Radhasoami Reality [Paperback]

Mark Juergensmeyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 11, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0691010927 | ISBN-13: 978-0691010922

In this book, Mark Juergensmeyer seeks to explain why the religious logic of Radhasoami, which is based on the teachings of medieval Hindu saints, is so compelling to hundreds of thousands of businessmen, intellectuals, office managers, and other urban professionals in North India. Juergensmeyer addresses the perplexing relationship between modernity and religious faith and examines it from historical, sociological, and phenomenological points of view.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Radhasoami, a new religion of Northern India, provides a fascinating case study in the rise and development of a religion which seeks to integrate post-Newtonian science, modern life, and religious faith derived in large part from the teachings of medieval Hindu saints. This useful book for those interested in Indian religions is a valuable study of the interaction between religion and society. It is also for those concerned with the survival of faith in today's world. This is recommended for academic and large public libraries.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

This book conveys the feeling of a well-seasoned and ripened academic offering.... Written so well, and covering so much, [this book] will be the definitive source to be mined for years by scholars of Radhasoami or a number of related interests. -- Robert L. Brown, The Journal of Asian Studies

This book provides the most consolidated, comprehensive and critical account of the Radhasoami movement to date. -- Arvind Sharma, Sociology of Religion

[A] badly needed . . . account of both the [Radhasoami] faith and its expansion. Juergensmeyer's account is more than merely competent. The book has been researched, planned and written with considerable skill and the result is one for which we can be very grateful. -- Hew McLeod, Asian Studies Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 294 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (December 11, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691010927
• ISBN-13: 978-0691010922
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,872,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MARK JUERGENSMEYER is director of the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, professor of sociology, and affiliate professor of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is an expert on religious violence, conflict resolution and South Asian religion and politics, and has published more than two hundred articles and twenty books. His latest book, Global Rebellion: Religious Challenges to the Secular State (University of California Press, 2008) covers the rise of religious activism from al Qaeda to the Christian militia, and explores its confrontation with secular modernity. It is based on his earlier book, The New Cold War? named by the New York Times as one of the notable books of the year. His widely-read Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence (University of California Press, revised edition 2003), is based on interviews with religious activists around the world--including individuals convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, leaders of Hamas, and abortion clinic bombers in the United States--and was listed by the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times as one of the best nonfiction books of the year. His book on Gandhian conflict resolution has been reprinted as Gandhi's Way (University of California Press, Updated Edition, 2005), and was selected as Community Book of the Year at the University of California, Davis. He has edited The Oxford Handbook of Global Religions (Oxford University Press 2006) and Religion in Global Civil Society (Oxford University Press 2005). He is co-editing two encyclopedias--one in global religion and the other in global studies--and is co-editing the Princeton Reader in Religion and Violence. His 2006 Stafford Little Lectures at Princeton University, God and War, will also be published by Princeton University Press.
JUERGENSMEYER has received research fellowships from the Wilson Center in Washington D.C., the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, the U.S. Institute of Peace, and the American Council of Learned Societies. He is the 2003 recipient of the Grawemeyer Award for contributions to the study of religion, and is the 2004 recipient of the Silver Award of the Queen Sofia Center for the Study of Violence in Spain. He received Honorary Doctorates from Lehigh University in 2004 and Roskilde University in Denmark in 2009. He has also received a Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2006, and the Unitas Distinguished Alumnus Award from Union Theological Seminary, New York City, in 2007. He was elected president of the American Academy of Religion, and chairs the working group on Religion and International Affairs for the national Social Science Research Council. Since the events of September 11 he has been a frequent commentator in the news media, including CNN, NBC, CBS, BBC, NPR, Fox News, ABC's Politically Incorrect, and CNBC's Dennis Miller Show.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Radhasoami culture's description and analysis, February 24, 2007

By 

Nick Vasiljevich (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Radhasoami Reality (Paperback)

Good factual description of author's research of this indian religious path. Took some of the misconceptions I had and stripped away some of the mystery a westerner may encounter trying to understand this faith. Well written.

16 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars you have to be a practitioner, November 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Radhasoami Reality (Paperback)

There is so much garbage and misunderstanding when intellectuals write something about an spiritual movement. You have to be a practitioner in order to understand fully what Radhasoami is all about. It was a trick/ploy employed by a would be Saviour but it had nothing to do with Bhagwan Krishna and His favorite Radha. Radha in Radhasoami corresponds to the soul of the disciple/initiate. Soami corresponds to the Satguru. Like the Ramasita movement of Ramananda, the teacher of Kabir Sahib, it has nothing to do with Rama and Sita; Rama corresponds to the Guru and Sita corresponds to the soul of the disciple/initiate. It is much easier to understand if one knows the 'Mother and Child Luminosity' of Tibetan Buddhism. I hope that I did not insulted anyone.

2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Radhasoami Beas Secret History, March 14, 2000

By 

don hansen (australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Radhasoami Reality (Paperback)

"Good overview book, but nitty gritty of succession