I was in bumbling thru the local bookstore the other other day making my way through the philosophy and theology section, only to look up and do a double take when there between the Gadamer and Nietzsche  I spied  a book edited by Peter Heehs. And what an excellent work on Indian Religions it is.

I already have one good sampler called a Source Book in Indian Philosophy by S. Radhakrishnan, and although the author of this book is beyond reproach in his expertise on the subject and it differs from Peters book in many respects,
Peter Heehs book appears comparable in scope.



Indian Religions: A Historical Reader of Spiritual Expression and Experience
by Peter Heehs (Author)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews   4 of 5 people found the following review helpful: A really good book, March 22, 2004 Reviewer: A reader 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.  Comment | Was this review helpful to you?