Practical Hindu books for Westerners
July 11, 2011 12:40 AM Subscribe
“Practical” Hindu religious books for contemporary Westerners besides the Gita?
I am having difficulties finding practical Hindu books oriented towards contemporary Westerners. I find that most of the Hindu books on Amazon have no reviews, or blindly give 5 stars with no critical analysis of the book's strengths and weaknesses.
I am currently reading:
The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley (great book)
The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living, Volume I by Eknath Easwaran (pretty good, but somewhat repetitive)
The Essentials of Hinduism: A Comprehensive Overview of the World's Oldest Religion by Swami Bhaskarananda (good organization, but somewhat simplistic)
Interested in:
Essence of the Upanishads: A Key to Indian Spirituality by Eknath Easwaran
I did read this previous question and know Hinduism is sort of a catch all term, but I am overwhelmed and looking for personal recommendations. I am looking for two types of books: i) clear yet detailed overview of Hinduism for someone interested in practicing it as a religion, and ii) more importantly practical Hindu books for a Westerner who wants to actually put the principles into practice.
Ideal Criteria:
-simple yet fairly detailed
-written for present day Westerner
-less than ~300 pages
I am having difficulties finding practical Hindu books oriented towards contemporary Westerners. I find that most of the Hindu books on Amazon have no reviews, or blindly give 5 stars with no critical analysis of the book's strengths and weaknesses.
I am currently reading:
The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley (great book)
The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living, Volume I by Eknath Easwaran (pretty good, but somewhat repetitive)
The Essentials of Hinduism: A Comprehensive Overview of the World's Oldest Religion by Swami Bhaskarananda (good organization, but somewhat simplistic)
Interested in:
Essence of the Upanishads: A Key to Indian Spirituality by Eknath Easwaran
I did read this previous question and know Hinduism is sort of a catch all term, but I am overwhelmed and looking for personal recommendations. I am looking for two types of books: i) clear yet detailed overview of Hinduism for someone interested in practicing it as a religion, and ii) more importantly practical Hindu books for a Westerner who wants to actually put the principles into practice.
Ideal Criteria:
-simple yet fairly detailed
-written for present day Westerner
-less than ~300 pages
While not 'practical', I suggest you read the Ramayana, as the epic is more or less Hindu canon, pehaps even more so than the Gita. You should also read the Mahabharata after that to get a proper context for the Gita. I personally can't imagine what you'd learn from the Gita as an outsider without knowing the backdrop it's set in.
Both works are epics though, but you should be able to find condensed versions of them both (with all their colourful variety). Take a look around Amazon.
Also, seconding the ISKCON recommendation, they'll help you out with anything Hinduism-related you ask for (even if their practice is dominated by Krishna).
posted by Senza Volto at 3:23 AM on July 11, 2011
Both works are epics though, but you should be able to find condensed versions of them both (with all their colourful variety). Take a look around Amazon.
Also, seconding the ISKCON recommendation, they'll help you out with anything Hinduism-related you ask for (even if their practice is dominated by Krishna).
posted by Senza Volto at 3:23 AM on July 11, 2011
from http://www.ramdasstapes.org/:
Paths to God: Living the Bhagavad Gita It is based on the lectures Ram Dass gave at the Naropa Institute (now Naropa University) thirty years ago, at the summer program that launched the school. If you have heard these tapes, you know that they are Ram Dass' most profound teaching on the nature of applied Hinduism. He takes the various yogas outlined in the Gita and Westernizes them, so we can see how they can become part of our own experience. This is a book that was originally spoken, not written, and it carries the lightness, the humor, the stories, the personal experiences, of Ram Dass' best lecture style. And at the same time, it probes very deeply into the philosophy and practice of actually living our spiritual truths.
posted by Obscure Reference at 4:45 AM on July 11, 2011
Paths to God: Living the Bhagavad Gita It is based on the lectures Ram Dass gave at the Naropa Institute (now Naropa University) thirty years ago, at the summer program that launched the school. If you have heard these tapes, you know that they are Ram Dass' most profound teaching on the nature of applied Hinduism. He takes the various yogas outlined in the Gita and Westernizes them, so we can see how they can become part of our own experience. This is a book that was originally spoken, not written, and it carries the lightness, the humor, the stories, the personal experiences, of Ram Dass' best lecture style. And at the same time, it probes very deeply into the philosophy and practice of actually living our spiritual truths.
posted by Obscure Reference at 4:45 AM on July 11, 2011
Are you also looking into a particular path of Hinduism (i.e., Shaivite, Vashnaiva, Shakta) or a particular Deity (i.e., Ganesh, Shiva, Hanuman, Durga)? If you could be more specific there are several books that I could recommend.
Otherwise, as simple as it sounds, you might want to try The Complete Idiot's Guide to Hinduism. I found that was a good place for me to start.
posted by Hanuman1960 at 5:42 AM on July 11, 2011
Otherwise, as simple as it sounds, you might want to try The Complete Idiot's Guide to Hinduism. I found that was a good place for me to start.
posted by Hanuman1960 at 5:42 AM on July 11, 2011
The problem is that "Hinduism" is quite vast. Many different philosophies and practices all call themselves Hinduism. The most influential school of Hindu philosophy is probably advaita vedanta, and if that speaks to you at all, I would suggest focusing on some of the following sages and mystics in the Hindu tradition in the 20th century -- look up lectures and books by Ramana Maharshi, Swami Bodhananda, and Swami Chinmayananda for a start. For more background material maybe consider something by Radhakrishnan or, in a larger context, Aldous Huxley's The Perennial Philosophy.
posted by shivohum at 10:50 AM on July 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by shivohum at 10:50 AM on July 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
Really the full Upanishads would give a better context of Hinduism and probably the Mahabarta. I tend to come at Hinduism more from the yoga/philosophy side then the religious, but you may find Feuerstein's The Yoga Tradition informative, Danielou writes about Tantra and some of the more esoteric practices and has some interesting books, The Gheranda Samhita and Shiva Samhita lay out some basic practices, Ka is a recent western retelling of the religious mythology of India that was well written, the author of this book (if I remember correctly, I had given it as a gift) has a few others and some devotional practices are outlined within, "Karma Yoga/Bhakti Yoga" by Vivakananda would be useful - not Hatha (postures) yoga, but how to practice Hindu ethical and philosophical ideals in action in life, and finally I have found some great as well as some weird barely coherent books from Indian publishers at exoticindia.com - the shipping is a bit much since they come from India, but some interesting finds over the years and the book section is worth browsing just for the obscurity of some of the topics...
posted by jeffe at 11:08 AM on July 11, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by jeffe at 11:08 AM on July 11, 2011 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks for the answers. They will give me something to chew on during my journey. From my brief initial look I like the books that talk about the 4 yogas and applying them.
From my limited knowledge I am leaning towards Smartism "which accept all the major Hindu deities as forms of the one Brahman," or Advaita Vedanta. I would like something with an encompassing and wholesome feel that does not focus on image worship.
posted by Mr. Papagiorgio at 12:46 PM on July 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
From my limited knowledge I am leaning towards Smartism "which accept all the major Hindu deities as forms of the one Brahman," or Advaita Vedanta. I would like something with an encompassing and wholesome feel that does not focus on image worship.
posted by Mr. Papagiorgio at 12:46 PM on July 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by holterbarbour at 1:00 AM on July 11, 2011