| Foreword | xi | |
| Preface | xv | |
| Acknowledgments | xxvii | |
| Introduction | 1 | |
| 1 | On Comparing Religious Ideas | 9 |
| 1.1 | On Comparison: Why It Is Important | 9 |
| 1.2 | Vague Categories | 14 |
| 1.3 | Criteria for Success | 16 |
| 1.4 | Process and Strategy | 18 |
| 2 | Chinese Religion | 21 |
| 2.1 | General Considerations | 21 |
| 2.2 | The Chinese World and the Human Predicament | 23 |
| 2.3 | Resolution of the Human Predicament | 21 |
| 2.4 | Categories for Comparison | 37 |
| 3 | Beginningless Ignorance: A Buddhist View of the Human Condition | 49 |
| 3.1 | Introduction | 49 |
| 3.2 | Primary Doctrinal Evidence--The Four Noble Truths | 50 |
| 3.3 | The Form of a Buddhist Narrative--The Middle Way | 58 |
| 3.4 | What Makes a Useful Category in Comparative Theology? | 67 |
| 4 | To Be Heard and Done, But Never Quite Seen: The Human Condition According to the Vivekacudamani | 73 |
| 4.1 | Introduction: The Text and Its Challenge | 73 |
| 4.2 | The Human Condition, Perceived and Real | 77 |
| 4.3 | The Function of Right Knowledge (viveka) in the Apprehension of the Truth of the Human Condition | 81 |
| 4.4 | The Transformation of Human Living and the Project of Transformation (bhavana) | 85 |
| 4.5 | Exclusions, and the Force of the Text | 91 |
| 4.6 | Integral Acts of Learning across Cultural and Religious Boundaries: Hearing, Knowing, Doing, But Not Speculating | 95 |
| 5 | Religious Dimensions of the Human Condition in Judaism: Wrestling with God in an Imperfect World | 101 |
| 5.1 | Introduction | 101 |
| 5.2 | Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) | 104 |
| 5.3 | Rabbinic Literature | 112 |
| 5.4 | The Modern Period | 123 |
| 5.5 | Conclusion | 127 |
| 6 | Embodiment and Redemption: The Human Condition in Ancient Christianity | 133 |
| 6.1 | Introduction | 133 |
| 6.2 | Paul | 134 |
| 6.3 | Christian Dualism and the High God | 136 |
| 6.4 | Origen | 139 |
| 6.5 | Augustine | 142 |
| 6.6 | Summary | 146 |
| 6.7 | Postscript: Terms of Comparison from the Seminar | 148 |
| 7 | The Human Condition in Islam: Sharia and Obligation | 157 |
| 7.1 | Preliminary Reflections | 157 |
| 7.2 | Ambiguities in Comparison | 160 |
| 7.3 | The Human Condition in Islam | 162 |
| 7.4 | Allah, the Ultimate Source of Sharia: Monotheism and the Creator-Created Duality | 164 |
| 7.5 | Maintaining the God-Human Disjunction | 169 |
| 7.6 | The Linkage of the Transcendental with the Historical | 171 |
| 8 | Comparative Hypotheses: Cosmological Categories for the Human Condition | 175 |
| 8.1 | Introduction | 175 |
| 8.2 | Unity | 183 |
| 8.3 | Ontological Status | 198 |
| 8.4 | Value | 212 |
| 8.5 | Causation | 220 |
| 9 | Comparative Hypotheses: Personal and Social Categories for the Human Condition | 237 |
| 9.1 | Introduction | 237 |
| 9.2 | Personal Identity | 238 |
| 9.3 | Obligation | 247 |
| 9.4 | The Human Predicament | 253 |
| 9.5 | Affiliations | 259 |
| 9.6 | Postscript | 264 |
| Appendix A | On the Process of the Project During the First Year | 267 |
| Appendix B | Suggestions for Further Reading | 287 |
| Contributors | 309 | |
| Index of Names | 311 | |
| Index of Subjects | 315 |
