Princeton Readings in Religions

Donald S. Lopez, Jr., is Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan. The inaugural volume of Princeton Readings in Religions brings together the work of thirty scholars of the religions of India in a new anthology designed to reshape the ways in which the religious traditions of India are understood. The book contains translations of forty-five works, most of which have never before been available in a Western language. Many of these highlight types of discourse (especially ritual manuals, folktales, and oral narratives) and voices (vernacular, esoteric, domestic, and female) that have not been sufficiently represented in previous anthologies and standard accounts of Indian religions. The selections are drawn from ancient texts, medieval manuscripts, modern pamphlets, and contemporary fieldwork in rural and urban India. They represent every region in South Asia and include Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, and Muslim materials. Some are written texts reflecting elite concerns, while others are transcriptions of oral narratives told by nonliterate peasants. Some texts are addressed to a public and pan-Indian audience, others to a limited coterie of initiates in an esoteric sect, and still others are intended for a few women gathered in the courtyard for a household ceremony. The editor has reinforced this diversity by arranging the selections within several overarching themes and categories of discourse (hymns, rituals, narratives, and religious interactions), and encourages us to make our own connections. "The very nature of this anthology suggests that the contemporary student be taught to learn in the context of uncertain borders, of conflicting and of ambiguous worlds. . . . The Religions of India in Practice should be in the hands of every teacher-scholar of religions in India and then in the hands of their students." "A volume in the valuable series of Princeton Readings in Religion.... [A] most useful set of penetrating studies ... their writers are among the most prominent scholars in the field."

Donald S. Lopez, Jr., is Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan. He is the editor of Princeton Readings in Religions, which includes Religions of China in Practice, Buddhism in Practice, Religions of India in Practice, Religions of Tibet in Practice, and the forthcoming book, Religions of Japan in Practice. His most recent publication is Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Princeton Readings in Religions is a new series of anthologies on the religions of the world, representing the significant advances that have been made in the study of religions in the last thirty years. This volume brings together the introductions to the first five volumes of this acclaimed series: Religions of India in Practice (1995), Buddhism in Practice (1995), Religions of China in Practice (1996), Religions of Tibet in Practice (1997), and Religions of Japan in Practice (1999). The introductions to these volumes have been widely praised for their accessible, clear and concise overviews of the religions of Asia, providing both historical context and insightful analysis of Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, and Bon, as well as many local traditions. The authors of the chapters are leading scholars of Asian religions: Richard Davis (India), Stephen Teiser (China), George Tanabe (Japan), and Donald Lopez (Buddhism and Tibet). They bring together the best and most current research on their topics, while series editor Donald Lopez provides an introduction to the volume as a whole. In addition to providing a wealth of detail on the history, doctrine, and practice of the religions of Asia, the five chapters offer an opportunity for sustained discussions of the category of "religion."

George J. Tanabe, Jr., is Professor and Chair in the Department of Religion at the University of Hawaii. Having research interests covering doctrinal and practical issues in medieval and modern Japan, he is the author of MyÉe the Dreamkeeper, coeditor of The Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture, and coauthor of Practically Religious: Worldly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan. This anthology reflects a range of Japanese religions in their complex, sometimes conflicting, diversity. In the tradition of the Princeton Readings in Religions series, the collection presents documents (legends and miracle tales, hagiographies, ritual prayers and ceremonies, sermons, reform treatises, doctrinal tracts, historical and ethnographic writings), most of which have been translated for the first time here, that serve to illuminate the mosaic of Japanese religions in practice. George Tanabe provides a lucid introduction to the "patterned confusion" of Japan's religious practices. He has ordered the anthology's forty-five readings under the categories of "Ethical Practices," "Ritual Practices," and "Institutional Practices," moving beyond the traditional classifications of chronology, religious traditions (Shinto, Confucianism, Buddhism, etc.), and sects, and illuminating the actual orientation of people who engage in religious practices. Within the anthology's three broad categories, subdivisions address the topics of social values, clerical and lay precepts, gods, spirits, rituals of realization, faith, court and emperor, sectarian founders, wizards, and heroes, orthopraxis and orthodoxy, and special places. Dating from the eighth through the twentieth centuries, the documents are revealed to be open to various and evolving interpretations, their meanings dependent not only on how they are placed in context but also on how individual researchers read them. Each text is preceded by an introductory explanation of the text's essence, written by its translator. Instructors and students will find these explications useful starting points for their encounters with the varied worlds of practice within which the texts interact with readers and changing contexts. Religions of Japan in Practice is a compendium of relationships between great minds and ordinary people, abstruse theories and mundane acts, natural and supernatural powers, altruism and self-interest, disappointment and hope, quiescence and war. It is an indispensable sourcebook for scholars, students, and general readers seeking engagement with the fertile "ordered disorder" of religious practice in Japan. "An enormous undertaking . . . its value to those in the field of comparative religions is undeniable." "One of the finest anthologies available of primary documents illustrating the diversity and liveliness of Japanese religions." "Religions of Japan in Practice demonstrates the wide variety of topics and source materials being studied by current scholars of Japan. More important, its very diversity demands that we rethink scholarly categories and boundaries within the field of Japanese religious studies. Both teachers and students will find much that is new and fascinating."-William M. Bodiford, University of California, Los Angeles

