There are two main reasons why these cultures and all cultures for that matter feel the need for a religion. All religions rest on at least one of the following principles. The first one is the need for individuals to have an identity, and to belong. The Indian and Chinese religions are both based on this principle. The second reason responsible for the growth of religion stem

The religion Zoroastrianism has been thought of by many to be the first monotheistic religion ever. It was created in the land of Persia, where only polytheistic religions existed at the time. Its founder, Zoroaster, established Zoroastrianism only to answer questions that people needed to have answered, and he did this with his beliefs and in his preachings. The central doctrine of Zoroastrianism was that the universe was the battleground of a great battle between the Supreme Being Ahura Mazda and the prince of darkness, Angra Mainyu. All humanity was to choose sides in this battle, and since it was inevitable that Ahura Mazda was to win, only if you chose him, could you be saved in the "end". This end was the end of the world. So when Ahura Mazda won the battle, the righteous of the world would be saved and the wicked would burn in a vast fire.

A need for all people, whether or not they have a religious faith, is to have an identity. All of us spend our entire lives crafting this identity. Some want to have the identity of a humble family figure, while others wish they could be rich and famous as Hollywood actors, musicians, or authors. Yet in the process, many of these individuals fail in their quest and finally end up worse than when they started, either economically, mentally, physically, or socially. Much of the world's religions is based on a need to limit this quest for identity. This technique prevents pain for its adherents, by eliminating this quest either partially or completely, and ultimately shielding its followers from the journey's stresses.

This and several other allusions to being "God's chosen" people are found in the Torah. This of course, gives to the Jews their identity as God's people.

"The Torah includes some of humanity's greatest stories.

There is a great similarity between Hinduism and the religion of Buddhism (another Indian religion) although it is quite different in many respects. Buddha's concept of Karma is that a person's actions cause them either suffering or joy in the world. Rather than have people live the misguided lives of basing their identities on material success, Buddhism tried to make them concentrate on moral values that would see them through this world with a minimum of grief. This was achieved by taking the "Noble Eightfold Path," a way of life in which one would neither excel nor fail. So this "middle-path" identity is what Buddhists seek. To be too good a person would result in reincarnation as a god, and to be too evil would result in their reincarnation as a lower being or as a dweller of hell. It was considered best by Buddha to take the middle path and be reincarnated as a human being again. (In Buddha's beliefs, gods were reincarnated humans; the complication with being a god, was that gods, in their relentless quest for pleasure forget their own need of salvation, die and then are reincarnated as lower life forms.) This "middle path" mentality leads to a desire to neither excel nor fail, and much stress is avoided by living this balanced life.

Another one of the Chinese schools of thought, the Legalists, also works towards eliminating personal identity. It stresses the importance of a ruler. Their:

morally right. Absolute obedience was a duty."

Some common words found in the essay are:
Middle East, Eightfold Path, Ten Commandments, Middle Eastern, Indian Chinese, Hinduism Indian, Dynasty Taoist, Ahura Mazda, Buddhism Indian, Zoroastrianism Judaism, greco-roman polytheism, happens die, indian chinese, ahura mazda, questions people, middle east, religion created, answer questions, answers questions, religions ancient world, religions ancient, judaism greco-roman polytheism, excel nor fail, identity answers questions, life happens die,
Approximate Word count = 2255
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)