Doniger O’Flaherty, Wendy (ed). Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions

Another of the books I looked at to get my facts straight when writing about karma was: Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions, edited by Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty. It’s a collection of academic articles on the topic, collected in 1980 in hopes of deepening the understanding of karma in cross-religious perspective. That means […]

Another of the books I looked at to get my facts straight when writing about karma was: Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions, edited by Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty. It’s a collection of academic articles on the topic, collected in 1980 in hopes of deepening the understanding of karma in cross-religious perspective. That means we get information about karma in early Hinduism, Jainism and of course Buddhism.

On the whole I felt the book was well edited and reasonably accessible, though some seemed more interested in the methodology of researching karma than the actual doctrines themselves. This is proper scholarship, but probably not quite what the general reader is looking for.

This book has become a classic for scholars and those hoping to enter their number, hence it’s been reprinted several times. There is good reason for this: it contains both the basic facts as well as some of the complications in both the theory and praxis surrounding the doctrine of karma.

• Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions, edited by Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty
• First published: 1980, University of California Press
• Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass, (February 5, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8120816714
• ISBN-13: 978-8120816718
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches