Books by Jeffrey J. (Rice University Kripal

From Superman and Batman to the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, these pop-culture juggernauts, with their "powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men," thrilled readers and audiences. The author shows how creators turned to science fiction to convey the reality of the paranormal they experienced in their lives.

Addresses the 20th-century study of mysticism as a kind of mystical tradition in its own right, with its own unique histories, discourses, sociological dynamics, and rhetorics of secrecy. Jeffrey J. Kripal examines the lives and works of five historians of mysticism.

How can Ramakrishna's saintly status be reconciled with his eroticized language and actions? This book argues that the key to understanding him lies in Tantra and its equation of the mystical and the erotic, and that his homosexulity is linked to every aspect of his life and teachings.