Obviously there have many many millions of pages written about the ancient religions of the Far East. As with the other sections of this paper, I will not try to summarize or analyze them. This section only highlights them in how they relate to god.
Taoism
God is not the dominant theme of Taoism. Instead, the focus is on other concepts such as naturalness, vitality, peace, alignment with cosmic forces, effortlessness, emptiness, detachment, flexibility, receptiveness, spontaneity, ritual, proper ways of speaking, and proper behavior. Tao can be roughly stated to be the flow of the universe, or the force behind the natural order, equating it with the influence that keeps the universe balanced and ordered.
To the degree that god figures into Taoism, it reflects the tradition of polytheism prevalent throughout China. The pantheon is composed of a hierarchy of mortals who have been elevated to godly status. The composition of this group of exalted individuals varies by region, though it typically reflects the some aspect of the political history of the region. Popular Taoism usually presents the "Jade Emperor" as the official head deity. Intellectual Taoists, such as the Celestial Masters sect, usually present Laozi and the "Three Pure Ones" at the top of the pantheon of deities.
Taoism utilizes the tool of inscrutability that so many religions employ. It parades its impenetrability with pride. For example, the opening lines of the major book of Taoist scripture, the Tao Te Ching, are:
The Way (Tao) that can be described is not the true Way.
The Name that can be named is not the constant Name.
In other words, if you think you have Taoism figured out, you don't. If you don't think you have it figured out, you also don't.
Buddhism
Buddhism is sometimes characterized as less of a religion, and more of a spiritual philosophy. Buddhists do not subscribe to the idea of a creator-god, a personal savior, the fall of humanity through sin, an immortal soul (in the Christian sense), or a final judgment and an end of the world. In fact, most branches of Buddhism would claim that focusing on personal salvation, the creation and end of the universe, the nature of god, and life-after-death are distractions from what is really important. What is important to Buddhists is the attainment of nirvana - the escape from suffering and desire, and the endless cycle of death and rebirth. The Buddhist path is about learning to accept the painful aspects of life, and not suffering through them.
The Buddha, himself, was silent on questions relating to the universe, space and time, life after death, and the self. When asked about these types of things, he refused to be drawn into discussions of them, considering them to be speculations, and dogmas. Focusing on these questions would cause anxiety, unease, bewilderment, and suffering. By freeing oneself of them that one can achieve liberation.
Modern Buddhism is not as pure and simple as it was in its original form. Like Christians, current day Buddhists have a belief that life (in some form) continues after death. However, the Buddhist afterlife doesn't involve heaven and hell, but rebirth in an endless cycle until full enlightenment is achieved. Although atheistic regarding the creation, Buddhism is densely populated with multiple gods and deeply supernatural. It contains protector deities, minor gods, ghosts, and spirits both good and evil. Its beliefs include karma, rebirth, nirvana, and belief in a non-physical reality.
In its early incarnation, Buddhism didn't attempt to establish a belief in god or gods. However, as Buddhism has spread and merged with other local religions, today's Buddhists, particularly in Japan where is it often merged with Shinto, do believe in a pantheon of supernatural entities. But even still, god is not at the center of Buddhism.
The Pali Canon, which contains many of the central religious texts of Buddhism, does list a large number of gods. Some of them are shared with Hinduism (Garuda, Vishnu, and others).
Hinduism
There are thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of gods in the Hindu tradition. Brahma, the creator, is the chief god. Vishnu, the sustainer and Shiva, the destroyer fall next in line, the three forming the Hindu trinity called "Trimurti". Following up in rank are the consorts and lesser deities. There are animal gods Ganesha (elephant), Garuda (bird) and Hanuman (ape). The chief consorts of Shiva are Kali and Parvati. Other notable gods are Rama (an incarnation of Vishnu), Lakshmi (goddes of prosperity), Durga (mother goddess), Saraswati (knowledge).
In general, though, when Hindus direct their thoughts and prayers to a god, that god is Bhagavan. He is the personal god they mostly think of as god. He is the personal aspect of God in general, and does not correspond to a particular deity. Bhagavan is in many ways analogous to the general Christian conception of God.
Sikhism
Sikhism, founded by Guru Nanak in the 16th century in northern India, is a monotheistic, revealed religion of Central India. It advocates the pursuit of salvation through disciplined, personal meditation on the name and message of God. In Sikhism, God is shapeless, timeless, and sightless. God is omnipresent and infinite. Sikhs believe that before creation, all that existed was god and its will or order (similar to the "logos" of Christianity). The fundamental belief of Sikhism is that God exists, indescribable yet knowable and perceivable to anyone who is prepared to dedicate the time and energy to gaining this knowledge. While a full understanding of God is beyond human beings, god is omnipresent in all creation and visible everywhere to the spiritually awakened. Guru Nanak's teachings are founded not on a final destination of heaven or hell, but on a spiritual union with God which results in salvation. God created the spatial-temporal universe not from some pre-existing physical element, but from his / her own Self. It is not maya (illusion), but is sat (real) because, as Guru Arjan says, “True is He and true is his / her creation [because] all has emanated from God Himself”
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