The Saint of Kathmandu

Download or read book The Saint of Kathmandu written by Sarah Levine and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2009-06-01 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the deft evocations of a master storyteller and the exhaustive knowledge of a scholar, LeVine takes us on a quest to understand the role of religious belief in everyday life around the globe. She writes of uneasy relations between Islam and spirit possession in a Nigerian town; of a Nepalese teenager's flight from an arranged marriage to become a feminist Buddhist nun; of Mexican women taking the Virgin Mary as their role model; and of American Zen Buddhists struggling to maintain their community despite a deeply flawed teacher. These stories and more give a larger picture of religious faith, one that has little to do with doctrine or philosophical abstractions.