This is a fresh and innovative exploration of traditional Indian religion and culture - an area that has fascinated and puzzled the West for centuries. Making use of his own original research, conducted over twenty-five years, Friedhelm Hardy aims at presenting the widest possible range of themes that have preoccupied Indian culture. He draws on a variety of sources, in various languages, and listens not only to what the philosopher or theologian in the classical Sanskrit texts has to say, but also to what folk and regional cults and cultures express in stories, myths and poetry. In an often...

The Body Divine explores the ways in which two spiritual teachers, one Christian (Teilhard de Chardin) and one Hindu (R DEGREESD=am DEGREESD=anuja) have seen the world as inherently divine, and have presented this insight theologically through the use of a symbol, that of the "body of the divine" (the body of Christ/Brahman). In a careful study of their beliefs, Dr. Hunt Overzee shows how both thinkers came to understand reality in terms of consciousness, believing that salvation/release is realized through attaining the Lord. This goal is approximated through a changed view of things, in...

This work is an original and critical interpretation of Sikh literature from a feminist perspective. It analyzes the rich feminine imagery and symbolism that pervades the divine-human encounter in this literature, and gives a new authenticity to a relatively neglected religious tradition. Nikky Singh shows convincingly that Sikh Gurus and poets did not want the feminine principle to serve just as a figure of speech or literary device, but was intended, rather, to pervade the whole life of the Sikhs. Her work thus reverses an androcentric approach to Sikhism.

In this book, Julia Ching offers a survey of over 4,000 years of Chinese civilization through an examination of the relationship between kingship and mysticism. She investigates the sage-king myth and ideal, arguing that institutions of kingship were bound up with cultivation of trance states and communication with spirits. Over time, the sage-king myth became a model for the actual ruler. As a paradigm, it was also appropriated by private individuals who strove for wisdom without becoming kings. As the Confucian tradition interacted with the Taoist and the Buddhist, the religious character...

The Dance of Siva is a complete account of Siva's Dance of Bliss, which is based on a remarkable Sanskrit poem written by Umapati Sivacarya about 1300 AD. Siva is one of the two main gods of Hinduism. The book deals with the famous Chola Nataraja bronze--today the best-known Hindu image, the key location of Siva's Dance in South India, and the temple of Cidambaram. Dr. Smith explores all aspects of Nataraja and the Goddess, and the temple, its priests and ritual. Relevant contemporary art from Cidambaram and neighboring sites illuminates the text.

This book presents a new answer to the question: what is nirvana? Part One distinguishes between systematic and narrative thought in the Pali texts of Theravada Buddhism, looking at the place of nirvana in both. Part Two explores other Buddhist utopias and relates Buddhist utopianism to studies of European and American utopian writing. Steven Collins discusses these issues in relation to textuality, world history, and ideology in premodern civilizations, aiming to contribute to a new vision of Buddhist history that integrates the inside and the outside of texts.

Examines the meaning of 'nirvana' and discusses Buddhist utopias, textuality and world history.

This will be the standard study on the "body" in relation to the major religions. It highlights the distinctive and unfamiliar ways in which diverse religious traditions understand the "body" and notes the assumptions and problems of contemporary attitudes to it. Religion and the Body brings together essays by established experts in the history of religion, the social sciences and philosophy. The result is a rich source for comparative studies of the "body," its relation to society and to the divine.

This book is the first to engage Zen Buddhism philosophically on crucial issues from a perspective that is informed by the traditions of Western philosophy and religion. It focuses on one renowned Zen master, Huang Po, whose recorded sayings exemplify the spirit of the "golden age" of Zen in medieval China, and on the transmission of these writings to the West. While deeply sympathetic to the Zen tradition, it raises serious questions about the kinds of claims that can be made on its behalf.