History of Religions of Eastern Origins Commons^™

Into The Red: A Look Into The Reasons Why Refugees Decide To Flee, Settle Or Migrate To And From Morocco, Fadeelah E. Holivay

Master's Theses

This research paper explores some of the main reasons why refugees and asylum seekers, particularly from sub-Saharan African countries, embark on a journey and decide to settle, flee or migrate to and from Morocco. Because of this phenomenon, Morocco has seen a 96% increase of refugees migrating to the borders of Morocco each year for the past three years. Many say that this astonishing increase of migrants choosing Morocco is due to such factors as: wars breaking out regionally across central African and Middle Eastern countries causing them to flee; Morocco being a culturaly diverse francophone country whose laws and …

Food And Identity Formation Among Jain Laywomen, Kristin Mcconnell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Jains are a small but influential minority community in India. Their religion is structured around the concept of ahimsa, the strict adherence to nonviolence in one’s every under taking. The ideal Jain diet does the least amount of harm to both oneself and one’s environment, including plants and microscopic organisms. Many foods — including meat, honey, alcohol, and underground vegetables — are forbidden. While Jain philosophy is adamant about avoiding foods that are obtained through violence, it says little about the perspectives and lifestyles of those most often charged with maintaining this diet: Jain laywomen. Because these women are …

The Sacrality Of The Mountain, Manuel Rivera Espinoza

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I explore the conception of the mountain as a "sacred space" based on the definition provided by Mircea Eliade in The Sacred and The Profane and other works. I recognize three major elements in Eliadean sacral spatiality: a) order and orientation b) liminality and c) reality. Using various sources but mainly the oracle bones inscriptions, the Yugong ("Tributes of Yu") of the Shujing ("Book of Documents") and the Shanjing ("Classic of Mountains") of the Shanhaijing ("Classic of Mountains and Seas"), I demonstrate how the three basic components of sacrality are to be found in each of the …

Layers Of Home: Dharamsala And The Changing Home Of Tibetans, Lydia Talen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

McLeod Ganj, a major suburb of Dharamsala, has been the home of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile for the past 54 years. The arrival of His Holiness caused a surge of development in McLeod Ganj. My independent study project studies the resulting changes in the physical infrastructure, the way people use space in McLeod Ganj and whether Tibetans perceive McLeod Ganj as their home. I hope to further understand the complexity and fluidity of the idea of home, specifically for Tibetan refugees, through the examination of physical changes in McLeod Ganj.

A New Generation Of Buddhist: The Views And Practice Of Tibetan Youth , Carey Reich

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Buddhist practices of the Tibetan youth between eighteen and thirty years old living and studying in McleodGanj, Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India, and the nearby areas were examined through a series of 20 interviews and literature research. This research was inspired by previous field work done in Leh, Ladakh, India, carried out by the author, where the youth from Buddhist families rejected ritual in favor of a purely philosophical practice. It was found in Dharamsala that the definition of Buddhism given by the youth was different than the traditional one and that given by members of a monastic institution. Rather …

Recent Articles Of 2014

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

A list of recently published articles of interest to society members.

Book Review: The Wiley-Blackwell Companion To Inter-Religious Dialogue., Brandon Gallaher

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of, The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Inter-Religious Dialogue. edited by Catherine Cornille.

Book Review: Religious Understandings Of A Good Death In Hospice And Palliative Care., Michelle V. Roberts

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of, Religious Understandings of a Good Death in Hospice and Palliative Care. by Harold Coward and Kelli I. Stajduhar, eds.

Book Review: Gods In America: Religious Pluralism In The United States., Chad M. Bauman

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of, Gods in America: Religious Pluralism in the United States. by Charles L. Cohen and Ronald L. Numbers, eds.

Book Review: Anthony Demello: The Happy Wanderer., Roselle M. Gonsalves

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of, Anthony deMello: The Happy Wanderer. by Bill deMello.

Book Review: Hindu Theology And Biology. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa And Contemporary Theory., Ana Laura Funes Maderey

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of, Hindu Theology and Biology. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa and Contemporary Theory by Jonathan B. Edelmann.

