Patterns of Religion

Roger Schmidt was most recently chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Hsi Lai University (Rosemead, Ca.), a university grounded in Buddhist traditions and values. He is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Claremont Graduate School. He taught philosophy and religion for thirty years at San Bernardino Valley College and Crafton College, retiring as a professor emeritus in 1993. A prolific scholar and researcher, he continues to explore religious traditions in Asia and beyond. Gerald Carney is the Elliott Professor of Religion at Hampden-Sydney College. He received his Ph.D. in the history of religions from Fordham University, and has published widely on Vaishnava devotional traditions, religious aesthetics, interreligious dialogue, and on Baba Premananda Bharati, an early Bengali Vaishnava missionary to the West. In addition to academic studies, Gene Sager brings to this text the experience of living as a scholar and translator in Japan. He has translated articles by Kyoto University's Keiji Nishitani and authored numerous articles on environmental issues and Asian religion. He received the faculty award for teaching excellence at Palomar College (May, 2001).