Loving Stones

David L. Haberman is Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University. He has a broad interest in all religions, but specializes in the Hindu traditions of northern India. Much of his work has centered on the culture of Braj, a pilgrimage site long associated with Krishna. His present research interests track the relationship between religion, ecology and nature, with a focus on Hindu conceptions of and interaction with nonhuman entities.

• Acknowledgements Note on Translation and Transliteration Map of Mount Govardhan Introduction- Seduced by a Mountain Chapter 1- On the Slopes of Mount Govardhan: Lay of the Land Chapter 2- Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Challenges of Difference Chapter 3- A God of Stone: Divine Conceptions Chapter 4- Honoring the King of Mountains: Embodied Worship Chapter 5- A Tale of Two Mountains: Idolatry Applied Chapter 6- Drawing Personality Out of a Stone: Techniques of Intimacy Chapter 7- Non-Duality, Play, and an Invitation Appendix Glossary Bibliography Index

Haberman's book is a pleasure to read: his prose is alive with curiosity and wonder. Loving Stones is also accessibly written, and either the entire work or individual chapters could be suitable for undergraduate and graduate teaching. The book can be recommended not only to scholars of Hinduism but to all scholars with interests in religion and environment, as well as to anyone who has never spoken to a stone but who wishes to experience a radically different way of seeing the world.