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tives have a powerful way of expressing opin-ions about the nature of social interaction andthe densely layered etiquette of human rela-tionships, not only in the way men and womenof various castes interact with each other, butalso in the way we interact with our gods andgoddesses. The book is perfect for a course onreligion and gender in India or on the perfor-mance of oral traditions.

Frank J. KoromBoston University

INFINITE INTELLIGENCE. By MeherBaba. Myrtle Beach, NC: Sheriar Foundation,2005. Pp. xxviii + 746. $75.00, ISBN 978-1-880619-21-5

Baba (1894-1969) was one of the best-known spiritual figures of India during thetwentieth century. Although he maintainedsilence for the last forty-four years of his life,he communicated either through an idiosyn-cratic system of sign language (understood byonly a few disciples) or by chalk on slate.Through these laborious methods, a fairly largeoeuvre emerged over these decades. Thepresent volume is an edited summation of histeachings on a large number of topics of eso-teric significance. It is written clearly and issupplemented by a large number of diagramsand tables. Baba was a great systematizer ofunconscious and superconscious states, therelation between thinking and imagination,levels of devotional practice and experience,and much more. Drawing on a background inIslamic (particularly Sufi) thought from the Iranof his ancestors, Hindu thought from his nativeIndia, and Christian experience, he forged amessage of complexity and subtlety that con-tinues to be influential in present-day religiousand spiritual circles in India and elsewhere inthe world. This well-produced introduction toBaba’s thought is recommended for undergrad-uates and graduate students with an interest inmodern Indian thought or religious movements.

Frederick M. SmithUniversity of Iowa

ANANDAMATH, OR THE SACREDBROTHERHOOD. By Bankimcandra Chat-terji. Translated with an Introduction and Crit-ical Apparatus by Julius J. Lipner. New York:Oxford University Press, 2005. Pp. xiii + 315.£14.99, ISBN 0-19-517858-0.

This translation of Bankim’s classic fic-tional account of sanny5s7 rebellion in earlycolonial Bengal supersedes all previous Englishrenderings in its accuracy and attention todetail. Often cited in studies of Indian nation-alism and the emergence of modernist forms ofHindu self-assertion, Anandamath is the sourceof the svadeshi mantra, Bande M/taram or“Hail to the Mother(land).” Until now, English-language readers have had to make due withincomplete translations and recycled generali-zations about Bankim’s agenda. Lipner allows

us to explore the complete text (and its vari-ants), ponder its place in Bankim’s largercorpus, and tackle the question of Bankim’sperspective on Hindu–Muslim communalism.Lipner seeks nuance where others have not. Hisfairness notwithstanding, his translation doesreveal certain chilling ways that the textencodes “the future in the past” (to use his ownphrase). If there is any complaint, it may be thatat just 100 pages, Bankim’s novel is almost lostinside Lipner’s expansive framework. With a120-page introduction and nearly 50 pages ofcritical apparatus, this is almost 2 books in 1: atranslation and a critical study of the text.Highly recommended for undergraduate andgraduate libraries.

Brian A. HatcherIllinois Wesleyan University

UNTOUCHABLE SAINTS: AN INDIANPHENOMENON. Edited by Eleanor Zelliotand Rohini Mokashi-Punekar. New Delhi:Manohar, 2005. Pp. 285. Rs. 750.00, ISBN 81-7304-644-1.

The editors of this volume have broughttogether a number of fine essays on untouch-able saints from three linguistic areas (Tamil,Marathi, and Hindi). Known for their devo-tional songs and the later accounts of their lives,some of these saints are widely revered (e.g.,Ravidas, Tirupan Alvar), others less so (e.g., thefemale relatives of Chokhamela). The editorshave to “tried to keep away from theoreticaldiscussions” in the hopes of gaining a widerreadership, and most of their authors have writ-ten accessible essays that will inform the aver-age reader about the lives and songs of theseextraordinary saints. The problem with avoid-ing theory, however, is that a number of criticalquestions go unanswered. How do we approachissues of extreme inequality when dealing withthese saints from the bottom of the social hier-archy, especially when some of them are eithersilent about their status or accept that theydeserve their fate because of past sins? Thisdemands theorizing, and the fact that primarytexts are included alongside of, and not distin-guished from, the secondary texts of the vol-ume, might confuse the undergraduate inclinedto read the collection as an occasion for a sim-plistic self-congratulation and a moralistic con-demnation. Carefully read, however, this bookserves to expand our knowledge of the heritageof these saints at a time when interest in subal-tern voices is at its peak.

James W. LaineMacalester College

East AsiaBEING BUDDHIST IN A CHRISTIANWORLD: GENDER AND COMMUNITYIN A KOREAN AMERICAN TEMPLE. BySharon A. Suh. Seattle: University of Washing-

ton Press, 2004. Pp. ix + 240. $35.00, ISBN 0-295-98378-7.

