buddhist times (ca. 600 BCE). Erdosy suggests that the later Brahmanas were composed during a period of urbanisation and considerable social change. This period also saw significant developments in mathematics, geometry, biology and grammar. Each Brahmana is associated with one of the four Vedas, and within the tradition of that Veda with a particular shakha or school: Keith has published his translation of Aitereya Brahmana, and the Kaushitaki Brahmana. Brahmana The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , ""Brāhmaṇam"") are a collection of ancient Indian"
"Bhakti movement in South Asia in the 2nd millennium CE. Key texts in Vaishnavism include the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Pancaratra (Agama) texts and the Bhagavata Purana. Vaishnavism originates in the latest centuries BCE and the early centuries CE, as an amalgam of the heroic Krishna Vasudeva, the ""divine child"" Bala Krishna of the Gopala traditions, and syncretism of these non-Vedic traditions with the Mahabharata canon, thus affiliating itself with Vedism in order to become acceptable to the orthodox establishment. Krishnaism becomes associated with bhakti yoga in the medieval period. Although ""Vishnu"" was a Vedic solar deity,"
"BCE. According to Jan Gonda, the final codification of the four Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and early Upanishads took place in pre-Buddhist times (ca. 600 BCE). The Brahmana are a layer of texts in Vedic Sanskrit embedded within each Veda, and form a part of the ""śruti"" literature of Hinduism. They are primarily a digest incorporating mythology and Vedic rituals and in some cases speculations about natural phenomenon or philosophy. The ""Brahmanas"" layer of Vedic literature contain the exposition of the Vedic rites and rituals. For example, the first chapter of the Chandogya Brahmana, one of the oldest Brahmanas, includes eight"
"he is mentioned less often compared to Agni, Indra, and other Vedic deities, thereby suggesting that he had a minor position in the Vedic religion. Other scholars state that there are other Vedic deities, such as water deity Nara (also mentioned as Narayana-Purusha in the Brahmanas layer of the Vedas), who together form the historical roots of Vaishnavism. In the late-Vedic texts (~1000 to 500 BCE), the concept of a metaphysical Brahman grows in prominence, and the Vaishnavism tradition considered Vishnu to be identical to Brahman, just like Shaivism and Shaktism consider Shiva and Devi to be Brahman respectively. The"
"Vaishnavism include the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Pancaratra (Agama) texts and the Bhagavata Purana. An estimated 200 million Vaishnavas live in India. Although Vishnu was a Vedic solar deity, he is mentioned less often compared to Agni, Indra and other Vedic deities, thereby suggesting that he had a minor position in the Vedic religion. Other scholars state that there are other Vedic deities, such as water deity Nara (also mentioned as Narayana-Purusha in the Brahmanas layer of the Vedas), who together form the historical roots of Vaishnavism. In the late-Vedic texts (~1000 to 500 BCE), the concept"
"Alvars and Nayanars, that developed around the gods Vishnu (Vaishnavism), Brahma (Brahmanism), Shiva (Shaivism) and Devi (Shaktism) in the second half of the 1st millennium CE. It grew rapidly in India after the 12th century in the various Hindu traditions, possibly in response to the arrival of Islam in India. Bhakti ideas have inspired many popular texts and saint-poets in India. The ""Bhagavata Purana"", for example, is a Krishna-related text associated with the Bhakti movement in Hinduism. Bhakti is also found in other religions practiced in India, and it has influenced interactions between Christianity and Hinduism in the modern era."
