Subud and the Javanese Mystical Tradition

Subud and the Javanese Mystical Tradition PDF Author: Antoon Geels
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780700706235
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
Subud is one of hundreds of mystical movements (aliran kebatinan) which have grown significantly in postwar Indonesia. Along with other movements like Sumarah and Pangestu, Subud has attracted people from the West and has now spread to about eighty countries. Despite the fact that Subud leaders deny any relation to the Javanese mystical tradition, it is one of the tasks of this study to show that the greater part of Subud's conceptual apparatus is firmly rooted in the cultural history of Java. Under the banner of change and renewal, Subud presents a message which, fundamentally, is one of continuity in a society in transition. This text presents an overall picture of the history of Javanese mysticism, particularly the concept of God, the view of man, and the techniques recommended in order to bridge the gap between God and man. The text discusses the rise of mystical movements in post-war Java, along with a presentation of three movements which attracted the West. In addition the book provides a biography of the founder of Subud, the basic concepts of Subud and the meaning of the Subud spiritual exercise (latihan kejiwaan), along with an analysis of Subud theory and practice and its relation to the Javanese mystical tradition, and a psychological interpretation of the spiritual exercise.

Subud and the Javanese Mystical Tradition

Subud and the Javanese Mystical Tradition PDF Author: Antoon Geels
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780700706235
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 280

Get Book Here

Book Description
Subud is one of hundreds of mystical movements (aliran kebatinan) which have grown significantly in postwar Indonesia. Along with other movements like Sumarah and Pangestu, Subud has attracted people from the West and has now spread to about eighty countries. Despite the fact that Subud leaders deny any relation to the Javanese mystical tradition, it is one of the tasks of this study to show that the greater part of Subud's conceptual apparatus is firmly rooted in the cultural history of Java. Under the banner of change and renewal, Subud presents a message which, fundamentally, is one of continuity in a society in transition. This text presents an overall picture of the history of Javanese mysticism, particularly the concept of God, the view of man, and the techniques recommended in order to bridge the gap between God and man. The text discusses the rise of mystical movements in post-war Java, along with a presentation of three movements which attracted the West. In addition the book provides a biography of the founder of Subud, the basic concepts of Subud and the meaning of the Subud spiritual exercise (latihan kejiwaan), along with an analysis of Subud theory and practice and its relation to the Javanese mystical tradition, and a psychological interpretation of the spiritual exercise.

Handbook of Islamic Sects and Movements

Handbook of Islamic Sects and Movements PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004435549
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 724

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Book Description
The Handbook of Islamic Sects and Movements offers a multinational study of Islam, its variants, influences, and neighbouring movements, from a multidisciplinary range of scholars. These chapters highlight the diversity of Islam, especially in its contemporary manifestations, as a religion of many communities, theologies, and ideologies. Over five sections—on Sunni, Shia, Sufi, fundamentalist, and fringe Islamic movements—the authors provide historical overviews, analyses, and in-depth studies of large and small Islamic and related groups from all around the world. The contents of this volume will be of interest to both newcomers to the study of Islam and established scholars of religion who wish to engage with the dynamic label of Islam and the many impactful movements of the Islamic world.

Mysticism

Mysticism PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004494723
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
Although very different, and coming from a range of academic backgrounds, the contributors are nevertheless united in their attempts to understand more about mysticism, from a perspective that puts the human being in the center.

A Poisonous Cocktail?

A Poisonous Cocktail? PDF Author: Ian Reader
Publisher: NIAS Press
ISBN: 9788787062558
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
In the light of the sarin attacks made by Aum Shinrikyo on Tokyo, this book describes the movement's history, examines the various conflicts it has been involved in, and discusses the content of Asahara's sermons and prophecies, all in an attempt to discover why the movement turned from meditation and asceticism to violence. Suggesting that the Aum case is not unique, the book shows how it displays similarities with other cases of violence and conflict amongst religious and political movements in Japan and elsewhere.

Trade and Society in the Straits of Melaka

Trade and Society in the Straits of Melaka PDF Author: Nordin Hussin
Publisher: NUS Press
ISBN: 9789971693541
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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Book Description
This study compares Melaka and Penang in the context of overall trends - policy, geographical position, nature and direction of trade, and morphology and sociology - and how these factors were influenced by trade and policies. Conclusions are drawn concerning where and how Melaka and Penang fit in the urban traditions of Southeast Asia and the significance of the fact that the period under study coincided with the shift from the height of the "Age of Commerce" towards a period of heightened imperialist activities.

