Indian Religion

Forgiveness is the 13th title in the Osho best-selling Insights for a New Way of Living series.

In Idols, a companion volume to the best-selling Dharma, your favourite fictional characters are back, along with some new ones, to explore the essence and true meaning of idolatry. In this insightful and thought-provoking book, Amish and Bhavna tackle burning questions about idol worship through simple, varied and astute interpretations of myths and religious texts.

Though many may not be aware of this, India has had resident Jewish communities for more than a millenium. Regular visits by Jewish merchants and sailors from West Asia go back two millenia and more. This book tells the story of the three strands of Indian Jews—the ancient Bene Israel and Cochini Jewish communities and the more recent (18th–20th century) community of West-Asia Jews, the ‘Banghdadis’, their inter-relations and interactions, both among themselves and with the Hindu and Muslim communities among which they lived and worked in peace and harmony. Never numerous, the ...

This volume continues to trace the development of Madhyamaka Buddhist philosophy in India after its initiator, Nagarjuna. It consists of translations of Sanskrit texts into easily readable English for the general educated public interested in Buddhism or philosophy. Notes and separate Essays dealing with the philosophical content are also included. Presented in this volume are the central philosophical writings of the last two prominent Indian Madhyamikas and two Madhyamaka critiques of the idea of a creator God. Parts of two texts by Chandrakirti are presented: Chapter 6 of Entering the ...

This treatise is the third installment in the Theological Threads series. It investigates the Wind River Shoshoni Indians' concept and development of their understanding of the supernatural. Specifically, it is an in depth investigation of their pre-Columbus understanding of God, his attributes, and the creation of the world.

India has “philosophy” in the Western sense of the term, and it began early. This book deals with the roots of that philosophical thought. Included here are plain English translations (with notes) of selections of the Rig Veda, Atharva Veda, and especially the classic Upanishads. Also included are five essays to help understand this philosophical reflections. These essays are on the sources of Indian philosophy, knowledge, metaphysics, and ethics, with a specialized essay on “unknowing” in the Isha Upanishad.

Like Kelly Kapoor on The Office, Mindy is engaged with her Indian heritage to the extent that it is fun and convenient. So apart from a tolerance for spicy foods and an appreciation for Ravi Shankar, Mindy isn’t all that Hindu. Her daughter’s Jewish godfather--TV and film’s B.J. Novak--prompts her to reconsider her religious beliefs and ask herself: How Indian do I want my daughter to be?

Physician, activist, and author Charles Alexander Eastman was the first Native American certified in Western medicine and one of the first authors of any background to emphasize the Native American perspective. In The Soul of the Indian, he shares the customs, rituals, celebrations, and beliefs of Native American spirituality, and in so doing provides a powerful account of the “Great Mystery” at their core.

A vibrant young Hispano woman, Shonnie Medina, inherits a breast-cancer mutation known as BRCA1.185delAG. It is a genetic variant characteristic of Jews. The Medinas knew they were descended from Native Americans and Spanish Catholics, but they did not know that they had Jewish ancestry as well. The mutation most likely sprang from Sephardic Jews hounded by the Spanish Inquisition. The discovery of the gene leads to a fascinating investigation of cultural history and modern genetics by Dr. Harry Ostrer and other experts on the DNA of Jewish populations.

An insightful account of a silent darshan blessing by Mother Meera that bestowed upon the writer a brief encounter with the Divine Feminine (Feature article). The 2nd edition of the e-book includes quotes from Mother Meera and a short biography. (3358 words).

A fascinating biography of Freda Bedi, an English woman who broke all the rules of gender, race, and religious background to become both a revolutionary in the fight for Indian independence and then a Buddhist icon. She was the first Western woman to become a Tibetan Buddhist nun - but that pioneering ordination was really just one in a life full of revolutionary acts. Freda Bedi broke the rules of gender, race, and religion - in many cases before it was thought that the rules were ready to be challenged.

This short book introduces the reader to the various aspects to consider in the present day study of Hinduism. Given the complexities of this ancient and diverse belief system it is necessary to re-examine, analyze and re-write our understanding of this faith.

Legends that endured for centuries, endure for a reason. In the wilderness of Southeastern Alaska, the Kushtaka is one such legend. Known as the Land-Otter Man among the Tlingit Indians, the Kushtaka are shape-shifting, time bending, mythical creatures capable of taking your deepest fears and turning them into a nightmarish reality.

A big part of Hindu and Indian mythology is the lengthy Mahabharata, with stories about princes, princesses, monsters, and many mysterious creatures. Krishna is one of the prominent figures in many ancient mythology writings from this region, and his victories over evil have been applauded and believed by many.

In the fiction SHIKARAS IN THE RAIN, Cyril Mukalel uses characters’ similarities in spite of their cultural differences to explore what it is to be human. The images, fragrances, and sounds of Kashmir in the 1990s give texture and realism to the story of Saraswati, a Kashmiri Hindu girl. A burka abruptly replaces her innocence and childhood, when a group of Islamic terrorists infiltrate Kashmir from Pakistan and abduct her while she is on her way home from school. Her ill-fated circumstance couldn’t be predicted by the events incited when a daring and carefree young Indian soldier falls...

An Indian American immigrant who grew up in white Southern culture, Prasanta Verma names and sheds light on the realities of ethnic loneliness. She unpacks the exhausting effects of cultural isolation, the dynamics of marginalization, and the weight of being other. In the midst of disconnection and erasure, she points to the longing to belong, the need to share our stories, and the hope of finding safe friendships and community. Our places of exile can become places where we find belonging—to ourselves, to others, and to God.

A group of close, college friends wishing together in jest on a cursed amulet find to their horror, not only are their wishes granted in frightening ways exceeding the bounds of imagination but with escalating terror. For in a shared psychic and physical linkage, they experience the pains, horrors, and moments of one another's demise in The Curse of The Talisman.

The great Indian epic - the Ramayana - has been told and retold over thousands of years by poets, performers, and writers. It is a tale of courage and fear, love and hate, devotion and betrayal. The epic spans the three worlds of gods, humans, and demons. Here, the forces of good and evil collide, locked in a battle for the ultimate supremacy. Rama, the crown prince of Kosala, descendent of the timeless Surya dynasty, must face unimaginable danger, but what lies in his destiny?

The belief that Native Americans might belong to the fabled “lost tribes of Israel” - Israelites driven from their homeland around 740 BCE - took hold among Anglo-Americans and Indigenous peoples in the United States during its first half century. In Lost Tribes Found, Matthew W. Dougherty explores what this idea can tell us about religious nationalism in early America.

The Hindu epic poem Mahabharata by itself is 10 times longer than both the Iliad and Odyssey combined. In this volume, you will discover how the storm god Indra defeated the demon Vritrasura, and how Indra came to respect Vritrasura even though he had to kill him; how King Yayati had to choose between honoring his oath to his father-in-law on the one hand and the Dharma on the other, and what consequences came of his decision; and more.