Contemplative Studies and Hinduism - Sherma, Rita D.; Bilimoria, Purushottama; (ed.) - Prospero Internet Bookshop

Contemplative Studies and Hinduism

Meditation, Devotion, Prayer, and Worship
 
Edition number: 1
Publisher: Routledge India
Date of Publication:
 
Normal price:

Publisher's listprice:
GBP 45.99
Estimated price in HUF:
24 144 HUF (22 995 HUF + 5% VAT)
Why estimated?
 
Your price:

19 316 (18 396 HUF + 5% VAT )
discount is: 20% (approx 4 829 HUF off)
Discount is valid until: 31 December 2024
The discount is only available for 'Alert of Favourite Topics' newsletter recipients.
Click here to subscribe.
 
Availability:

Estimated delivery time: In stock at the publisher, but not at Prospero's office. Delivery time approx. 3-5 weeks.
Not in stock at Prospero.
Can't you provide more accurate information?
 
  Piece(s)

 
Short description:

This book surveys the major types and categories of Hindu contemplative praxis. It explores diverse spiritual and religious practices within the Hindu traditions and Indic hermeneutical perspectives to understand the intricate culture of meditative communion and contemplation, devotion, spiritual formation, prayer, ritual, and worship.

Long description:

This book is one of the first wide-ranging academic surveys of the major types and categories of Hindu contemplative praxis. It explores diverse spiritual and religious practices within the Hindu traditions and Indic hermeneutical perspectives to understand the intricate culture of meditative communion and contemplation, devotion, spiritual formation, prayer, ritual, and worship. The volume extends and expands the conceptual reach of the fields of Contemplative Studies and Hindu Studies.



The chapters in the volume cover themes in Hindu contemplative experience from various texts and traditions including classical S??khya and Pata?jali Yoga, the Bh?gavata Pur??a, the role of S?dhana in Advaita Ved?nta, Śr?vidy? and the Śr?cakra, the body in Tantra, the semiotics and illocution of Gau??ya Vai??ava s?dhana, mantra in M?m??s?, Vai??ava liturgy, as well as cross-cultural reflections and interreligious comparative contemplative praxis. The volume presents indigenous vocabulary and frameworks to examine categories and concerns particular to the Hindu contemplative traditions. It traces patterns that cut across Hindu traditions and systems and discusses contrasting methods of different theological/philosophical schools evincing a strong plurality in Hindu religious thought and practice. The volume provides intra-religious comparisons that reveal internal complexity, nuances, and a variety of contemplative states and transformative practices that exist under the rubric of Hindu practices of interiority and reflection.



With key insights on forms and functions of the contemplative experience along with their theologies and philosophies, the volume suggests new hermeneutical directions that will advance the field of contemplative studies. This book will be useful to scholars and researchers of religious and theological studies, contemplative studies, Hindu studies, consciousness studies, yoga studies, Indian philosophy and religion, sociology of religion, philosophy of religion, comparative religion, and South Asian studies, as well as general readers interested in the topic.



?The essays in this brilliant volume offer me as a teacher and researcher a welcome complexity in the study of Hinduism as a rich source. The researchers? perspectives are drawn from the extensive reserves of philosophical/theological considerations of both ancient and contemporary Hindu traditions.?



Joanne Punzo Waghorne, Professor of Religion, Syracuse University, NY, USA



?


?Contemplative Studies and Hinduism is a stimulating intellectual endeavor wherein the editors Rita D. Sherma and Purushottama Bilimoria have brilliantly presented a unique landscape in the horizon of cross-cultural contemplative studies with the help of fourteen polyvalent brushes in Hinduism. It will go a long way in augmenting afresh the nascent discipline of cross-cultural and hermeneutically symbiotic study of contemplative practices in Hinduism. This engaging work appears like an intellectual churning of the ocean: samudra manthanam!?



Devasia M. Antony, Department of Philosophy, Hindu College, Delhi University, India



?


?India?s great reservoir of living religious traditions is best known for colorful public practices because they are visible and memorable. The inwardly-oriented realm of contemplative religious life is more hidden, so it is less well-known and less studied and reported. This new anthology, Contemplative Studies and Hinduism, represents a significant breakthrough?it makes accessible a deeper understanding of various forms of contemplation in India. Thus, it fulfills a major need in Hindu Studies, offering as it does insightful portrayals of the quite different approaches and rationales. Respected specialists in each of the major traditions make this well-researched volume a memorable landmark in the field and an important contribution in Contemplative Studies. Their discussions of meditative modes used by Hindu aspirants inform this unique book, examining philosophies and practices such as meditation, mantra, prayer, music, devotion and spiritual knowledge. Contemplative Studies and Hinduism offers an invaluable resource for scholars and practitioners alike.?



William J. Jackson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Religious Studies, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, Indiana, USA



?


?This volume performs a significant service to the field of contemplative studies. It raises the bar for the comparative endeavor that anchors the field. The authors define general terms for comparing contemplative practices across traditions, then define specific terms for comparative discourse within the sweep of Hindu traditions. Elucidating this internal diversity within a given tradition makes contemplative studies stronger by putting the real challenge on the table, clarifying the complexity with which this fundamentally comparative, cross-cultural field must reckon.?



Dan Moseson, Career & Professional Development Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Table of Contents:

1. Contemplative Studies and the Principles and Practices of Hindu Contemplative Life: An Introduction Rita D. Sherma Part I. Contemplative Practice: Cross-Cultural and Interreligious Considerations 2. On Creating a Contemplative Studies Program in the Southwest Andrew O. Fort 3. Contemplative Experience: An Interdharma Comparative Reflection Rita D. Sherma Part II. Contemplation and Yoga Praxis 4. Why Meditate on God? The Role of ?śvara-pra?idh?na in the Classical S??khya and Yoga Tradition Marzenna Jakubczak 5. Emotional and Devotional Union: A Bh?gavata Theology of Oneness Gopal K. Gupta 6. Sri Chinmoy on the Nature and Goals of Contemplative Practice Kusumita P. Pedersen Part III. S?dhana: Knowledge, Wonder, and Love 7. The Role of S?dhan? in Advaita Ved?nta Varun Khanna 8. The Instability of Non-Dual Knowing: Post-Gnosis S?dhana in Vidy?ra?ya?s Advaita Ved?nta James Madaio 9. Śr?vidy?: A Ś?kta Model of Esoteric S?dhan? of the Śr?cakra Madhu Khanna 10. The Body and Wonder in Tantra Loriliai Biernacki 11. Semiotics and Illocution in Gau??ya S?dhana Cogen Bohanec Part IV. Prayer, Worship, and Ritual 12. Prayer and Worship in the Ascetics of the Ramananda Sampraday Ramdas Lamb 13. M?ntric Effect, Effervescent Devat?-s, Noetic Supplications, and Ap?rva in the M?m??s? Purushottama Bilimoria 14. Prayer and Worship through Music and Liturgy in North Indian Vai??ava Traditions Guy L. Beck