COULD IT BE POSSIBLE?

Could it be possible that there is a way to experience the Creator, the Source of the Universe?

Have you ever wondered just why you are here? What is the purpose of life?

Trevor asked himself the same questions many years ago and this book is the result of gaining some answers to this age-old quest for inner knowledge.

It takes the reader on a journey from conception to enlightenment describing the spiritual experiences of two sixteenth century Christian saints, St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross and two twentieth century Hindu saints - Yogananda and Muktananda.

The author then turns to the Bible, examining the four gospels, with particular emphasis on the deeper and hidden message of Jesus.

Trevor also relates his own spiritual journey and how this has shaped his life.

The book concludes with the possible future for mankind.

This volume examines notions of health and illness in North Indian devotional culture, with particular attention paid to the worship of the goddess Sitala, the Cold Lady. Consistently portrayed in colonial and postcolonial literature as the ambiguous 'smallpox goddess', Sitala is here discussed as a protector of children and women, a portrayal that emerges from textual sources as well as material culture. The eradication of smallpox did not pose a threat to Sitala and her worship. She continues to be an extremely popular goddess. Religion, Devotion and Medicine in North India critically examines the rise and affirmation of the 'smallpox myth' in India and beyond, and explains how Indian narratives, ritual texts and devotional songs have celebrated Sitala as a loving mother who protects her children from the effects, and the fear, of poxes, fevers and infantile disorders but also all sorts of new threats (such as global pandemics, addictions and environmental catastrophes). The book explores a wide range of ritual and devotional practices, including scheduled festivals, songs, vows, pageants, austerities, possession, animal sacrifices and various forms of offering. Built on extensive fieldwork and a close textual analysis of sources in Sanskrit and vernacular languages (Hindi, Bhojpuri and Bengali) as well as on a rich bibliography on the struggle against smallpox in colonial and post-colonial India, the book reflects on the ambiguous nature of Sitala as a phenomenon largely dependent on the enduring fascination with the exotic, and the horrific, that has pervaded public renditions of Indian culture in indigenous fiction, colonial reports, medical literature and now global culture. To aid study, the volume includes images, web links, appendixes and a filmography.

Using original religious-philosophical texts and sociological research, the author explores the various dimensions of the Virasaiva religious tradition. His sociological analyses of the monastic organization and social structure, the family and the community, the roles of women, and the future of the community emphasize the intricate relationship between religion and the social system. This study of a largely unknown religious community demonstrates how the followers of Virasaivism, known as Lingayats, have been adapting to the changing milieu in North America while retaining the religion's core values. Dr. Chekki shows the interplay between tradition and modernity as the Virasaivas attempt to maintain a distinct identity while adopting the ways of modern culture.

Dancing Bodies of Devotion: Fluid Gestures in Bharata Natyam examines how Bharata Natyam, a traditionally Hindu storytelling dance form, moves across religious boundaries through both incorporating choreography on Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, and Jain themes and the pluralistic identities of participants. Dancers traverse religious boundaries by reformulating an aesthetic foundation based on performative rather than solely textual understandings of rasa, conventionally defined as a formula for how to physically craft emotion on stage. Through the ethnographic case studies of this volume, dancers of Bharata Natyam innovatively demonstrate how the rasa of devotion (bhakti rasa), surprisingly absent from classic dance-related texts, serves as the pivotal framework for expanding on their own interreligious thematic and interpretive possibilities. In contemporary Bharata Natyam, bhakti rasa is not just about enhancing religious experience; instead, these dancers choreographically adapt various religious identities and ideas in order to emphasize pluralistic cultural and ethical dimensions in their work. Through the dancing body, multiple religious and secular interpretations fluidly co-exist.

The way people encounter ideas of Hinduism online is often shaped by global discourses of religion, pervasive Orientalism and (post)colonial scholarship. This book addresses a gap in the scholarly debate around defining Hinduism by demonstrating the role of online discourses in generating and projecting images of Hindu religion and culture. This study surveys a wide range of propaganda, websites and social media in which definitions of Hinduism are debated. In particular, it focuses on the role of Hindu nationalism in the presentation and management of Hinduism in the electronic public sphere. Hindu nationalist parties and individuals are highly invested in discussions and presentations of Hinduism online, and actively shape discourses through a variety of strategies. Analysing Hindu nationalist propaganda, cyber activist movements and social media presence, as well as exploring methodological strategies that are useful to the field of religion and media in general, the book concludes by showing how these discourses function in the wider Hindu diaspora. Building on religion and media research by highlighting mechanical and hermeneutic issues of the Internet and how it affects how we encounter Hinduism online, this book will be of significant interest to scholars of religious studies, Hindu studies and digital media.

