Readings in Eastern Religions

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Developed principally for use in introductory courses in the study of religious traditions of the East, this anthology offers a selection of readings from primary texts of India, China, and Japan. .

The selections are arranged both chronologically and thematically within religious traditions and include readings from Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism (including Tibetan Buddhism), Sikhism, Early Chinese thought, Confucianism, Taoism, Mao Tse Tung, Shintoism, and Japan's new religions (Tenrikyo and Sokka Gakkai). .

Throughout the anthology, a concerted effort has been made to present more than the usual short excerpts. As much as possible larger excerpts have been included to give students a better sense of significant developments within traditions. As well, doctrinal elements have been combined with story to make these traditions more than museum pieces for students.

The editors wish to thank Gerry Dyer for her careful typing and correcting of this manuscript.

Gratitude is also due to Sandra Woolfrey and her staff at Wilfrid Laurier University Press. Not only has the book been nicely published, but from the beginning those working on the book at the Press have imbibed of its spirit.

All of us hope that this book will introduce its readers to the depth and richness of the source scriptures of the Eastern religions.

This anthology was developed primarily for use in our own introductory course in the study of religious traditions of the East, specifically the Indian subcontinent, Tibet, China, and Japan. While there are anthologies available covering the religious developments of South and East Asia, all with particular merits of their own, they were found to be unsuitable for our purposes for various reasons.

Given the drastic rise in the costs of printing and publication most anthologies have become too expensive for students in introductory courses. In part this is a function of the size of most available anthologies. To be sure, there are relatively inexpensive anthologies available for a tradition like Hinduism or a country like India. However, generally speaking, anthologies covering South and East Asia tend to be large and expensive. It is hoped that this anthology will at the same time be relatively inexpensive, and smaller, and yet properly representative of the development of Eastern traditions.

Frequently, anthologies attempt to cover too much territory. Consequently, the excerpts provided are much too short to give a proper flavour of the excerpted text or the particular development it is supposed to represent. This becomes a serious problem in the case of stories which are meant to be told as much as possible in their entirety. The evocative power of a story simply does not come through well in the case of short excerpts, nor does the flavour of a text for that matter. While the approach of many short excerpts may provide better coverage of the broad sweep of a tradition, it does not provide a good sense of texts, stories, or even specific development within a tradition.

Too frequently, anthologies are governed by a bias towards doctrinal materials or, as students might put it, dry teachings. This is, I think, a peculiarly western bias in religious studies. Traditions are much more colourful and gripping than an emphasis on doctrinal elements alone would suggest. There are, after all, colourful stories and anecdotes which present the heart of a tradition at least as well as the sermonic, discourse and philosophical aspects of a tradition. And stories are much more memorable and gripping.

The structure of this anthology has been determined largely by the structure of our own introductory course in Eastern traditions, and the perceived needs of students in such a course. The arrangement of the excerpts is both chronological and thematic.