American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions

American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions

Author: Arthur Versluis

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 0195076583

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Arthur Versluis offers a comprehensive study of the relationship between the American Transcendentalists and Asian religions. He argues that an influx of new information about these religions shook nineteenth-century American religious consciousness to the core. With the publication of ever more material on Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism, the Judeo-Christian tradition was inevitably placed as just one among a number of religious traditions. Fundamentalists and conservatives denounced this influx as a threat, but the Transcendentalists embraced it, poring over the sacred books of Asia to extract ethical injunctions, admonitions to self-transcendence, myths taken to support Christian doctrines, and manifestations of a supposed coming universal religion.


Book Synopsis American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions by : Arthur Versluis

Download or read book American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions written by Arthur Versluis and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1993 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Arthur Versluis offers a comprehensive study of the relationship between the American Transcendentalists and Asian religions. He argues that an influx of new information about these religions shook nineteenth-century American religious consciousness to the core. With the publication of ever more material on Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism, the Judeo-Christian tradition was inevitably placed as just one among a number of religious traditions. Fundamentalists and conservatives denounced this influx as a threat, but the Transcendentalists embraced it, poring over the sacred books of Asia to extract ethical injunctions, admonitions to self-transcendence, myths taken to support Christian doctrines, and manifestations of a supposed coming universal religion.


American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions

American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions

Author: Arthur Versluis

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1993-09-16

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 0195360370

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The first major study since the 1930s of the relationship between American Transcendentalism and Asian religions, and the first comprehensive work to include post-Civil War Transcendentalists like Samuel Johnson, this book is encyclopedic in scope. Beginning with the inception of Transcendentalist Orientalism in Europe, Versluis covers the entire history of American Transcendentalism into the twentieth century, and the profound influence of Orientalism on the movement--including its analogues and influences in world religious dialogue. He examines what he calls "positive Orientalism," which recognizes the value and perennial truths in Asian religions and cultures, not only in the writings of major figures like Thoreau and Emerson, but also in contemporary popular magazines. Versluis's exploration of the impact of Transcendentalism on the twentieth-century study of comparative religions has ramifications for the study of religious history, comparative religion, literature, politics, history, and art history.


Book Synopsis American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions by : Arthur Versluis

Download or read book American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions written by Arthur Versluis and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1993-09-16 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first major study since the 1930s of the relationship between American Transcendentalism and Asian religions, and the first comprehensive work to include post-Civil War Transcendentalists like Samuel Johnson, this book is encyclopedic in scope. Beginning with the inception of Transcendentalist Orientalism in Europe, Versluis covers the entire history of American Transcendentalism into the twentieth century, and the profound influence of Orientalism on the movement--including its analogues and influences in world religious dialogue. He examines what he calls "positive Orientalism," which recognizes the value and perennial truths in Asian religions and cultures, not only in the writings of major figures like Thoreau and Emerson, but also in contemporary popular magazines. Versluis's exploration of the impact of Transcendentalism on the twentieth-century study of comparative religions has ramifications for the study of religious history, comparative religion, literature, politics, history, and art history.


American Gurus

American Gurus

Author: Arthur Versluis

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2014-04-01

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0199368147

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By the early twenty-first century, a phenomenon that once was inconceivable had become nearly commonplace in American society: the public spiritual teacher who neither belongs to, nor is authorized by a major religious tradition. From the Oprah Winfrey-endorsed Eckhart Tolle to figures like Gangaji and Adhyashanti, there are now countless spiritual teachers who claim and teach variants of instant or immediate enlightenment. American Gurus tells the story of how this phenomenon emerged. Through an examination of the broader literary and religious context of the subject, Arthur Versluis shows that a characteristic feature of the Western esoteric tradition is the claim that every person can achieve "spontaneous, direct, unmediated spiritual insight." This claim was articulated with special clarity by the New England Transcendentalists Bronson Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Versluis explores Transcendentalism, Walt Whitman, the Beat movement, Timothy Leary, and the New Age movement to shed light on the emergence of the contemporary American guru. This insightful study is the first to show how Asian religions and Western mysticism converged to produce the phenomenon of "spontaneously enlightened" American gurus.


