A historical and comparative study grounded in close readings of important works, this book explores the dynamics of the theory and practice of yoga in Hindu and Buddhist contexts. Author Stuart Ray Sarbacker explores the fascinating, contrasting perceptions that meditation leads to the attainment of divine, or numinous, power, and to complete escape from worldly existence, or cessation. Sarbacker demonstrates that these two dimensions of spiritual experience have affected the doctrine and cultural significance of yoga from its origins to its contemporary practice. He also integrates...

Religion: Sources, Perspectives, and Methodologies serves as a primer to the study of religion. By employing literature, film, art, history, and other disciplines, the approximately 22 thematic chapters begin with a brief history of the modern practice, segue into religion and the social sciences, continues with chapters on gnosticism, material culture, studies of myths and rituals, which serve as introductions to the subfields covered in the succeeding nine volumes in the series. Targeting undergraduates as well as the educated lay reader, Religion: Sources, Perspectives, and Methodologies...

Religion: Social Religion is broken into four parts: psychology of religion, sociology of religion, anthropology of religion, and the historical method. Each section will start with an overview of the discipline, then cover the originative figures who shaped the field, followed by a historical and contemporary view of the field, and concluding with the major criticisms, debates, and future of the field. Targeting undergraduates as well as the educated lay reader, Religion: Social Religion introduces the study of religion through the lens of social science. Chapters are written by eminent...

Composed of twenty-two thematic chapters, Embodied Religion orients students and scholars to the critical study of religion, gender, sexuality, and the body. The introduction and first section provide a foundational overview of key terms, topics, and questions for such scholarly work. In the second section, essays examine the multiple and complex ways that various traditions from Hinduism to Christianity to Paganism seek to regulate and celebrate embodiment and desire. A final section examines relevant theoretical approaches, including ethnography, phenomenology, queer studies, and disability...