Bhakti and Embodiment

Bhakti and Embodiment PDF Author: Barbara A. Holdrege
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317669096
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 553

Get Book Here

Book Description
The historical shift from Vedic traditions to post-Vedic bhakti (devotional) traditions is accompanied by a shift from abstract, translocal notions of divinity to particularized, localized notions of divinity and a corresponding shift from aniconic to iconic traditions and from temporary sacrificial arenas to established temple sites. In Bhakti and Embodiment Barbara Holdrege argues that the various transformations that characterize this historical shift are a direct consequence of newly emerging discourses of the body in bhakti traditions in which constructions of divine embodiment proliferate, celebrating the notion that a deity, while remaining translocal, can appear in manifold corporeal forms in different times and different localities on different planes of existence. Holdrege suggests that an exploration of the connections between bhakti and embodiment is critical not only to illuminating the distinctive transformations that characterize the emergence of bhakti traditions but also to understanding the myriad forms that bhakti has historically assumed up to the present time. This study is concerned more specifically with the multileveled models of embodiment and systems of bodily practices through which divine bodies and devotional bodies are fashioned in Krsna bhakti traditions and focuses in particular on two case studies: the Bhagavata Purana, the consummate textual monument to Vaisnava bhakti, which expresses a distinctive form of passionate and ecstatic bhakti that is distinguished by its embodied nature; and the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition, an important bhakti tradition inspired by the Bengali leader Caitanya in the sixteenth century, which articulates a robust discourse of embodiment pertaining to the divine bodies of Krsna and the devotional bodies of Krsna bhaktas that is grounded in the canonical authority of the Bhagavata Purana.

Bhakti and Embodiment

Bhakti and Embodiment PDF Author: Barbara A. Holdrege
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317669096
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 553

Get Book Here

Book Description
The historical shift from Vedic traditions to post-Vedic bhakti (devotional) traditions is accompanied by a shift from abstract, translocal notions of divinity to particularized, localized notions of divinity and a corresponding shift from aniconic to iconic traditions and from temporary sacrificial arenas to established temple sites. In Bhakti and Embodiment Barbara Holdrege argues that the various transformations that characterize this historical shift are a direct consequence of newly emerging discourses of the body in bhakti traditions in which constructions of divine embodiment proliferate, celebrating the notion that a deity, while remaining translocal, can appear in manifold corporeal forms in different times and different localities on different planes of existence. Holdrege suggests that an exploration of the connections between bhakti and embodiment is critical not only to illuminating the distinctive transformations that characterize the emergence of bhakti traditions but also to understanding the myriad forms that bhakti has historically assumed up to the present time. This study is concerned more specifically with the multileveled models of embodiment and systems of bodily practices through which divine bodies and devotional bodies are fashioned in Krsna bhakti traditions and focuses in particular on two case studies: the Bhagavata Purana, the consummate textual monument to Vaisnava bhakti, which expresses a distinctive form of passionate and ecstatic bhakti that is distinguished by its embodied nature; and the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition, an important bhakti tradition inspired by the Bengali leader Caitanya in the sixteenth century, which articulates a robust discourse of embodiment pertaining to the divine bodies of Krsna and the devotional bodies of Krsna bhaktas that is grounded in the canonical authority of the Bhagavata Purana.

The Embodiment of Bhakti

The Embodiment of Bhakti PDF Author: Karen Pechilis Prentiss
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195351908
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 278

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book offers an interpretive history of bhakti, an influential religious perspective in Hinduism. Prentiss argues that although bhakti is mentioned in every contemporary sourcebook on Indian religions, it still lacks an agreed-upon definition. "Devotion" is found to be the most commonly used synonym. Prentiss seeks a new perspective on this elusive concept. Her analysis of Tamil (south Indian) materials leads her to suggest that bhakti be understood as a doctrine of embodiment. Bhakti, she says, urges people towards active engagement in the worship of God. She proposes that the term "devotion" be replaced by "participation," emphasizing bhakti's call for engagement in worship and the necessity of embodiment to fulfill that obligation.

Refiguring the Body

Refiguring the Body PDF Author: Barbara A. Holdrege
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438463154
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 378

Get Book Here

Book Description
Examines how embodiment is conceived and experienced in South Asian religions. Refiguring the Body provides a sustained interrogation of categories and models of the body grounded in the distinctive idioms of South Asian religions, particularly Hindu and Buddhist traditions. The contributors engage prevailing theories of the body in the Western academy that derive from philosophy, social theory, and feminist and gender studies. At the same time, they recognize the limitations of applying Western theoretical models as the default epistemological framework for understanding notions of embodiment that derive from non-Western cultures. Divided into three sections, this collection of essays explores material bodies, embodied selves, and perfected forms of embodiment; divine bodies and devotional bodies; and gendered logics defining male and female bodies. The contributors seek to establish theory parity in scholarly investigations and to re-figure body theories by taking seriously the contributions of South Asian discourses to theorizing the body.

