This handy book seeks to offer a helping hand to students and others interested in gleaning an initial foundation for beginning a usable and plain spoken understanding of the complexities of several of the great, classical religions traditions of India and "Greater India," i.e. Southeast Asia and beyond. The author attempts to employ a conversational style and to outline some of the core concepts prerequisite to engaging in a more intensive sojourn into the religious, literary, and cultural genre of South and Southeast Asian cultures.