Inspired by and responding to Jack Kerouac's "Dharma Bums, "this memoir details the psychological and spiritual triumph over severe psychological difficulties caused by a series of traumas endured in the Peace Corps in West Africa in 1978. Surveying the spiritual landscape of America through the seventies to the present in Zen, Tibetan Buddhist, New Age and Christian movements, this memoir describes the journey of author Philip A. Bralich's life, beginning as a twenty-something, leftist, married, seventies idealist in the Peace Corps in West Africa, through an accident in the bush that cost his wife her life and himself much of the use of he left leg, and through the growing and debilitating psychological difficulties that were finally resolved through wide reading and personal experience of many of the spiritual and psychological movements of those four decades. The book commences in West Africa in 1978 but also goes back to as early as 1973, just four years after Jack Kerouac died.

This volume in the Greenwood Guides to Science and Religion series examines how Asian spiritual traditions -- primarily the religions of India and China - interacted and influenced the understanding of the natural world over the last two millennia. Unlike the religious and scientific traditions of the Christian West, which developed in tandem, or even the Islamic world, which helped the rise of Western science, the Asian religious traditions did not encounter Western science until relatively recently. This has led to a unique relationship between these two cultural phenomena. The volume will also address the impact of Western science had on these traditions, as well as the impact on western science of the recent study of Asian religions by New Age groups and philosophers. Science and Asian Spiritual Traditions covers the entire history of the interaction between science and Asian religions: The Natural World in Chinese thought BLMedicine in China BLEcology and the Environment BLAstronomy and Astrology BLTechnology BLAsia encounters Western Science BLWestern Science encounters Asian Spiritual Traditions. In addition, the volume includes primary source documents, a bibliography of resources for further study, a timeline, and a glossary.

Afro-Cuban religiosity is likely to bring to mind beliefs and practices with a visibly 'African' flavour - music, dance, spirit possession, sacrifices and ritual language that have undergone a transformation, on Cuban soil, under a strong Spanish and Catholic influence. Much anthropological work has analysed Afro-Cuban religion's 'syncretic' character in the light of these European influences, taking as a given that each tradition is relatively independent, and focusing on well-documented origins in specific socio-historical environments. In this context, understandings of religious innovation based on charismatic leaders have resulted in a top down approach. However, this volume argues that there are alternatives to cult-centred accounts, by looking at the relationships between Afro-Cuban traditions, and indeed going beyond 'traditions' to place the focus on creativity as an embedded logic in everyday religious practice. From this forward-looking perspective, ritual engagement is no longer a means of recreating pre-existing universes but rather of generating, as well as participating in, an ever-emerging cosmos. Traditions are not perceived as given doctrines or mental constructs but as perceptual habits and potencies beyond questions of spirit or matter, mind or body. Offering a fresh, improvisatory ethnographic vision, this book recasts the Afro-Cuban religious complex in the terms of the experts and adepts who creatively sustain it and responds to the significant fact, often overlooked or ignored, that many Cubans engage with more than one tradition without any sense of conflict. Amidst the cacophony of calls to 'creativity' and 'innovation' as cultural commodities, here's a remarkable collection about the power of creation as a condition of human existence, rather than just its outcome. If you want to see what the world might be like without the very distinction between creator and creation - or, for that matter, between human beings and the worlds they inhabit - then look at Afro-Cuban religious traditions, the editors tell us. The sheer vivacity of the material is astounding, and suggests altogether new ways to think about not just the classic concerns of Caribbean anthropology with syncretism and cultural borrowings, but also basic categories of anthropological thinking such as ritual, technology, myth and cosmology. Martin Holbraad, Professor of Social Anthropology, University College London Beyond Tradition, Beyond Invention shows how far scholarship has transcended the verificationist searches for origins, reification of traditions as bounded entities, and sterile quests for typological coherence that, for too long, dominated the anthropology of Afro-Caribbean ritual praxis. The contributions not only vividly exemplify how mechanistic conceptions of tradition and cultural change, or pseudo-problems such as syncretism, can be overcome by ethnographic means. They also point towards novel theories of the ever emergent, hence thoroughly historical, nature of worlds shared by humans, deities, and spirits. This book ought to inspire all anthropologists working on complex and 'inventive' ritual traditions. Stephan Palmie, Professor of Anthropology, The University of Chicago"

In this wide-ranging book Paul C Johnson explores the changing, hidden face of the Afro-Brazilian indigenous religion of Candomble. Despite its importance in Brazilian Society, Candomble has received far less attention than its sister religions Vodou and Santeria. Johnson seeks to fill this void by offering a comprehensive look at the development, beliefs, and practices of Candomble and exploring its transformation from a secret society of slaves - hidden, persecuted, and marginalized - to a public religion that is very much part of Brazilian culture. Johnson traces this historical shift and locates the turning point in the creation of a Brazilian public sphere and national identity in the first half of the twentieth century. His major focus is on the ritual practice of secrecy in Candomble. Offering many first-hand accounts of the rites and rituals of contemporary Candomble, Gossip and Gods provides insight into this influential but little studied group, while at the same time making a valuable contribution to our understanding of the relationship between religion and society.

