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Abstract: Abstract Starting from the allegation of the Pure Land tradition “as a deviant form of Buddhism,” the paper looks at non-dualist and dualist features in the teachings of the Japanese medieval Pure Land master Shinran Shōnin (1173–1263). It is suggested that Shinran should be understood within the Mahāyāna framework of the two truths or realities (satyadvaya). Shinran retains both perspectives in a paradoxical way implicating that non-dualism needs to be realized in a spiritual practice with strong dualist aspects. Non-dual ultimate reality manifests itself within conventional reality as the all-embracing compassionate “other-power” (tariki) that evokes an existential attitude of radical entrusting (shinjin) thereby evoking a liberative transformation “naturally” (jinen). PubDate: 2023-11-03
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Abstract: Abstract This study considers the usage of mantra for and by the dying, addressing a lacuna in Hindu death studies. This topic is approached by examining a selection of texts, including the Garuḍa Purāṇa, Upaniṣads, and Bhagavad Gītā, alongside ethnographic accounts, considering to whom these mantras are addressed. Particular focus is given to the literary and ritual usage of the Mahā Mṛtyuṃjaya Mantra as a case study. A wide-angle approach is adopted, contingent on the scope of ancient and contemporary literature that touches upon deathbed chanting, with findings supplemented by the author’s auto-ethnographic accounts as a spiritual care practitioner providing this service for cancer patients with Ganga Prem Hospice in Rishikesh, India. The power of deathbed mantra recitation is emphasized, as well as its multiplicity of expressions across a variety of communities and geographies, which is represented even within early textual materials. The recitation of mantra for and by the dying may function to relieve pain, call forth divine intimacy, and grant liberation. Through this practice, the dying subject may overcome death itself. PubDate: 2023-10-16
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Abstract: Abstract Bas-reliefs of scenes from the epics Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata are extremely common in temples all over India, but depictions of scenes from a Sanskrit drama (mahānāṭaka) in places of worship are virtually unheard of. A few bas-reliefs at the Lokeśvara Temple and the Trailokyeśvara Temple at Paṭṭadakal depict scenes centring around a female figure, who is arguably Śakuntalā. The story of Śakuntalā is first mentioned in the Mahābhārata and was subsequently dramatised by Kālidāsa in the fifth century in the Abhijñānaśākuntalam. From a comparison of these bas-reliefs with the aforesaid texts in the original Sanskrit, it is evident that they match the storyline in the drama better than that of the epic. Apart from corroborating the probability that these reliefs may have been inspired by a Sanskrit drama, this paper also explores how the rasas, which can normally be experienced through live performances or literature, can also be depicted and communicated through a non-dynamic medium. Additionally, this paper demonstrates that the works of Kālidāsa were known and cherished by the Cālukya royal figures, some of whom memorialised them in stone, in an unusual form of temple iconography in the two temples at Paṭṭadakal. PubDate: 2023-07-26 DOI: 10.1007/s42240-023-00148-7
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Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract The discourse on non-human animal personhood is at once ontological and axiological; it can involve a proposal of (what are taken to be) ontological facts about criteria for personhood and usually implies a positive axiological valuation of those who are deemed to be “persons.” The argument in favor of non-human personhood is critical for environmentalists and animal advocates alike. It is often believed that as people increasingly recognize animals as persons that the perceived human likeness to animals (the ontological component) more readily inspires empathetic pangs (an axiological component) in response to the exploitation of animals. As the public increasingly supports the idea of animal personhood, such a designation can eventually come to have legal and legislative implications as animal personhood becomes an important basis for the argument of legal protection—a legal argument that is more likely to be successful as this notion of non-human and animal personhood has increasing paradigmatic currency in the public at large. Elsewhere, I have shown how themes in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa (BhP or Śrīmad Bhāgavatam) affirm animal advocacy and animal rights in a way that is relevant to Gauḍīya (or Caitanya) Vaiṣṇava (GV) theology (Bohanec, 2018). This current work is a further movement in the construction of an animal-centered ecotheology that affirms animal personhood—where personhood is foundational to animal rights—from the perspective of the Gauḍīya tradition by investigating the implications of the 17th chapter of the Second Book (Madhya Līlā or just Madhya) of the Caitanya Caritāmṛta (CC). PubDate: 2023-06-09 DOI: 10.1007/s42240-023-00146-9
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Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract The offering of sevā in its more recent sense of organized service to humanity has been central to engaged Hinduism. Despite the scale of the practice of sevā by Hindutva-inspired organizations, scholarly studies have tended to focus on the political rather than the cultural and religious dimensions of their activities. An examination of the nature and extent of these organizations’ commitment to sevā reveals that, far from being monolithic in character, these organizations are characterized by different blends and balances of cultural, political, and religious aspirations and symbolism. This article explores examples of sevā activities drawn from two Hindutva-inspired organizations, the Rashtriya Svayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the more recently formed Vivekananda Kendra, and aspects of the development of this practice within these groups. It considers what such groups might understand by engaged Hinduism, their goals, how they seek to realize these goals, and the relationship between their sevā activities and their wider cultural and political agendas, and some would say, in the terms of this volume, about the “benevolence” of their aims. PubDate: 2023-03-15 DOI: 10.1007/s42240-023-00139-8
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Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Please help us test our new pre-print finding feature by giving the pre-print link a rating. A 5 star rating indicates the linked pre-print has the exact same content as the published article.