Suh’s book is an important contribution tothe study of Buddhist culture in America. Basedon two years of research at Los Angeles’ KwanUm Sa (called “Sa Chal” in the book), it pro-vides an important counterbalance to studies onKorean Christians in the United States byemphasizing the roles that ethnicity, gender,and community identity play in shaping thelives of Korean Buddhists. The strength ofSuh’s book is not a description of contemporaryBuddhist practice but of how Korean AmericanBuddhists deploy select Buddhist beliefs andtheir own interpretation of American ideals inattempting to make meaning out of their livesas ethnic and religious minorities. While morecarefully argued and nuanced than this sweep-ing summary might suggest, the book is notwithout its limitations. There are recurringthemes Suh recognizes but does not fully ana-lyze as issues of dissonance. For example,while some Buddhists appreciate the anonym-ity of temple worship and the nonintrusivemanner of the monk leaders, others lament thelack of lay positions and outreach programs formembers offered by Christian churches. Suhinterprets this in the context of gender, suggest-ing that the few men desire positions out of theneed for social recognition, but the issueappears more complicated because templemembers of different ages, as well as genders,have different visions of what they would liketheir community to be. Limitations aside, Suh’sbook is a great starting point for conversationon the shaping of Buddhist identity in America.

Richard D. McBride, IIWashington University

RITUAL PRACTICE IN MODERNJAPAN: ORDERING PLACE, PEOPLE,AND ACTION. By Satsuki Kawano. Hono-lulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2005. Pp. 115+ illus. Cloth, $42.00, ISBN 978-0-8248-2877-6; paper, $17.00, ISBN 978-0-8248-2934-6.

This short but meticulously researchedmonograph begins with the premise, which hasbecome an orthodoxy in contemporary scholar-ship, that Japanese religiosity emphasizes whatI. Reader has called “the primacy of action”over belief. What follows is a case study ofrituals and festival events of the citizens ofKamakura, a city that is interesting not onlybecause of its rich history dating back to medi-eval times, but also because of its moderntransformation into an urbanized resort andtourist attraction. Against those who wouldargue that Kamakura provides yet anotherexample of how Japan is becoming increas-ingly secularized, Kawano argues thatKamakura’s ritual life remains alive and welland provides a wealth of evidence to supportthis. Ritual practices, from the individual wor-ship of kami, Buddhas, and ancestors, to“everyday environments” (e.g., the house as a

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ritual place), to major citywide events like theSakae festival, offer people “culturally signifi-cant ways of constructing meaning and power.”Kawano provides a wealth of evidence that thisis, in fact, the case. What is less successful isher theoretical perspective. When she tries toexplain how rituals have the power to produce“engaging moments of personal significance,”she is far from clear about how they preserve a“spiritual” way of experiencing the world thatis somehow different from “secularism.” Per-haps her problem lies in these terms, sofreighted with Western baggage that they get inthe way of understanding her larger points—how Japanese religiosity is somehow distinc-tive in its practices and how it has persisteddespite the dramatic changes of modernity,albeit in dynamically new guises.

Mark MacWilliamsSt. Lawrence University

THE OTHER SIDE OF ZEN: A SOCIALHISTORY OF SÔTÔ ZEN BUDDHISM INTOKUGAWA JAPAN. By Duncan RyûkenWilliams. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UniversityPress, 2005. Pp. 296 + illus. $49.50, ISBN 978-0-691-11928-1.

This concise but detailed social history ofthe Sôtô Zen is significant because it refocusesscholarly attention, which has dwelled exces-sively on the writings of the sect’s founderDôgen and his sect’s important role in thedevelopment of the “new Buddhism” of theKamakura period. But why did the sect, bythe early eighteenth century, become the largestschool of Buddhism in Japan? Williams sets outto explore some of the reasons for its exponen-tial growth during this period. He argues that tounderstand this, we must abandon the conven-tional view that what made Zen popular was itsintriguing philosophy, its emphasis on medita-tion, and its key role in the arts and aestheticsof Japanese high culture. Rather, what is impor-tant to study is “the social role played by Bud-dhist temples in the ordinary layperson’s life”in the premodern period. What follows arechapters that are exquisitely drawn miniaturesthat intricately illustrate that role in the parish-ioner’s household, funerary rituals, medicineand faith healing, and so on. It is a fascinatingstudy of “ the other side of Zen” that details“the ambiguous world of multiple meaningsand practices” making up popular religiositynot only in the Tokugawa period, but today, asseen, for example, in I. Reader and G. Tanabe’sPractically Religious: Worldly Benefits and theCommon Religion of Japan (1998). Williams’sbook is an essential reading both for under-standing how Sôtô Zen intersected with popularreligiosity in the Tokugawa period and as apropaedeutic for understanding how divorcedthe contemporary ideological construct of Zenas the “essence” of Japanese high culture isfrom Zen temple Buddhism.

Mark MacWilliamsSt. Lawrence University

THE TAOIST CANON: A HISTORICALCOMPANION TO THE DAOZANG. Editedby Kristofer Schipper and Franciscus Verellen.Volume 1. Chicago: University of ChicagoPress, 2004. Volume 1. Pp. xxii + 630; illustra-tions. Volume 2. Pp. xiv + 631-1254; illustra-tions. Volume 3. Pp. x + 1255-1644. $175.00,ISBN (the set) 0-226-73817-5.

