Arvind Sharma

I have an MA in Comparative Religion, and I still found this a challenging book to get through. It was very dense, and sometimes the authors focused on issues more of interest to religious scholars than to general readers.

I suspect that individual reactions to this book will vary widely based on the degree of the reader's experience in religious studies and interest in the individual religions profiled. My personal reactions the various chapters:

Hinduism: Interesting and show more educational
Buddhism: Hard to get through (but I've always been challenged by Buddhist thinking)
Confucianism: Fascinating and inspiring
Taosim: Apologies to the author, but I skipped it
Judaism: Frustrating. The author framed the discussion in terms of oppression and resentment and promise -- which may be accurate (I don't know) but never really explained to me what it was like to practice Judaism. Of course, part of the point of the chapter was that, unlike other faiths, Judaism has an ethnic as well as a spiritual component, and he needed to address that.
Christianity: Enjoyed it a lot. I thought it was an excellent expression of both the diversity and unity of Christianity.
Islam: Very interesting and eye-opening.

If I could give this half-stars, this would be 3-1/2, but I rounded up because of the overall quality and ambition of the collection.

The book was published in 1994, and I would love to see another edition, hopefully one which also includes indigenous and neo-pagan faiths, which have become the focus of scholarly work. show less

Having read Daniel Dennett's Breaking the Spell, I found it impossible to read this article uncritically. Why is religion being privileged here? If the author were discussing a political system and came to the same conclusions, no feminist would take it seriously.

Arvind Sharma’s A Guide to Hindu Spirituality examined three states of consciousness – those of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. These were considered ordinary states of consciousness that all human beings experience. However, there’s a fourth state known as atman. This was thought of as a person’s true being whereby he or she experiences ‘bliss’ in a dream state. In Advaita Vedanta a dream state tends to be expressed in many states that tend to undermine each other’s show more reality.
But being in the waking state gives a person the fullest opportunity to do what he or she wishes. And AUM is said to be representative of three Hindu gods of the trinity: Brahma - creation, Vishnu - preservation, and Siva – termination. The tripartite sound of AUM in Advaita Vedanta is also seen as representative of the three states of consciousness viz, waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, but the silence after repeating AUM is considered the fourth state known as ‘atman.’
Sharma wrote that the sacred scriptures of Vedas consist of 1) hymns, 2) explanation of rituals about the hymns, 3) reflections on the importance of these rituals, and 4) contains the secret texts of the greatest mysteries presented in rituals that transfer believers into the realm of spiritual knowledge. show less

I picked this up when it came in with a new books cart at my workplace library. Once in a while, I like picking up books that will teach me a bit about the religious beliefs of others. This one provides a basic overview and exposition of the spiritual elements in Hinduism. While not the most riveting book, it can be a good book for anyone interested in the topic.