Of all the Hindu Scriptures, the Bhagavad Gita is the most widely read by Western audiences. Its brevity belies its complexity; as with all sacred texts, the only way to fully understand its teaching is to learn from those who live out a faith based on that text. This book examines five different readings of the Bhagavad Gita, juxtaposing these readings with a Western Protestant Christian response to both the text and the ideas and theology that lie beneath the surface of the text. Written for students and practitioners of interfaith dialogue, it is a resource to enable richer and deeper conversations between Hindus and Christians.

From T.S. Eliot to Bede Griffiths, many a Christian thinker has found in the Bhagavad Gita a source of genuine spiritual insight and inspiration. As Christians continue to explore the text in a spirit of dialogue, new points of theological interest are discovered and new insights gained into the meaning and importance of the text for Christian thought and practice. In this collection of Christian commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita, Christian theologians and scholars of Hinduism offer a variety of different perspectives on the text using a diversity of commentarial approaches and styles, from close textual analysis and exegetical comparison to a more general theological reflection on the text, from comparison of the Gita with a particular Christian classic to a focus on specific religious categories such as detachment, incarnation and eschatology. While some contributions focus mainly on the similarities between Christian thought and the Gita, others also engage differences in a mutually critical and constructive way. Each of these commentaries thus offers a distinctive lens through which Christians may read the Bhagavad Gita, and points to the endless possibility and promise of inter-religious hermeneutics, or the religious reading of a sacred text from another religious tradition.

Followers of the New Thought movement of the early 20th century sought to find God through explorations of the metaphysical. Here, one of the most influential thinkers of this early "New Age" philosophy takes a fresh look at the life and teachings of Jesus Christ through a New Thought lens. In this series of "lessons" originally published as a series of monthly missives in 1907 and 1908, we discover the previously hidden esoteric meanings behind much of the story of Jesus, from the foretelling of his birth to the strange mysteries of his healing of the sick to the occult ceremony of the Last Supper. This is an eye-opening reinterpretation of a familiar story.American writer WILLIAM WALKER ATKINSON (1862-1932)-aka Theron Q. Dumont-was born in Baltimore and had built up a successful law practice in Pennsylvania before professional burnout led him to the religious New Thought movement. He served as editor of the popular magazine New Thought from 1901 to 1905, and as editor of the journal Advanced Thought from 1916 to 1919. He authored dozens of New Thought books-including Arcane Formula or Mental Alchemy and Vril, or Vital Magnetism-under numerous pseudonyms, some of which are likely still unknown today.

Commentary on 'The Bhagavad Geeta' by Swami Mukundananda

For centuries, readers have turned to the Bhagavad Gita for inspiration and guidance as they chart their own spiritual paths. As profound and powerful as this classic text has been for generations of seekers, integrating its lessons into the ordinary patterns of our lives can ultimately seem beyond our reach. Now, in a fascinating series of reflections, anecdotes, stories, and exercises, Ram Dass gives us a unique and accessible road map for experiencing divinity in everyday life. In the engaging, conversational style that has made his teachings so popular for decades, Ram Dass traces our journey of consciousness as it is reflected in one of Hinduism’s most sacred texts. The Gita teaches a system of yogas, or “paths for coming to union with God.” In Paths to God, Ram Dass brings the heart of that system to light for a Western audience and translates the Gita’s principles into the manual for living the yoga of contemporary life. While being a guide to the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita, Paths to God is also a template for expanding our definition of ourselves and allowing us to appreciate a new level of meaning in our lives.