Hindu Studies Commons^™

Book Review: Sacred Matters: Material Religion In South Asian Traditions, Lloyd W. Pflueger

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book Review of Sacred Matters: Material Religion in South Asian Traditions. Edited by Tracy Pintchman and Corinne G. Dempsey. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2015, xi + 221 pp.

Book Review: Meeting Of Opposites? Hindus And Christians In The West, Francis X. Clooney Sj

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book Review of Meeting of Opposites? Hindus and Christians in the West. Andrew Wingate. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2015, x + 216 pp.

Book Review:Divine Self, Human Self: The Philosophy Of Being In Two Gītā Commentaries, Ankur Barua

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book Review of Divine Self, Human Self: The Philosophy of Being in Two Gītā Commentaries. Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad. NY and London: Bloomsbury, 2013, x + 148pp.

Book Review: Modern Hindu Personalism: The History, Life And Thought Of BhaktisiddhāNta Sarasvatī, Michael Mclaughlin

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book Review of Modern Hindu Personalism: The History, Life and Thought of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī. Ferdinando Sardella. Oxford University Press, 2013, xv + 342 pp.

Book Review: Hindu Christian Faqir: Modern Monks, Global Christianity, And Indian Sainthood, Stephanie Corigliano

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book Review of Hindu Christian Faqir: Modern Monks, Global Christianity, and Indian Sainthood. Timothy S. Dobe. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015, 363 + xiii pp.

Book Review: Ecclesial Identities In A Multi-Faith Context: Jesus Truth-Gatherings (Yeshu Satsangs) Among Hindus And Sikhs In Northwest India, Nadya Pohran

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book Review of Ecclesial Identities in a Multi-Faith Context: Jesus Truth-Gatherings (Yeshu Satsangs) among Hindus and Sikhs in Northwest India. Darren Todd Duerksen. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2015, xxiii + 292 pp.

Briefly Noted: God’S Other Children: Personal Encounters With Faith, Love, And Holiness In Sacred India, Kerry San Chirico

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book Review of God’s Other Children: Personal Encounters with Faith, Love, and Holiness in Sacred India. By Bradley Malkovsky. New York: Harper Collins, 2013, xiii + 289 pp.

Indian Women’S Uplift Movements And The Dangers Of Cultural Imperialism, Hannah K. Griggs

Audre Lorde Prize

Because women encounter unique geographic, social, political, religious, economic, and temporal conditions, applying the particular agendas of traditional western feminism to countries like India can easily become a form of cultural imperialism or lead to Orientalism. Therefore, in this essay I argue that in order to support the agency of Indian women, western feminists must step back; Indian women and men who seek women's uplift must claim post-patriarchal expressions of traditional Indian culture. Tradition does and should inform modern culture. However, Indian women's uplift movements and western feminism alike must utilize both ancient and modern wisdom in our quest for …

Editor's Introduction, Bradley Malkovsky

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

One of the oldest and most persistent challenges to faith in an all-good and all-powerful Creator is the reality of evil and suffering. This issue of the Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies addresses the perennial issue of theodicy in a wide-ranging way, examining both well-known and lesser-known Hindu and Christian approaches, even going so far as to question the very legitimacy of theodicy itself.

Book Review: Re-Imagining South Asian Religions: Essays In Honour Of Professors Harold G. Coward And Ronald W. Neufeldt, Bob Robinson

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book Review of Re-imagining South Asian Religions: Essays in Honour of Professors Harold G. Coward and Ronald W. Neufeldt. (Numen Book Series: Studies in the History of Religions, volume 141.) Edited by Pashaura Singh and Michael Hawley. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2013, xxv + 302 pp.

Book Review: Indian Thought And Western Theism: The VedāNta Of RāMāNuja, Sucharita Adluri

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book Review of Indian Thought and Western Theism: the Vedānta of Rāmānuja. Martin Ganeri. London: Routledge, 2015, x + 176 pp.

