Daily political events and the steady inevitability of globalism require that informed students and citizens learn something about religious traditions foreign to their own. Designed for both classroom and general use, these handy Key Words guidebooks are essential resources for those who want clear and concise explanations of common terms and unfamiliar concepts of major world religions.
Each pocket-sized volume contains definitions for over 400 terms from religious principles and significant periods to noteworthy figures.
A quick sampling of terms from this volume:
Bodhisattva
Bhavana
Jaramarana
Kalachakra
Mala
Mantra
Nirvana
Samadhi
Zen
Sample Definitions:
Brahma Viharas: The four sublime states of loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and evenness of mind achieved by the practice of bhavana (see bhavana, metta, karuna, mudita, upekkha).
Jaramarana: Old age and death. The final link in the causal chain of existence which arises from jati or birth. The Buddha left his palace to search for enlightenment after experiencing the shock of seeing old age, sickness and death (see jati, Siddharta Gotma,. nidanas, samsara).
Reviews
"A necessary and valuable contribution to religious studies and the study of religions that teachers, and especially students, in higher education institutions will very much welcome."—Teaching Theology & Religion
Awards
Chosen as a 2007 Outstanding Title for Public and Secondary School Libraries by the American Association of School Librarians
About the Author
Ron Geaves is professor of the comparative study of religion at Liverpool Hope University in England.
