Klaus Klostermaier

Klaus K. Klostermaier (born 1933) is a prominent scholar on Hinduism and Indian history and culture.^[1][2] He obtained a PhD in philosophy from the Gregorian University in Rome in 1961, and another in "Ancient Indian History and Culture" from the University of Bombay in 1969.

An ordained Catholic priest, Klostermaier was a missionary and theology teacher for nine years in India in the 1960s.^[3] His study of Hindu texts and scholarship, while living with practicing Vaishnava Hindus there, resulted in his Der Hinduismus published in 1965.^[3] The expertise he gained then, led to him being appointed advisor to the Papal office, in the Vatican, on non-Christian religions.^[3]

He joined the Department of Religion at the University of Manitoba (Canada) in 1970. He received a Rh-Institute Award for "Excellence in the Humanities", of a Templeton Course Award in Science and Religion and an Award for Excellence in Graduate teaching from the University of Manitoba. He was the University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Manitoba in Canada.^[4][5] He served as the Head of its Center for Religion and Culture from 1986 to 1995.^[5]

In 1998, for his scholarship on Hinduism, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada,^[5][4][6] and was Head of the Department of Religion at the University of Manitoba (Canada) from 1986 to 1997, and director of an "Asian Studies Center", 1990–1995.

He was the Director of Academic Affairs at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies from 1997–1998. A festschrift in his honour was published in 2004.^[7] He has spent ten years in India and has researched primary sources in various languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Pali, Latin, Classical Greek, German, Italian and French.^[8]

Selected works

He is the author of 53 works in seven languages listed at worldCat ^[9]

• Hinduism: A Beginner's Guide (2008), ISBN 978-1-85168-538-7.
• The Nature of Nature: Explorations in Science, Philosophy and Religion (2004);
• Hindu Writings: A Short Introduction to the Major Sources (2001); ISBN 978-1-85168-230-0.
• A Survey of Hinduism (3rd ed. 2007); ISBN 978-0-7914-7082-4.
• Hinduism: A Short History (2000), ISBN 978-1-85168-213-3.
• Buddhism: A Short Introduction (1999), ISBN 978-1-85168-186-0.
• Indian Theology in Dialogue (1986);
• Mythologies and Philosophies of Salvation in the Theistic Traditions of India (1984), ISBN 978-0-88920-158-3.
• Hindu and Christian in Vrindaban (1969), ISBN 978-0-334-00616-9.
• In the paradise of Krishna; Hindu and Christian seekers, ISBN 978-0-664-24904-5.
• A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Oneworld, ISBN 978-1-85168-175-4.
• A Short Introduction to Hinduism (1998) ISBN 978-1-85168-163-1.
• Hinduismus.
• Indian theology in dialogue.
• Kristvidya : A sketch of an Indian Christology.
• Liberation, salvation, self-realization : A comparative study of Hindu, Buddhist and Christian ideas.
• The body of God : Cosmos - Avatara - Image.
• Religious studies: issues, prospects, and proposals with Larry W. Hurtado, ISBN 978-1-55540-623-3.
• Masters of social thought with Ajit Kumar Sinha.
• The Nature of Nature: Explorations in Science, Philosophy, and Religion.
• The wisdom of Hinduism, ISBN 978-1-85168-227-0.
• From end to beginning.
• Hindu-Christian Dialogue.
• Freiheit ohne Gewalt.
• Vedic Aryans and the Origins of Civilization: A Literary and Scientific Perspective with Navaratna Srinivasa Rajaram, David Frawley, ISBN 978-81-85990-36-1.

Reception

Many of his books have been peer reviewed in journals, some as textbooks on Hinduism.^[10]

George M. Williams described Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism as an "Excellent resource by top scholar featuring concise entries."^[11] Harold Coward describes the 2nd edition of A Survey of Hinduism as "This book offers the most comprehensive, balanced, accessible and yet deeply scholarly presentation of Hinduism in English,"^[12] and that, "Thomas Hopkins's, The Hindu Religious Tradition, the standard work when it was published some twenty-five years ago, looks rather primitive when compared with Klaus Klostermaier's A Survey of Hinduism, already in second edition by 1994".^[13]

Vedic era views controversy

Klostermaier's Survey of Hinduism is said to favour "Hindu voices" in its presentation and thereby offer views that have little currency in scholarship.^[14] For example, it states that the Indus Valley Civilization is Vedic, which pushes back the Vedic period by several thousand years beyond the accepted chronology.^[15]

Similar criticism have also been voiced about the Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism.^[16]

Michael Witzel has called him a "recent convert to a Frawleyan view of the world which pictures India as the unique cradle of civilization at 10,000 BCE."^[17]:126

See also

• List of religion scholars

References