Essay on Eastern Religions (Sikhism, Buddhism etc)?

I am in the IB program (go ogle it if unknown!) and it is time to chose an Extended Essay Topic (which is an essay that has to be between 3600 - 4000 words) with a clear thesis and in one of the areas of my studies. I am really interested in Eastern Religions and Cultures and my area will be History. I am asking for some topic suggestions that could be worked out as a good thesis and that i could analyze thoroughly and prove a point. I can't really think of anything, but i KNOW I want to do it on the eastern world (and history) and their cultures since i have to be interested in the topic and such, to be able to actually enjoy writing a 4000 word essay!
Any suggestions are really welcome! Anything really! I have the whole summer to write the essay, but I'm thinking of finalizing a topic in the next few days (until Monday probably)
THANKS
no not a thesis, but an idea that i can work around. Since I am not completely familiar with the concepts of all eastern religions, anything that could help me focus on certain aspects that could be explored thoroughly

how about the close relations between the teachings of the religions and everyday life?

or how Buddhism/other religions don't really teach faith, but compassion and respect

hope it works out

You're asking us to write your thesis statement for you?

whats a thesis?

the best thing to do would be to pick something you don't really know about, because otherwise you will not only get bored, but you won't reach out of your area of knowledge to discover new things. right now you have an area of interest, so just go from there and pick something you want to know more about. if you are learning while writing, that will be more enjoyable than reiterating facts you already know.
good luck

Write about the history of trade between India and the nations of southeast Asia, which caused Indian mythology and beliefs to be adopted and modified in those nations. Buddha was, you know, born in India and his teachings spread via traders to southeast Asian countries.

I wonder if you know that one of the main differences between the Oriental Faiths and the Occidental ones is that the Occidental ones say God gave Man Dominion over all Creation; whereas, all the Oriental ones teach that Man is just one more of God's Creations and must live in Harmony with all the rest?

Another, perhaps major difference is that the Occidental Faiths have a War between Good and Bad, whereas the Oriental ones have the Concept that there is nothing that is totally Good, nor Bad.

Take the Yin and the Yang, for example. The white part has a black dot in it and the black part has a white dot in it.

Good and Bad are mere perspectives in the Oriental Faiths and are both inter-dependent, while being compatible opposites.

Like the Male and the Female. Both are opposites, but cannot function without the other.

That God is the genderless, formless Stage, a Phase in our evolution, according to the Oriental Faiths, whereas He is the Almighty guy, in the Occidental ones?

That we are all the Eternal Soul wearing this human form, which we will shed, to return to our True Self - God, in the Oriental Faiths, whereas we may be rewarded or punished by the Almighty God, in the Occidental Faiths.

That the Occidental Faiths, today, are actually the Desert Messianic Faiths where the Desert played a pivotal role in influencing the flow of thought of those people, like with a God who threw Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, obviously the dream of all Desert Dwellers who crave for the oasis. Whereas the Oriental Faiths were born in lush and fertile lands like India, which influenced the flow of thought to be one of peaceful co-existence with Nature rather than Dominion over all Creation.

Where the fertile lands gave it's people the thinking of the Totality of Nature being God, whereas the Deserts made them think more in terms of a policing Entity of Might who made all of this and, He had to be Male, of course, because of the Male dominance of the Desert Dwellers.

Now, what do you think makes more sense to you?

What I personally found fascinating, when I did my thesis on Comparative Religion, incidentally, was the Motivation of the flow of thought of the Religions of the World.

I really had a freak out time with the Confucian and Philosophy of Lao Ste, incidentally.

Hinduism is another really deep thing, but, one might think I'm biased because I'm a Hindu and am studying the theory of Deivehah Virgina, Niagara.

All the best.

Akela,
the Lone Wolf.

Well if you are really interested in eastern religions, my suggestion to you is to choose Sikhism. It will be really interested for you to write on this topic in detail. This is the religion of the present age. You may visit sikh.com, sikhitothemax, sikhnet, rajkaregakhalsa, sgpc web sites to know about in detail. You may click on icon before this answer. About a dozen of my answers on sikhism have been chosen the best. I will forward to you some selected answers for your help.You are also invited to contact me at <jagjeet.parwanda48@yahoo.com> for any query in the matter. Jagjeet Singh.

Maybe something to do with the contrast between the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and eastern religions.

Or talk about the difference between Hinduism and the NatkaKIAchools of thought which reject the authority of the Veda (Buddhism and Jainism), or the rise of the SantMat traditions which lead the religions of Sikhism, Kabir pa nth, Ramdasi, Ravidasia etc...