Tantra, Ritual Performance, and Politics in Nepal and Kerala
Title | Tantra, Ritual Performance, and Politics in Nepal and Kerala PDF eBook |
Author | Matthew Martin |
Publisher | BRILL |
Pages | 308 |
Release | 2020-08-10 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 9004439021 |
For the first time, Tantra, Ritual Performance and Politics in Nepal and Kerala offers a comparative approach to Tantric mediumship as observed in two locales: Navadurgā rituals in Bhaktapur, Nepal, and Teyyāṭṭam in North Kerala.
Embodied Dependencies and Freedoms
Title | Embodied Dependencies and Freedoms PDF eBook |
Author | Julia A.B. Hegewald |
Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |
Pages | 603 |
Release | 2023-03-20 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 3110979942 |
In der Buchreihe des "Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies" werden Monographien und Tagungsbände, die das Phänomen der Sklaverei und andere Formen asymmetrischer Abhängigkeiten in Gesellschaften untersuchen, veröffentlicht. Die Reihe folgt dabei der Forschungsagenda des BCDSS, die die vorherrschende dichotomische Vorstellung von "Sklaverei versus Freiheit" überwindet. Das Cluster hat dazu ein neues Schlüsselkonzept ("asymmetrische Abhängigkeiten") entwickelt, das alle Ausprägungen von ungleichen Dependenzen (wie etwa Schuldknechtschaft, Zwangsarbeit, Dienstbarkeit, Leibeigenschaft, Hausarbeit, aber auch gewisse Formen der Lohnarbeit und der Patronage) berücksichtigt. Dabei werden auch Epochen, Räume und Kontexte der Weltgeschichte bearbeitet, die nicht der europäischen Kolonisierung ausgesetzt waren (z.B. altorientalische Kulturen sowie vormoderne und moderne Gesellschaften in Asien, Afrika und den Amerikas).
Funeral Culture
Title | Funeral Culture PDF eBook |
Author | Casey Golomski |
Publisher | Indiana University Press |
Pages | 258 |
Release | 2018-06-04 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 0253036488 |
Contemporary forms of living and dying in Swaziland cannot be understood apart from the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, according to anthropologist Casey Golomski. In Africa's last absolute monarchy, the story of 15 years of global collaboration in treatment and intervention is also one of ordinary people facing the work of caring for the sick and dying and burying the dead. Golomski's ethnography shows how AIDS posed challenging questions about the value of life, culture, and materiality to drive new forms and practices for funerals. Many of these forms and practicesnewly catered funeral feasts, an expanded market for life insurance, and the kingdom's first crematoriumare now conspicuous across the landscape and culturally disruptive in a highly traditionalist setting. This powerful and original account details how these new matters of death, dying, and funerals have become entrenched in peoples' everyday lives and become part of a quest to create dignity in the wake of a devastating epidemic.
Lord of the Dance
Title | Lord of the Dance PDF eBook |
Author | Richard J. Kohn |
Publisher | State University of New York Press |
Pages | 404 |
Release | 2001-05-31 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 079149103X |
Richard Kohn's book transports the reader to the high Himalayas for an in-depth look at the inner workings of the three-week long Mani Rimdu festival. This event encapsulates the breadth and depth of the Himalayan Buddhist experience, from the profound practices of Great Perfection meditation to the worship of the gods of the neighboring mountains. The festival uses archaic material as well as prayers written by contemporary lamas, and it entails the preparation of numerous works of ritual art such as man'd'alas constructed of colored sand and sculptures of barley flour and colored butter called tormas. Two days of public performance, a day of spiritual empowerment, and a day of masked dance complete the festival. A description of Mani Rimdu from beginning to end, Lord of the Dance goes on to consider the structure of Tibetan ritual and its place within the history of South and Central Asian religions. In addition, the author discusses ritual as an art form and analyses the transformation of a textual tradition into performance art. Through the small window of the Himalayan festival, the book overlooks the vast horizon of the Buddhist experience.
Buddhism As/in Performance
Title | Buddhism As/in Performance PDF eBook |
Author | David E. R. George |
Publisher | |
Pages | 248 |
Release | 1999 |
Genre | Body, Mind & Spirit |
ISBN |
It Explores The Art And Concept Of Performance In Varied Buddhist Traditions Chinese, Japanese, Sri Lankan And Others. It Explains Theatrical Performances Representing Hinayana, Mahayana And Vajrayana Cultures, With Extensive Endnotes And Bibliographical References.
The Origins of Yoga and Tantra
Title | The Origins of Yoga and Tantra PDF eBook |
Author | Geoffrey Samuel |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 429 |
Release | 2008-03-27 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 1139470213 |
Yoga, tantra and other forms of Asian meditation are practised in modernized forms throughout the world today, but most introductions to Hinduism or Buddhism tell only part of the story of how they developed. This book is an interpretation of the history of Indic religions up to around 1200 CE, with particular focus on the development of yogic and tantric traditions. It assesses how much we really know about this period, and asks what sense we can make of the evolution of yogic and tantric practices, which were to become such central and important features of the Indic religious scene. Its originality lies in seeking to understand these traditions in terms of the total social and religious context of South Asian society during this period, including the religious practices of the general population with their close engagement with family, gender, economic life and other pragmatic concerns.
History and Theory of Knowledge Production
Title | History and Theory of Knowledge Production PDF eBook |
Author | Rajan Gurukkal |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Pages | 391 |
Release | 2018-10-16 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 0199095809 |
Who decides what should be recognized as knowledge? What forces engender knowledge? How do certain forms of it acquire precedence over the rest, and why? Exploring these fundamental questions, this book provides an introductory outline of the vast history of knowledge systems under the broad categories of European and non-European, specifically Indian. It not only traces ontology and epistemology in spatio-temporal terms, but also contextualizes methodological development by comparing Indian and European systems of knowledge and their methods of production as well as techniques ensuring reliability. Knowledge cannot have a history of its own, independent of social history. Therefore, using a vast array of sources, including Greek, Prakrit, Chinese, and Arab texts, the book situates the history of knowledge production within the matrix of multiple socio-economic and politico-cultural systems. Further, the volume also analyses the process of the rise of science and new science and reviews speculative thoughts about the dynamics of the subatomic micro-universe as well as the mechanics of the galactic macro-universe.