Authority And Meaning In Indian Religions

Author : Julia Leslie
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351772996
Total Pages : 262 pages
Book Rating : 4.90/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Authority and Meaning in Indian Religions written by Julia Leslie and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-11-22 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title was first published in 2003. Can a text be used either to validate or to invalidate contemporary understandings? Texts may be deemed 'sacred', but sacred to whom? Do conflicting understandings matter? Is it appropriate to try to offer a resolution? For Hindus and non-Hindus, in India and beyond, Valmiki is the poet-saint who composed the epic Rà mà yaõa. Yet for a vocal community of dalits (once called 'untouchables'), within and outside India, Valmiki is God. How then does one explain the popular story that he started out as an ignorant and violent bandit, attacking and killing travellers for material gain? And what happens when these two accounts, Valmiki as God and Valmiki as villain, are held simultaneously by two different religious groups, both contemporary, and both vocal? This situation came to a head with controversial demonstrations by the Valmiki community in Britain in 2000, giving rise to some searching questions which Julia Leslie now seeks to address.

Author : Friedhelm Hardy
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 0521441811
Total Pages : 631 pages
Book Rating : 4.10/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Religious Culture of India written by Friedhelm Hardy and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1994-07-28 with total page 631 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 humorous and always entertaining manner he reveals the colourful world of India to the non-specialist by making the three primary human drives of power, love and wisdom his focal points. Individual themes are frequently also illustrated from relevant Occidental sources. The book is based on public lectures delivered at the University of Oxford. While professional Indian studies become increasingly specialized, and popular interest in the subject loses itself in a mystical maze, this book presents a view of the whole culture from which has arisen the huge diversity of Indian religion in a manner that is both authoritative and accessible.

Author : John Bowker
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0198708955
Total Pages : 161 pages
Book Rating : 4.57/5 ( download)

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Download or read book God written by John Bowker and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2014 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this concise introduction to the deity, John Bowker explores how each major religion, and countless philosophers and theologians, have answered the fundamental question: Who or what is God? He also explores why some people believe in God and others do not, and concludes by looking at how our understanding of God continues to evolve in the present day. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Ismail Fajrie Alatas
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691204292
Total Pages : 286 pages
Book Rating : 4.91/5 ( download)

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Download or read book What Is Religious Authority? written by Ismail Fajrie Alatas and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-06-22 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An anthropologist's groundbreaking account of how Islamic religious authority is assembled through the unceasing labor of community building on the island of Java This compelling book draws on Ismail Fajrie Alatas's unique insights as an anthropologist to provide a new understanding of Islamic religious authority, showing how religious leaders unite diverse aspects of life and contest differing Muslim perspectives to create distinctly Muslim communities. Taking readers from the eighteenth century to today, Alatas traces the movements of Muslim saints and scholars from Yemen to Indonesia and looks at how they traversed complex cultural settings while opening new channels for the transmission of Islamic teachings. He describes the rise to prominence of Indonesia's leading Sufi master, Habib Luthfi, and his rivalries with competing religious leaders, revealing why some Muslim voices become authoritative while others don't. Alatas examines how Habib Luthfi has used the infrastructures of the Sufi order and the Indonesian state to build a durable religious community, while deploying genealogy and hagiography to present himself as a successor of the Prophet Muḥammad. Challenging prevailing conceptions of what it means to be Muslim, What Is Religious Authority? demonstrates how the concrete and sustained labors of translation, mobilization, collaboration, and competition are the very dynamics that give Islam its power and diversity.

Author : Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.88/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Indian Religions written by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Loriliai Biernacki
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 0199989893
Total Pages : 231 pages
Book Rating : 4.98/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Panentheism Across the World's Traditions written by Loriliai Biernacki and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Not to be confused with pantheism-the ancient Greek notion that God is everywhere, an animistic force in rocks and trees-the concept of panentheism suggests that God is both in the world, immanent, and also beyond the confines of mere matter, transcendent. One of the fundamental premises of this groundbreaking collection of essays is that panentheism, despite being unlabeled until the nineteenth century, is not merely a modern Western invention. The contributors examine a number of the world's established and ancient religious traditions-Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and others-to draw out the panentheistic dimensions of these traditions and the possibilities they suggest. Panentheism is not only an esoteric, potentially heretical, and deeply mystical vision of the world's great religious pasts; it is also a key feature of contemporary global spirituality. As this volume demonstrates, the metaphors and practices associated with modern panentheism speak powerfully to the realities of our evolving species and our evolving technological world. Panentheism's enticingly heretical vision of the relationship between the divine and matter has historically been denied a serious place in scholarship. As Panentheism across the World's Traditions shows, the dynamism between matter and spirit that panentheism offers has had a profound influence in the modern world.

Author : Hilal Ahmed
Publisher : Penguin Random House India Private Limited
ISBN 13 : 9353055121
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.27/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Siyasi Muslims written by Hilal Ahmed and published by Penguin Random House India Private Limited. This book was released on 2019-04-25 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do we make sense of the Muslims of India? Do they form a political community? Does the imagined conflict between Islam and modernity affect the Muslims' political behaviour in this country? Are Muslim religious institutions-mosques and madrasas-directly involved in politics? Do they instruct the community to vote strategically in all elections? What are 'Muslim issues'? Is it only about triple talaq? Are Muslims truly nationalists? Or do they continue to remain just an 'other' in India? While these questions intrigue us, we seldom debate to find pragmatic answers to these queries. Examining the everydayness of Muslims in contemporary India, Hilal Ahmed offers an evocative story of politics and Islam in India, which goes beyond the given narratives of Muslim victimhood and Islamic separation.

Author : Amrutur V. Srinivasan
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 0470878584
Total Pages : 397 pages
Book Rating : 4.83/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Hinduism For Dummies written by Amrutur V. Srinivasan and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-07-12 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Your hands-on guide to one of the world's major religions The dominant religion of India, "Hinduism" refers to a wide variety of religious traditions and philosophies that have developed over thousands of years. Today, the United States is home to approximately one million Hindus. If you've heard of this ancient religion and are looking for a reference that explains the intricacies of the customs, practices, and teachings of this ancient spiritual system, Hinduism For Dummies is for you! Provides a thorough introduction to this earliest and popular world belief system Information on the rites, rituals, deities, and teachings associated with the practice of Hinduism Explores the history and teachings of the Vedas, Brahmans, and Upanishads Offers insight into the modern daily practice of Hinduism around the world Continuing the Dummies tradition of making the world's religions engaging and accessible to everyone, Hinduism For Dummies is your hands-on, friendly guide to this fascinating religion.

Author : Rajeev Bhargava
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780195650273
Total Pages : 550 pages
Book Rating : 4.71/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Secularism and Its Critics written by Rajeev Bhargava and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book puts together the most important contemporary writings in the debate on secularism. It deals with conceptual, normative and explanatory issues in secularism and addresses urgent questions, including the relevance of secularism to non-Western societies and the question of minority rights.

Author : Jacob K. Olupona
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199790582
Total Pages : 177 pages
Book Rating : 4.86/5 ( download)

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Download or read book African Religions written by Jacob K. Olupona and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book connects traditional religions to the thriving religious activity in Africa today.