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Mongolian Religions

Shamanism and folk religion have ancient roots. But as the Mongol Empire expanded, the Mongols came into contact with Nestorian Christianity, Buddhism and Islam. Each established some influence at the Mongol court. Genghis Khan seems to have been interested in Tibetan Buddhism and Christianity, although this bred rivalry among the shamans. It is said that Genghis Khan was interested in all religions and in none. He drew his power from the Eternal Blue Heaven – like the Chinese emperor, the Son of Heaven. Mongolia was converted to Tibetan-style Buddhism twice, first by the example of Kublai Khan, Genghis Khans grandson, who adopted it as the state religion in the 13th century, and again in the 16th century, when Altan Khan took Buddhist vows and created the title Dalai Lama for the Tibetan leader. At the end of the 20th century there were some 136 registered monasteries, temples, mosques and churches in Mongolia.

Buddhism

Buddhism is a world religion with a historical founder, Prince Siddhartha Gautama. He is thought to have lived between 563вc and 483вс. Buddhism, like Hinduism, teaches that reincarnation (a cycle of death and rebirth) is based on karma (acts or deeds). When Buddha became ‘enlightened’, he achieved a blissful state known as nirvana. In so doing he eliminated the causes and cycle of rebirth. The Buddhist doctrine contains ‘Four Noble Truths’ and the ‘Noble Eightfold Path. The Four Noble Truths state the following:

Shamanism

This religion, the oldest religion practiced in Mongolia, centres on beliefs and rituals associated with a shaman, a man or woman regarded as having access to the ‘spirit world’. Mongolian shamans enter an ecstatic trance state in which the shaman is empowered to engage with the spirits in order to protect and heal members of the community, to guide souls and cure illnesses. Shamanism is found in many primitive cultures like those of the Siberian Tungus, from whose language the word ‘shaman’ (saman) derives.

Islam

Islam is an Arabic word meaning submission’. Muslims submit to Allah – God. The word of God was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (born in570AD) and written down in the sacred book the Koran (Qur’an). Islam is very simple religion with a five-fold path (see below) and consists of belief in the oneness of God. Mecca is the city where the prophet Muhammad died in 632ad and is a place of pilgrimage for all Muslims.

Christianity

Christians believe there is one God, who created the Universe, and that in this one God there are three persons, known as the Holy Trinity; God the Father, his Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit. Those who believe become Christians by being baptized – that is, they receive the Holy Spirit and become children of God. Jesus entered history by taking on human flesh and being born of a virgin, Mary. He was fully human but retained his divine nature.