This book sheds light on the purpose of Hindu dance as devotional. Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall explains the history of Hindu dance and how colonization caused the dance form to move from sacred to a Westernized system that emphasizes culture. Postcolonialism is a main theme throughout this text, as religion and culture do not remain static. MisirHiralall points to a postcolonial return to Hindu dance as a religious and sacred dance form while positioning Hindu dance in the Western culture in which she lives.

One of today's foremost mystics introduces readers to the thought of one of the most important spiritual teachers of the past century.

Bede Griffiths English Benedictine monk and lifelong friend of C.S. Lewis, who was his tutor at Oxford wrote in 1955 to a friend: "I'm going out to India to seek the other half of my soul." There, he explored the intersection of Hinduism and Christianity and was a driving force behind the growth of interspiritual awareness so common today, yet almost unheard of a half-century ago.

Wayne Teasdale, a longtime personal friend and student of Griffiths, provides readers with an intriguing view into the thoughts, beliefs, and life of this champion of interreligious acceptance and harmony. This volume is the first in-depth study of Bede Griffiths' contemplative experience and thought.

Fully exploring the antecedents and development of Griffiths' theory that the Christian mystery can be expressed through the worldview of Hinduism, Bede Griffiths: An Introduction to His Interspiritual Thought is a vital starting point for any spiritual seeker who wants to understand the shared territories of these two great faiths."

Philosophy of The Bhagavad Gita: A Contemporary Introduction presents a complete philosophical guide and new translation of the most celebrated text of Hinduism. While usually treated as mystical and religious poetry, this new translation focuses on the philosophy underpinning the story of a battle between two sets of cousins of the Aryan clan. Designed for use in the classroom, this lively and readable translation: - Situates the text in its philosophical and cultural contexts - Features summaries and chapter analyses and questions at the opening and end of each of the eighteen chapters encouraging further study - Highlights points of comparison and overlap between Indian and Western philosophical concepts and themes such as just war, care ethics, integrity and authenticity - Includes a glossary allowing the reader to determine the meaning of central concepts Written with clarity and without presupposing any prior knowledge of Hinduism, Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita: A Contemporary Introduction reveals the importance and value of reading the Gita philosophically.

Here, in one compact volume, is the episode of the great Hindu epic the Mahabharata known as The Message of the Master or the Song of God, in which Krishna reveals himself to be a god and expounds on the duties of the warrior, the prince, and all those who wish to follow in the path of the divine. This 1907 volume is a compilation of the best English translations available at the turn of the 20th century edited by one of the most influential thinkers of the early New Age movement known as New Thought, which was intensely interested in all manner of spirituality and serves as a succinct introduction to Hindu philosophy. A beloved guide to living a fulfilling life, this is essential reading for those interested in global religion and comparative mythology.American writer WILLIAM WALKER ATKINSON (1862 1932) aka Theron Q. Dumont was born in Baltimore and had built up a successful law practice in Pennsylvania before professional burnout led him to the religious New Thought movement. He served as editor of the popular magazine New Thought from 1901 to 1905, and as editor of the journal Advanced Thought from 1916 to 1919. He authored dozens of New Thought books including Arcane Formula or Mental Alchemy and Vril, or Vital Magnetism under numerous pseudonyms, some of which are likely still unknown today.