"(c. 320-650 CE), which coincides with the Gupta Empire. In this period the six branches of Hindu philosophy evolved, namely Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mīmāṃsā, and Vedanta. Monotheistic sects like Shaivism and Vaishnavism developed during this same period through the Bhakti movement. The period from roughly 650 to 1100 CE forms the late Classical period or early Middle Ages, in which classical Puranic Hinduism is established, and Adi Shankara's Advaita Vedanta, which incorporated Buddhist thought into Vedanta, marking a shift from realistic to idealistic thought. Hinduism under both Hindu and Islamic rulers from c. 1200 to 1750 CE, saw the"
"are the historical Vedic religion of Iron Age northern India itself already the product of ""a composite of the Indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures and civilizations"", but also the Sramana or renouncer traditions of northeast India, and mesolithic and neolithic cultures of India, such as the religions of the Indus Valley Civilisation, Dravidian traditions, and the local traditions and tribal religions. After the Vedic period, between 500-200 BCE and c. 300 CE, at the beginning of the ""Epic and Puranic"" c.q. ""Preclassical"" period, the ""Hindu synthesis"" emerged, which incorporated śramaṇic and Buddhist influences and the emerging ""bhakti"" tradition into the Brahmanical"
"is the pre-Vedic period, which includes the Indus Valley Civilisation and local pre-historic religions, ending at about 1750 BCE. This period was followed in northern India by the Vedic period, which saw the introduction of the historical Vedic religion with the Indo-Aryan migrations, starting somewhere between 1900 BCE to 1400 BCE. The subsequent period, between 800 BCE and 200 BCE, is ""a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions"", and a formative period for Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. The Epic and Early Puranic period, from c. 200 BCE to 500 CE, saw the classical ""Golden Age"" of Hinduism"
"of ""ṛta"". The Vedic period is held to have ended around 500 BCE. The period between 800 BCE and 200 BCE is the formative period for later Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. According to Michaels, the period between 500 BCE and 200 BCE is a time of ""ascetic reformism"". According to Michaels, the period between 200 BCE and 1100 CE is the time of ""classical Hinduism"", since there is ""a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions"". Muesse discerns a longer period of change, namely between 800 BCE and 200 BCE, which he calls the ""Classical Period"", when ""traditional"
"Comparison of acceptance of Buddhism in India and China In India, Buddhism emerged during a somewhat tumultuous time for the long-standing practices of Brahmanical Hinduism laid out in the Vedas and Upanishads. Shortly before the emergence of Buddhism a group of philosophical thinkers and holy men decided that they no longer bought into the often class based practices of the Vedas, and abandoned the old teachings and practices of the Brahmins. Renouncers, as they came to be known, rejected the authority of the Brahmin priests. They did not wish to live the rigid and highly structured lives laid out for"
"led to the rise of new ascetic or Śramaṇa movements which challenged the orthodoxy of rituals. Mahavira (c. 549–477 BCE), proponent of Jainism, and Gautama Buddha (c. 563–483 BCE), founder of Buddhism were the most prominent icons of this movement. Śramaṇa gave rise to the concept of the cycle of birth and death, the concept of samsara, and the concept of liberation. Buddha found a Middle Way that ameliorated the extreme asceticism found in the ""Śramaṇa"" religions. Around the same time, Mahavira (the 24th ""Tirthankara"" in Jainism) propagated a theology that was to later become Jainism. However, Jain orthodoxy believes"
"Buddhism Buddhism (, ) is the world's fourth-largest religion with over 520 million followers, or over 7% of the global population, known as ""Buddhists"". An Indian religion, Buddhism encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on original teachings attributed to the Buddha and resulting interpreted philosophies. Buddhism originated in ancient India as a Sramana tradition sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, spreading through much of Asia. Two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars: Theravada (Pali: ""The School of the Elders"") and Mahayana (Sanskrit: ""The Great Vehicle""). All Buddhist traditions share"
"identical with Brahman. It is also referred to as Atma Jnana which is frequently translated as ""self-realization"". The Bhakti movement was a theistic devotional trend that originated in the seventh-century Tamil south India (now parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala), and spread northwards. It swept over east and north India from the fifteenth-century onwards, reaching its zenith between the 15th and 17th century CE. The Bhakti movement regionally developed as Hindu denominations around different gods and goddesses, such as Vaishnavism (Vishnu), Shaivism (Shiva), Shaktism (Shakti goddesses), and Smartism. The movement was inspired by many poet-saints, who championed a wide range"
