SACRED RELIGIOUS WRITINGS AND SYMBOLS 

Each religion has its sacred writings, each revered and treasured.  Here are the five major religions of today's world and their sacred writings.  Hinduism, the oldest of the five major religions, has the Vedas (sacrificial hymns) (2000 BCE), the Brahmana (explanation of the hymns), the Aranyakas (Forest Books), and the Upanishads (deeper theological truths). Buddhism treasures the Tripitaka (Three Baskets), the Vaipulya and the Prajnaparamita Sutras, and many, many other scriptures. Confucianism has the Five Classics (ascribed to the Master's time) and the Four Books (assembled by his disciples). Taoism reveres the Tao Te Ching (Classic of the Way of Virtue) (3rd Century BCE). Judaism reveres the Tanakh, which includes the Torah or the Law.  Christianity treasures both the Jewish Old Testament and the New Testament in one book, the Bible. Islam or the Muslim faith, the youngest of the five major religions, reveres the Qur'an (Koran), written by Mohammend, its prophet.  Contained in all of these books collectively is the sum of humanity's understanding of the sacred.  There is no way that one of these sacred writings could contain all the sacred wisdom of the world. Many of them teach the same ideas but from a different perspective according to the culture of the people. We do not know how many sacred books have been lost or what sacred wisdom has never been written down.  Most of the Mayan books, for example, were burned by the invading Spaniards.  There are other ways to preserve sacred wisdom and that is through symbols.  All religions have their own sacred symbols that convey meanings without words.  The cross, for example, is the sacred symbol of Christianity.  One of the most commonly known symbols are the Great Pyramids of Egypt built with sacred geometry.  Modern historians are still trying to decode these wisdom symbols found around the world.