DIANA L. ECK is professor of comparative religion and Indian studies at Harvard University and is Master of Lowell House and Director of the Pluralism Project. Her book Banaras, City of Light, remains a classic in the field, and Encountering God- A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras won the prestigious Grawemeyer Book Award. In 1998, President Clinton awarded her the National Humanities Medal for the work of the Pluralism Project in the investigation of America's religious diversity.
“No major civilization has made sacred the very ground of its being
as India has done, and no one has described this sacred organism
with the down-to-earth humanity of Diana Eck. This is
magnificent introduction to India by one of the leading lights in
the study of religion today.”-- John Stratton Hawley, author of The
Memory of Love: Surdas Sings to Krishna.
In this lucid, learned and luminous book, Diana Eck introduces the
Western reader to the sacred landscape of India. She leads us into
an unfamiliar world, with myths and symbols that seem initially
strange, but by the end of this rich journey we find that we have
encountered unexpected regions within ourselves.”—Karen Armstrong,
author of A History of God and Twelve Steps to a Compassionate
Life
“Reading [Diana Eck’s] new book was like listening to an old, wise
friend, whose love and admiration of India and its people shines on
every page.” --Phil Semler, San Francisco Book Review (5/5
stars)
Praise for Diana Eck’s Banaras
“In Banaras, Diana Eck... has written a notable book about this
greatest of Indian pilgrimage sites.... Her brilliant,
comprehensive book seems likely to remain for a long time the
definitive work on this great Indian city.”--Washington Post
“The most beautiful book... on India.”--Journal of the American
Academy of Religion
“Eck is a master of tone here. She begins as dry scholar, allows
her personal voice to emerge and then, through judicious use of
lyric quotations, advances to a striking level of exaltation and
triumph.... To take us gently off this high, Eck buttresses us-and
her arguments-with a truly amazing display of addenda; glossaries,
calendars and appendices. One ends filled with admiration and awe,
not just for the vision given us, but for the scholarship and
dedication that made it possible.” --Los Angeles Times
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