"One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2010" "Miri Rubin is professor of medieval and early modern history at Queen Mary, University of London. Her books include Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary, The Hollow Crown: A History of Britain in the Late Middle Ages, and Corpus Christi: The Eucharist in Late Medieval Culture. Medieval Christianity in Practice provides readers with a sweeping look at the religious practices of the European Middle Ages. Comprising forty-two selections from primary source materials--each translated with an introduction and commentary by a specialist in the field--the collection illustrates the religious cycles, rituals, and experiences that gave meaning to medieval Christian individuals and communities. This volume of Princeton Readings in Religions assembles sources reflecting different genres, regions, and styles, including prayer books, chronicles, diaries, liturgical books, sermons, hagiography, and handbooks for the laity and clergy. The texts represent the practices through which Christians conducted their individual, family, and community lives, and explores such life-cycle events as birth, confirmation, marriage, sickness, death, and burial. The texts also document religious practices related to themes of work, parish life, and devotions, as well as power and authority. Enriched by expert analysis and suggestions for further reading, Medieval Christianity in Practice gives students and general readers alike the necessary background and foundations for an appreciation of the creativity and multiplicity of medieval Christian religious culture. "Editor Rubin and contributors offer a richly textured presentation of the practice of medieval Christianity from about 600 to 1500 CE. Each of the 42 sections comprises excerpts from medieval texts, selected, translated, and commented upon by specialists in the field." "[T]his volume lends itself to use in undergraduate courses that deal with medieval religious practice, including western civilization and medieval surveys, as well as religious studies courses. Graduate students also will gain insights into the range of sources that can be deployed for the investigation of religious practice in medieval Europe."---David Stewart Bachrach, H-Net Reviews "[This book] may be especially useful in graduate seminars or as an aid to graduate training where the emphasis on manuscript sources may enrich the experience of students. . . . [I]n consideration of the fine group of contributors, it deserves serious consideration."---James M. Powell, Catholic Historical Review "Whether the reader is a long-term student of the Middle Ages or a novice in the field, he or she will find this a unique and informative book, one which stimulates the mind and the imagination with the complexity and richness of medieval religious practice."---Sarah Adams, Christianity and Literature "This book is a valuable collection of small studies. It is well-prepared and well-edited, designed for use in courses or seminars. It is full of anecdotes, rituals, and insights that are interesting in themselves and that cumulatively give a sense of the variety and richness of medieval Christian life."---Michael G. Witczak, Worship "A very useful scholarly resource." "The volume provides an excellent introduction to the wide variety of Western medieval religious practice."---Margaret Cormack, Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture "This unique book re-creates the practical and imaginative experiences of medieval parishioners, from cradle to grave. This is of compelling interest to historians, religious specialists, and students of literature, for we see here multifarious attempts to reach ordinary people through their own language. We also see the church at work all across Europe, celebrating its saints, discouraging dissidence, and providing for those who would live perfectly. Highly recommended."-David Wallace, University of Pennsylvania "This book offers a uniq

Donald S. Lopez, Jr., is Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan. This third volume of Princeton Readings in Religions demonstrates that the "three religions" of China--Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism (with a fourth, folk religion, sometimes added)--are not mutually exclusive: they overlap and interact with each other in a rich variety of ways. The volume also illustrates some of the many interactions between Han culture and the cultures designated by the current government as "minorities." Selections from minority cultures here, for instance, are the folktale of Ny Dan the Manchu Shamaness and a funeral chant of the Yi nationality collected by local researchers in the early 1980s. Each of the forty unusual selections, from ancient oracle bones to stirring accounts of mystic visions, is preceded by a substantial introduction. As with the other volumes, most of the selections here have never been translated before. Stephen Teiser provides a general introduction in which the major themes and categories of the religions of China are analyzed. The book represents an attempt to move from one conception of the "Chinese spirit" to a picture of many spirits, including a Laozi who acquires magical powers and eventually ascends to heaven in broad daylight; the white-robed Guanyin, one of the most beloved Buddhist deities in China; and the burning-mouth hungry ghost. The book concludes with a section on "earthly conduct." "Due to the quality and quantity of the contributions, this anthology gives readers--in one volume--a wealth of new material on Chinese religions. Perhaps more importantly, it also offers a reconceptualization of the field." "Excellent and should be an important help to students of Chinese religions and a new model for the study of religion in general that needs to be aware of the variety of manifestations a particular tradition develops within each culture, through all levels of society and across the centuries."

