ABSTRACT
The Jewish diaspora is the most important diffusion of people and ideas in the history of the world to date. But there are other diasporas that have hardly attracted the attention of students of religions, although they are playing a more and more vital part in the revivification of their home religions. Incidentally, this diaspora phenomenon is also a great opportunity for students of religion. It is possible, up to a point, for students to do much of their fieldwork at home. Most of the Hindu diaspora has to transact its communications in English. This already implies a certain sophistication, and the erosion of folk Hinduism. Another interesting aspect of diaspora religion concerns the degree to which it may expand from an ethnic basis. There is a factor that the rather conservative minor religions have in practice to bear in mind; that diaspora reinforces contact with major world cultural forces.
