This program, presented by Dr. Jeffrey Long, is an introduction to the worldview that underlies the religions of India. Despite their many interesting and significant differences, the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions share certain basic concepts in common. These include not only a set of values common to all religions - such as compassion, justice, and respect for life - but, in addition to these universal values, a set of distinctive ideas, such as karma (the principle of moral causation), rebirth or reincarnation, and the goal of becoming liberated from the cycle of rebirth through a process of realizing the true nature of existence. The goal of this public presentation is to give the community and accurate sense of the philosophy that underlies these traditions, as well as to answer questions and dispel stereotypes.
Dr. Long is Associate Professor and Chair of Religious Studies and Co-Director of Asian Studies at Elizabethtown College. He is the author of A Vision for Hinduism: Beyond Hindu Nationalism, Jainism: An Introduction and Historical Dictionary of Hinduism, as well as numerous scholarly articles.
