ABSTRACT
This chapter turns to the contemporary study of religion and examines how cultural differences are conceptualised in this field of study. It draws a contrast between the process and the structure of Christian and Indian ‘spirituality’. Contrasting these two, the chapter attempts to conceptualise the differences among the Indian traditions in a new way and indicates how these traditions are different from a religion like Christianity. Describing the differences between Advaita, Dvaita, Buddhist, Jain, Bhakti and other traditions in terms of different ‘religions’ and their respective doctrines (‘Hinduism’, ‘Buddhism’, ‘Jainism’, etc.) does not give us any understanding of Indian culture and the nature of her traditions. The chapter then argues that cultures and traditions are not merely different but differ from each other in different ways. The future of religious studies depends on developing new ways of conceptualising these differences. This is an agenda for the future. As a correlate to this task, the chapter suggests replacing the question ‘Who speaks “for” and “about” a religion?’ with a more pregnant and a more accurate reformulation: ‘How to speak for a religion in the Academy?’