A combination dictionary and annotated discography, videography and bibliography, this sourcebook brings together listings of materials on the Rastafarian movement and reggae music. . . . This sourcebook serves as a good introduction to Rastafari and reggae. "Reference Books Bulletin"

Coinciding with the sixtieth anniversary of Rastafari, this reference book traces the relationship between two intertwined aspects of Jamaican culture: Rastafari and reggae music. As important voices in the ongoing dialogue concerning Jamaica's search for a national identity, Rastafari and reggae have had a significant impact on international music and culture. This work is the first to document and describe these areas for researchers, providing a comprehensive dictionary of terms, people, places, and concepts relevant to Rastafari, reggae music, and their related histories. In a unique collaboration from the American and Jamaican perspectives, Mulvaney and Nelson have supplied annotated references and cross references for written materials, audio recordings, videocassettes, and films that cover the first sixty years of Rastafari and over twenty years of reggae music.

The book is comprised of four main sections. The dictionary serves as the focal point for the cross referencing of the entire book and offers entries that are either directly related to Rastafari and reggae or provide a historical context. The discography, which includes 200 entries, represents a cross section of reggae music from 1968 to 1990 and is organized by musician or band name. A small, representative sample of documentary, concert, and narrative fiction videocassettes that address aspects of Rastafari or reggae music are catalogued in the videography, along with selected films. Finally, the bibliography, prepared by Carlos I.H. Nelson, provides a thorough overview of journal and magazine articles, creative works, dissertations, books, interviews, parts of books, reviews, and theses written by and about Rastafarians and reggae musicians. It covers the past importance, present significance, and future legacies of the movement and the music. The work also includes two appendices that list relevant periodicals and representative musicians and bands. Music students and researchers will find Rastafari and Reggae to be a valuable reference source, as will students in Caribbean and cultural studies, communication, history, and anthropology courses. For academic, public, and music library collections, the book will be an important addition.

Since its publication in 2000, The Early Christian World has come to be regarded by scholars, students and the general reader as one of the most informative and accessible works in English on the origins, development, character and major figures of early Christianity. In this new edition, the strengths of the first edition are retained. These include the book's attractive architecture that initially takes a reader through the context and historical development of early Christianity; the essays in critical areas such as community formation, everyday experience, the intellectual and artistic heritage, and external and internal challenges; and the profiles on the most influential early Christian figures. The book also preserves its strong stress on the social reality of early Christianity and continues its distinctive use of hundreds of illustrations and maps to bring that world to life. Yet the years that have passed since the first edition was published have seen great advances made in our understanding of early Christianity in its world. This new edition fully reflects these developments and provides the reader with authoritative, lively and up-to-date access to the early Christian world. A quarter of the text is entirely new and the remaining essays have all been carefully revised and updated by their authors. Some of the new material relates to Christian culture (including book culture, canonical and non-canonical scriptures, saints and hagiography, and translation across cultures). But there are also new essays on: Jewish and Christian interaction in the early centuries; ritual; the New Testament in Roman Britain; Manichaeism; Pachomius the Great and Gregory of Nyssa. This new edition will serve its readers for many years to come.

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"Heehs includes selections and transcriptions of about 200 texts, both written and oral...The selections represent a great diversity of spirtual perspectives."
-- "Library Journal"

Indian Religions is an expansive collection of the key written and oral texts by spiritual teachers from South Asia, covering 3,500 years and all the major traditions-Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, and "new" Indian religions.

The volume provides clear translations of extracts from original documents and texts from most of the well-known and many of the lesser-known individuals and traditions. Overlapping parts and sections each comprise a historically and thematically defined stage of a tradition. The reader is thus able to follow the chronological development of the various traditions without isolating them from one another. Each section includes a context-setting introduction which provides historical, cultural, and textual background. A general introduction lays the foundations for the text's theoretical framework and approach.

Indian Religions is the most complete and best-organized anthology of Indian religious/spiritual texts published to date. It serves as an introduction to the history of religions in South Asia, and will appeal to readers interested in India and Eastern religions as well as students of religion and South Asian culture.

This is the first book to offer a detailed modern survey of Witchcraft historiography. By using a broad chronological structure, from contemporary responses through to modern day developments in historical theory in relation to the study of the history of Witchcraft, the book draws on contributions from a range of leading experts in the field to provide a much-needed overview of the area.

