Asian religions: a cultural perspective

This lively introduction offers a complete overview of the main Asian religions, their traditions and contemporary relevance, and how they are lived and practiced today.-Providesreaders with an all-embracing introduction to Asian religions, covering each of the main traditions in a style that is lively and distinctive -Focuses on Asian religions as lived and practiced by real people, leading readers to a deeper understanding of Asian spiritualities and traditions, and their contemporary relevance -Uses exercises, activities, and an appealing mixture of examples, such as novels, throughout the book, to both inform and engage readers -Employs a comparative approach, highlighting the contrasts between Asian and Western modes of thinking and living -Debates the influence of religion on real-world issues including work, economic growth, the environment, human rights, and gender relations -Written by an acclaimed scholar in this field, who is able to draw on his remarkable knowledge across all relevant religious traditions.

Religion -- Language -- Confucian -- Defining religion : the Confucian response -- The religious dimensions of Confucianism -- The self as a center of relationships -- Learning to be human -- Lasting influence of Confucianism in modern East Asia -- Taoist -- What is Taoism? -- Philosophical Taoism -- Temporal dimensions of yin-yang cosmology -- Spatial dimensions of yin-yang cosmology -- Personal dimensions of yin-yang cosmology -- Taoism as a global religious phenomenon -- Hindu -- What is hinduism -- Karma-marga -- Jñna-Marga -- Bhakti-Marga -- Hinduism in the modern world -- Theravada -- Buddhism and the Buddha -- Suffering and its causes -- Buddhist ethics -- The fruits of meditation -- Monastic practice -- Mahayana -- Faith -- Principles of zen Buddhism -- Buddhism as a global religion -- Japanese -- Japanese religion and culture -- Shrine Shinto: dimensions of sacred time and space in Japan -- Dimensions of religion in modern Japan.