World Religions Eastern Traditions

World Religions: Eastern Traditions, Fifth Edition, provides students with an accessible, engaging, and thought-provoking survey of Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Chinese, Korean, and Japanese religions. The expert contributors offer an authoritative examination of the origins, central teachings, divisions and branches, rituals and practices, influences on culture, and responses to modern challenges for each tradition.

Ideal for courses in Asian religions and comparative religions, World Religions: Eastern Traditions, Fifth Edition, combines a historically descriptive perspective with a spirit of sympathetic fascination.

Roy C. Amore is Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Windsor in Ontario.

Amir Hussain is Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

The late Willard G. Oxtoby, the original editor of this work, was Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto.

Contributors
Preface
1. Studying Eastern Religions
Basic Human Religion: Looking Both Ways from Harappa
Looking Back from Harappa
Looking Forward from Harappa
What Is Religion?
Why Study Religion?
2. Hindu Traditions
Origins
Classical Hinduism
Schools and Communities of Theology
Practices, Rituals, and Arts
Recent Developments
Summary
3. Sikh Traditions
Overview
Crystallization
Practice
Differentiation
Cultural Expressions
Interaction and Adaptation
Recent Developments
Summary
4. Jaina Traditions
Overview
The Shramana Revolution
The Early Sangha
Major Developments
Practice
Expressive Dimensions
Jainas Among Others
Women
Recent Developments
Summary
5. Buddhist Traditions
Overview
The First Gem: The Buddha
The Second Gem: The Dharma
The Third Gem: The Sangha
Early Buddhism
Theravada Buddhism
Mahayana: The Second Vehicle
Vajrayana: The Third Vehicle
Interaction and Adaptation in East Asia
Cultural Expressions
Buddhism in the Modern World
Recent Developments
Summary
6. Chinese and Korean Traditions
Overview
Chinese Religions
Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE)
The Six Dynasties Period (220-589)
Sui and Tang (589-907)
The Song, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties (960-1644)
The Qing Dynasty and the Republican Period (1644-Present)
Korean Religions
Recent Developments
Summary
7. Japanese Traditions
Overview
Foundations
Pivotal Developments
New Emphases
Continuities
Global and Domestic Trends
Recent Developments
Summary
8. Current Issues in Eastern Traditions
Religion and Politics
Bioethics
The Environment
Gender and Sexuality
Religious Diversity
Credits
Index