Hinduism: A Cultural Perspective (2nd Edition)

finally found a religious system i loathe more than fundamentalist christianity.a true religion of the status quo and no way out of it.

took a bit of time to get it but its nice an clean thank u

This book is a concise introduction to Hinduism for Westerners. It covers the early history and development of the religion, Hindu sects, Hinduism and the arts, central beliefs, worship practices, social structure, and symbolism. The book is illustrated with high quality black-and-white photos. It includes a glossary, a bibliography of further readings organized by topic, and an index.I searched for a comprehensible introduction to Hinduism without success until I stumbled across this book. I've read everything I could find on Hinduism from Huston Smith to Klaus Klostermaier and was still left scratching my head, wondering what the central tenets in the Hindu religion are. I found Klostermaier informative in some aspects, but his description tends to be so detailed and technical that I lost the forest through the trees. In contrast, Kinsley is quite succinct and writes on a level that interested Western general readers can easily understand. He covers the central tension in the religion, the struggle to choose between serving one's earthly duties and seeking personal release from the cycle of rebirth, as well as the main religious texts exceptionally well. He also describes many facets of the cultural connections to the religion quite well- -I found his observations on the importance of ornamentation and idealism in the arts to be especially illuminating. Not only does it help make sense of Hindu graphic arts, but it has also helped me make more sense of the focus on ornamentation in Indian classical music. Kinsley doesn't explain the Hindu Gods as clearly as some of the other topics that he discusses, and I find that I am still a little hazy on who's who in the pantheon, and how they are related to each other. But over all, despite its brevity, this book has given me a much firmer grasp of Hinduism than any other books I have read to date on the topic.

Hinduism: A Cultural Perspective is filled with EXTREMELY helpful and insightful information on Hinduism; however, the writing style and source citations are more akin to a freshman english research paper. It is wonderful to discover the why and the wherefore of Hinduism, but it is disconcerting to see a lack of "apparent" scholarship.But I say "apparent" because this book has a respectable bibliography and makes a concerted effort not to pass judgement, but rather to impart information. If you can swallow the bad writing, then this book will provide you with exactly what the title promises.

Great. No Problems. Short and Sweet.Very informative. Enjoyed the perspective but can be a difficult read for some.

This book is an excellent, brief introduction to Hinduism. It centers on the often conflicting demands of dharma (duty) and moksha (release) and various Hindu reconcilliations of these two ideals. In doing so it contains many brief stories from various Hindu texts, especially the Mahabharata. It also contains chapters on Hindu social structure, women and Hinduism, and Hindu temple architecture and its relation to worship.