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Absent Lord: Ascetics and Kings in a Jain Ritual Culture Volume 8
Contributor(s): Babb, Lawrence A. (Author)

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 ISBN: 0520203240     ISBN-13: 9780520203242
Publisher: University of California Press
OUR PRICE: $31.45  

Binding Type: Paperback - See All Available Formats & Editions
Published: August 1996
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Annotation: Absent Lord sheds light on a little-known religious tradition and demonstrates that divine 'absence' can be as rich as divine 'presence' in its possibilities for informing a religious response to the cosmos.

Click for more in this series: Comparative Studies in Religion and Society
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Religion | Jainism
- Religion | Eastern
- Religion | Comparative Religion
Dewey: 294.5
LCCN: 95035643
Series: Comparative Studies in Religion and Society
Physical Information: 0.62" H x 6.06" W x 9" L (0.84 lbs) 256 pages
Themes:
- Cultural Region - Asian
- Cultural Region - Indian
- Religious Orientation - Buddhist
- Religious Orientation - Hindu
- Religious Orientation - Islamic
Features: Bibliography, Index, Maps
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
What does it mean to worship beings that one believes are completely indifferent to, and entirely beyond the reach of, any form of worship whatsoever? How would such a relationship with sacred beings affect the religious life of a community? Using these questions as his point of departure, Lawrence A. Babb explores the ritual culture of image-worshipping Svetambar Jains of the western Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Jainism traces its lineages back to the ninth century B.C.E. and is, along with Buddhism, the only surviving example of India's ancient non-Vedic religious traditions. It is known and celebrated for its systematic practice of non-violence and for the intense rigor of the asceticism it promotes. A unique aspect of Babb's study is his linking of the Jain tradition to the social identity of existing Jain communities.

Babb concludes by showing that Jain ritual culture can be seen as a variation on pan-Indian ritual patterns. In illuminating this little-known religious tradition, he demonstrates that divine "absence" can be as rich as divine "presence" in its possibilities for informing a religious response to the cosmos.
 
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