Indigenous religions in the context of "Buryats"

World religions is a socially-constructed category in the study of religion that demarcates religions deemed to have been especially large, internationally widespread, or influential in the development of human societies. It typically consists of the "big five" religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. These are often juxtaposed against categories such as folk religions, Indigenous religions, and new religious movements (NRMs).

The "world religions" paradigm was developed in the United Kingdom during the 1960s, pioneered by scholars of religion such as Ninian Smart. It was intended to broaden the study of religion beyond its focus on Christianity by including other large religious traditions. The paradigm is often used for undergraduate study of religion. The emphasis on viewing these religious movements as distinct and mutually exclusive has also had a wider impact on the categorisation of religion—for instance in censuses.

Indigenous Philippine folk religions are the distinct native religions of various ethnic groups in the Philippines, where most follow belief systems in line with animism. These indigenous folk religions include a set of local worship traditions that are devoted to the anito or diwata (and their variables), terms which translate to gods, spirits, and ancestors. Many of the narratives within the indigenous folk religions are orally transmitted to the next generation, but many have traditionally been written down as well. The Spanish colonizers have claimed that the natives did not have religious writings, but records show otherwise. Accounts, both from Chinese and Spanish sources have explicitly noted the existence of indigenous religious writings. There are also Spanish records of indigenous religious books and scrolls, along with indigenous statues of gods, being burned by colonizers. In some sources, the Spanish claim that no such religious writings exist, while within the same chronicle, they record such books being burned on their own order. The writings were written on native reeds and leaves using iron points and other local pens, similar to how things are written on a papyrus, and fashioned either as scrolls or books. Some were written on bamboos. 0.23% of the population of the Philippines are affiliated with the Indigenous Philippine folk religions according to the 2020 national census, an increase from the previous 0.19% from the 2010 census.

The profusion of different terms arises from the fact that these Indigenous religions mostly flourished in the pre-colonial period before the Philippines had become a single nation. The various peoples of the Philippines spoke different languages and thus used different terms to describe their religious beliefs. While these beliefs can be treated as separate religions, scholars have noted that they follow a "common structural framework of ideas" which can be studied together. The various Indigenous Philippine religious beliefs are related to the various religions of Oceania and the maritime Southeast Asia, which draw their roots from Austronesian beliefs as those in the Philippines.

Among religions in Brunei, Sunni Islam is predominant. In 2021, the government census showed that 82.1% of Brunei's population is Muslim. However, other religions also have a considerable foothold in Brunei: 6.7% of the population is Christian and another 6.3% is Buddhist. The remaining 4.9% subscribe to various religions, including indigenous religions.

Islam is the state religion of Brunei. Freedom of religion and the right to practice privately are nominally guaranteed. Furthermore, some non-Islamic holidays, such as Lunar New Year, Christmas, Vesak day and Gawai Dayak, are recognised. These rights, however, are limited in practice: religious education is controlled, even in the Chinese, Christian and private schools. Brunei's penal code criminalizes efforts to promote religions other than Islam to Muslims or the non-religious, including persuading religious conversion, exposing Muslim children to other faiths, or opposing Islamic authorities. It also punishes those who assist in such acts. These provisions marginalize non-Muslims and non-believers, severely restricting their religious freedom in violation of international human rights standards. Non-Muslims must be at least 14 years and 7 months old if they want to convert to another religion. A minor will automatically become a Muslim if their parents convert to Islam.