Discusses the notion of a spiritual master and looks at examples in a variety of world religions.
What is a spiritual master? Spiritual Masters of the World’s Religions offers an important contribution to religious studies by addressing that question in the context of such themes as charismatic authority, role models, symbolism, and categories of religious perception. The book contains essays by scholar-practitioners on the topic of spiritual masters in Judaic, Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Confucian, and Daoist traditions. It provides a full spectrum of exemplars, including founders, spiritual masters who highlight cultural themes, and problematic figures of modern times. To define spiritual master, the work of Max Weber, Mircea Eliade, Daniel Gold, and Bruce Lincoln is referenced to provide a balanced notion that includes both religionist and reductionist perspectives. This book takes readers from the past spiritual masters to the future of masters of any sort, posing food for thought about the future of master-disciple relationships in an emerging age of egalitarian sentiments.
Tabella dei contenuti
Preface
Arvind Sharma
Introduction: Defining Spiritual Master
Victoria Kennick
1. Jewish Spiritual Masters
Harold Kasimow
2. Christian Spiritual Masters
James A. Wiseman
3. Muslim Spiritual Masters
Osman Bakar
4. Hindu Spiritual Masters
Arvind Sharma
5. Sikh Spiritual Masters
Mary Pat Fisher
6. Buddhist Spiritual Masters
Victoria Kennick
7. Confucian Spiritual Masters
Simon Man Ho Wong
8. Daoist Spiritual Masters
Eva Wong
Concluding Remarks
Arvind Sharma
List of Contributors
Index
Circa l’autore
Arvind Sharma is Birks Professor of Comparative Religion at Mc Gill University. He is the author of many books, including One Religion Too Many: The Religiously Comparative Reflections of a Comparatively Religious Hindu and Hinduism as a Missionary Religion, and the coeditor (with Ellen Bradshaw Aitken) of The Legacy of Wilfred Cantwell Smith, all published by SUNY Press.