"the writings of Gaudapada in the 6th century CE. Buddhism is a religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices based on teachings attributed to the Buddha (5th century BCE), but diversified since then in a wide variety of practices and traditions. Buddhism originated in India, from where it spread through much of Asia. It declined in India during the middle ages, after the rise of new forms of Hinduism, including Advaita Vedanta. Advaita Vedanta and various other schools of Hindu philosophy share numerous terminology and doctrines with Buddhism. Of the various schools, the similarities"
"a concept of cardinal importance to Zoroastrian theology and doctrine. The term ""dharma"" was already used in Brahmanical thought, where it was conceived as an aspect of Rta. Major philosophers of this era were Rishis Narayana, Kanva, Rishaba, Vamadeva, and Angiras. During the Middle Vedic period Rgveda X, the mantras of the Yajurveda and the older Brahmana texts were composed. The Brahmans became powerful intermediairies. Historical roots of Jainism in India is traced back to 9th-century BC with the rise of Parshvanatha and his non-violent philosophy. The Vedic religion evolved into Hinduism and Vedanta, a religious path considering itself the"
"legend of Christian saints Barlaam and Josaphat draws on the life of the Buddha. Greco-Buddhism Greco-Buddhism, or Graeco-Buddhism, is the cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism, which developed between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD in Bactria and the Indian subcontinent. It was a cultural consequence of a long chain of interactions begun by Greek forays into India from the time of Alexander the Great. The Macedonian satraps were then conquered by the Mauryan Empire, under the reign of Chandragupta Maurya. The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka would convert to Buddhism and spread the religious philosophy throughout his"
"800 BCE to 400 BCE witnessed the composition of the earliest Upanishads. Upanishads form the theoretical basis of classical Hinduism and are known as Vedanta (conclusion of the Vedas). The older Upanishads launched attacks of increasing intensity on the ritual. Anyone who worships a divinity other than the Self is called a domestic animal of the gods in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The Mundaka launches the most scathing attack on the ritual by comparing those who value sacrifice with an unsafe boat that is endlessly overtaken by old age and death. Increasing urbanisation of India in 7th and 6th centuries BCE"
"Indian religions Indian religions, sometimes also termed as Dharmic faiths or religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent; namely Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. These religions are also all classified as Eastern religions. Although Indian religions are connected through the history of India, they constitute a wide range of religious communities, and are not confined to the Indian subcontinent. Evidence attesting to prehistoric religion in the Indian subcontinent derives from scattered Mesolithic rock paintings. The Harappan people of the Indus Valley Civilisation, which lasted from 3300 to 1300 BCE (mature period, 2600–1900 BCE), had an early urbanized"
"the tendency to identify local deities with the gods of the Sanskrit texts. During the time of the shramanic reform movements ""many elements of the Vedic religion were lost"". According to Michaels, ""it is justified to see a turning point between the Vedic religion and Hindu religions"". The late Vedic period (9th to 6th centuries BCE) marks the beginning of the Upanisadic or Vedantic period. This period heralded the beginning of much of what became classical Hinduism, with the composition of the Upanishads, later the Sanskrit epics, still later followed by the Puranas. Upanishads form the speculative-philosophical basis of classical"
"the most influential. The first recorded state-level society in South Asia existed around 1000 BCE. In this period, states Samuel, emerged the Brahmana and Aranyaka layers of Vedic texts, which merged into the earliest Upanishads. These texts began to ask the meaning of a ritual, adding increasing levels of philosophical and metaphysical speculation, or ""Hindu synthesis"". Increasing urbanisation of India between 800 and 400 BCE, and possibly the spread of urban diseases, contributed to the rise of ascetic movements and of new ideas which challenged the orthodox Brahmanism. These ideas led to Sramana movements, of which Mahavira (c. 549–477 BCE),"