Asian Religion and Philosophy

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The Sound of Vultures' Wings

Explores the music of the Tibetan Chöd tradition.

The Annotated Laozi

A clear translation and helpful explanations illuminate this ancient classic of self-cultivation for a modern audience.

Self-Cultivation in Early China

An introduction to ancient Chinese ideas on how to live a good life.

The Mughals and the Sufis

Examines the relationship between Mughal political culture and the two dominant strains of Islam's Sufi traditions in South Asia: one centered around orthodoxy, the other focusing on a more accommodating and mystical spirituality.

Many Mahābhāratas

A major contribution to the study of South Asian literature, offering a landmark view of Mahābhārata studies.

Buddhist Literature as Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy as Literature

Explores the relationship between literature and philosophy in classical and contemporary Buddhist texts.

Navigating Deep River

An interdisciplinary dialogue with Shūsaku Endō’s last novel offering new perspectives on Japanese culture, Christian doctrine, Hindu spiritualities, and Buddhist worldviews.

Confucianism's Prospects

Challenges descriptions of East Asian societies as Confucian cultures and communitarian Confucian models as a political alternative to liberal democracy.

The Other Emptiness

Presents a new vision of the Buddhist history and philosophy of emptiness in Tibet.

Living Landscapes

Explores the role of meditation on the five elements in the practice of Yoga.

Zhuangzi and the Becoming of Nothingness

Investigates the cosmological and metaphysical thought in the Zhuangzi from the perspective of nothingness.

Buddhisms in Asia

A guide to Buddhism’s rich variety of traditions and cultural expressions for educators who would like to include Buddhism in their undergraduate courses.

Inoue Enryō

The first comprehensive treatment of Inoue Enryō, a pioneer of modern Buddhism and a key figure in the reception of Western philosophy in East Asia.

Buddhist Feminisms and Femininities

Adds new voices to the feminist conversation and brings a rich variety of diverse approaches to Buddhist women’s identities, “the feminine,” and Buddhist feminism.

Religious Journeys in India

Explores how religious travel in India is transforming religious identities and self-constructions.

Confucianism for the Contemporary World

Discusses contemporary Confucianism's relevance and its capacity to address pressing social and political issues of twenty-first-century life.

Shimmering Mirrors

A study of comparative metaphysics that explores the concepts of Reality and Appearance and their relevance to contemporary religious consciousness.

The First Islamic Classic in Chinese

Translated by Sachiko Murata
Introduction by Sachiko Murata
Notes by Sachiko Murata
Subjects: Religion And Spirituality

A translation of Wang Daiyu’s Real Commentary on the True Teaching, the first and most influential work written in the Chinese language on Islam.

Re-ending the Mahābhārata

Offers a fresh perspective on the Mahābhārata based on an exploration of its ending, the Svargārohaṇa parvan.

The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows

Examines various Tibetan interpretations of the Uttaratantra, the most authoritative Indic commentary on buddha-nature.

The Legacy of Wilfred Cantwell Smith

First work to address the legacy of Wilfred Cantwell Smith and his influence on the development of religious studies and Islamic studies in the twentieth century.

Zhuangzi's Critique of the Confucians

Looks at the Daoist Zhuangzi's critique of Confucianism.

The Good Is One, Its Manifestations Many

Presents a twenty-first-century, progressive, liberal Confucianism.

Korean Religions in Relation

Examines Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity in Korea, focusing on their mutual accommodation, exclusion, conflict, and assimilation.

Refiguring the Body

Examines how embodiment is conceived and experienced in South Asian religions.

Self-Realization through Confucian Learning

Confucian philosopher Xunzi’s moral thought is considered in light of the modern focus on self-realization.

Seeing Like the Buddha

Considers film as a form of Buddhist ritual and contemplative practice.

Understanding the Analects of Confucius

A new translation and commentary of the Analects for contemporary audiences.

The Commentarial Transformation of the Spring and Autumn

Shows how the text evolved from a non-narrative historical record into a Confucian classic.

Thailand's Theory of Monarchy

Discusses the origins and cultural history of the Theravada Buddhist ideals behind the Thai institution of monarchy.

Chinese Philosophy on Teaching and Learning

A translation and discussion of the central Confucian text on education, Xueji (On Teaching and Learning), influential in China from the Han dynasty to the present day.

The Deep Ecology of Rhetoric in Mencius and Aristotle

Discusses philosophers Mencius and Aristotle as socio-ecological thinkers.