Sarasvati assumes different roles, a physical river and a river goddess, then as a goddess of speech and finally that of a goddess of learning, knowledge, arts and music. References to Sarasvati in the Vedas and the Brahmanas, the Mahabharata and the Puranas and her marked presence in other religious orders, such as Buddhism, Jainism and the Japanese religion, form the basis of discussion as regards her various attributes and manifestations. In Jainism, her counter-part is Sutra-devi, in Buddhism it is Manjusri and Prajnaparamita and in the Japanese religion, Benten is the representative goddess. The physical presence of Sarasvati in various iconic forms is seen in Nepal, Tibet and Japan. Tantrism associated with Sarasvati also finds reflection in these religious traditions. Sculptors and art historians take delight in interpreting various symbols her iconic forms represent. The book examines Sarasvati's origin, the course of her flow and the place of her disappearance in a holistic manner. Based on a close analysis of texts from the early Rig-Veda to the Brahmanas and the Puranas, it discusses different view-points in a balanced perspective and attempts to drive the discussions towards the emergence of a consensus view. The author delineates the various phases of Sarasvati's evolution to establish her unique status and emphasise her continued relevance in the Hindu tradition. The book argues that the practice of pilgrimage further evolved after its association with the river Sarasvati who was perceived as divinity personified in Hindu tradition. This, in turn, led to the emergence of numerous pilgrimage sites on or near her banks which attracted a large number of pilgrims. A multifaceted and interdisciplinary analysis of a Hindu goddess, this book will be of interest to academics researching South Asian Religion, Hinduism and Indian Philosophy as also the general readers.

India is frequently represented as the quintessential land of religion. Johannes Quack challenges this representation through an examination of the contemporary Indian rationalist organizations: groups who affirm the values and attitudes of atheism, humanism, or free-thinking. Quack shows the rationalists' emphasis on maintaining links to atheism and materialism in ancient India and outlines their strong ties to the intellectual currents of modern European history. At the heart of Disenchanting India is an ethnographic study of the organization ''Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti'' (Organization for the Eradication of Superstition), based in the Indian State of Maharashtra. Quack gives a nuanced account of the Organization's specific "mode of unbelief. " He describes the group's efforts to encourage a scientific temper and to combat beliefs and practices that it regards as superstitious. Quack also shows the role played by rationalism in the day-to-day lives of the Organization's members, as well as the Organization's controversial position within Indian society. Disenchanting India contributes crucial insight into the nature of rationalism in the intellectual life and cultural politics of India.

Hinduism comprises perhaps the major cluster of religio-cultural traditions of India, and it can play a valuable role in helping us understand the nature of religion and human responses to life. Hindu image-worship lies at the core of what counts for Hinduism - up-front and subject to much curiosity and misunderstanding, yet it is a defining feature of this phenomenon. This book focuses on Hindu images and their worship with special reference to Vaisnavism, a major strand of Hinduism. Concentrating largely, but not exclusively, on Sanskritic source material, the author shows in the course of the book that Hindu image-worship may be understood via three levels of interpretation: the metaphysical/theological, the narratival or mythic, and the performative or ritual. Analysing the chief philosophical paradigm underlying Hindu image-worship and its implications, the book exemplifies its widespread application and tackles, among other topics such as the origins of image-worship in Hinduism, the transition from Vedic to image worship, a distinguishing feature of Hindu images: their multiple heads and limbs. Finally, with a view to laying the grounds for a more positive dialogic relationship between Hinduism and the "Abrahamic" faiths, which tend to condemn Hindu image-worship as "idolatry", the author examines the theological explanation and justification for embodiment of the Deity in Hinduism and discusses how Hinduism might justify itself against such a charge. Rich in Indological detail, and with an impressive grasp of the philosophical and theological issues underlying Hindu material culture, and image-worship, this book will be of interest to academics and others studying theology, Indian philosophy and Hinduism.

Sri Aurobindo was an Indian nationalist, philosopher, yogi, guru, and poet. This book is an enquiry into the integral philosophy of Aurobindo and its contemporary relevance. It offers a reading of Aurobindo's key texts by bringing them into conversation with religious studies and the hermeneutical traditions. The central argument is that Aurobindo's integral philosophy is best understood as a hermeneutical philosophy of religion. Such an understanding of Aurobindo's philosophy, offering both substantive and methodological insights for the academic study of religion, subdivides into three interrelated aims. The first is to demonstrate that the power of the Aurobindonian vision lies in its self-conception as a traditionary-hermeneutical enquiry into religion; the second, to draw substantive insights from Aurobindo's enquiry to envision a way beyond the impasse within the current religious-secular debate in the academic study of religion. Working out of the condition of secularism, the dominant secularists demand the abandonment of the category 'religion' and the dismantling of the academic discipline of religious studies. Aurobindo's integral work on 'religion', arising out of the Vedanta tradition, critiques the condition of secularity that undergirds the religious-secular debate. Finally, informed by the hermeneutical tradition and building on the methodological insights from Aurobindo's integral method, the book explores a hermeneutical approach for the study of religion which is dialogical in nature. This book will be of interest to academics studying Religious Studies, Philosophy of Religion, Continental Hermeneutics, Modern India, Modern Hinduism as well as South Asian Studies.

