Death and Eastern Thought, Frederick H. Holck editor
Abingdon Press, NY 1974
I came upon this book at the local library and half heartedly picked it up for a quick look as it seem rather dated. I was pleasantly surprised. It is a thorough and well written introduction to the topic especially in regard to Hinduism. It also covers Buddhism (giving a history of Buddha’s life and how his teachings developed), Jainism, and the Chinese and Japanese traditions. Each chapter is written by a different expert and the forward is an excellent discussion which compares eastern and western ontological concepts. The next three chapters deal with the Vedic period, later Hindu traditions and the orthodox (Hindu) teachings. Next the heterodox teachings are covered, ie Buddhism and Jainism.
Three modern Hindu thinkers are then presented; Tagore, Gandhi and Radhakrishnan. The book ends with short presentations of Chinese Taoism and Japanese pre-Buddhist traditions.
As you can see, well over half of the book is dedicated to some form of Hinduism and it really is a good introduction to this complex ancient religion. The forward and the chapter on modern Hindu thought are especially noteworthy, they bring one much closer to an understanding of the great Vedic philosophical concepts which have taken centuries to develop and which are still unfolding.
