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Searching... Medina - Lee-Whedon Memorial Library | 34103001827171 | 294.5 SENG (MIND & BODY 4) | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Winner of the 2018 Wilbur Award
There are more than one billion Hindus in the world, but for those who don't practice the faith, very little seems to be understood about it. Followers have not only built and sustained the world's largest democracy but have also sustained one of the greatest philosophical streams in the world for more than three thousand years.
So, what makes a Hindu? Why is so little heard from the real practitioners of the everyday faith? Why does information never go beyond clichés? Being Hindu is a practitioner's guide that takes the reader on a journey to very simply understand what the Hindu message is, where it stands in the clash of civilizations between Islam and Christianity, and why the Hindu way could yet be the path for plurality and progress in the twenty-first century.
Author Notes
Hindol Sengupta is the author of ten books. He won the Wilbur Award in 2018 for Being Hindu: Understanding a Peaceful Path in a Violent World, the first book on Hinduism to win the prestigious prize given by The Religion Communicators Council of America. In India, he has wonthe Valley of Words prize for The Man Who Saved India, the Kalinga Literature Festival award for Sing, Dance and Pray, and the PSF prize for public service through writing. He has been shortlisted for the Hayek Prize given by the Manhattan Institute in memory of the Nobel laureate economist F. A. Hayek for Recasting India . He has been a Chevening Scholar at the University of Oxford, a Knight-Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and has a doctorate from the Geneva School of Diplomacy. He is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. He has been a senior journalist at the Indian edition of Fortune magazine, Bloomberg TV, CNBC, and CNN.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Journalist Sengupta (Recasting India) introduces non-Hindu audiences to the world's third largest religion using a practitioner's perspective in this quick but substantive text. To Westerners, Sengupta writes, Hinduism is normally seen as a series of sensational clichés about cow worship or funeral pyres. But the reality is much more complex, as depicted here in a mix of personal memoir, general history, and speculation about where the faith community is headed. Sengupta's summaries are succinct and knowledgeable, and his expertise is evident. He includes scholarly analyses of Indian nationalism and a literature review of Hindu religious works, with some especially interesting discussions of Hindu takes on recent religious debates, such as the tensions between religion and science. This summary approach, however, can mean that certain topics-such as the history of India and how Hinduism developed in competition with other religions-don't get the detailed attention they deserve. Sengupta's personal experiences-particularly his years getting a master's degree in New Delhi and tangents on poets and philosophers who inspired him-detract from the more in-depth analysis of cultural practices that he attempts to make the focus of the book. But for readers with little knowledge of Hinduism but a strong interest in it, Sengupta will be a welcome guide. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Although Hinduism has thrived for more than 3,000 years and is currently practiced by one billion individuals, there is little coverage in English. To redress that lack, journalist Sengupta offers not a primer of Hindu beliefs but, rather, a personal inquiry rich in history and analysis about what it means to be a twenty-first-century Hindu. He spends perhaps too many pages contrasting polytheistic Hinduism to monotheistic Christianity (he attended an American Evangelical Protestant school in Calcutta), but once he focuses on Hindu philosophy, he is eloquently clarifying. He explicates the religion's perception that the divine is everywhere; its commitment to plurality; and its recognition of union in diversity teachings, he asserts, that could benefit everyone. Reaching deeper, Sengupta explains that Hinduism is a quest for illumination, for radiance, and for knowledge; a profound interpretation of consciousness; and a path to peace. He also candidly acknowledges that the tradition can be both liberating and bewildering, even for Hindus. Sengupta's enlightening elucidation is invaluable for understanding Hinduism, India, and the growing Hindu community in the U.S.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2017 Booklist
Table of Contents
| Introduction: Believer | p. 1 |
| 1 How to Write about Hindus | p. 23 |
| 2 Who Is A Hindu? | p. 35 |
| 3 What Makes You A Hindu? | p. 51 |
| 4 Who Is the One True God? | p. 71 |
| 5 Is God Afraid of Science? | p. 97 |
| 6 How Do Hindu Books Portray God? | p. 111 |
| 7 Are All Hindus Vegetarians? | p. 129 |
| 8 How Do Hindus Consider Their Own History? | p. 139 |
| 9 How Does Hinduism Fit Into the Internet Age? | p. 149 |
| 10 A Start-up for the Soul: Why Reexamine the Hindu Way? | p. 157 |
| Notes | p. 169 |
| Index | p. 183 |
| About the Author | p. 189 |