|
Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Hinduism
See the Table of Contents
Read the Introduction
aEloquently written. . . . Highly Recommended.a--"G.R. Thursby,
Choice"
aLongtime Hare Krishna observer Rochford shows that devotees,
formerly known for their public chanting and controversial
fundraising practices, have largely moved out of the temples, taken
jobs, and established nuclear families. Using survey data and
extensive interviews, Rochford investigates the attitudes of the
original members' children (some of whom suffered abuse in the
early Hare Krishna schools), the changing roles of women, differing
modes of affiliation with the organization, and the increasing
influence of Indian Hindu immigrants in what is formally known as
the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). His
findings are generally clear and convincing, and he lets the
devotees speak for themselves in frequent quotes. . . . This story
of accommodation within a movement that forged its identity through
strict rejection of secular culture provides valuable insight into
how new religions evolve.a
--"Publishers Weekly"
"Burke Rochford is the most notable scholarly interpreter of
Krishna Consciousness in America, and Hare Krishna Transformed is
the most insightful and informative book written on the
organizational evolution of the movement."
--David G. Bromley, Virginia Commonwealth University
Most widely known for its adherents chanting "Hare Krishna" and
distributing religious literature on the streets of American
cities, the Hare Krishna movement was founded in New York City in
1965 by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Formally known as the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON, it is
based on theHindu Vedic scriptures and is a Western outgrowth of a
popular yoga tradition which began in the 16th century.
In its first generation ISKCON actively deterred marriage and
the nuclear family, denigrated women, and viewed the raising of
children as a distraction from devotees' spiritual
responsibilities. Yet since the death of its founder in 1977, there
has been a growing women's rights movement and also a highly
publicized child abuse scandal. Most strikingly, this movement has
transformed into one that now embraces the nuclear family and is
more accepting of both women and children, steps taken out of
necessity to sustain itself as a religious movement into the next
generation. At the same time, it is now struggling to contend with
the consequences of its recent outreach into the India-born
American Hindu community.
Based on three decades of in-depth research and participant
observation, Hare Krishna Transformed explores dramatic changes in
this new religious movement over the course of two generations from
its founding.
Featuring chapters by an international team of leading scholars in
the field, this is a comprehensive reference guide to Hindu
Studies. "The Continuum Companion to Hindu Studies" offers the
definitive guide to Hinduism and study in this area. This book
covers all the most pressing and important themes and categories in
the field - areas that have continued to attract interest
historically as well as topics that have emerged more recently as
active areas of research. Seventeen specially commissioned essays
from an international team of experts reveal where important work
continues to be done in the field and, valuably, how the various
topics intersect through detailed reading paths. Featuring a series
of indispensible research tools, including a detailed list of
resources, chronology and diagrams summarizing content, this is the
essential reference tool for anyone working in Hindu Studies. "The
Continuum Companions series" is a major series of single volume
companions to key research fields in the humanities aimed at
postgraduate students, scholars and libraries. Each companion
offers a comprehensive reference resource giving an overview of key
topics, research areas, new directions and a manageable guide to
beginning or developing research in the field. A distinctive
feature of these series is that each companion provides practical
guidance on advanced study and research in the field, including
research methods and subject-specific resources.
This fascinating and innovative book explores the relationship
between the philosophical underpinnings of Advaita Vedanta, Zen
Buddhism and the experiential journey of spiritual practitioners.
Taking the perspective of the questioning student, the author
highlights the experiential deconstructive processes that are
ignited when students' "everyday" dualistic thought structures are
challenged by the non-dual nature of these teachings and practices.