Creating Laos

Creating Laos PDF Author: Søren Ivarsson
Publisher: NIAS Press
ISBN: 8776940233
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
This book examines the process through which Laos came into existence under French colonial rule through to the end of World War II. Here, Laos's position at the intersection of two conflicting spatial layouts of "Thailand" and "Indochina" made its national form a particularly contested process. Rather than analyze this process in terms of administrative and political structures, the book discusses how a specific idea about a separate "Lao space" and its culture was formed.

Power, Resistance and Women Politicians in Cambodia

Power, Resistance and Women Politicians in Cambodia PDF Author: Mona Lilja
Publisher: NIAS Press
ISBN: 8776940209
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
In a world where there are few women politicians, Cambodia is still noticeable as a country where strong cultural and societal forces act to subjugate women and limit their political opportunities. However, in their everyday life, Cambodian women do try to improve their situation and increase their political power, not least via manifold strategies of resistance. This book focuses on Cambodian female politicians and the strategies they deploy in their attempts to destabilize the cultural boundaries and hierarchies that restrain them. In particular, the book focuses on how women use discourses and identities as means of resistance, a concept only recently of wide interest among scholars studying power. The value of this book is thus twofold: not only does it give a unique insight into the political struggles of Cambodian women but also offers new insights to studies of power.

Other Landscapes

Other Landscapes PDF Author: Deborah Sutton
Publisher: NIAS Press
ISBN: 8776940276
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Deborah Sutton recounts the failed British attempt to settle, transform and govern the cooler uplands of South India. It is a fascinating story bringing together strands from agrarian, environmental, administrative and cultural history.

Violence and Belonging

Violence and Belonging PDF Author: Are J. Knudsen
Publisher: NIAS Press
ISBN: 8776940454
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Honor and violence are major themes in the anthropology of the Middle East, yet--apart from political violence--most studies approach violence from the perspective of honour. By contrast, this important study examines the meanings of lethal conflict in a little-studied tribal society in Pakistan's unruly North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and offers a new perspective on its causes. Based on an in-depth study of local conflicts, the book challenges stereotyped images of a region and people miscast as extremist and militant. Being grounded in local ethnography enables the book to shed light on the complexities of violence, not only at the structural or systemic level, but also as experienced by the men involved in lethal conflict. In this way, the book provides a subjective and experiential approach to violence that is applicable beyond the field locality and relevant for advancing the study of violence in the Middle East and South Asia. The book is the first ethnographic study of this region since renowned anthropologist Fredrik Barth's pioneering study in 1954.

Land and Longhouse

Land and Longhouse PDF Author: Rob A. Cramb
Publisher: NIAS Press
ISBN: 8776940101
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 450

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Book Description
Land and Longhouse examines the role of community, market, and state in the historic transformation of upland livelihoods in Southeast Asia. Focusing on the Saribas Iban of Sarawak, the book combines in-depth, generation-long village case studies with an account of changes in land use and tenure at the regional level spanning a century and a half. This analysis demonstrates that, far from being passive victims of globalization, the Iban have been active agents in their own transformation, engaging with both market and state while retaining community values and governance. R. A. Cramb makes a significant new contribution to debates about economic, social, and environmental change and conflict in upland Southeast Asia. His book offers a fascinating, empirically rich account of interest to scholars, development practitioners, and the general reader alike. "This study is certain to become a major reference point for future work on land use, tenure, and agrarian change in Upland Southeast Asia." --Clifford Sather, University of Helsinki "Rob Cramb has written an excellent book with a much needed longitudinal perspective on agrarian change. The book is an important contribution to the urgent need for understanding the dynamics and consequences--both environmental and social--of upland transformation in Southeast Asia." --Ole Mertz, University of Copenhagen "Rob Cramb's study raises provocative questions about Iban society, the nature of the Southeast Asia uplands, and agrarian history. He presents a work distinguished by the depth of its scholarship and the breadth of the questions addressed by it." --Michael R. Dove, Yale University