Bodyfulness

Bodyfulness PDF Author: Christine Caldwell
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 083484169X
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 299

Get Book Here

Book Description
A somatic counselor offers tools for developing a deeper, more awakened relationship with your body through sensation, breath, and movement As a foundation for a contemplative life, the body can both literally and metaphorically help us wake up. Breathing, sensing, and moving—the ways we know our body—carry tremendous contemplative potential, and yet, we so often move through our days unaware of or in conflict with our physical selves. In Bodyfulness, renowned somatic counselor Christine Caldwell offers a practical guide for living an embodied contemplative life, embracing whatever body we are in. Each chapter offers insights and practices that help us recover our lost physical wisdom—to integrate our bodies with mindfulness, to deal with emotions, and to develop attuned relationships. Bodyfulness inspires us to reclaim a body-centered contemplative life and challenges us to harness our potential to effect social and personal transformation in this body now.

Interpreting Devotion

Interpreting Devotion PDF Author: Karen Pechilis
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136507051
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 271

Get Book Here

Book Description
Devotion is a category of expression in many of the world’s religious traditions. This book looks at issues involved in academically interpreting religious devotion, as well as exploring the interpretations of religious devotion made by a sixth century poet, a twelfth century biographer, and present-day festival publics. The book focuses on the female poet-saint Kāraikkāl Ammaiyār, whose poetry is devotional in nature. It discusses the biography written on the poet six centuries after her lifetime, and suggests ways of interpreting Kāraikkāl Ammaiyār’s poetry without using the categories and events promoted by her biographer, in order to engage her own thoughts as they are communicated through the poetry attributed to her. In the same way that the biographer made the poet ‘speak’ to his present day, the book looks at how festivals held today make both the poetry and the biography relevant to the present day. By discussing how poetry, story and festival provide distinctive yet overlapping interpretations of the saint, this book reveals the selections and priorities of interpreters in the making of a living tradition. It is an accessible contribution to students and scholars of religion, Indian history and women’s studies.

A Living Theology of Krishna Bhakti

A Living Theology of Krishna Bhakti PDF Author: Tamal Krishna Goswami
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199796637
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 297

Get Book Here

Book Description
An illuminating examination of the theology of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement.

Rethinking the Body in South Asian Traditions

Rethinking the Body in South Asian Traditions PDF Author: Diana Dimitrova
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000257959
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 116

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book analyses cultural questions related to representations of the body in South Asian traditions, human perceptions and attitudes toward the body in religious and cultural contexts, as well as the processes of interpreting notions of the body in religious and literary texts. Utilising an interdisciplinary perspective by means of textual study and ideological analysis, anthropological analysis, and phenomenological analysis, the book explores both insider- and outsider perspectives and issues related to the body from the 2nd century CE up to the present-day. Chapters assess various aspects of the body including processes of embodiment and questions of mythologizing the divine body and othering the human body, as revealed in the literatures and cultures of South Asia. The book analyses notions of mythologizing and "othering" of the body as a powerful ideological discourse, which empowers or marginalizes at all levels of the human condition. Offering a deep insight into the study of religion and issues of the body in South Asian literature, religion and culture, this book will be of interest to academics in the fields of South Asian studies, South Asian religions, South Asian literatures, cultural studies, philosophy and comparative literature.

Refiguring the Body

Refiguring the Body PDF Author: Barbara A. Holdrege
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438463162
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 378

Get Book Here

Book Description
Refiguring the Body provides a sustained interrogation of categories and models of the body grounded in the distinctive idioms of South Asian religions, particularly Hindu and Buddhist traditions. The contributors engage prevailing theories of the body in the Western academy that derive from philosophy, social theory, and feminist and gender studies. At the same time, they recognize the limitations of applying Western theoretical models as the default epistemological framework for understanding notions of embodiment that derive from non-Western cultures. Divided into three sections, this collection of essays explores material bodies, embodied selves, and perfected forms of embodiment; divine bodies and devotional bodies; and gendered logics defining male and female bodies. The contributors seek to establish theory parity in scholarly investigations and to re-figure body theories by taking seriously the contributions of South Asian discourses to theorizing the body.

The Path of the Masters

The Path of the Masters PDF Author: Julian Johnson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Hinduism
Languages : en
Pages : 656

Get Book Here

Book Description


Bhagavad Gita Essentials

Bhagavad Gita Essentials PDF Author: Paramahamsa Vishwananda
Publisher: Bhakti Marga Publications
ISBN: 3963430583
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 307

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Bhagavad Gītā recounts a profound dialogue between Arjuna, a conflicted warrior, and his humble charioteer, who is in fact the Lord Himself. The message Kṛṣṇa delivered on a battlefield more than 5000 years ago is just as relevant today because it awakens the soul to mankind’s true nature and reason for being. His instructions have stood the test of time and provide the knowledge to help us triumph over the obstacles we face in our lives. Paramahamsa Sri Swami Vishwananda’s commentary brings this timeless discourse to life, unravelling it and delivering it straight to the heart of the reader. It is rare when a book has the potential to become a lifelong companion for spiritual seekers, yet the Bhagavad Gītā Essentials is designed to be just that: an essential part of your life. Small enough to carry with you wherever you go, yet profound enough to carry you all the way to God; succinct enough to read in a matter of hours, yet deep enough to contemplate for decades to come.