Hindu Spirituality (Vol. 1): Vedas Through Vedanta

Hindu Spirituality (Vol. 1): Vedas Through Vedanta

The current book is a part of a series called World Spirituality: An Encyclopedic History of the Religious Quest. This series aims to reveal the spiritual knowledge of the human race as it has unfolded throughout history and this volume is a part of that series. It is aimed to demonstrate the autonomy of the tradition in the historical evolution and draws from the greatest level of study from across the globe. The book pulls together and portrays the richness of the spiritual legacy of the human race. This book explores the timeless and unchanging aspects of the Hindu religion. The papers that are included in this book are broken down and discussed according to one of eight categories. The following is a synopsis of the first volume of Hindu Spirituality: The Vedas by Way of Vedanta In this research project, a social and cultural anthropologist as well as an expert in the field of the study of religion collaborated in order to investigate recent shifts that have occurred in the religion practised by the majority of people in Sri Lanka. According to the perceptions of the Sinhala people themselves, Buddhism proper has always coexisted in the religious sphere with a spirit religion. While redemption is central to Buddhism, the spirit of religion is more concerned with the flourishing of the world. Buddhism Transformed is a book that provides a description and analysis of the developments that have significantly impacted the nature of the Sinhala religious practise in each of these places. This book is the first of its kind to describe in a methodical manner the cultural effects of the degradation in the way that the “other half” of the population in Sri Lanka lives. Following the country’s independence in 1948, significant progress was made in the areas of health care and literacy, but the country’s economy was unable to live up to the soaring aspirations of the country’s rapidly growing population. People fell into poverty and were more mobile, which contributed to the decline of the village community. Changes have taken place in what the authors refer to as “Protestant Buddhism” as a result of the emergence of new psychological requirements brought on by new strains in Sri Lankan society (the Buddhism formed under Protestant influence after British conquest). More and more individuals are interested in and appreciate altered states of consciousness, and among spirit cults, gods with less stringent moral standards are rising to prominence. The authors conclude by arguing that occurrences in Sri Lanka that first seem to be unusual in the religious history of India are, in fact, not entirely new.

Each put contains number of articles devoted to the theme of the individual part.

These are (1) The Vedic Spirit, (2) The Spiritual Harizon of Dharma, (3) The Sraname Spirituality, (4) The Spiritual Quest for Innortatity and freedom, (5) Vedanta as Reflective Spirituality, (6) Vedanta as Devotion, (7) Spirituality and Human life , (8) Contemporary Expressions of the Classical spirit.

Review(s)

The articles are both instructive and interesting, authentic and objective. Any reader, a student or a scholar will find in nut-shell a treasure of vital, educative information. – R. T. VYAS

Author

Krishnan Sivaraman

About the Author(s)

KRISHNA SIVARAMAN is currently Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at McMaste Univesity, Canada, and is the author of Saivism in Philosophical Perspective, coeditor of and contributor to Revelation in Indian Philosophy, and author of chapters in Perspectives on Advaita, Modern Indian Responses to Religious Pluralism, and many articles published in North America and India.