Barbara D. Metcalf is president-elect of the American Historical Association. She is professor emeritus of history at the University of California, Davis, and most recently has taught at the University of Michigan. She is the author of Islamic Revival in British India and the coauthor of A Concise History of Modern India. This volume of Princeton Readings in Religions brings together the work of more than thirty scholars of Islam and Muslim societies in South Asia to create a rich anthology of primary texts that contributes to a new appreciation of the lived religious and cultural experiences of the world's largest population of Muslims. The thirty-four selections--translated from Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, Gujarati, Hindavi, Dakhani, and other languages--highlight a wide variety of genres, many rarely found in standard accounts of Islamic practice, from oral narratives to elite guidance manuals, from devotional songs to secular judicial decisions arbitrating Islamic law, and from political posters to a discussion among college women affiliated with an "Islamist" organization. Drawn from premodern texts, modern pamphlets, government and organizational archives, new media, and contemporary fieldwork, the selections reflect the rich diversity of Islamic belief and practice in South Asia. Each reading is introduced with a brief contextual note from its scholar-translator, and Barbara Metcalf introduces the whole volume with a substantial historical overview. "[Islam in South Asia in Practice] successfully achieves its place as both a challenge to the Orientalist models of scholarship of the past as well as makes accessible the arguments and primary sources to a larger audience. . . . [T]he overall quality and tone of the articles is one that . . . pushes the field in important and meaningful ways, but manages to do so in a manner that can play well in classrooms."---Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst, Journal of Contemporary Asia "[T]he concentration of information and insight provided here--from Islamic doctrine to the mechanics of religious practices, sacred texts and spiritual discipline--goes a long way towards capturing the multifaceted meaning of what it has meant to live one's life as a Muslim at different times and in different places in South Asia."---Sarah Ansari, Journal of Islamic Studies "[G]iving access to a wide-range of texts, Islam in South Asia in Practice as an anthology is a rich source of the study of modern/pre-modern South Asian Islam--its religious practices, institutions, and worldview. Islam in South Asia in Practice can better serve as an introduction as well as guide and reference book, respectively, to a wide-ranging texts and practices and scholarly debates and discussions on South Asian Islam. In sum, given the extensive variety of topics and issues and broad selection of themes and concerns it covers is a must read for all those students and scholars who are interested in the history of Islam in South Asia in general and 'in practice' in particular."---Tauseef Ahamd Parray, Islam and Muslim Societies Journal "Barbara Metcalf has helped transform the study of modern South Asian Islam by her insistence on close readings of texts; her attention to religious practice, institutions, and worldview; and her refusal to dismiss the concerns of South Asian actors. This edited volume, with its magisterial introduction, exemplifies these qualities while giving us access to a wide range of texts from throughout South Asia. She and her collaborators are owed great thanks."-Juan Cole, author of Engaging the Muslim World "This is undoubtedly the richest collection of materials on South Asian Islam ever to be published in a single volume. What makes it so rich is its contributors' presentation and interpretation of primary texts, rather than any attempt to broach a synthetic narrative, however complex. This approach allows the book to be used in different ways: as an introduction to the wealth of Muslim text

