Religions of Asia Today

Fourth Edition

John L. Esposito, Darrell J. Fasching, and Todd T. Lewis

Connects today's religions to their classical beliefs and practices and highlights the tensions between historical religious traditions and their modern manifestations
Offers an up-to-date view of how religions have responded to and been transformed by the modern world and how they impact and are impacted by globalization and international relations
Highlights some of the most colorful, lively, and striking aspects of religion today through a wide variety of thematic and special-topic boxes that explore particular ideas or practices in some depth: * "Rituals and Rites" boxes examine rituals that have changed in practice or meaning over time * "Gender Focus" boxes highlight gender-specific customs within each faith * "Teachings of Religious Wisdom" boxes expose students to primary sources from various traditions * "Contrasting Religious Visions" boxes compare the beliefs of two significant adherents of a faith who each see the demands of their religion calling believers in very different directions in the modern age * "Tales of Spiritual Transformation" offer descriptions of religious experiences in the believers' own words
Incorporates helpful pedagogical aids, including timelines, maps, illustrations, discussion questions, a comprehensive glossary, suggestions for further reading, and more than 200 photographs

New to this Edition:

Streamlined content throughout for greater accessibility
Updated material on recent world events
Updated timelines that reflect such current events as the return of the Hindu fundamentalists (BJP Party) to power in India

Religions of Asia Today

Fourth Edition

John L. Esposito, Darrell J. Fasching, and Todd T. Lewis

Description

Ideal for courses in Asian or Eastern religions, Religions of Asia Today, Fourth Edition, covers the same material contained in the authors' longer textbook, World Religions Today, Sixth Edition, while also featuring a unique chapter on Islam in Asia. Revealing the significance of religion in contemporary life, it explores Hinduism, Buddhism, South Asian religions, East Asian religions, indigenous religions, and new religions as dynamic, ongoing forces in the lives of individuals and in the collective experience of modern societies.

This unique volume accomplishes two goals: it connects today's religions to their classical beliefs and practices and focuses on how these religions have both radically changed the modern world and been changed by it. The book is enhanced by numerous pedagogical aids--text boxes, timelines, maps, illustrations, discussion questions, a comprehensive glossary of key terms, and suggestions for further reading--and more than 100 photographs. Thoroughly revised, the fourth edition features streamlined content for greater accessibility; updated material on recent world events; and updated timelines that reflect current events.
Also available to suit your course needs:

