Arvind Sharma

In his Autobiography, Gandhi wrote, "What I want to achieve, what I have been striving and pining to achieve these thirty years, is self-realization, to see God face to face. ...All that I do by way of speaking and writing, and all my ventures in the political field, are directed to this same end." While hundreds of biographies and histories have been written about Gandhi (1869-1948), nearly all of them have focused on the national, political, social, economic, educational, environmental, or familial dimensions of his life. Very few, in recounting how Gandhi led his country to political freedom, have viewed his struggle primarily as a search of spiritual liberation. Shifting the focus to the understudied subject of Gandhi's spiritual life, the author retells the story of Gandhi's life through this lens. Illuminating unsuspected dimensions of Gandhi's inner world and uncovering their surprising connections with his outward actions, the author explores the eclectic religious atmosphere in which Gandhi was raised, his belief in karma and rebirth, his conviction that morality and religion are synonymous, his attitudes toward tyranny and freedom, and, perhaps most important, the mysterious source of his power to establish new norms of human conduct. This book enlarges our understanding of one of history's most profoundly influential figures, a man whose trust in the power of the spirit helped liberate millions. -- From book jacket.

a spiritual biography

Gandhi

Arthur Llewellyn Basham

??draka

An English translation of a well-known Sanskrit play which revolves around the romantic theme of the love of a high-born man for a courtesan.

An English Translation of the Mrcchakatika of Sudraka as adapted for the stage by A.L. Basham

The Little Clay Cart

This book discusses the position of women in the Native American, African, Shinto, Jaina, Zoroastrian, Sikh, and Baha'i faiths for the first time in a single volume, and evolves a conceptual framework within which their positions could be comprehensively considered. The contributing scholars provide an enlarged database for a more thorough discussion of the questions pertaining to women and religion in general, and simultaneously advance the theoretical frontiers in women's studies. Religion and Women belongs to a trilogy about women and world religions edited by Arvind Sharma the first and third volumes being respectively, Women in World Religions and Today's Woman in World Religions.

Religion and Women

Enlightening encounters with the world's religions from a Hindu perspective.

The Religiously Comparative Reflections of a Comparatively Religious Hindu

One Religion Too Many

Most of the time, people find it difficult to abandon their houses, relatives, fields, and granaries without grave risk of loss. Unseen or unpredictable forces do not give a person much choice. He had always felt a sense of belonging to his village, no matter where he lived. Coming back home from an alien place, he should have felt a sense of elation, but times had changed, and so had the circumstances. An empty home filled with loneliness waited for him. Only events from the past and shattered dreams accompanied him on this journey.

A journey into the Unknown

The Shashwat Saga

A Hindu Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion

Philosophy of religion, as we know it today, emerged in the West and has been shaped by Western philosophical and theological trends, while the philosophical tradition of India flowed along its own course until the late nineteenth century, when active, if tentative, contact was established between the West and the East. This book provides a definite focus to this interaction by investigating issues raised in Western philosophy of religion from the perspective of Advaita Ved&_nta, the influential school of Indian thought. In promoting the emergence of a cross-cultural philosophy of religion, Arvind Sharma focuses on John H. Hick and his well-known work The Philosophy of Religion as representative of modern Western philosophy of religion, and on &_ankara, along with his modern successors such as M. Hiriyanna and S. Radhakrishnan, as representative of Advaita Ved&_nta.

A Comparative Study in Religion and Reason

The Philosophy of Religion and Advaita Vedanta

This book examines how the women's movement is affecting traditional religions and civilizations throughout the world. It reviews cases of global impact in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Australian aboriginal religion. This volume completes the trilogy devoted to women in world religions, edited by Arvind Sharma. The second book in the series is entitled Religion and Women. The present work surveys the position of women in the religious traditions covered in the first volume of the trilogy, Women in World Religions, placing these traditions in contemporary context.

Today's Woman in World Religions

An essential introduction to the world's living religions by experts from each tradition -- published in conjunction with the 1993 Parliament of the World's Religions.

The Seven World Religions Introduced by Preeminent Scholars from Each Tradition

Our Religions

Birks Professor of Comparative Religion Arvind Sharma

Explores deep sleep (susupti), one of the three states of consciousness in Advaita Vedanta, and the major role it plays in this philosophy.

Sleep as a State of Consciousness in Advaita Vedanta

The Experiential Dimension of Advaita Vedanta provides a clear, concise and precise introduction to Advaita Vedanta, on the basis of something more powerful than argument, namely, experience.

The Experiential Dimension of Advaita Vedanta

This set is an unprecedented examination of religion's influence on modern life, an honest assessment of how religion can either destroy us or preserve us, and a thorough exploration of what steps might be necessary for all religions to join together as a force for good. Convening on the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the global congress The World's Religions after September 11 explored the negative and positive possibilities of the religious dimensions of life. The presentations from the congress have been pulled together in this set, which addresses religion's intersection with human rights, spirituality, science, healing, the media, international diplomacy, globalization, war and peace, and more. This comprehensive set includes contributions from such well-known scholars of religion as Arvind Sharma and a host of others from all the world's religious traditions. This set is an unprecedented examination of religion's influence on modern life, an honest assessment of how religion can either destroy us or preserve us, and a thorough exploration of what steps might be necessary for all religions to join together as a force for good. Because of the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the very concept of religion underwent a paradigm shift. Instead of standing for virtue and piety, peace and harmony, the word religion also came to be inextricably associated with evil, aggression, and terror. People around the world began to question whether the religious and secular dimensions of modern life can be reconciled, whether the different religions of the world can ever coexist in harmony. Indeed, the very future of religion itself has sometimes seemed to be uncertain, or at least suspect.