Although Advaita Vedanta and Zen Buddhism are ontologically
different, this unique study shows that in the dynamics of the
practice situation they are phenomenologically similar. Distinctive
in scope and approach Advaita Vedanta and Zen Buddhism:
Deconstructive Modes of Spiritual Inquiry examines Advaita and Zen
as living practice traditions in which foundational non-dual
philosophies are shown "in action" in contemporary Western practice
situations thus linking abstract philosophical tenets to concrete
living experience. As such it takes an important step toward
bridging the gap between scholarly analysis and the experiential
reality of these spiritual practices. >
Contemporary debates on "mansplaining" foreground the authority
enjoyed by male speech, and highlight the way it projects listening
as the responsibility of the dominated, and speech as the privilege
of the dominant. What mansplaining denies systematically is the
right of women to speak and be heard as much as men. This book
excavates numerous instances of the authority of female speech from
Indian goddess traditions and relates them to the contemporary
gender debates, especially to the issues of mansplaining and
womansplaining. These traditions present a paradigm of female
speech that compels its male audience to reframe the configurations
of "masculinity." This tradition of authoritative female speech
forms a continuum, even though there are many points of disjuncture
as well as conjuncture between the Vedic, Upanishadic, puranic, and
tantric figurations of the Goddess as an authoritative speaker. The
book underlines the Goddess's role as the spiritual mentor of her
devotee, exemplified in the Devi Gitas, and re-situates the female
gurus in Hinduism within the traditions that find in Devi's speech
ultimate spiritual authority. Moreover, it explores whether the
figure of Devi as Womansplainer can encourage a more dialogic
structure of gender relations in today's world where female voices
are still often undervalued.
Many persons have written the Mantras, Stotras, Stuti, Chalisa and
Aarti in English but this is the first time that they have been
written in English rhyme. The Author, Munindra Misra has covered
the most popular Hindu Gods and Goddesses and thus made it easier
for people to comprehend the meaning and also appreciate the same
in rhyme. The Deities covered are Lord Ganesh, Lord Shiv, Lord
Vishnu, Lord Krishna, Lord Ram, Lord Hanuman, Lord Shani, Ma
Gayatri, Ma Durga, Ma Laxmi, Ma Mahakali, Ma Saraswati, Ma Ganga
and Ma Santoshi and others. A general understanding of each deity
has also been written by the author in English rhyme as a primer to
each Deity.
Ren Gunon's Introduction to the Study of Hindu Doctrines can serve
as an introduction to all his later works-especially those which,
like Man and His Becoming according to the Vedanta, The Symbolism
of the Cross, The Multiple States of the Being, and Studies in
Hinduism, expound the more profound aspects of metaphysical
doctrines in greater detail. In Part I Guenon clears away certain
ingrained prejudices inherited from the 'Renaissance', with its
adulation of the Greco-Roman culture and its compensating
depreciation-both deliberate and instinctive-of other
civilizations. In Part II he establishes the fundamental
distinctions between various modes of thought and brings out the
real nature of metaphysical or universal knowledge-an understanding
of which is the first condition for the personal realization of
that 'Knowledge' which partakes of the Absolute. Words like
'religion', 'philosophy', 'symbolism', 'mysticism', and
'superstition', are here given a precise meaning. Part III presents
a more detailed examination of the Hindu doctrine and its
applications at different levels, leading up to the Vedanta, which
constitutes its metaphysical essence. Lastly, Part IV resumes the
task of clearing away current misconceptions, but is this time
concerned not with the West itself, but with distortions of the
Hindu doctrines that have arisen as a result of attempts to read
into them, or to graft onto them, modern Western conceptions. The
concluding chapter lays down the essential conditions for any
genuine understanding between East and West, which can only come
through the work of those who have attained, at least in some
degree, to the realization of 'wisdom uncreate'-that intellective,
suprarational knowledge called in the East jana, and in the West
gnosis.
