Hinduism: Details about 'Eastern Religions'

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The following is a list of religions. Note that the classification hereunder is only one of several possible. This system uses a filter system for categorization. A group will be listed in a category as close to the top of the page as the definitions for the category allow. Even if multiple definitions are applicable a religion will only be listed once. The definition of religion for this page is fairly liberal.

A discussion of the ways in which "major religions" have historically been separated from the list of all religions can be found in the article Major world religions.

As there are countless small religions, many of which cannot be verified to be real or legitimate, only those religions with articles will be listed in order to ensure that all entries on this list are notable and verifiable.

Abrahamic religions

A group of monotheistic traditions sometimes grouped with one another for comparative purposes, because all refer to a patriarch named Abraham.

Judaism (see also: Jew; Hebrews)
- Contemporary divisions
  - Rabbinic Judaism
    - Orthodox Judaism
      - Modern Orthodox Judaism
      - Haredi Judaism
      - Hassidic Judaism
  - Conservative Judaism (Masorti) (classified by adherents as Rabbinic, but not by non-adherents)
  - Reform Judaism (classified by adherents as Rabbinic, but not by non-adherents)
  - Reconstructionist Judaism (claims Judaism is a culture, not always identified as a religion)
  - Humanistic Judaism (atheistic, not always identified as a religion)
  - Karaite Judaism
- Historical groups
  - Hasmoneans (not really a denomination)
  - Essenes
  - Pharisees (became Rabbinic/Orthodox Judaism)
  - Sadducees
  - Zealots
    - Sicarii
  - Sects that believed Jesus was a prophet
    - Ebionites
    - Elkasites
    - Nazarenes
- Crypto-Jews
  - Marranos (not really a denomination)
  - Conversos (not really a denomination)
Samaritans
Christianity (see List of Christian denominations)
- Eastern Orthodoxy
- Roman Catholicism
- Oriental Orthodoxy
  - Monophysitism
  - Nestorianism
- Protestantism
- High Protestantism
  - Lutherans
  - Anglicans
  - Calvinist sects
    - Reformed
    - Presbyterian
- Low Protestantism
  - Methodists (from the Anglicans)
  - Baptists (from the Calvinists)
- Radical Low Protestantism
  - Anabaptists
    - Mennonites
    - Amish
    - Religious Society of Friends (Quakers, quasi-Anabaptist)
  - Evangelicalism (non-denominational)
  - Pentecostals (charismatic)
- Apostolic Churches
- Unitarians
- Waldensians
- Latter-day Saints
  - Church of
    
    Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  - Community of Christ
  - Fundamentalist Church of
    
    Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
- Seventh-day Adventist
- Jehovah's Witnesses
- Messianic Judaism (Only identified as Judaism by adherents and Christian missionaries; actually Jewish-rite Christianity)
Islam
- Kharijites
- Shiite
  - Alawites
  - Ismailis
  - Jafari
  - Zaiddiyah
- Ghulat including
  - Alevi / Bektashi
  - Ahl-e Haqq
  - Yazidi
  - Druze
  - Ahmadi
- Sunni
  - Berailvi
  - Deobandi
  - Hanafi
  - Hanbali
  - Maliki
  - Mu'tazili
  - Shafi'i
  - Wahhabi
- Sufism
  - Naqshbandi
  - Bektashi
  - Chishti
  - Mevlevi
- Zikri
Bábísm
Bahá'í
- Bahá'í Faith
- Orthodox Bahá'í Faith
Mandaeanists
Rastafarians
Black Hebrews

Dharmic religions

Religions with a concept of Dharma, also major religions of historical India

Hinduism (see also Contemporary Hindu movements)
- Agama Hindu Dharma (Javanese Hinduism)
- Shaivism
- Shaktism
- Smartism
- Vaishnavism
  - Gaudiya Vaishnavism
    - ISKCON (Hare Krishna)
    - Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mission
- Reform movements
  - Arya Samaj
  - Brahmo Samaj
- Six major schools and movements of Hindu philosophy
  - Samkhya
  - Nyaya
  - Vaisheshika
  - Purva mimamsa
  - Vedanta (Uttar Mimamsa)
    - Advaita Vedanta
    - Integral Yoga
  - Yoga
    - Ashtanga Yoga
    - Hatha yoga
    - Siddha Yoga
    - Tantric Yoga
Ayyavazhi
Shramana Religions
- Buddhism (see Schools of Buddhism)
  - Mahayana
  - Nikaya schools (which have historically been called Hinayana in the West)
    - Theravada
  - Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism)
- Jainism
  - Digambara
  - Shvetambara
Panth Religions
- Sikhism
- Kabir Panth
- Dadu Panth

Other revealed religions

Believers in one God, also called classical monotheism, who follow an Indo-European culture of belief, philosophy and angelology.