Book Synopsis American Gurus by : Arthur Versluis

Download or read book American Gurus written by Arthur Versluis and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the early twenty-first century, a phenomenon that once was inconceivable had become nearly commonplace in American society: the public spiritual teacher who neither belongs to, nor is authorized by a major religious tradition. From the Oprah Winfrey-endorsed Eckhart Tolle to figures like Gangaji and Adhyashanti, there are now countless spiritual teachers who claim and teach variants of instant or immediate enlightenment. American Gurus tells the story of how this phenomenon emerged. Through an examination of the broader literary and religious context of the subject, Arthur Versluis shows that a characteristic feature of the Western esoteric tradition is the claim that every person can achieve "spontaneous, direct, unmediated spiritual insight." This claim was articulated with special clarity by the New England Transcendentalists Bronson Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Versluis explores Transcendentalism, Walt Whitman, the Beat movement, Timothy Leary, and the New Age movement to shed light on the emergence of the contemporary American guru. This insightful study is the first to show how Asian religions and Western mysticism converged to produce the phenomenon of "spontaneously enlightened" American gurus.


The Oriental Religions and American Thought

The Oriental Religions and American Thought

Author: Carl T. Jackson

Publisher: Greenwood

Published: 1981

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis The Oriental Religions and American Thought by : Carl T. Jackson

Download or read book The Oriental Religions and American Thought written by Carl T. Jackson and published by Greenwood. This book was released on 1981 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu

Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu

Author: Michael J. Altman

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017-07-03

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0190654937

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Today, there are more than two million Hindus in America. But before the twentieth century, Hinduism was unknown in the United States. But while Americans did not write about "Hinduism," they speculated at length about "heathenism," "the religion of the Hindoos," and "Brahmanism." In Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu, Michael J. Altman argues that this is not a mere sematic distinction-a case of more politically correct terminology being accepted over time-but a way that Americans worked out their own identities. American representations of India said more about Americans than about Hindus. Cotton Mather, Hannah Adams, and Joseph Priestley engaged the larger European Enlightenment project of classifying and comparing religion in India. Evangelical missionaries used images of "Hindoo heathenism" to raise support at home. Unitarian Protestants found a kindred spirit in the writings of Bengali reformer Rammohun Roy. Popular magazines and common school books used the image of dark, heathen, despotic India to buttress Protestant, white, democratic American identity. Transcendentalists and Theosophists imagined the contemplative and esoteric religion of India as an alternative to materialist American Protestantism. Hindu delegates and American speakers at the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions engaged in a protracted debate about the definition of religion in industrializing America. Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu is a groundbreaking analysis of American representations of religion in India before the turn of the twentieth century. Altman reorients American religious history and the history of Asian religions in America, showing how Americans of all sorts imagined India for their own purposes. The questions that animated descriptions of heathens, Hindoos, and Hindus in the past, he argues, still animate American debates today.


Book Synopsis Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu by : Michael J. Altman

Download or read book Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu written by Michael J. Altman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-07-03 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today, there are more than two million Hindus in America. But before the twentieth century, Hinduism was unknown in the United States. But while Americans did not write about "Hinduism," they speculated at length about "heathenism," "the religion of the Hindoos," and "Brahmanism." In Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu, Michael J. Altman argues that this is not a mere sematic distinction-a case of more politically correct terminology being accepted over time-but a way that Americans worked out their own identities. American representations of India said more about Americans than about Hindus. Cotton Mather, Hannah Adams, and Joseph Priestley engaged the larger European Enlightenment project of classifying and comparing religion in India. Evangelical missionaries used images of "Hindoo heathenism" to raise support at home. Unitarian Protestants found a kindred spirit in the writings of Bengali reformer Rammohun Roy. Popular magazines and common school books used the image of dark, heathen, despotic India to buttress Protestant, white, democratic American identity. Transcendentalists and Theosophists imagined the contemplative and esoteric religion of India as an alternative to materialist American Protestantism. Hindu delegates and American speakers at the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions engaged in a protracted debate about the definition of religion in industrializing America. Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu is a groundbreaking analysis of American representations of religion in India before the turn of the twentieth century. Altman reorients American religious history and the history of Asian religions in America, showing how Americans of all sorts imagined India for their own purposes. The questions that animated descriptions of heathens, Hindoos, and Hindus in the past, he argues, still animate American debates today.