The translator's idea of rendering the Upanishads into clear simple
English, accessible to Occidental readers, had its origin in a
visit paid to a Boston friend in 1909. The gentleman, then battling
with a fatal malady, took from his library shelf a translation of
the Upanishads and, opening it, expressed deep regret that the
obscure and unfamiliar form shut from him what he felt to be
profound and vital teaching. The desire to unlock the closed doors
of this ancient treasure house, awakened at that time, led to a
series of classes on the Upanishads at The Vedanta Centre of Boston
during its early days in St. Botolph Street. The translation and
commentary then given were trans-cribed and, after studious
revision, were published in the Centre's monthly magazine, "The
Message of the East," in 1913 and 1914.. Still further revision has
brought it to its present form.
This excellent book represents one of the first and best
presentations of Eastern wisdom in the English language. It
concerns ancient Hindu traditions and the Yogic practice of
observing and regulating the breath. We begin with an admission
that Western students are often confused by what exactly Yoga is,
and what it is meant to accomplish. Stereotypes of the yogi as
spindly, dirty and disheveled men commonly seen sitting in fixed
posture at a roadside or marketplace abound. Yet these dismissive
images serve only to neglect the spiritual substance and ancient
wisdom of yogi science. Seeking to dispel the negative stereotypes
and present the vivid truth, Atkinson discusses the multiple
schools of yoga and their general purpose. Some emphasize control
over the body's motions, while others favor inner development of
the spirit. Several however emphasize the control of the breath;
and it a practical explanation of this that Atkinson relays in the
remaining fifteen chapters of this book.
Studies in Hinduism consists of articles published posthumously, to
which has been added Ren Gunon's separate study, Eastern
Metaphysics, the text of a lecture delivered at the Sorbonne. In
this work Gunon completes his presentation of Hindu metaphysics,
which he considered the most primordial and comprehensive body of
spiritual teaching possessed by the human race, one capable of
throwing light upon and illuminating the essence of every other
Tradition. Of special interest are three chapters on various
aspects of tantra-a doctrine profoundly misunderstood in the
contemporary West-which Hindu authorities consider the spirituality
most appropriate to the Kali Yuga, as well as a chapter on the
sanatana dharma, the Hindu concept closest to the ancient and
medieval Christian idea of the philosophia perennis, which led St
Augustine to declare that Christianity has always existed, but only
came to be so called after the coming of Christ. Included are
extensive reviews of books on Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramana Maharshi,
Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo Ghose, Rabindranath Tagore, Mircea
Eliade, Paul Brunton, and others, as well as 40 pages of reviews of
books and articles by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. Leading Indian
thinkers have called Gunon the most authentic expositor of Hindu
metaphysics in any Western language.
Muthuraj Swamy provides a fresh perspective on the world religions
paradigm and 'interreligious dialogue'. By challenging the
assumption that 'world religions' operate as essential entities
separate from the lived experiences of practitioners, he shows that
interreligious dialogue is in turn problematic as it is built on
this very paradigm, and on the myth of religious conflict. Offering
a critique of the idea of 'dialogue' as it has been advanced by its
proponents such as religious leaders and theologians whose aims are
to promote inter-religious conversation and understanding, the
author argues that this approach is 'elitist' and that in reality,
people do not make sharp distinctions between religions, nor do
they separate political, economic, social and cultural beliefs and
practices from their religious traditions. Case studies from
villages in southern India explore how Hindu, Muslim and Christian
communities interact in numerous ways that break the neat
categories often used to describe each religion. Swamy argues that
those who promote dialogue are ostensibly attempting to overcome
the separate identities of religious practitioners through
understanding, but in fact, they re-enforce them by encouraging a
false sense of separation. The Problem with Interreligious
Dialogue: Plurality, Conflict and Elitism in Hindu-Christian-Muslim
Relations provides an innovative approach to a central issue
confronting Religious Studies, combining both theory and
ethnography.
|
You may like...
In Too Deep
Lee Child, Andrew Child
Paperback
R395
R365
Discovery Miles 3 650
Mimic
Daniel Cole
Paperback
R355
R187
Discovery Miles 1 870
The Edge
David Baldacci
Paperback
R427
R402
Discovery Miles 4 020
|