Zoroastrianism
- Magus (see Three Wise Men)
Gnosticism
- Basilidians
- Bogomils
- Borborites
- Cainites
- Carpocratians
- Cathars
- Marcionism (not entirely Gnostic)
- Ophites
- Valentinians (see Valentinius)
Hermeticism
Vaishnavism (a variant of Hinduism)

Indigenous religions

The orally transmitted canon of indigenous peoples, many involving some variant of animism and many defunct

African religions
- Akamba mythology
- Akan mythology
- Ashanti mythology
- Bushongo mythology
- Bwiti
- Dahomey mythology
- Dinka mythology
- Efik mythology
- Egyptian mythology
- Ibo mythology
- Isoko mythology
- Khoikhoi mythology
- Lotuko mythology
- Lugbara mythology
- Pygmy mythology
- Tumbuka mythology
- Yoruba mythology
- Zulu mythology
  - African religions in the New World
    - Kumina
    - Obeah
    - Santería (Lukumi)
    - Vodou
    - Candomblé
    - Macumba
    - Umbanda and Quimbanda
    - Xango

European religions
- Anglo-Saxon mythology
- Basque mythology
- Druidry (Celtic Religion)
- Finnish mythology
- Germanic paganism
  - Norse mythology
- Greek religion
  - Greek mythology
  - Mystery religions
    - Eleusinian Mysteries
    - Mithraism
    - Pythagoreanism
- Roman religion
  - Roman mythology
- Slavic mythology
Asian religions
- Babylonian and Assyrian religion
  - Babylonian mythology
  - Chaldean mythology
  - Sumerian mythology
- Bön (Indigenous Tibetan belief)
- Chinese mythology
- Shinto
  - Oomoto
- Tengrism (Indigenous Mongol, Tartar & Kazakh belief)
- Yezidis (Modified indigenous Kurdish belief)
Native American religions
- Abenaki mythology
- Aztec mythology
- Blackfoot mythology
- Chippewa mythology
- Creek mythology
- Crow mythology
- Guarani mythology
- Haida mythology
- Ho-Chunk mythology
- Huron mythology
- Inuit mythology
- Iroquois mythology
- Kwakiutl mythology
- Lakota mythology
- Lenape mythology
- Navaho mythology
- Nootka mythology
- Pawnee mythology
- Salish mythology
- Selk'nam religion
- Seneca mythology
- Tsimshian mythology
- Ute mythology
- Zuni mythology
Oceanic religions
- Australian Aboriginal mythology
- Balinese mythology
- Maori mythology
- Modekngei (Republic of Palau)
- Nauruan indigenous religion
- Polynesian mythology

Neopagan or revival religions

Modern religions

seeking to recreate indigenous, usually pre-Christian, beliefs and practices

Church of All Worlds
Dievturiba
Germanic neopaganism
- Ásatrú
- Heathenry
- Odinism
- Theodism
Hellenic polytheism (modern revivalist forms)
Judeo-Paganism
Maausk
Neo-druidism
Summum
Taarausk
Wicca
- Alexandrian Wicca
- Dianic Wicca (Feminist Wicca)
- Gardnerian Wicca
- Faery Wicca
- Feri Tradition

Non-revealed religions

Philosophies not transmitted by a divine prophet

Carvaka
Confucianism
Deism
Fellowship of Reason
Spiritual Humanism
Mohism
Taoism

Left-Hand Path religions

Faiths teaching that the ultimate goal is separating consciousness from the universe, rather than being absorbed by it

Dragon Rouge
Satanism
- LaVeyan Satanism
  - Church of Satan
- Order of Nine Angles
Setianism also spelled Sethianism
- Temple of Set
- The Storm
Quimbanda

Syncretic religions

Faiths created from blending earlier religions or that consider all or some religions to be essentially the same

Arès Pilgrim Movement
Cao Dai
Falun Dafa (Falun Gong)
Huna
Konkokyo
Manichaeism
Unitarian Universalism
Universal Life Church
Tenrikyo
Theosophy
Seicho-No-Ie

Entheogen religions

Religions based around divinely inspiring substances

Ayahuasca-based beliefs
Church of the Universe (marijuana sacrament)
Peyotism
THC Ministry

New religious movements

See List of new religious movements for a list based on other sources

See hereunder for religions founded since 1850 with small followings

Monotheistic NRMs

Direct Worship of the Actual God

Indigenous NRMs

Burkhanism
Cargo cults
Ghost Dance
Native American Church

African Diaspora / Latin American NRMs

Rastafari movement
Umbanda
Candomble
Kardecist Spiritism

Hindu-oriented NRMs

Sai Baba/Sathya Sai Organisation
Hare Krishna
Transcendental Meditation
Sant Mat
Swaminarayan
Vedanta Society
Osho/Rajneeshism
Meher Baba (actually a Zoroastrian)
Oneness University
Aum Shinrikyo (Aleph)
Eckankar