Confucianism, A Habit of the Heart

Employs Robert Bellah’s notion of civil religion to explore East Asia’s Confucian revival.

Chinese Thought as Global Theory

Using Chinese thought, explores how non-Western thought can structure generally applicable social and political theory.

The Divine Quest, East and West

Looks at the concept of Ultimate Reality in Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity.

Embracing Our Complexity

Using the thought of Christian thinker Thomas Aquinas and Neo-Confucian Zhu Xi, explores how to exercise and limit authority.

Sacred Matters

Explores how objects shape the worlds of religious participants across a range of South Asian traditions.

Engaged Emancipation

A wide-ranging analysis of the Mokṣopāya, the Indian literary classic that teaches through storytelling how to enjoy an active, successful, worldly life in a spiritually enlightened way.

Daoism, Meditation, and the Wonders of Serenity

An overview of Daoist texts on passive meditation from the Latter Han through Tang periods.

In the Shadows of the Dao

Challenges standard views of the origins of the Daodejing, revealing the work’s roots in a tradition of physical cultivation.

Returning to Zhu Xi

A reconsideration of Zhu Xi, known as the “great synthesizer” of Confucianism, which establishes him as an important thinker in his own right.

Confucian Propriety and Ritual Learning

A reconsideration of the Confucian concept li (ritual or ritual propriety), one that references Western philosophers as well as the Chinese context.

Encounters of Mind

Discusses the journey of Buddhist ideas on awareness and personhood from India to China.

Whose Tradition? Which Dao?

Considers the notable similarities between the thought of Confucius and Wittgenstein.

A Hindu Theology of Liberation

Discusses Hindu Advaita Vedānta as a philosophy of social justice for the modern world.

Moral Cultivation and Confucian Character

A consideration of Confucian ethics that employs the work and concerns of the eminent comparative ethicist Joel J. Kupperman.

Gendering Chinese Religion

Edited by Jinhua Jia, Xiaofei Kang, and Ping Yao
Subjects: Asian Studies

A gender-critical consideration of women and religion in Chinese traditions from medieval to modern times.

Ritual and Religion in the Xunzi

Challenges traditional views to consider Xunzi as a religious thinker.

The Hidden Lives of Brahman

Uses both textual and ethnographic sources to demonstrate that in Śaṅkara’s vedānta, brahman is an active force as well as a transcendent ultimate.

Lord Śiva's Song

A translation of the Īśvara Gītā, a parallel text to the Bhagavad Gītā that promotes religious inclusion.

Buddhism and American Cinema

Discusses both depictions of Buddhism in film and Buddhist takes on a variety of films.

Moral Relativism and Chinese Philosophy

A wide ranging consideration of the work of contemporary ethicist David Wong.

Communication and Cooperation in Early Imperial China

Challenges traditional views of the Qin dynasty as an oppressive regime by revealing cooperative aspects of its governance.

Eminent Buddhist Women

Edited by Karma Lekshe Tsomo
Subjects: Asian Studies

Explores the exemplary legacy of Buddhist women across the centuries and across the Buddhist world.

Family in Buddhism

A wide-ranging exploration of Buddhism and family in Asia--from biological families to families created in monasteries.

Homegrown Gurus

Exploring homegrown movements and figures, proclaims “American Hinduism” as a distinct religious tradition.

Beyond Oneness and Difference

Continues the author’s inquiry into the development of the Chinese philosophical concept Li, concluding in Song and Ming dynasty Neo-Confucianism.

Gandhi's Ascetic Activism

Discusses Gandhi’s creative use of ascetic practice, particularly his practice of celibacy, for nonviolent activism.

The Way of Complete Perfection

Selected by Louis Komjathy
Translated by Louis Komjathy
Introduction by Louis Komjathy
Subjects: Religion And Spirituality

An anthology of English translations of primary texts of the Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) school of Daoism.

Somatic Lessons

Looks at narrative in the history of ayurvedic medical literature and the perspectives on illness and patienthood that emerge.

Ironies of Oneness and Difference

Explores the development of Chinese thought, highlighting its concern with questions of coherence.

In the Company of Friends

Buddhist-Christian reflection that uses friendship as a model for interreligious understanding.

Spiritual Masters of the World's Religions

Discusses the notion of a spiritual master and looks at examples in a variety of world religions.