Book Review: The Divine Body In History: A Comparative Study Of The Symbolism Of Time And Embodiment In St. Augustine And Rāmānuja., Jon P. Sydnor

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of, The Divine Body in History: A Comparative Study of the Symbolism of Time and Embodiment in St. Augustine and Rāmānuja. by Ankur Barua.

Book Review: His Hiding Place Is Darkness: A Hindu-Catholic Theopoetics Of Divine Absence., Rico G. Monge

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of, His Hiding Place is Darkness: A Hindu-Catholic Theopoetics of Divine Absence. by Francis X. Clooney.

Book Review: The Ethics Of Śaṅkara And Śāntideva: A Selfless Response To An Illusory World., Reid B. Locklin

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of, The Ethics of Śaṅkara and Śāntideva: A Selfless Response to an Illusory World. by Warren Lee Todd.

Book Review: Hindu-Christian Epistolary Self-Disclosures: ‘Malabarian Correspondence’ Between German Pietist Missionaries And South Indian Hindus (1712-1714)., James Ponniah

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book review of, Hindu-Christian Epistolary Self-Disclosures: ‘Malabarian Correspondence’ between German Pietist Missionaries and South Indian Hindus (1712-1714). by Daniel Jeyaraj and Richard Fox Young.

Book Review: Hindu-Catholic Encounters In Goa: Religion, Colonialism, And Modernity, P. J. Johnston

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

A book review of Hindu-Catholic Encounters in Goa: Religion, Colonialism, and Modernity, by Alexander Henn.

Reports And News

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Reports and news for the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies 2014 Annual General Meeting.

Viewpoint: Convenience, Consumption And Creatureliness: Thoughts On Sacred Groves, Hindu And Christian, Eliza F. Kent

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

WHEN I was doing field research in India regularly from 2001-2007, I kept hearing an expression for “rich person” I’d never heard before - “vasati-karar,” where “vasati” can be loosely rendered as “convenience.” As the liberalization of India’s economy gained traction in the 2000s, lots of people were acquiring vasatis. Increasingly affordable and accessible consumer items like electric fans and mixie-grinders, cars and laptop computers were making life easier and more comfortable for people across the social spectrum. Temples and churches did not miss out on the boom. Ceiling fans and electric light eased the strain of sitting through long …

Angels And Gods: A (Radically) Orthodox Experiment, Daniel P. Sheridan

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

This is the third in a series of orthodox Catholic theological experiments that I am conducting within the theology of relationship of Catholic faith to other religions. Each experiment attempts to ask a positive, existential question of one of the world religions about the reality of one of their reality assertions. Catholic orthodox theologies have almost always answered these questions in the negative, but in my tentative and provisional judgment the negative answers may be unnecessary. To re-ask the questions using the “eyes of faith,”1 the full weight and depth of orthodoxy must be brought to bear, not as a …

Hindu Responses To Religious Diversity And The Nature Of Post-Mortem Progress, Ankur Barua

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

THE last two hundred years of Hindu–Christian encounters have produced distinctive forms of Hindu thought which, while often rooted in the broad philosophical-cultural continuities of Vedic outlooks, grappled with, on the one hand, the colonial pressures of European modernity, and, on the other hand, the numerous critiques by Christian theologians and missionaries on the Hindu life-worlds. Thus, the spectrum of Hindu responses from Raja Rammohun Roy through Swami Vivekananda to S. Radhakrishnan demonstrates attempts to creatively engage with Christian representations of Hindu belief and practice, by accepting their prima facie validity at one level while negating their adequacy at another.

