The Encyclopedia of World Religions

214 S incarnation

use incense in this way. Religions may also use incense simply to create a pleasant atmosphere, as is done in I SLAM as well as in the Japanese tea ceremony.

practices survived even as the people converted to R OMAN C ATHOLICISM .

incarnation A divine being becoming human. The term “incarnation” is usually used in the con text of C HRISTIANITY . It refers to the process through which G OD the Son ( see TRINITY ) became human in the person of J ESUS . This notion is similar to, although not identical with, the Hindu idea of the AVATARS of Lord V ISHNU . Scholars are divided on the question of whether Jesus himself claimed to be divine. In any case, writings in the N EW T ESTAMENT make that claim. For 500 years Christians argued and struggled to formulate precisely what that claim meant. In the end two meetings of bishops, known as councils, decided what Christians were sup posed to believe. The Council of Nicaea (325) tried to clarify how Jesus related to God as revealed, for example, in the Hebrew B IBLE . It asserted that Jesus, God the Son, was not a creature that God had made; instead, he had the same being as God the Father. The Council of Chalcedon (451) tried to end arguments about how Jesus could be both human and divine. It adopted the formula that he was “two natures in one person,” fully God and fully human at the same time. incense Fragrant substances made from spices and gums that are sometimes burned for religious purposes. Religions use incense for many purposes. Some religions, like that of the ancient Greeks, use incense to purify an area from pollution and pro tect it from EVIL . Some religions use incense as an offering. The presentation of dhupa (incense) is a standard feature of Hindu PUJA . It is also used as an offering and sign of devotion in Roman Catho lic and Eastern Orthodox Christian WORSHIP . Some Buddhists use incense as a sort of initiatory ordeal for monks ( see MONKS AND NUNS ). Incense cones are placed on the skin and lighted. They leave a per manent scar. Some religions use incense to accom pany PRAYERS . The incense rises into the air the way prayers rise to gods or ancestors. Chinese religions

India, religions of Until 1947 the name India referred to the Indian subcontinent, that is, the ter ritory of the modern states of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. For religions, this has been one of the richest regions in the world. Evidence for religious activity on the Indian subcontinent goes back into prehistory. The earli est major civilization, the Harappan or Indus Val ley civilization, flourished in what is now Paki stan between 2500 and 2000 B . C . E . All we know about the I NDUS V ALLEY RELIGION comes from tan talizing hints associated with material remains, such as pictures on clay seals and a large pool for bathing. Only traces of the Indus Valley religion have survived, but two religions that arose in India in the sixth century B . C . E . are much better known: J AINISM and B UDDHISM . Both of these religions began from movements of wandering monks. Both also rejected animal sacrifice and sought release from the defilements of KARMA or action. Jainism has remained confined to India. There it is practiced today by two sects. The Svetambara, or white-clad, are common in western India. The Digambara, whose monks are sky-clad (that is, go naked), are common in southern India. According to the 2001 census there are about four and a quar ter million Jains in India, making up .4 percent of the population. Buddhism has spread far beyond India and developed several distinct regional forms. In south and southeast Asia T HERAVADA B UDDHISM predominates; in East Asia M AHAYANA B UDDHISM predominates, while V AJRAYANA B UDDHISM is the religion of Tibet. Oddly, Buddhism disappeared from the land of its founding until 1956, when Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the main author of the Constitu tion of India, led a mass conversion of untouch ables to Buddhism. Since 1959 Buddhist exiles from Tibet, including the D ALAI L AMA , have also