David Gordon White is the J. F. Rowny Professor of Comparative Religion at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His books include Sinister Yogis and Tantra in Practice (Princeton). Primary texts in yoga, from ancient times to today Yoga is a body of practice that spans two millennia and transcends the boundaries of any single religion, geographic region, or teaching lineage. In fact, over the centuries there have been many "yogas"-yogas of battlefield warriors, of itinerant minstrels and beggars, of religious reformers, and of course, the yogas of mind and body so popular today. Yoga in Practice is an anthology of primary texts drawn from the diverse yoga traditions of India, greater Asia, and the West. This one-of-a-kind sourcebook features elegant translations of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and even Islamic yogic writings, many of them being made available in English for the very first time. Collected here are ancient, colonial, and modern texts reflecting a broad range of genres, from an early medical treatise in Sanskrit to Upanishadic verses on sacred sounds; from a Tibetan catechetical dialogue to funerary and devotional songs still sung in India today; and from a 1930s instructional guide by the grandfather of contemporary yoga to the private papers of a pioneer of tantric yoga in America. Emphasizing the lived experiences to be found in the many worlds of yoga, Yoga in Practice includes David Gordon White's informative general introduction as well as concise introductions to each reading by the book's contributors. "In this volume, which is designed to serve as a course on the historical development of the practice of yoga, editor White brings together many leading scholars to present and analyze twenty significant primary texts drawn from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism (and a text from Islam). . . . Featuring a useful glossary, this work would be excellent as a course text or for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students undertaking research on yoga. It would also benefit practitioners who want to deepen their understanding." "For upper level undergraduates, graduate students, and intellectual practitioners desiring to engage the true variety of yoga, this dense and disparate collection is indispensable."---Lloyd W. Pflueger, Religious Studies Review "This volume fills a vacuum in yoga studies. An indispensable resource for teachers and students, it is also of immeasurable value to every thinking yoga practitioner. Through an astute selection of key texts, White effectively demonstrates that yoga is a collection of vibrant, disparate, and distinctive traditions, and he also highlights continuities that unite ideas and practices of yoga through two thousand years of history."-Suzanne Newcombe, Inform, based at the London School of Economics and Political Science "Yoga in Practice deals with a topic of great academic significance and broad popular appeal, and the contributors are solid scholars who know their material inside out. Yoga is a global phenomenon, and this collection provides clarification of key points and careful contextualization of the history of ideas that has produced yoga. There are really no other books comparable in range, presentation, or quality."-Joseph S. Alter, University of Pittsburgh "This anthology makes available a wide variety of translations of primary sources on yoga, especially texts focused on practice, and places each in the broader context of the Indian traditions of yoga. The volume breaks new ground by including little-known texts and offering new perspectives on more familiar ones. Many of these texts are unavailable in translation elsewhere."-David Carpenter, Saint Joseph's University

Amy-Jill Levine is E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at the Divinity School and Graduate Department of Religion of Vanderbilt University. Dale C. Allison Jr. is Errett M. Grable Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Early Christianity at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. John Dominic Crossan is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at DePaul University. The Historical Jesus in Context is a landmark collection that places the gospel narratives in their full literary, social, and archaeological context. More than twenty-five internationally recognized experts offer new translations and descriptions of a broad range of texts that shed new light on the Jesus of history, including pagan prayers and private inscriptions, miracle tales and martyrdoms, parables and fables, divorce decrees and imperial propaganda. The translated materials--from Christian, Coptic, and Jewish as well as Greek, Roman, and Egyptian texts--extend beyond single phrases to encompass the full context, thus allowing readers to locate Jesus in a broader cultural setting than is usually made available. This book demonstrates that only by knowing the world in which Jesus lived and taught can we fully understand him, his message, and the spread of the Gospel. Gathering in one place material that was previously available only in disparate sources, this formidable book provides innovative insight into matters no less grand than first-century Jewish and Gentile life, the composition of the Gospels, and Jesus himself. "The essays illuminate the social, religious, and cultural background of Jesus and the Gospels in striking ways. The book has gathered together the work of leading scholars without regard for any party line."---Paul Cavill, Church Times "A very useful introduction to the historical background of Jesus and the Gospels...A valuable resource for historical Jesus studies."---Michael Bird, Journal for the Study of the New Testament "It is a major research tool and an education in its own right. Highly recommended."---Robert M. Price, Religious Studies Review "In general, this is a volume especially useful as a resource for teaching about Jesus in his historical context."---Bruce Longenecker, Theological Book Review "This collection of essays is a very useful introduction to the historical background of Jesus and the Gospels. The translation of a number of primary texts in one volume makes it a valuable resource for historical Jesus studies."---Michael Bird, Journal for the Study of the New Testament "The heart of the matter is in the ancient texts themselves--let the reader understand! For this reason, the student of Christian origins and/or the historical Jesus will find this book eminently worthwhile. There is, as far as I know, no other book on the market that brings the primary textual backgrounds on Jesus together in one place."---Nicholas Perrin, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society "An excellent addition to any library--whether scholarly, pastoral, or devotional--this is an illuminating volume with easy to follow, concise essays that deal with a variety of subjects or aspects of the world in which Jesus lived and the gospels written. Excellent for scholars, students, those charge with pastoral responsibilities or the interested reading public, The Historical Jesus in Context provides background and insights that illumine the gospel record in delightfully unexpected ways."---Stephen Morris, European Legacy "An impressive volume. Levine, Allison, and Crossan have assembled a group of experts who, by generously citing and carefully analyzing primary sources, contextualize Jesus in the Jewish and wider Greco-Roman world of his time. The essays cast a wide net and collect a rich assortment of information for students of the historical Jesus and the Gospels."-James C. Vanderkam, University of Notre Dame, author of The Dead Sea Scrolls "Textbooks are increasingly difficult to find for an int

