Hinduism - A Critical Review

Hinduism - A Critical Review
Author :
Publisher : Lulu.com
Total Pages : 135
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781105273698
ISBN-13 : 1105273695
Rating : 4/5 (98 Downloads)

Synopsis Hinduism - A Critical Review by : Diptanu Dey

For ages, Hindus have been a matter of interest and mystery to the world. Hindu way of life and philosophy is one of the oldest and supposedly one of the best in the world. It has survived throughout time and has never lost its glory till date. As to an outsider and sometimes even to a Hindu, Hinduism may appear very confusing, as it has welcomed every concept, be it for or against. This book endeavors to bring to light the ever contrasting secrets of Hindus and uphold the mysterious Hinduism.

Unifying Hinduism

Unifying Hinduism
Author :
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Total Pages : 282
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780231149877
ISBN-13 : 0231149875
Rating : 4/5 (77 Downloads)

Synopsis Unifying Hinduism by : Andrew J. Nicholson

Some postcolonial theorists argue that the idea of a single system of belief known as "Hinduism" is a creation of nineteenth-century British imperialists. Andrew J. Nicholson introduces another perspective: although a unified Hindu identity is not as ancient as some Hindus claim, it has its roots in innovations within South Asian philosophy from the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries. During this time, thinkers treated the philosophies of Vedanta, Samkhya, and Yoga, along with the worshippers of Visnu, Siva, and Sakti, as belonging to a single system of belief and practice. Instead of seeing such groups as separate and contradictory, they re-envisioned them as separate rivers leading to the ocean of Brahman, the ultimate reality. Drawing on the writings of philosophers from late medieval and early modern traditions, including Vijnanabhiksu, Madhava, and Madhusudana Sarasvati, Nicholson shows how influential thinkers portrayed Vedanta philosophy as the ultimate unifier of diverse belief systems. This project paved the way for the work of later Hindu reformers, such as Vivekananda, Radhakrishnan, and Gandhi, whose teachings promoted the notion that all world religions belong to a single spiritual unity. In his study, Nicholson also critiques the way in which Eurocentric concepts—like monism and dualism, idealism and realism, theism and atheism, and orthodoxy and heterodoxy—have come to dominate modern discourses on Indian philosophy.

Defining Hinduism

Defining Hinduism
Author :
Publisher : Routledge
Total Pages : 239
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781315475639
ISBN-13 : 1315475634
Rating : 4/5 (39 Downloads)

Synopsis Defining Hinduism by : J. E. Llewellyn

'Defining Hinduism' focuses on what Hinduism is, what it has been, and what some have argued it should be. The oldest of the world religions, Hinduism presents a complex pantheon and system of beliefs. Far from being unchanging, Hinduism has, like any faith of duration, evolved in response to changing cultural, political and ideological demands. The book brings together some of the leading scholars working on South Asian religions today.

Hindu Pluralism

Hindu Pluralism
Author :
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Total Pages : 300
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780520966291
ISBN-13 : 0520966295
Rating : 4/5 (91 Downloads)

Synopsis Hindu Pluralism by : Elaine M. Fisher

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. In Hindu Pluralism, Elaine M. Fisher complicates the traditional scholarly narrative of the unification of Hinduism. By calling into question the colonial categories implicit in the term “sectarianism,” Fisher’s work excavates the pluralistic textures of precolonial Hinduism in the centuries prior to British intervention. Drawing on previously unpublished sources in Sanskrit, Tamil, and Telugu, Fisher argues that the performance of plural religious identities in public space in Indian early modernity paved the way for the emergence of a distinctively non-Western form of religious pluralism. This work provides a critical resource for understanding how Hinduism developed in the early modern period, a crucial era that set the tenor for religion's role in public life in India through the present day.

Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities

Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities
Author :
Publisher : Routledge
Total Pages : 228
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781317151609
ISBN-13 : 1317151607
Rating : 4/5 (09 Downloads)

Synopsis Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities by : Pankaj Jain

In Indic religious traditions, a number of rituals and myths exist in which the environment is revered. Despite this nature worship in India, its natural resources are under heavy pressure with its growing economy and exploding population. This has led several scholars to raise questions about the role religious communities can play in environmentalism. Does nature worship inspire Hindus to act in an environmentally conscious way? This book explores the above questions with three communities, the Swadhyaya movement, the Bishnoi, and the Bhil communities. Presenting the texts of Bishnois, their environmental history, and their contemporary activism; investigating the Swadhyaya movement from an ecological perspective; and exploring the Bhil communities and their Sacred Groves, this book applies a non-Western hermeneutical model to interpret the religious traditions of Indic communities. With a foreword by Roger S Gottlieb.

