There once was a boy named Dawson Scott who lived in the town of Creek Hill. One day he decided to go visit all of his closest friends and ask them about their religions. The first friend Dawson went to visit was Raj, who practiced Hinduism.

"Hey Dawson! I'm so glad you came by. Do you want to go outside and play", asked Raj.

"Actually, I was hoping I could ask you about your religion", said Dawson.

"Sure! For starters, it originated in India between 800-2000 BCE and the founder of the religion is unknown. Our sacred literature is called Vedas. Also, some of our major beliefs include Samsara, which is the rebirth after death (reincarnation), we worship Devas, and believe in good and bad karma which determines your next quality of life", said Raj. "Also, our deities include Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. Lastly, our place of worship can vary from temples to shrines in peoples homes and our symbols include Om, which is used for meditation", says Raj.

"Thanks Raj! That was very informative. See you at school. Bye" said Dawson as he left.

Dawson was now on his way to a girl named Aye's house. She practices Buddhism.

"Hey Dawson, my religion originated in India near the time of 485 B.C.E. and the founder of the religion was Siddhartha Gautama. Our sacred literature is called Tripitaka, while some of our major beliefs include the Four Noble Truths, Eight-fold path, and that Nirvana will bring us peace" said Aye. "Something that sets us apart from most religions is we do not believe in a god. However, we do still worship in temples and our religious symbols include Lotus and the Buddhist Wheel."

"Thank you so much Aye, I really enjoyed learning about Hinduism. Now I am off to Sachi's house to learn about Shintoism", said Dawson.

"Hey Dawson it's great to hear you want to learn about Shintoism, there's so much to know. Let's start at the beginning. In the late sixth century A.D. it was originated in Japan. We still do not know who the founder was and our sacred literature includes the Kojiki and the Nihon-gi. Our three basic beliefs are that mountains and rivers are divine, we worship Kami (which are like spirits), and the leader is a god-like figure. Oh, I almost forgot! Our place of worship is often at home or in temples and Shinto symbols include the Torii gate and the Maneke Neko (it looks like a cat)", said Sachi.

After Dawson had thanked Sachi he headed over to his friend Lee's house to learn about Confucianism. Like the others, Lee was thrilled to tell Dawson about her and her family's religion.