Indian Religions: A Historical Reader of Spiritual Expression and Experience

Rating:
Summary: A really good book
Review: Before reading this book I thought I knew a lot about Indian religions. I always loved to go to temples and to listen to stories about the gods and read the Gita. I knew many of the saints and had even read some of their writings in my mother tongue and in English. But I was surprised how many saints there were in other parts of the country I had never heard about. Or if I knew their names, I didn't know very much about them. Who would have thought that the Sikh gurus could write such beautiful bhakti songs? And the writings of the Sufi saints are so beautiful - like the Hindu mystics in many ways. As for Buddhism and Jainism, I must admit I hardly knew anything and it was very interesting to read their scriptures. I of course knew that Buddha was from India but somehow I never thought of him as an Indian! Like everybody else I had a sort of bad idea about Tantra Yoga and was glad to learn that there is a lot more to it than people think. But my favourite part was reading the modern mystics like Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Aurobindo and also others like Swami Ramdas. I think everyone could learn a lot by reading this book even if they think they already know a lot about Indian religion. And if you don't know anything about it, this is the best introduction I have ever seen.