This All-in-One book collects the expertise of a team of best-­selling For Dummies authors, including Rev. John Trigilio Jr., Rev. Kenneth Brighenti, Richard Wagner, ­Amrutur V. Srinivasan, Jana Riess, Warren Malcolm Clark, Ted Falcon, and David Blatner.

Introduction 1

Prelude: In the Beginning: Religion Basics 5

Book 1: Hinduism 31

Chapter 1: A Quick Overview of Hinduism. 33

Chapter 2: Hinduism's Core Beliefs and Values 47

Chapter 3: Major Hindu Denominations 61

Chapter 4: Worshipping at Home, at a Temple, and on Holydays and Festivals 73

Chapter 5: Hindu Gods and Goddesses 99

Book 2: Taoism 119

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Taoism 121

Chapter 2: What Is the Tao, and What Does It Mean to Follow It? 147

Chapter 3: Doing Everything by Doing Nothing 167

Chapter 4: Remembering to Keep Forgetting 183

Chapter 5: Cosmic Renewal and Other Rituals 197

Book 3: Buddhism 211

Chapter 1: Entering the World of Buddhism 213

Chapter 2: Surveying the Life and Teachings of the Historical Buddha 235

Chapter 3: Turning to Buddhism 257

Chapter 4: A Day in the Life of a Buddhist Practitioner 273

Chapter 5: What Is Enlightenment, Anyway? 293

Book 4: Judaism 307

Chapter 1: Finding Out Who's a Jew and Why 309

Chapter 2: Judaism's Deep Roots in History 321

Chapter 3: Finding God in Everything 341

Chapter 4: A Path of Blessing: Judaism as a Daily Practice 367

Chapter 5: A Never-Ending Torah: The Unfolding of a Tradition 383

Book 5: Christianity 395

Chapter 1: God, Jesus, and the Origins of Christianity 397

Chapter 2: Christian Beliefs and Practices 419

Chapter 3: Making Sense of Worship 443

Chapter 4: What It Means to Be Catholic 461

Chapter 5: Back to Basics: The Protestant Church 475

Book 6: Islam 491

Chapter 1: Approaching Islam 493

Chapter 2: The Birth of Islam: The Prophet Submits to Allah 515

Chapter 3: What Muslims Believe 529

Chapter 4: Submission of the Faithful 557

Chapter 5: Observing Other Religious Rituals and Customs 585

Book 7: Mormonism 599

Chapter 1: A New World Religion 601

Chapter 2: The Mormon Plan of Salvation 631

Chapter 3: Welcome to the Meetinghouse and Headquarters! 651

Chapter 4: Sacred, Not Secret: Inside Mormon Temples 669

Chapter 5: The Bible, the Book of Mormon, and Other Scriptures 687

Index 707