Music, Cosmology, and the Politics of Harmony in Early China

Explores the religious, political, and cultural significance attributed to music in early China.

The Shaman and the Heresiarch

The first book-length study in English of the Chinese classic, the Li sao (Encountering Sorrow). Includes translations of the Li sao and the Nine Songs.

The Kyoto School

An accessible discussion of the thought of key figures of the Kyoto School of Japanese philosophy.

Cultivating Spirituality

Four Shin Buddhist thinkers reflect on their tradition’s encounter with modernity.

The Dharma Master Chǒngsan of Won Buddhism

The first English translations of the writings of Chŏngsan (1900-62), who codified the central doctrines of Won Buddhism.

The Old Master

A unique translation of and commentary on the Laozi, based on the oldest edition of the work.

Women and Confucianism in Chosǒn Korea

A new, multifaceted look at Korean women during a period of strong Confucian ideology.

Visions of Unity

Presents the thought of a controversial Tibetan Buddhist thinker on the Yogācāra and Madhyamaka systems.

This-Worldly Nibbāna

A Buddhist feminist social ethics for contemporary times.

Hinduism as a Missionary Religion

Reconsiders whether Hinduism can be considered a missionary religion.

Engaging South Asian Religions

Looks at Western understandings of South Asian religions and indigenous responses from pre-colonial to contemporary times.

Riding the Wind with Liezi

New attention and fresh perspectives on the classic, but neglected, text of Daoism, the Liezi.

Korean Buddhist Nuns and Laywomen

Explores the roles of Korean Buddhist nuns and laywomen from the Koryo period to the present.

Mortality in Traditional Chinese Thought

A wide-ranging exploration of traditional Chinese views of mortality.

Xu Bing and Contemporary Chinese Art

Explores how Xu Bing and other contemporary Chinese artists use Western ideas within a Chinese cultural discourse.

Taking Confucian Ethics Seriously

A consideration of Confucian ethics as a living ethical tradition with contemporary relevance.

Invoking Lakshmi

A multi-faceted portrait of Lakshmi, Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity. Includes translations of verses used to invoke this goddess.

Interpretation and Literature in Early Medieval China

Explores the new literary and interpretive milieu that emerged in the years following the decline of China’s Han dynasty.

Confucianism in Context

A wide-ranging consideration of Confucianism for Western readers.

One Religion Too Many

Enlightening encounters with the world's religions from a Hindu perspective.

Sacred Play

Explores the significance of levity and humor in South Asian religious traditions.

Methodologies of Comparative Philosophy

A much-needed consideration of methodology in comparative philosophy.

The End of Comparative Philosophy and the Task of Comparative Thinking

A work of and about comparative philosophy that stresses the importance of language in intercultural endeavors.

Taiwan's Buddhist Nuns

Explores the milieu of Taiwan’s Buddhist nuns, who have the greatest numbers in the Buddhist world and a prominent place in their own country.

Makers of Modern Korean Buddhism

An overview of Korean Buddhism and its major figures in the modern period.

The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia

A wide-ranging, readable account of the Theravada Buddhist thought and practice in the Southeast Asian societies of Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka.

Buddhism and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka

Looks at how a spiritual tradition can be appropriated by those involved in ethno-nationalist conflict.

Rorty, Pragmatism, and Confucianism

An engagement between Confucianism and the philosophy of Richard Rorty.

Yasodharā, the Wife of the Bōdhisattva

Translations of two works from Sri Lanka on Yasodharā, the wife of the Buddha—an allusive and intriguing figure in Buddhist lore and literature.

Nirvana for Sale?

Explores the relationship between material prosperity and spirituality in contemporary Thai Buddhism.

Awareness Bound and Unbound

Essays from the singular experience of Buddhist social critic and philosopher David R. Loy on classic and contemporary concerns.

Mipam on Buddha-Nature

A comprehensive overview of Tibetan Buddhist thinker Mipam’s work on emptiness and Buddha-nature.

Democracy as Culture

Explores the significance of Dewey’s thought on democracy for the contemporary world.

Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra

Explores the importance of Buddhism as it developed in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra (modern-day Andhra Pradesh) and its influence.

Ritual and Deference

Brings Confucianism and Daoism into conversation with contemporary philosophy and the contemporary world situation.

The Bhagavad Gītā

An interlinear edition of the spiritual classic that provides devanagari, transliterated Sanskrit, and English versions of the Gītā.