Abstract: Abstract This essay aims at articulating a humanistic philosophy of social and environmental well-being out of the Bhagavad-gītā. It points at the limits of various central themes and argues that due to these limits, these themes cannot serve as philosophical foundations. As such, it offers a different method, according to which the text is divided into three metaphysical layers, and proposes to focus on the lower, humanistic one. It then highlights two major humanistic ethical philosophies found in the Gītā, which aim at social and environmental well-being; these are varṇāśrama dharma offering a four sectors social division, and the guṇa humanistic ethics, which promotes the ideal person as grounded in sattva guṇa, resembling the ideal Confucian gentleman or junzi. The paper argues that the Bhagavad-gītā offers a unique amalgamation of the two and that this convergence has much potential for the development of a contemporary ethical doctrine. Finally, the paper suggests linking the Bhagavad gītā’s categories with existing contemporary social categories. PubDate: 2023-03-01 DOI: 10.1007/s42240-023-00138-9
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Abstract: Abstract In this paper, I discuss textual interpretations of sevā based on descriptions from the Bhagavad Gītā, the Nārada Bhakti Sūtra, the Yoga Sūtra of Patañjali, and the Guru Gītā. Following this discussion, I examine the interpretations of the traditions following Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Mata Amritanandamayi and discuss how their practitioners, in the USA, understand and embody the principle of sevā. I argue that the consistency, globally, between theology and praxis in the Mata Amritanandamayi Mission (MAM), as opposed to the distinction between the active service and philosophy of sevā in the Ramakrishna Mission in India versus the priorities of the Vedanta Society, particularly in the USA, has allowed the MAM to thrive whereas the Vedanta Society has experienced a lack of growth across non-Hindu demographics in the USA. PubDate: 2023-02-22 DOI: 10.1007/s42240-023-00135-y
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Abstract: Abstract From its inception over two centuries ago, the Swaminarayan Sampradaya has emphasized the interdependence of spirituality and service. BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha’s engagement in humanitarian services is a 200-year-old theological position established by Bhagwan Swaminarayan to help his followers attain their soteriological goal of ultimate liberation. Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s own compassionate service to the needy, coupled with his teaching that service according to God’s command is liberating, has established a devotional foundation for humanitarian service in this Hindu tradition. Moreover, Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s scriptural injunctions to serve the needy also motivate devotees’ service efforts. For devotees, these injunctions make humanitarian service equivalent to service to God, which is seen as a type of devotion that can lead to liberation. In BAPS today, followers translate their desire to do service into various humanitarian projects, some of which are continuations of long-standing sites of Swaminarayan volunteer work and others of which are a reflection of needs arising in contemporary times. PubDate: 2023-02-20 DOI: 10.1007/s42240-023-00137-w
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Abstract: Abstract Yoga, as classically formulated in Patañjali’s Yoga-Sūtra, has far too often been conceived as leading to a freedom from the world, emphasizing renunciation, asceticism, disengagement, and transcendence of the body, mind, and world. Yet, from another perspective, freedom or spiritual liberation can be understood more inclusively as being in and for the world, thus supporting a life-affirming approach that challenges us to an enriched, relational humanity whereby the world is made a better place. Yoga, it is suggested, can culminate in a balanced integration of life that incorporates a clarity of awareness with the integrity of being and action. PubDate: 2023-01-10 DOI: 10.1007/s42240-022-00134-5
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Abstract: Abstract While it is sometimes characterized as a “world-denying” philosophy, Advaita, or non-dual Vedānta, with its vision of the ultimate oneness of all existence, bears within itself the capacity to form the conceptual basis not only for liberation as it traditionally understood in Hindu traditions—as mokṣa, or freedom from the cycle of rebirth—but also for a project of human emancipation in a more conventional, socio-political sense—as freedom from oppression and injustice. This paper will examine Advaita Vedānta, particularly as presented by Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902), in terms of its implications for deep ecology. PubDate: 2022-10-07 DOI: 10.1007/s42240-022-00129-2
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Abstract: Abstract For the past 2000 years, Christians have been using terms such as “Messiah,” “Christ,” and “Son of God,” to reflect on the nature of the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth, the first-century prophet, healer, and foundational focus of Christianity. However, these terms are ancient and ambiguous for a global context, and it can be argued that, in different cultural contexts, different conceptions of Jesus may be necessary so that the signifier renders Jesus intelligible in various settings without the need for constant explanation and reinterpretation. Can Jesus’ divinity be viewed through a cultural lens other than those that arose in the ancient Greco-Roman classical world' I would suggest that it is indeed imperative to do so if we are to confer respect on cultures other than the ones in which ancient Christianity arose. It is all the more urgent for Christians to seek new ways of envisioning Jesus in the face of the emergent new hermeneutics based on the call by decolonial studies scholars to use critical indigenous epistemologies. As an answer to this need, I propose Jesus as a Tantric vīra. By observing Jesus from a Tantric lens, I re-envision the image of Jesus for a South Asian context while perceiving certain aspects of his divinity that a normative Christian reading may have possibly neglected. PubDate: 2022-05-10 DOI: 10.1007/s42240-022-00124-7
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