Dream or wake up? Is that a lotus flower?

Overview of various religious symbols [edit this paragraph]

Religion is a group social behavior and mysterious belief. Including guiding ideology (religious belief), organizational structure (religious organizations, such as churches and religious couples), code of conduct (activities within religious organizations, such as sacrifice and etiquette), cultural content (religious architecture, religious painting, religious music) and so on. It is a kind of social behavior developed consciously after human beings have the social organization structure, and its fundamental purpose is to cultivate and maintain human sociality, so as to maintain the normal operation of human social organizations. Other functions of religion, such as religious interpretation of the world, judicial trial, moral cultivation and psychological comfort, also exist, including the negative role of religion in hindering social development in history, but these are not the main social functions of religion.

The emergence and development of religion in human history is indeed related to many factors, such as social factors, psychological factors and spiritual factors. However, as a social behavior with such a long time, such a wide range and so many people in history, the most basic and main factor is that religion has become an important social behavior with the function of cultivating and strengthening human sociality since human beings became group active creatures and social groups. Although there may be different religions in different historical periods, different regions and different nationalities in the world, it is the uniqueness of all successful religions to cultivate and strengthen human sociality. [Edit this paragraph] The origin of the word religion

China culture believes that there is a founder and the object of worship is "Zong"; There are a group of followers, and a certain ceremony is "teaching"; The religion of western culture evolved from Latin "re" and "legere", which means "re" and "get together". It refers to a group of people who get together for a purpose and develop to the point where they have the same belief, the same belief, and are not afraid of life and death for this belief.

It is worth noting that in Chinese, the word religion is not equivalent to the meaning of English religous belief. Religion was originally a Buddhist term, not its present connotation and extension. For example, Taoism in China is not called this in history. The word religion is used to refer to the changes in the meaning of all religious beliefs due to translation. As a special Buddhist term, the meaning of the word religion, that is, calling yourself a sect and converting to other religions, has been forgotten. [Edit this paragraph] The origin of religion

Religion existed as early as primitive society, and its root and foundation lie in the low level of productivity development and the weakness of primitive people to the forces of natural struggle. Religious norms at that time often became social norms that people followed.

In the most primitive times, before the emergence of class differentiation, human beings began various religious activities. This can be known in many archaeological discoveries and historical records. Man is the most complicated creature in nature, especially in thought and spirit, which is more complicated than other creatures in nature. And people's actions are dominated by thoughts. Why do spiritual activities such as people's ideological activities, people's awe of natural forces, and thinking about various phenomena in nature become social activities like religion? Judging from the origin of primitive religion, religion is the only effective means to limit people's natural attributes, ensure and cultivate people's sociality in an era when organizations that manage people's collective activities such as state machines have not yet appeared and science education is still underdeveloped. From archaeology and folklore, we know that primitive religions worship things around them, such as hunters worshipping various animals and mountain gods; Fishermen worship river gods and water gods; Collectors may worship various plants, such as tree gods and flower gods. The objects of worship are neither abstract spiritual gods nor the only gods that dominate the world, but natural things closely related to human activities. Moreover, the sacrificial activities are attended by all tribal members and presided over by tribal leaders or so-called priests who can communicate with the gods. Therefore, worship is not only a ceremony, but also an activity to enhance the collective consciousness of all employees. Perhaps the latter is the real purpose of worship activities. As for the worship of spiritual sustenance and spiritual comfort and the leading role of religion, it is only the secondary role brought by the development and popularization of religion in the middle and late period of social activities, not the fundamental reason why religion has become a very important social activity. With the development of society, the scale of collective activities is growing. Especially with the emergence of the advanced organization form of the state, religious worship has become more and more abstract, and the dead, ghosts and ghosts have all entered the worship object, and the religious worship ceremony has become more and more horrible, and even people have to be worshipped. It is unreasonable to say that these behaviors are spiritual sustenance and spiritual comfort, but it is more reasonable to interpret them as suppressing people's natural characteristics and supporting strengthening people's sociality. The emphasis on obedience and the role of special religions in maintaining social order are the main reasons for the existence and development of religions. Therefore, the rulers of past dynasties were particularly enthusiastic about religious ceremonies, and sometimes they used the state machine in their hands to promote a religion they liked. Even some rulers designate a religion as the state religion, which is consistent with the laws and regulations of the country. The supreme ruler of the country is often the supreme leader of religion. That is to make full use of the role of religion in ensuring and cultivating people's sociality.

Although the word religion has been used for a certain time, today, in order to adapt to our decryption of human mysteries, we must first raise it to a more reasonable scope, because the word covers a wide range, including ghosts and gods, superstitions, legends, Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism and many sects.