Donald S. Lopez Jr., is Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan. He is the editor of three other volumes in this series: Religions of Tibet in Practice, Religions of India in Practice, and Religions of China in Practice. This anthology, first published in 1995, illustrates the vast scope of Buddhist practice in Asia, past and present. Re-released now in a slimmer but still extensive edition, Buddhism in Practice presents a selection of thirty-five translated texts--each preceded by a substantial introduction by its translator. These unusual sources provides the reader with a sense of the remarkable diversity of the practices of persons who over the course of 2,500 years have been identified, by themselves or by others, as Buddhists. Demonstrating the many continuities among the practices of Buddhist cultures widely separated by both history and geography, Buddhism in Practice continues to provide an ideal introduction to Buddhism and a source of new insights for scholars. "Praise for Princeton's previous edition: "Buddhism in Practice . . . constitute[s] a benchmark of where Buddhist studies has been, and where it is going. By endeavoring to break the circularity of the knowledge process, by which we recognize as 'Buddhist' only what we already think of as Buddhist, Lopez has opened a new course for a self-reflexive Buddhology.""---Timothy Brook, Journal of Asian Studies "Praise for Princeton's previous edition: "Like an all-star professional athletic team, the contributors to this volume bring credentials as world famous scholars of Buddhism. . . . [This] anthology contains a variety that shatters the narrowness of previous collections of texts.""---William Huntley, Education About ASIA Praise for Princeton's previous edition:"These selections consistently reveal new vistas on the Buddhist landscape or illuminate old views from new angles."-John S. Strong, Bates College

Lawrence Fine is the Irene Kaplan Leiwant Professor of Jewish Studies and a member of the Religion Department at Mount Holyoke College. He is the editor of Essential Papers on Kabbalah, the translator of Safed Spirituality: Rules of Mystical Piety, The Beginning of Wisdom, and author of Physician of the Soul, Healer of the Cosmos--Isaac Luria and his Kabbalistic Fellowship. This collection of original materials provides a sweeping view of medieval and early modern Jewish ritual and religious practice. Including such diverse texts as ritual manuals, legal codes, mystical books, autobiographical writings, folk literature, and liturgical poetry, it testifies to the enormous variety of practices that characterized Judaism in the twelve hundred years between 600 and 1800 C.E. Its focus on religious practice and experience--how Judaism was actually lived by people from day to day--makes this anthology unique among the few sourcebooks available. The volume encompasses the broad scope and complex texture of Jewish religious practice, taking into account many aspects of Jewish culture that have hitherto been relatively neglected: the religious life of ordinary people, the role and status of women, art and aesthetics, and marginalized as well as remote Jewish communities. It introduces such remarkable personalities as Moses Maimonides, Leon Modena, and Gluckel of Hameln, and presents extraordinary texts on festival practice, Torah study, mystical communities, meditation, exorcism, the practice of charity, and folk rites marking birth and death. Representing state-of-the-art scholarship by distinguished academics from around the world, the volume includes many materials never before translated into English. Each text is preceded by an accessible introduction, making this book suitable for college and university students as well as a general audience. Whether read as a deliberate course of study or dipped into selectively for a glimpse into fascinating Jewish lives and places, Judaism in Practice holds rich rewards for any reader. "Lawrence Fine . . . has assembled an impressive array of writings that explore the variegated ways in which Jews have practiced their religion. . . . By giving us a variety of texts and materials that go beyond the boundaries of conventional sources, Fine has opened up ways of thinking about the Jewish experience that are likely to challenge readers' expectations. In doing so, he and his contributors raise essential questions about the nature of Judaism as a religion and a culture, shake readers out of complacency and leave us to wonder at the marvelous scope of the Jewish people's history."---Barry W. Holtz, The Forward "This is a rich collection. Fine has secured contributions, introductions, and a selection of materials from accomplished scholars in each area covered. There is no other volume like it. The book is well suited for an undergraduate readership in Jewish studies, and Fine's introduction is appropriate for readers encountering the study of Judaism for the first time."-Robert S. Schine, Middlebury College, author of Jewish Thought Adrift: Max Wiener