World Religions Today, Sixth Edition: 978-0-19-064419-2

Religions of the West Today, Fourth Edition: 978-0-19-064241-9

Religions of Asia Today

Fourth Edition

John L. Esposito, Darrell J. Fasching, and Todd T. Lewis

Preface
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION: UNDERSTANDING WORLD RELIGIONS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
Why Study World Religions?
Our Task
Understanding Religious Experience and Its Formative Elements
The Sacred
Myth, Scripture, and Beliefs
Ritual
Community and Morality
Religious Leaders/Experts
The Great Religious Stories of the World
Myths of Nature
China and the Myths of Harmony
India and the Myths of Liberation
The Middle East and the Myths of History
Religious Diversity and Historical Change: The Structure of this Book
Historical Overview: From Premodern to Postmodern
The Modern/Postmodern Transition: Colonialism, Socialism, and the End of Modernity
Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World
Conclusion: We Are All Heretics in Our Postmodern Situation
CHAPTER 2. INDIGENOUS RELIGIONS
Origins of Homo religiosus: Prehistory
Religion's Origins Among Hunter-Gatherers
Fertility, Childbirth, and Survival
Religion in Prehistory: The Secret of Early Cave Rituals
Indigenous Religious Traditions: Soul Belief and Afterlife
Totemism: Australian Aboriginal Religion
Shamans: "Technicians of the Sacred"
* Case Studies in Indigenous Religious Practices Today
Bear Sacrifice: A Widespread Arctic and Pacific Rim Tradition
Shamans Who Repair the World
Indigenous Religions Today
The Cataclysms of Colonialism
Shamanism in Modern Asia: Division of Labor Within the World Religions
Global Neo-Shamanism: Expropriation by "White Shamans"
CHAPTER 3. HINDUISM, JAINISM, AND SIKHISM
Defining Hinduism: Unity, Diversity, Localities
Encounter with Modernity: Hindu Challenges to India as a Secular State
Premodern Hinduism: The Formative Era
The Aryans and Religion in the Vedic Era
Vedic Religion
Karma, Yoga, and the Quest for Liberation
Yoga
Premodern Hinduism: The Classical Era (180 BCE-900 CE)
Early Heterodox Indic Religions: Jainism and Buddhism
Jainism: The Tradition of Spiritual Conquerors
The Reality of Karma and Caste
The Four Stages and Four Aims of Life
Epics and the Development of Classical Hinduism
Mainstream Hinduism and the Rise of Devotion to the Great Deities
Premodern Hinduism: The Postclassical Era (900 CE-1500 CE)
The Formation of Major Hindu Schools of Thought
The Early Islamic Era: Delhi Sultanate (1192-1525)
Religion in the Mughal Era (1526-1707)
* The Rise of Sikhism
Hinduism and Modernity
Hinduism Under British Colonialism
Challenges and Responses to Colonialism
The Work of Gandhi: Hindu Elements in Indian Nationalism
Hinduism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World
The Persistence of Traditional Religious Understandings
Contemporary Hindu Practices
Hindu and Sikh Festival Practice
Pilgrimage Festivals
Sikh Festivals
The Religious Institutions of Contemporary Hinduism
Changes and Continuities: Examples of Postcolonial Hinduism
The Connection of Religion with Philanthropy and Social Reform
Religious Nationalism: Secular India and its Discontents
A Growing Global Tradition
CHAPTER 4. BUDDHISM: PATHS TOWARD NIRVANA
Encounter with Modernity: Socially "Engaged Buddhism"
Premodern Buddhism: The Formative Era (600 BCE-100 CE)
The Buddha: Context and Biography
Buddhism as the Path to Nirvana
The First Community and Its Development
How Buddhism Became a World Religion
Sangha and Monastery: The Institutional Vehicles of Buddhism's Expansion
Premodern Buddhism: The Classical Era (100-800 CE)
The Pan-Asian Expansion of Buddhism
The Core Doctrines
The Classical Ideal: Buddhist Civilization
The Mahayana: Philosophies and East Asian Monastic Schools
Premodern Buddhism: Buddhist Expansion (400-1500 CE)
South Asia
China
Southeast Asia
Japan
The Himalayan Region
Buddhism and Modernity
Early Modern Buddhist Polities: Monastics, Householders, Kings
Buddhist Monasticism
Buddhism Under Colonialism (1500-1960)
Challenges from Colonialism, Communism, and Modern Critics (1800-Present)
The Twentieth-Century Buddhist Revival Gains Strength
Buddhism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World
South Asia
Theravada Buddhism Today in Southeast Asia
Tooth Relics and Anti-Muslim Riots in Myanmar
Three Contemporary Faces of Thai Buddhism
East Asia
Buddhism Today in Diaspora and in Asia
Buddhism's Affinity for Modernization
The Sangha: Adaptive Reformism?
State Buddhism and the Poison of Ethnic Passion
CHAPTER 5. EAST ASIAN RELIGIONS: CONFUCIANISM, DAOISM, SHINTO, BUDDHISM
Encounter with Modernity: The Fall and Return of Confucianism
The Postcolonial Challenge of Confucianism
East Asian Religions in the Formative Era (1500 BCE-617 CE)
Earliest History: Shang (1766-1122 BCE)
Development of the Multiple Traditions in Post-Han China
Religion Under the Early Japanese Imperial State: Buddhism and Shinto
East Asian Religions in the Classical Era (645-1800 CE)
Classical Imperial China (645-1271 CE)
The Development of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism in Korea and Japan
East Asian Religions in the Late Classical Era (1400-1800)
East Asian Religions in the Early Modern Era
Disruptive European Intrusions
Traumatic Transitions of the Modern Era
The Appearance of New Religious Movements and Religions
East Asian Religions and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World
Continuities and Transformations in the East Asian Religions
The Religious Institutions: Monasteries, Temples, Shrines
The Return of Religion to China: Case Studies
Japan's Creative Diversity: Old Traditions and New
Korea's Strong Confucian Tradition Accommodates Diversity
Conclusion: Have We Entered a Third Confucian Age?
CHAPTER 6. ISLAM IN ASIA
The Prophet of Islam
The Quran and Hadith
The Message of the Quran
Sunni and Shiah Islam
Islamic Law
The Five Pillars of Islam
Sufi Mysticism
Islam in Asia
Muslims in Asia under European Colonialism
Postcolonial Asian Islam
Globalization and Hijacking of Jihad
CHAPTER 7. GLOBALIZATION: FROM NEW TO NEW AGE RELIGIONS
Encounter with Modernity: The Challenge of Global Diversity to the "Purity" of Tradition
New Religions
Old Religions and New Religions in the History of Religions
The New Age and New Age Religions
Postmodernism and the New Age
Theosophy, Christian Science, and the Unity School of Christiantiy
Scientology
The Baha'i Global Religious Vision
Conclusion: The Postmodern Challenge--Can There Be a Global Ethic in a World of Religious Diversity?
Beyond Atheism: The Challenge of Postmodern Secular Relativism
"Passing Over": A Postmodern Spiritual Adventure That Responds to the Challenge of Globalization
Tolstoy, Jesus, and "Saint Buddha": An Ancient Tale with a Thousand Faces
The Children of Gandhi: An Experiment in Postmodern Global Ethics
The Future of Religion in an Age of Globalization
Glossary
Art Credits
Index

Religions of Asia Today

Fourth Edition

John L. Esposito, Darrell J. Fasching, and Todd T. Lewis

Author Information

John L. Esposito is University Professor of Religion and International Affairs, and Founding Director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.

The late Darrell J. Fasching was Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of South Florida.

Todd T. Lewis is the Murray Distinguished Professor of Arts and Humanities at the College of the Holy Cross.