This work offers a series of theological explorations of themes not usually addressed in standard treatments of the Hindu tradition. RambachanÂs retrieval of these distinctive insights of Hindu theology has implications that extend across the world's religions, and that touches upon key areas of mutual interest and concern. Beginning with a general introduction to the Hindu theological tradition, the book examines several key issues in Hindu theology and its engagement with contemporary religious, social, political, and inter-faith questions, including the theological methods employed in the study of Hinduism, the discernment of vocation, the theological grounds for social justice in the Hindu tradition, religion and nationalism, violence and non-violence, theological resources for interreligious dialogue (especially among Hindus and Christians), hospitality and openness to the stranger, and spirituality and holiness. In exploring these issues, this study draws deeply from Hindu authoritative sources, but does not limit itself to description. Each chapter is also a work in constructive theology, offering an interpretation of the Hindu tradition appropriate for life in our contemporary world. Essays in Hindu Theology will be of great interest not only to theologians and scholars, but to all who are invested in interreligious understanding and theological engagements with modern challenges.

This edited volume seeks to build a scholarly discourse about how Hinduism is being defined, reformed, and rearticulated in the digital era and how these changes are impacting the way Hindus view their own religious identities. It seeks to interrogate how digital Hinduism has been shaped in response to the dominant framing of the religion, which has often relied on postcolonial narratives devoid of context and an overemphasis on the geopolitics of the Indian subcontinent post-partition. From this perspective, this volume challenges previous frameworks of how Hinduism has been studied, particularly in the West, where Marxist and Orientalist approaches are often ill-fitting paradigms to understanding Hinduism. This volume engages with and critiques some of these approaches while also enriching existing models of research within media studies, ethnography, cultural studies, and religion.

The essays in Imagining the East explore how Theosophists during the formative period imagined the religions and cultures of the East. The authors examine the relationship of such representations to orientalism, the history of ideas, politics, and culture at large and discuss how these esoteric or theosophical representations mirrored conditions and values current in nineteenth-century mainstream intellectual culture. The essays also look at how the early Theosophical Society's representations of the East differed from mainstream 'orientalism' and how the Theosophical Society's mission in India was distinct from that of British colonialism and Christian missionaries.

Hinduism has been a major religious faith for well over 3000 years, and Hindus today account for over 600 million people. Lipner's book is a highly readable study of its evolution, its multidimensional nature, and influence.