Although much has been written on the Afro-Catholic syncretic religions of Vodou, Candomble, and Santeria, the Spiritual Baptists--an Afro-Caribbean religion based on Protestant Christianity--have received little attention. This work offers the first detailed examination of the Spiritual Baptists or "Converted". Based on 18 months of fieldwork on the Island of St. Vincent (where the religion arose) and among Vincentian immigrants in Brooklyn, Zane's analysis makes a contribution to the literature on African-American and African Diaspora religion and the anthropology of religion more generally.

"Afro-Eccentricity explores three overlapping stories of Black Religion: the Soul, Black Church, and Ancestor Narratives. Hart contends that these narratives dominate most account of Black Religion that, collectively, he calls the Standard Narrative of Black Religion. Against the backdrop of this account, where Afro-Eccentricity is a pun and critical trope, Hart interprets Paule Marshall's Praisesong for the Widow as a battlefield between Afrocentric and Afro-Eccentric versions of the Ancestor Narrative. Then he explores four theorists of Black Religion--Charles H. Long, William R. Jones, Cornel West, and Theophus Smith--whose work pushes against the limitations of the Standard Narrative"--Provided by publisher.

This volume examines the creation of forms of individual and group identity in Taiwan, the relationship between these forms of identity, and patterns of Taiwanese religion, politics, and culture. The contributors explore the Taiwanese sense of self, attempting to discern how Taiwanese identify themselves as individuals and as collectivities. Ranging from the local to the national level and within the larger Chinese cultural and religious universe, these essays explore the complex nature of identity/role and the processes of identity formation which have shaped Taiwan's multi-leveled past and its many faceted present.

This book chronicles the rise of goddess worship in the region of Bengal from the middle of the eighteenth century to the present. Focusing on the goddesses Kali and Uma, McDermott examines lyrical poems written by devotees from Ramprasad Sen (ca. 1718-1775) to Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976).

Religiously motivated violence caused by the fusion of state and religion occurred in medieval Tibet and Bhutan, and later in imperial Japan, but interfaith conflict also came after colonial incursions in India, Sri Lanka, and Burma. Before that time, there was a general premodern harmony among the resident religions of the latter countries, and only in the late nineteenth- and twentieth-centuries did religiously motivated violence break out. While conflict caused by Hindu fundamentalists has been serious and widespread, a combination of medieval Tibetan Buddhists and modern Sri Lankan, Japanese, and Burmese Buddhists has caused the most violence among the Asian religions. However, the Chinese Taiping Christians have the world record for the number of religious killings by one single sect. A theoretical investigation reveals that specific aspects of the Abrahamic religions an insistence on the purity of revelation, a deity who intervenes in history, but one who still is primarily transcendent may be primary causes of religious conflict. Only one factor a mystical monism not favored in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam was the basis of a distinctively Japanese Buddhist call for individuals to identify totally with the emperor and to wage war on behalf of a divine ruler. The Origins of Religious Violence: An Asian Perspective uses a methodological heuristic of premodern, modern, and constructive postmodern forms of thought to analyze causes and offer solutions to religious violence."

After a sleepless night spent longing for his absent wife Sita, Rama, god-prince and future king, surveyed his army camps on a clear autumn morning and spied a white goose playing in a pond of lotus flowers. Seeing this radiant creature who so resembled his lost beloved, he began to plead with the bird to send her a message of love and fierce revenge. This is the setting of the Hamsasandesa ("A Message for the Goose"), a sandesa or "messenger poem" by the medieval saint-poet and philosopher Vedantedesika, a seminal figure for the Srivaisnava religious community of Tamil Nadu, South India, and a master poet in Sanskrit and Tamil. In The Flight of Love, Steven P. Hopkins situates Vedantedesika's Sanskrit sandesa within the wider comparative context of South Indian and Sri Lankan literatures. He traces the significance of messenger poetry in the construction of sacred landscapes in pre-modern South Asia and explores the ways the piece re-envisions the pan-Indian story of Rama and Sita, rooting his protagonists in a turbulent emotional world where separation, overwhelming desire, and anticipated bliss, are written into the living particularized bodies of lover and beloved, in the "messenger" goose and in the landscapes surrounding them. Hopkins's translation of the Hamsasandesa into fluid American English verse is framed by a comparative introduction, including an extended essay on translation, detailed linguistic notes, and an expanded thematic commentary that weaves together traditional religious interpretations of the poem with themes of contemporary literary relevance. Equally the work of a scholar and a poet, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of South Asian studies, comparative religion, and Indian literatures.

Goddesses often are labelled as one-dimensional forces of nature or fertility. In examining a number of goddesses whose primary role is sovereignty, this volume reveals the rich dversity of goddess traditions. Drawn from a variety of cultural and historical settings, the goddesses described here include Inanna of ancient Sumer, Oshun of Nigeria, and Cihuacoatl of pre-historical America.