This entry provides a comprehensive overview of the major themes, questions, and developments concerning the concept of the self in Islamic thought. Beginning with the Qur’an and then following the various streams of Islamic thought, such as theology (kalām), philosophy (falsafa), and Sufis...
At the heart of many forms of Hinduism is a multiple-layered vision of becoming concentred in the divine reality. Across three millennia of Hindu socioreligious history, various texts, teachers, and traditions have envisioned a world suffused with divine presence within which individuals ar...
Women have been part of Buddhism since its inception in India, both as nuns and laity. As the tradition progressed, both within India and beyond, texts and traditions emerged that are or can be perceived as negative towards women. Within Buddhist texts, this negativity is shaped around two ...
Yoga represents both a philosophy and a practice, with the goal of liberation. Although ascetic practices existed previously, and the word yoga appears in the Vedas, the first definition is in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, where it is described as ‘the steady restraint of the senses’, building on the...
Love is understood in Christian thought, following Jesus’ teaching and New Testament reflection, as the summative category of moral value and obligation, comprehensive and interpretative of all other moral norms. But since love is not a uniform phenomenon, distinctions of types of love have...