Why I Am a Hindu

Why I Am a Hindu
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Total Pages : 347
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781787380455
ISBN-13 : 1787380459
Rating : 4/5 (55 Downloads)

Synopsis Why I Am a Hindu by : Shashi Tharoor

Hinduism is one of the world's oldest and greatest religious traditions. In captivating prose, Shashi Tharoor untangles its origins, its key philosophical concepts and texts. He explores everyday Hindu beliefs and practices, from worship to pilgrimage to caste, and touchingly reflects on his personal beliefs and relationship with the religion. Not one to shy from controversy, Tharoor is unsparing in his criticism of 'Hindutva', an extremist, nationalist Hinduism endorsed by India's current government. He argues urgently and persuasively that it is precisely because of Hinduism's rich diversity that India has survived and thrived as a plural, secular nation. If narrow fundamentalism wins out, Indian democracy itself is in peril.

Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu

Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Total Pages : 201
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780190654924
ISBN-13 : 0190654929
Rating : 4/5 (24 Downloads)

Synopsis Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu by : Michael J. Altman

Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu is a groundbreaking analysis of American representations of religion in India before the turn of the twentieth century. Before Americans wrote about "Hinduism," they wrote about "heathenism," "the religion of the Hindoos," and "Brahmanism." Americans used the heathen, Hindoo, and Hindu as an other against which they represented themselves. The questions of American identity, classification, representation and the definition of "religion" that animated descriptions of heathens, Hindoos, and Hindus in the past still animate American debates today.

The Limits of Scripture

The Limits of Scripture
Author :
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages : 196
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0824815424
ISBN-13 : 9780824815424
Rating : 4/5 (24 Downloads)

Synopsis The Limits of Scripture by : Anantanand Rambachan

"Hailed as one of modern India's cultural heroes, Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) has been credited not only with interpreting Hinduism to the west but with interpreting it to India itself. Despite his pervasive influence, critical assessments and attempts to "demythologize" Vivekananda have been rare, and rarer still are historical and hermeneutical clarification of his work. The Limits of Scripture offers a close examination of Vivekananda's understanding of the authority of sruiti (the Vedas) and its relationship to anubhava (personal experience)." "Beginning with an analysis of western influences and Hindu responses in the nineteenth century, Anantanand Rambachan moves on to a careful explication of Vivekananda's understanding of the Vedas, the nature and scope of their authority, and the hermeneutical principles employed by him in his approach to the texts. Throughout the discussion, the author also clarifies the generally overlooked distinctions between Vivekananda's view of anubhava as the source of liberating knowledge and that of Sankara (ca. 788-820), the principal systematizer and exponent of the Advaita tradition, who argued for the Vedas as the authoritative source of this knowledge. The task of critically distinguishing Sankara and Vivekananda has not been thoroughly accomplished elsewhere and is crucial for understanding religious and philosophical change in modern Indian thought." "In addition this work evaluates the coherence and consistency of Vivekananda's reinterpretations, drawing attention to important problems in his claim for the supremacy of personal experience, his arguments for "many paths to the same goal," and his attempts to reconcile the insights of Hinduism with the methods and findings of science. In undertaking this assessment and analysis, The Limits of Scripture makes a real contribution to the understanding of Vivekananda's legacy, Indian religions, and the wider study of religion."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Studying Hinduism

Studying Hinduism
Author :
Publisher : Routledge
Total Pages : 425
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781134418299
ISBN-13 : 1134418299
Rating : 4/5 (99 Downloads)

Synopsis Studying Hinduism by : Sushil Mittal

This book is an indispensable resource for students and researchers wishing to develop a deeper understanding of one of the world's oldest and most multifaceted religious traditions. Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby, leading scholars in the field, have brought together a rich variety of perspectives which reflect the current lively state of the field. Studying Hinduism is the result of cooperative work by accomplished specialists in several fields that include anthropology, art, comparative literature, history, philosophy, religious studies, and sociology. Through these complementary and exciting approaches, students will gain a greater understanding of India's culture and traditions, to which Hinduism is integral. The book uses key critical terms and topics as points of entry into the subject, revealing that although Hinduism can be interpreted in sharply contrasting ways and set in widely varying contexts, it is endlessly fascinating and intriguing.

Hinduism in the Modern World

Hinduism in the Modern World
Author :
Publisher : Routledge
Total Pages : 341
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781135046316
ISBN-13 : 113504631X
Rating : 4/5 (16 Downloads)

Synopsis Hinduism in the Modern World by : Brian A. Hatcher

Hinduism in the Modern World presents a new and unprecedented attempt to survey the nature, range, and significance of modern and contemporary Hinduism in South Asia and the global diaspora. Organized to reflect the direction of recent scholarly research, this volume breaks with earlier texts on this subject by seeking to overcome a misleading dichotomy between an elite, intellectualist "modern" Hinduism and the rest of what has so often been misleadingly termed "traditional" or "popular" Hinduism. Without neglecting the significance of modern reformist visions of Hinduism, this book reconceptualizes the meaning of "modern Hinduism" both by expanding its content and by situating its expression within a larger framework of history, ethnography, and contemporary critical theory. This volume equips undergraduate readers with the tools necessary to appreciate the richness and diversity of Hinduism as it has developed during the past two centuries.