The World's Religions after September 11 [4 volumes]

Ashok Vohra

Mrinal Miri

This Book Presents An In-Depth Study Of The Concept Of Dharma And Acknowledges That Indian Reality Encompasses The Elements Of Religion And Dharma. It Explores An Alternative Understanding Of Indian Civilization, Independent Of Western Presuppositions As Well As Some Contemporary Issues Relating To Women And The Dilemmas Faced By The Indian Diaspora.

Dharma, the Categorial Imperative

A highly personal meditation on the nature and meaning of suffering. An adequate explanation of suffering is perhaps the most intractable issue in the study of religion and philosophy, and the answer to the question “Why me?” has eluded not only those who are the victims of suffering, but those who sympathize with them and try to understand and explain their suffering. In this highly personal account, Arvind Sharma shares his story of becoming the victim of a severe road accident and his gradual recovery from a fractured knee, which included a hospital stay, surgeries, unexpected setbacks, and a lengthy process of rehabilitation. In the second and most substantial part of the book, Sharma attempts to intellectually come to terms with his experience and to reflect on how the experience of suffering in one form or another is a universal condition of human existence. “This book reads like a spiritual handbook on the problems of suffering and evil, which can be overwhelming. It is filled with wisdom of various traditions on the viscous question of theodicy, but is balanced by sprightly humor. The difficult subject is made accessible through personal reflections and philosophical and religious insights. Once I started reading, I had to finish it—it was captivating and inspiring.” — Veena R. Howard, author of Gandhi’s Ascetic Activism: Renunciation and Social Action “This fascinating and highly personal book offers a rare window into how events in the lives of scholars can shape their work and worldview. It is a valuable contribution to the wider discourse on the embodied and embedded nature of scholarly work: that it does not occur in a vacuum or from some imagined ‘objective’ Archimedean standpoint.” — Jeffery D. Long, author of A Vision for Hinduism: Beyond Hindu Nationalism

Genuflexions on a Fractured Knee

An Accidental Theodicy

Joseph Runzo

Nancy M. Martin

This volume outlines the approaches to human rights and responsibilities within the different world religions. Featuring contributions from over 15 scholars, the book covers such key issues as women's rights, the role of international law, and responsibility for the environment. It also includes a "Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the World's Religions", presented at the third Parliament of the World Religions.

Human Rights and Responsibilities in the World Religions

Victoria Kennick

Discusses the notion of a spiritual master and looks at examples in a variety of world religions. What is a spiritual master? Spiritual Masters of the World’s Religions offers an important contribution to religious studies by addressing that question in the context of such themes as charismatic authority, role models, symbolism, and categories of religious perception. The book contains essays by scholar-practitioners on the topic of spiritual masters in Judaic, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Confucian, and Daoist traditions. It provides a full spectrum of exemplars, including founders, spiritual masters who highlight cultural themes, and problematic figures of modern times. To define spiritual master, the work of Max Weber, Mircea Eliade, Daniel Gold, and Bruce Lincoln is referenced to provide a balanced notion that includes both religionist and reductionist perspectives. This book takes readers from the past spiritual masters to the future of masters of any sort, posing food for thought about the future of master-disciple relationships in an emerging age of egalitarian sentiments. Victoria Kennick is Professor of Humanities at the University of Maryland University College and the author of Introducing World Religions. Arvind Sharma is Birks Professor of Comparative Religion at McGill University. His many books include Hinduism as a Missionary Religion; One Religion Too Many: The Religiously Comparative Reflections of a Comparatively Religious Hindu; and Religious Studies and Comparative Methodology: The Case for Reciprocal Illumination, all published by SUNY Press.

Spiritual Masters of the World's Religions

Arvind Sharma Ph D

In this text, leading scholars from around the world take stock of two centuries of international intellectual investment in Hinduism. Since the early 19th century, when the scholarly investigation of Hinduism began to take shape as a modern academic discipline, Hindu studies has evolved from its concentration on description and analysis to an emphasis on understanding Hindu traditions in the context of the religion's own values, concepts and history. Offering an assessment of the current state of Hindu studies, the contributors to this volume identify past achievements and chart the course for what remains to be accomplished in the field.

The Study of Hinduism

Katherine K. Young

Addressing religion and feminism on a global scale, this unprecedented book contains a nuanced and fine-tuned treatment of seven of the world's religions from a feminist perspective by leading women scholars. The fact that these authors share a dual but undivided commitment both to themselves as women and to their traditions as adherents imparts to their voices a prophetic quality, and if Mahatma Gandhi is to be believed, even scriptural value.

Feminism and World Religions

Explores the impact of women's studies on methodology in religious studies.

The Interface with Women's Studies

Methodology in Religious Studies

The philosophical significance of Jainism extends far beyond its statistical presence in India and the world, for it lies in the unique quality of its thought. This book is an attempt to take its insights into account for the light they shed on issues customarily debated in the Philosophy of Religion as it has evolved in the West.

Arvind Sharma

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