The Ascetic Self: Subjectivity, Memory and Tradition, (Paperback)

Focusing on Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism, this book argues that asceticism must be understood within the boundaries of tradition. It exemplifies a completely new paradigm for comparative religion which seeks to avoid a problematic universalism on the one hand and an area-specific relativism on the other. The volume's original contribution to methodology will be influential in the future development of comparative religious studies.