Gale Researcher Guide for: Transcendentalist Literature

Gale Researcher Guide for: Transcendentalist Literature

Author: Laura A. Leibman

Publisher: Gale, Cengage Learning

Published:

Total Pages: 9

ISBN-13: 1535848804

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Gale Researcher Guide for: Transcendentalist Literature is selected from Gale's academic platform Gale Researcher. These study guides provide peer-reviewed articles that allow students early success in finding scholarly materials and to gain the confidence and vocabulary needed to pursue deeper research.


Book Synopsis Gale Researcher Guide for: Transcendentalist Literature by : Laura A. Leibman

Download or read book Gale Researcher Guide for: Transcendentalist Literature written by Laura A. Leibman and published by Gale, Cengage Learning . This book was released on with total page 9 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gale Researcher Guide for: Transcendentalist Literature is selected from Gale's academic platform Gale Researcher. These study guides provide peer-reviewed articles that allow students early success in finding scholarly materials and to gain the confidence and vocabulary needed to pursue deeper research.


Encountering Religious Pluralism

Encountering Religious Pluralism

Author: Harold Netland

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2001-08-14

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 9780830815524

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Harold Netland traces the emergence of the pluralistic ethos that challenges Christian faith and mission, interacting heavily with philosopher John Hick and providing a framework for developing a comprehensive evangelical theology of religions.


Book Synopsis Encountering Religious Pluralism by : Harold Netland

Download or read book Encountering Religious Pluralism written by Harold Netland and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2001-08-14 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Harold Netland traces the emergence of the pluralistic ethos that challenges Christian faith and mission, interacting heavily with philosopher John Hick and providing a framework for developing a comprehensive evangelical theology of religions.


Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu

Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu

Author: Michael J. Altman

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 0190654929

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Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu is a groundbreaking analysis of American representations of religion in India before the turn of the twentieth century. Before Americans wrote about "Hinduism," they wrote about "heathenism," "the religion of the Hindoos," and "Brahmanism." Americans used the heathen, Hindoo, and Hindu as an other against which they represented themselves. The questions of American identity, classification, representation and the definition of"religion" that animated descriptions of heathens, Hindoos, and Hindus in the past still animate American debates today.


Book Synopsis Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu by : Michael J. Altman

Download or read book Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu written by Michael J. Altman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu is a groundbreaking analysis of American representations of religion in India before the turn of the twentieth century. Before Americans wrote about "Hinduism," they wrote about "heathenism," "the religion of the Hindoos," and "Brahmanism." Americans used the heathen, Hindoo, and Hindu as an other against which they represented themselves. The questions of American identity, classification, representation and the definition of"religion" that animated descriptions of heathens, Hindoos, and Hindus in the past still animate American debates today.


American Gurus

American Gurus

Author: Arthur Versluis

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9780190201951

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From Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman to the twentieth century, the Beat movement, the psychedelic revolution, Timothy Leary, the influence of Hindu gurus to the New Age movement, Versluis tells the enthralling saga of how contemporary American immediatism came into being. Versluis shows how the confluence of Asian religions and Western mysticism come together to produce the continuing and fascinating saga that culminates in the phenomenon of contemporary 'spontaneously enlightened' American gurus.


Book Synopsis American Gurus by : Arthur Versluis

Download or read book American Gurus written by Arthur Versluis and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman to the twentieth century, the Beat movement, the psychedelic revolution, Timothy Leary, the influence of Hindu gurus to the New Age movement, Versluis tells the enthralling saga of how contemporary American immediatism came into being. Versluis shows how the confluence of Asian religions and Western mysticism come together to produce the continuing and fascinating saga that culminates in the phenomenon of contemporary 'spontaneously enlightened' American gurus.


The Oxford Handbook of Transcendentalism

The Oxford Handbook of Transcendentalism

Author: Joel Myerson

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2010-04-16

Total Pages: 800

ISBN-13: 9780199716128

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The Oxford Handbook of Transcendentalism offers an ecclectic, comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to the immense cultural impact of the movement that encompassed literature, art, architecture, science, and politics.


Book Synopsis The Oxford Handbook of Transcendentalism by : Joel Myerson

Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of Transcendentalism written by Joel Myerson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-04-16 with total page 800 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Handbook of Transcendentalism offers an ecclectic, comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to the immense cultural impact of the movement that encompassed literature, art, architecture, science, and politics.