NRMs with Islamic Roots

Subud
Ahmadi
Dances of Universal Peace
Nation of Islam (Black Muslims)

NRMs With Jewish Roots

Judeo-Paganism
Jewish Buddhists
Black Hebrews

Christian-oriented NRMs

Unification Church
Jesus movement
Children of God
Peoples Temple
Pentecostalism
Holiness movement
Iglesia ni Cristo

Buddhist-oriented NRMs

Chinese-oriented NRMs

Way of Former Heaven sects, including
- I-Kuan Tao ("Way of Unity"),
- T'ung-shan She ("Society of Goodness"),
- Tien-te Sheng-chiao ("Sacred Religion of Celestial Virtue"),
- Daoyuan ("Sanctuary of the Tao"),
- Tz'u-hui Tang ("Compassion Society").
Falun Gong ("Dharma Wheel Work," a qigong meditation group)

Japanese-oriented NRMs

Tenrikyo
Seicho no Ie
Johrei (Johrei Movement - Sekai Kyusei Kyo Izunome Kyodan)
Reiki
Oomoto
Soka Gakkai
Aum Shinrikyo (Aleph)

Korean-oriented NRMs

Chondogyo
Jeung San Do
Juche (The personality cult of North Korean leaders)
Unification Church

Vietnamese-oriented NRMs

Caodaism
Hoa Hao

Malaysian-Oriented NRMs

Sky Kingdom

Western Magical / Esoteric Groups

Kardecist Spiritism
Theosophy
Agni Yoga
Association for Research and Enlightenment
Church Universal and Triumphant
Golden Dawn
Gurdjieff Work
Spiritualism
Eckankar
Thelema
- Argenteum Astrum
- Fraternitas Saturni
- Ordo Templi Orientis
- Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis
Process Church of the Final Judgement
Order of the Solar Temple

White Supremacist Religions

Church of Jesus Christ Christian
World Church of the Creator (Creativity Movement)
Church of the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

Black Supremacist Religions

Nuwaubianism

Alien-based religions

The Aetherius Society
Raelism
Scientology
- Church of Scientology
- Free Zone (Scientology)
Urantia, Book of
Universe people

Other NRMs

Antoinism
Breatharianism (Air cult)
Brianism
Elan Vital
Faithists of Kosmon
Virus, The Church of

Parody or mock religions

Groups that poke fun at other religions or religion in general

Discordianism
Church of the SubGenius (The cult of Bob Dobbs)
Church of Jesus Christ Elvis
Fictional religions turned Parody
- Bokononism
- Jedi census movement
- Iglesia Maradoniana (The cult of former Argentinian soccer player Diego Maradona)
Flying Spaghetti Monster (Pastafarianism)
Invisible Pink Unicorn
Kibology
Landover Baptist Church
Church of Emacs

Other religions or belief systems

Agnosticism - non-theistic belief system
Animism
Atheism - non-theistic belief system
Ditheism (Dualism)
Henotheism
- Monolatrism
Humanism - non-theistic belief system
- Secular Humanism
Kathenotheism
Maltheism
Monism
Monotheism
Panentheism
Pantheism
- Cosmotheism
Polytheism
Rationalism - non-theistic belief system
Shamanism
Suitheism

Nonsectarian and trans-sectarian religious movements and practices

Esotericism

Alchemy
Anthroposophy
Esoteric Christianity
Freemasonry
Gnosticism
Kabbalah
Occultism
Rosicrucian
- Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis
- Confraternity of the Rose Cross
- Rosicrucian Fellowship
Surat Shabda Yoga

Mysticism

Christian mysticism
- Gnosticism
Hindu mysticism
Kabbalah (also part of Judaism)
- Kabbalah Centre
Martinism
Merkabah (also part of Judaism)
Meditation
Spirituality
Sufism
Theosophy

Magic (religion)

Astrology
Divination
- Prophecy
Exorcism
Faith healing
Feng Shui
Hoodoo (Rootwork)
- New Orleans Voodoo
Magick
- Chaos magick
- Enochian Magic
- Grimoire magick
- Goetic magick
Miracles
Pow-wow
Seid (shamanic magic)
Vaastu Shastra (Hinduism)
Witchcraft

Ritualism

Prayer
Sacrifice
- Animal sacrifice
- Human sacrifice
Worship

Organizations promoting Ecumenism

Dances of Universal Peace
Interreligious organisations