This is an exploration of contemporary Hinduism, illustrated by case studies from the lived religion. Understanding Hinduism today requires an understanding of how it is practised in the contemporary world. Stephen Jacob's new introduction tackles these central issues, beginning with case studies of the grassroots practice of Hinduism in India and in diaspora communities. He covers issues of singular importance in the modern study of Hinduism, including the importance and role of mass media to this essentially orally transmitted religion. Other major areas covered include the concept of Hindu dharma, particularly in relation to caste, gender and Hindu nationalism, key and often controversial concepts in Hinduism. These useful guides aim to introduce religions through the lens of contemporary issues, illustrated throughout with examples and case studies taken from lived religion. The perfect companion for the student of religion, each guide interprets the teachings of the religion in question in a modern context and applies them to modern day scenarios.

DEITIES AND WORSHIP Contained in the ALBERT PIKE 1872 19 in THE STA3STDABJ3 PRINTINO CO. Louisville CopyrigU, 1930, by The Supreme Council, 33, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America PREFACE. It. is quite uncertain, now that I have this book finished, whether I shall ever care to publish it. It was not commenced for that purpose and it may always remain a monotype, in manuscript. For it has been written as a study, and not as a teaching for myself and not for others. It is not at all the fruit of a meditated purpose, and was not commenced as a diagnosis of the Deities of the Veda, an attempt to discover the distinctive personality and individuality of each, which it afterwards became, and the fruits of itself to myself have been sufficient to reward me abundantly for the labour it has cost. Nothing has ever so much interested me, as this endeavour to penetrate into the adyta of the ancient Aryan thought, to discover what things, principles or phenomena our remote ancestors worshipped as Gods, what Indra, Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, the Agvins, Vayu, Vishnu, SavitJfi and the others really were, in the conception of the composers of the Vedic hymns. It has had a singular charm for me, this inquiry into the true mean ing of the epithets and phrases, often, in appearance, indiscriminately applied to different Deities, often seemingly inappropriate, and the expres sions of a wild and riotous imagination into the true meaning of names and epithets and phrases that became, literally accepted and misunderstood, the sources, seeds or germs of the legendary myths and many of the Deities of the Grecian mythology and theBrahmanic fables and pantheon. And I have felt the most intense satisfaction in deciphering, as it seemed to me I did, these hieroglyphs of ancient Aryan thought in bringing myself into relation en rapport with these old Poets and Philosophers, under standing them in part, and thinking with them in deciphering their hiero glyphics, infinitely better worth the labour than all that are engraved on the monuments of Egypt and Assyria, and in solving one by one the enigmas contained in their figurative and seemingly extravagant language, whose meaning was only to be discovered by beginning with their simplest notions and conceptions, and making the curious processes of their thought my own trying as it were, to be them, intellectually, and to think their thoughts. Thus I satisfied myself that every one of their Deities had for them a perfectly distinct and dear personality and individuality that their ideas were not in the least vague, incoherent or confused that their imagination was perfectly - ell-regulated, and that every epithet and phrase was logically appropriate and correct. So also, upon a partial examination, I found it to be in the ancient Zarathustrian G tMs, which are, I do not doubt, even older than the Vedic hymns. I found in both, the most profound philosophic or metaphysical ideas, which those of every philosophy and religion have merely developed and that, so far from being Barbarians or Savages, the old Aryan herdsmen and husbandmen, in the Indus country under the Himalayan Mountains, on the rivers of Bactria, and, long before, on the Scythic Steppes where they originated, were men of singularly clear and acute intellects, profound thought and an infinite reverence of thebeings whom they worshipped. The inquiry has opened to me an entirely new chapter of the history of human thought, and given me an infinitely higher conception of the Aryan intellect...

This is the first book-length study that explores the history and nature of vrats--votive fasting rites--the role these rites play in the religious lives of Hindu women in North India, and the meanings these women attribute to them.