The Illustrated World's Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions – Huston Smith
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly: In lucid and captivating prose, Smith, the dean of world religionists, conducts readers on a whirlwind tour of the beliefs, practices and experiences of the world's religious traditions. Smith explores the major features of these religions by combining his own worlds with passages from the sacred texts of each. In addition, beautifully arresting images of icons, religious practitioners, sacred texts and sacred art accompany Smith's lyrical writing. The words and images of this book continually remind us that the world's faiths are not stagnant pools of decaying values but dynamic and vibrant waters from which their practitioners daily drink. The book also brings within range of our American hearing the voices of a wide variety of people for whom religion is the central fact of social and cultural life. If one buys only one of the number of recent introductions to world religions, this should be it. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Brief Biography
Smith was born in Soochow, China, to Methodist missionaries and spent his first 17 years there. He taught at the Universities of Colorado and Denver from 1944 to 1947, moved to Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, for the next 10 years, and then served as professor of Philosophy at MIT from 1958 to 1973.
ISBN-10: 0060674407
ISBN-13: 978-0060674403
Essential Hinduism · Steven J. Rosen
Editorial Reviews
Rosen (Introduction to the World's Major Religions) is the ideal author to unravel the mystery of this diverse and complex faith. As editor of the Journal of Vaishnava Studies, he is especially qualified in his highlighting of Vaishnavism, the most popular form of Hinduism, throughout. The book is made up of 13 chapters and is divided into two conceptual parts: 'The Basis,' which focuses on Hinduism's history and holy texts, and 'The Practice,' which discusses philosophical ideas and specific practices such as vegetarianism, meditation, and worship. Hindu terms appear alongside English translations. (Library Journal) Rosen, a frequent writer about Hinduism, sets out the fundamentals of the religion, focusing on the tradition of Vaishnavism, with which about two-thirds of Hindus worldwide identify themselves. He considers such aspects as the one and the many, dharma, the Vedas, underlying metaphysics, festivals and holidays, and sonic theology. (Reference & Research Book News) This sophisticated but readable book covers just about everything there is to know about Hinduism. The history of India, the caste system, sacred texts, deity worship, and much more is thoroughly and reverently discussed. (Voya) Rosen provides a clear, concise introduction to Vaishnavism, the forms of Hinduism adhered to by the approximately two-thirds of 'Hindus' who acknowledge Vishnu as the supreme deity… Highly recommended. (Choice)
About the Author
Steven J. Rosen is an initiated disciple of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He is founding editor of the Journal of Vaishnava Studies and an associate editor of Back to Godhead Magazine. He has published widely on Hinduism.
ISBN-10: 0742562379
ISBN-13: 978-0742562370
Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India · Diana L. Eck
Editorial Reviews
An explanation of temple worship and the use of Deity images. Darsan will give the Hindu deeper insight into the practices of his own religion, provide explanations for non-Hindu friends, and convey useful knowledge to his children. (Hinduism Today)
About the Author
Diana L. Eck, professor of comparative religion and Indian studies, and director of The Pluralism Project at Harvard University, is the editor of On Common Ground: World Religions in America, a multimedia CD-ROM (Columbia).
Diana L. Eck is Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies and Frederic Wertham Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society at Harvard University. She serves on the Committee on the Study of Religion in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She is also a member of the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, a member of the Faculty of Divinity, and Master of Lowell House, one of Harvard's twelve undergraduate residential Houses. She received her B.A from Smith College (1967) in Religion, her M.A. from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (1968) in South Asian History, and her Ph.D. from Harvard University (1976) in the Comparative Study of Religion.
ISBN-10: 0231112653
ISBN-13: 978-0231112659
The Hidden Glory of India · Steven J. Rosen
This title is not about the exotic land itself, but rather the hidden glory of Vaishnavism. It may not be the most well-known form of Hinduism but it is India's richest and most significant religious tradition. This book focuses on the Vaishnava tradition and its contemporary manifestations.
About the Author
Steven J. Rosen is an initiated disciple of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He is founding editor of the Journal of Vaishnava Studies and an associate editor of Back to Godhead Magazine. He has published widely on Hinduism.
ISBN-10: 0892133511
ISBN-13: 978-0892133512
The Wishing Tree: Presence and Promise of India · Subhash Kak
The past two decades have brought revolutionary changes in the understanding of the Indian civilization. This book, as an overview of this new understanding, is for the general reader.
It is based on several invited lectures at Stanford University, the Berkeley and Irvine campuses of the University of California, and an invited address at the OHM (Dutch Public TV) Congress in the Hague.
Brief Biography
Subhash Kak (born March 26, 1947 in Srinagar) is an Indian American computer scientist. He is Regents Professor and a previous Head of Computer Science Department at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater who has made contributions to cryptography, artificial neural networks, and quantum information.
Kak is also notable for his Indological publications on the history of science, the philosophy of science, ancient astronomy, and the history of mathematics. Alan Sokal labeled Kak "one of the leading intellectual luminaries of the Hindu-nationalist diaspora."
