Preface CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION: UNDERSTANDING WORLD RELIGIONS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE Why Study World Religions? Our Task Understanding Religious Experience and Its Formative Elements The Sacred Myth, Scripture, and Beliefs Ritual Community and Morality Religious Leaders/Experts The Great Religious Stories of the World Myths of Nature China and the Myths of Harmony India and the Myths of Liberation The Middle East and the Myths of History Religious Diversity and Historical Change: The Structure of this Book Historical Overview: From Premodern to Postmodern The Modern/Postmodern Transition: Colonialism, Socialism, and the End of Modernity Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World Conclusion: We Are All Heretics in Our Postmodern Situation CHAPTER 2. INDIGENOUS RELIGIONS Origins of Homo religiosus: Prehistory Religion''s Origins Among Hunter-Gatherers Fertility, Childbirth, and Survival Religion in Prehistory: The Secret of Early Cave Rituals Indigenous Religious Traditions: Soul Belief and Afterlife Totemism: Australian Aboriginal Religion Shamans: "Technicians of the Sacred" * Case Studies in Indigenous Religious Practices Today Bear Sacrifice: A Widespread Arctic and Pacific Rim Tradition Shamans Who Repair the World Indigenous Religions Today The Cataclysms of Colonialism Shamanism in Modern Asia: Division of Labor Within the World Religions Global Neo-Shamanism: Expropriation by "White Shamans" CHAPTER 3. HINDUISM, JAINISM, AND SIKHISM Defining Hinduism: Unity, Diversity, Localities Encounter with Modernity: Hindu Challenges to India as a Secular State Premodern Hinduism: The Formative Era The Aryans and Religion in the Vedic Era Vedic Religion Karma, Yoga, and the Quest for Liberation Yoga Premodern Hinduism: The Classical Era (180 BCE-900 CE) Early Heterodox Indic Religions: Jainism and Buddhism Jainism: The Tradition of Spiritual Conquerors The Reality of Karma and Caste The Four Stages and Four Aims of Life Epics and the Development of Classical Hinduism Mainstream Hinduism and the Rise of Devotion to the Great Deities Premodern Hinduism: The Postclassical Era (900 CE-1500 CE) The Formation of Major Hindu Schools of Thought The Early Islamic Era: Delhi Sultanate (1192-1525) Religion in the Mughal Era (1526-1707) * The Rise of Sikhism Hinduism and Modernity Hinduism Under British Colonialism Challenges and Responses to Colonialism The Work of Gandhi: Hindu Elements in Indian Nationalism Hinduism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World The Persistence of Traditional Religious Understandings Contemporary Hindu Practices Hindu and Sikh Festival Practice Pilgrimage Festivals Sikh Festivals The Religious Institutions of Contemporary Hinduism Changes and Continuities: Examples of Postcolonial Hinduism The Connection of Religion with Philanthropy and Social Reform Religious Nationalism: Secular India and its Discontents A Growing Global Tradition CHAPTER 4. BUDDHISM: PATHS TOWARD NIRVANA Encounter with Modernity: Socially "Engaged Buddhism" Premodern Buddhism: The Formative Era (600 BCE-100 CE) The Buddha: Context and Biography Buddhism as the Path to Nirvana The First Community and Its Development How Buddhism Became a World Religion Sangha and Monastery: The Institutional Vehicles of Buddhism''s Expansion Premodern Buddhism: The Classical Era (100-800 CE) The Pan-Asian Expansion of Buddhism The Core Doctrines The Classical Ideal: Buddhist Civilization The Mahayana: Philosophies and East Asian Monastic Schools Premodern Buddhism: Buddhist Expansion (400-1500 CE) South Asia China Southeast Asia Japan The Himalayan Region Buddhism and Modernity Early Modern Buddhist Polities: Monastics, Householders, Kings Buddhist Monasticism Buddhism Under Colonialism (1500-1960) Challenges from Colonialism, Communism, and Modern Critics (1800-Present) The Twentieth-Century Buddhist Revival Gains Strength Buddhism and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World South Asia Theravada Buddhism Today in Southeast Asia Tooth Relics and Anti-Muslim Riots in Myanmar Three Contemporary Faces of Thai Buddhism East Asia Buddhism Today in Diaspora and in Asia Buddhism''s Affinity for Modernization The Sangha: Adaptive Reformism? State Buddhism and the Poison of Ethnic Passion CHAPTER 5. EAST ASIAN RELIGIONS: CONFUCIANISM, DAOISM, SHINTO, BUDDHISM Encounter with Modernity: The Fall and Return of Confucianism The Postcolonial Challenge of Confucianism East Asian Religions in the Formative Era (1500 BCE-617 CE) Earliest History: Shang (1766-1122 BCE) Development of the Multiple Traditions in Post-Han China Religion Under the Early Japanese Imperial State: Buddhism and Shinto East Asian Religions in the Classical Era (645-1800 CE) Classical Imperial China (645-1271 CE) The Development of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism in Korea and Japan East Asian Religions in the Late Classical Era (1400-1800) East Asian Religions in the Early Modern Era Disruptive European Intrusions Traumatic Transitions of the Modern Era The Appearance of New Religious Movements and Religions East Asian Religions and Postmodern Trends in a Postcolonial World Continuities and Transformations in the East Asian Religions The Religious Institutions: Monasteries, Temples, Shrines The Return of Religion to China: Case Studies Japan''s Creative Diversity: Old Traditions and New Korea''s Strong Confucian Tradition Accommodates Diversity Conclusion: Have We Entered a Third Confucian Age? CHAPTER 6. ISLAM IN ASIA The Prophet of Islam The Quran and Hadith The Message of the Quran Sunni and Shiah Islam Islamic Law The Five Pillars of Islam Sufi Mysticism Islam in Asia Muslims in Asia under European Colonialism Postcolonial Asian Islam Globalization and Hijacking of Jihad CHAPTER 7. GLOBALIZATION: FROM NEW TO NEW AGE RELIGIONS Encounter with Modernity: The Challenge of Global Diversity to the "Purity" of Tradition New Religions Old Religions and New Religions in the History of Religions The New Age and New Age Religions Postmodernism and the New Age Theosophy, Christian Science, and the Unity School of Christiantiy Scientology The Baha''i Global Religious Vision Conclusion: The Postmodern Challenge--Can There Be a Global Ethic in a World of Religious Diversity? Beyond Atheism: The Challenge of Postmodern Secular Relativism "Passing Over": A Postmodern Spiritual Adventure That Responds to the Challenge of Globalization Tolstoy, Jesus, and "Saint Buddha": An Ancient Tale with a Thousand Faces The Children of Gandhi: An Experiment in Postmodern Global Ethics The Future of Religion in an Age of Globalization Glossary Art Credits Index.