"Among [Sharma's] wide range of publications, this one is rare and unique . This is definitively a cosmopolitan book in its most rich and vibrant sense . it is a wonderful text for anyone interested in the manner in which a leading contemporary Hindu scholar has thought through comparative issues." -- Journal of Hindu Studies "Sharma . provokes readers to reflect on what it means to be religious when affiliated to a religion . Sharma writes with deep affection for his own tradition . [and] speaks from an awakened perspective . If all religiously inspired people would think in these terms, this would be a more harmonious world indeed.

" -- CHOICE "Arvind Sharma has a charming ability to simultaneously recollect his encounters with other religions from an initially naïve viewpoint and also reflect upon them from his by now very well-informed perspective as one of the world's great scholars of comparative religion. Narrating his voyage of discovery with disarming humor, he leads us through all the minefields of differing beliefs and practices in ways that expose and then tend to dissipate misunderstandings of religion--both our own and others'." -- Mary Pat Fisher, author of Living Religions.