Violence Against Christians In India: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Two Indian English Newspapers, Clemens Cavallin, Julia Kuhlin

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

During recent decades violence against Christians in India has increased significantly. In spite of this development the issue has received relatively little scholarly attention. Likewise, despite the massive transformation of the newspaper business, which has made contemporary India one of the largest newspaper markets in the world, only few studies have been done on the news coverage of religious minorities in India. In this article, we aim to contribute to both these areas of research. Using a critical discourse analysis, we examine the everyday representation of violence and harassment against Christians in the two largest English daily newspapers in India, …

Thou, That, And An/Other: Hearing Śaṅkara’S Indexicals And Finding Cusa’S Seeking God, Brad Bannon

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

FINGER-pointing is a gesture generally discouraged in polite society. Having someone point a finger at you can be jarring or unsettling. However, if the finger belongs to one’s parent or to a dear and respected teacher, accompanied by an attentive gaze and direct vocative address, the experience can be powerfully awakening. According to the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, such was the experience of a young man whose father-turned-guru spoke to him directly and particularly with the words tattvamasi, Śvetaketo, “Thou art that, O Śvetaketu.”2

The intimacy of this encounter between father and son is easily overlooked, despite its familiarity to those who …

Between And Beyond Canons: Mirabai And Hadewijch In Relation To Scripture And The Self, Holly Hillgardner

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Mirabai, a sixteenth century bhakta, wrote passionate songs of her desire for God. Burning for him, she employed the genre of viraha-bhakti, a mystical eroticism of longing from the Vaiṣṇava tradition, as she begged for him to “[c]ome and extinguish the fire of separation.” Hadewijch, a thirteenth-century Beguine from low-country Europe, wrote poems, letters, and prose that tell of her longing to become Love itself—to be “God with God.” Despite their myriad differences across traditions, miles, and years, Hadewijch and Mirabai can each be said to practice love-longing as her primary contemplative mode.

Interiority And Connectivity: A Brief Comparative Study On The Relation Of Scripture And Contemplation In Bridal Mysticism And Krishna Bhakti, Graham M. Schweig

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

In this study I bring two disparate traditions together which have painted portraits of divinity as a divine lover and supreme beloved. One tradition is from sixteenth century Europe and the other from sixteenth century India. My focus here is on the function of contemplative experience and vision in relation to the scriptural depictions and descriptions of divine love within both Carmelite Catholicism and Caitanya Vaishnavism through the developed visions in the sixteenth century works of Saint John of the Cross and Krishnadāsa Kaviraja Goswami, respectively.

On The Scholar’S Contribution To The Contemplative Work Of Hindu-Christian Studies, Francis X. Clooney

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

The following contribution to the Journal is admittedly out of the ordinary. While inscribing my actual contribution to the panel, “Canons and Contemplations: The Intersections of Scripture, Contemplation, and Community,” within this slightly larger document, it also reports on my contribution to email conversations among the panelists beforehand, and reproduces extracts from the prologue and epilogue of my new book. It is a multilevel document, aiming at a multilevel reflection on how we write from either side and across the Hindu-Christian religious and scholarly borders. There are two introductions: “the preliminary comment” written for the readers of the Journal, and …

Editor’S Introduction, Bradley Malkovsky

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

The main theme of this year’s issue, “Canons and Contemplations,” examines the ways in which contemporary comparativists, writing on spiritual texts, can contribute to a contemplative re-reading of ancient Hindu and Christian literary traditions. Today’s scholar might opt not only to report about the spiritual writings of the past in a purely academic fashion, but may also choose – through an engaged reading of the texts – to make her own contribution to these ongoing traditions of contemplation and wisdom. Academic writing can itself become contemplative practice.

Table Of Contents

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

A list of the article contents in this issue.

From Topos To Utopia: Critical Buddhism, Globalization, And Ideology Criticism, James Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of New Perspectives In Mormon Studies: Creating And Crossing Boundaries, Nathan B. Oman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Kashmiri Marsiya (Elegy) Manuscripts: The Valuable Sources For The Dissemination, Reconstruction And Safeguarding The History And Culture-Ii, Tawfeeq Nazir

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Manuscripts are the links to the historical facts that will otherwise remain unknown to the world. They contain authentic information and facts about the social, political and cultural aspects of a nation. Therefore their intellectual value cannot be over emphasized. Many countries and nations are joining hands towards preserving such cultural assets by way of taking conservation and preservation measures including digitization and documentation.

Marsiya or Elegy has gained more importance after the Martyrdom of Imam Hussain (a.s) and his companions and household in Karbala. Marsiya has been since written and recited in order to mourning the tragic events of …