Reflections On God And Evil In The Krishna Bhakti Theology Of Caitanya, Graham M. Schweig

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

The story that forms the short prologue at the start of Valmiki’s Rāmāyana expresses something of how the bhakta deals with tragic loss and senseless violence. In the briefest of words, the story goes something like this: As Valmiki is performing his morning ablutions in the Tamasa River, he witnesses two cranes sweetly cooing at one another lovingly on a branch in a nearby tree. Suddenly, a hunter comes along and shoots an arrow through the chest of the male crane, who immediately drops to the ground. The female, herself alighting on the ground, sees her beloved mate writhing in …

Narasimha, Lord Of Transitions, Transformations, And Theater Festivals: God And Evil In Hindu Cosmology, Myth, And Practice, Lavanya Vemsani

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

This paper focuses on the multi-faceted nature of the divine depicted in Narasimha and the unique perspectives on God and evil offered by the myths of Narasimha, which is also subliminally represented within the religious practice and performance traditions associated with Narasimha.

Viewpoint: Hinduism And The Academy: Towards A Dialogue Between Scholar And Practitioner, Ravi M. Gupta

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Gupta articlulates a rationale as to why the position of both the academician and the practitioner are necessary for meaningful religious dialog.

Book Review:Against Dogmatism: Dwelling In Faith And Doubt, Michelle Voss Roberts

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

Book Review of Against Dogmatism: Dwelling in Faith and Doubt. Madhuri M. Yadlapati. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2013, 204 pp.

Alone In A Sea Of Crosses, Jhanvi C. Ramaiya

SURGE

I grew up in a country where I was part of a religion practiced by few, while always surrounded by people who were like me. We had constant gatherings filled with music and food. There were bright, colorful, weddings that spanned four or five days. There were mendhi parties to help the bride get hennaed with her friends, the sangeet to bond the two families with song, the wedding itself, followed by a second ceremony at night, and finally a reception. All of this was interspersed with large meals, a time to breathe and laugh. [excerpt]

Is Slumdog Millionaire A Retelling Of The Ramayana?, William L. Blizek, Michele M. Desmarais

Journal of Religion & Film

Is a banner with a picture of Rama and Sita on it and the word, “Ramayana,” the only link between the film Slumdog Millionaire and the great Hindu epic? In this paper we explore elements in the film that correspond to elements in theRamayana. There is no one-to-one correlation, and some relationships between the two are, in fact, mirror images. However, there are enough correlations and influences to suggest that the film might be considered a retelling of theRamayana. We also acknowledge though that there are also features of the film that some would …

Dasaran: A Medium For Grief In Bali, Anna Spencer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Coming to Bali, I knew that I wanted to understand a sliver of the experiences that people have after a loved-one dies. Of course, there is no one way that people in Bali or anywhere process the loss of a loved-one, yet I am continually fascinated by how people understand and cope with the many feelings that occur after someone dies.

My interest in this topic started out of necessity my junior year of high school when I attended three funerals in ten days. The first was for an elderly friend, then one for my teammate’s father, and the last …

Meditation In Buddhism And Hinduism - Classical And Modern Dhyāna And Yoga, Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

This course is an academic study of contemplative practices in two major Indian traditions: Buddhism and Hinduism. It focuses on texts dealing with bhavana (literally "cultivation" of the mind or heart), which is generally called "meditation" today. The course also surveys some of the modern developments of these practices inside and outside of India. Classical sources for meditative practices covered in the course include the Upaniṣads and early Buddhist sūtras, texts of the period of classical Yoga, and those of later Indian Tantrism. Using these texts, the course defines major categories of contemplative practices including meditation on syllables/sounds considered sacred …

Sabda Pramana As A Theological Category In Vedanta Desika's Tattvamuktakalapa, Sucharita Adluri Ms.

Philosophy and Religious Studies Department Faculty Publications

This article considers the Sravaisnava theologian Vedanta Desika's (14th-century CE) understanding of sabdapramana and deference to sabdapramana that is evident in one of his most important expositions the Tattvamuktakalapa and its commentary the Sarvarthasiddhi. For Desika, deference to sabdapramana is motivated by belief in a particular view of reality. This would be the acceptance of Visnu as the Brahman of the upanisads, his connection to authoritative scripture, and its propagation. Furthermore, to defer to sabdapramana requires membership in a community and the requisite pedagogical training that confers the authority needed to speak for the tradition.