This long-anticipated companion to theDaoist canon is an indispensable resource forscholars in Asian Studies. Well-written descrip-tive entries on individual texts are classifiedchronologically and typologically. Volume 1,“Antiquity through the Middle Ages,” is dividedinto parts 1 and 2 and consists of a generalintroduction. Volume 2, consisting of part 3, istitled “The Modern Period.” Volume 3 consistsof helpful biographical notices on the compilersof Daoist texts, a bibliography, and indexes.The introduction covers the history of differentversions of the Taoist Canon prior to the MingDynasty, gives an overview of the Ming Canon,and introduces the Tao-tsang Project from itsgenesis in 1976 to the publication of this work.Part 1 covers the period from the Eastern Zhouto the Six Dynasties, part 2 covers the Sui,Tang, and Five Dynasties, and part 3 covers theSong, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties. Each partis divided into two main sections, “Texts inGeneral Circulation” and “Texts in InternalCirculation,” and these are further subdividedinto detailed typological subsections. The fiveindexes at the end of volume 3 are: 1) classifiedtitle, 2) work number, 3) Pinyin title, 4) findinglist for other Daozang editions, and 5) general.

Wendi AdamekBarnard College

BuddhismTANTRIC REVISIONINGS: NEWUNDERSTANDINGS OF TIBETAN BUD-DHISM AND INDIAN RELIGION. ByGeoffrey Samuel. Delhi: Motilal Banardidass,2005. Pp. 384. Rs. 495.00, ISBN 978-0-7546-5280-9.

This volume contains fifteen essays by Sam-uel, one of the most respected scholars in thefield of Buddhist Tantra. Five of the essays arenew, and ten have been previously published.Three of the new essays comprise of a sectionat the end of the book on the diaspora of TibetanBuddhism. This is a topic that Samuel toucheson in several of his early essays, but in thesethree articles, he examines the global networksof Tibetan Buddhism, lineage affiliations in thediaspora, and reasons why Tibetan Buddhismis popular. He rejects H. Urban’s dismissiveattitude toward the westernization of TibetanBuddhism as just another moment of modernspiritual consumerism, seeing instead a realengagement with the nature of selfhood andvarious “technologies of the self,” citing Fou-cault. These chapters are recommended for the

increasing number of courses taught on theWesternization of Asian religions. Samuel haslong been interested in the relationship of Bud-dhism and Tantra with folk religion. Whilemany recent studies (e.g., R. Davidson’s IndianEsoteric Buddhism [2002]) have gone beyondSamuel’s, many of his articles remain valuable,including very good essays on The Indus ValleyCivilization and Early Tibet (2000) and Gesarof gLing: The Origins and Meanings of the EastTibetan Epic (1991). In his introduction, Sam-uel, like many others, backs away from callingTibetan lamas shamans. This is especially note-worthy, given that Samuel’s best-known workis titled Civilized Shamans (1993). MotilalBanarsidass is to be thanked for putting allthese articles together in one volume.

Frederick M. SmithUniversity of Iowa

HIMALAYAN HERMITESS: THE LIFEOF A TIBETAN BUDDHIST NUN. ByKurtis R. Schaeffer. New York, Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 2004. Pp. 232. $22.00, ISBN:0-19-515299-9.

This is the story of O. Chokyi (1675-1729),the first Tibetan woman to write a spiritualautobiography. Although biography and autobi-ography are important genres in Tibetan Bud-dhism, this is the first one written by a woman.Schaeffer provides statistics that bear this out:from the 8th to the 20th centuries, we know ofperhaps 2,000 Buddhist biographies from theTibetan cultural area. Among these are approx-imately 150 autobiographies, and among theseonly three of four are by women. Chokyi wasfrom Dolpo in the Nepal Himalayas, and shetraveled throughout the region, including theKathmandu valley. The autogiography, Schaef-fer notes, is closer to an autohagiography inwhich the author mixes events of her life withBuddhist teachings. Schaeffer divides the bookinto two parts. The first is a description of thegenre, the place of women within it, and thegender and doctrinal issues at stake in both thegenre and the life of Chokyi. The second partis a translation of the text. How, we wonder, dida village girl who herded goats and horses, andworked in a kitchen, become literate? After achildhood of suffering and hard work, sheseems to have had a near-death experience inwhich she was “visited” (possessed? Schaefferdoes not comment) by a 5kin7 or an accom-plished female Buddhist spirit. After this visi-tation, she was suddenly able to read and write.At length, she took monastic vows and becamea Buddhist exemplar. Schaeffer is to be thankedfor writing an excellent book that deserves aplace in a variety of classes on Buddhism andAsian religions.

Frederick M. SmithUniversity of Iowa

THE INNER K::::LACAKRATANTRA: ABUDDHIST TANTRIC VIEW OF THEINDIVIDUAL. By Vesna A. Wallace. New

d.