
Contemplative Studies and Hinduism
Meditation, Devotion, Prayer, and Worship
Routledge India (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 25. September 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
214 pages
978-0-367-55863-5 (ISBN)
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 Sa?khya and Patanjali Yoga, the Bhagavata Pura?a, the role of Sadhana in Advaita Vedanta, Srividya and the Sricakra, the body in Tantra, the semiotics and illocution of Gau?iya Vai??ava sadhana, mantra in Mima?sa, 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 chapters in the volume cover themes in Hindu contemplative experience from various texts and traditions including classical Sa?khya and Patanjali Yoga, the Bhagavata Pura?a, the role of Sadhana in Advaita Vedanta, Srividya and the Sricakra, the body in Tantra, the semiotics and illocution of Gau?iya Vai??ava sadhana, mantra in Mima?sa, 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.
Reviews / Votes
'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
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Postgraduate
Illustrations
3 s/w Abbildungen, 3 s/w Zeichnungen
3 Line drawings, black and white; 3 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
357 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-367-55863-5 (9780367558635)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Rita D. Sherma | Purushottama Bilimoria
Contemplative Studies and Hinduism
Meditation, Devotion, Prayer, and Worship
Book
08/2021
Routledge Chapman & Hall
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Rita D. Sherma | Purushottama Bilimoria
Contemplative Studies and Hinduism
Meditation, Devotion, Prayer, and Worship
Book
10/2020
1st Edition
Routledge India
€206.30
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Rita D. Sherma | Purushottama Bilimoria
Contemplative Studies and Hinduism
Meditation, Devotion, Prayer, and Worship
E-Book
10/2020
1st Edition
Routledge India
€69.99
Available for download

Rita D. Sherma | Purushottama Bilimoria
Contemplative Studies and Hinduism
Meditation, Devotion, Prayer, and Worship
E-Book
10/2020
1st Edition
Routledge India
€69.99
Available for download
Persons
Rita D. Sherma is Director and Associate Professor at the Shingal Center for Dharma Studies, Chair of the Department of Theology and Ethics, and Core Doctoral Faculty, at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, USA. She is founding Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Dharma Studies.
Purushottama Bilimoria is a Distinguished Research Fellow in Indian Philosophy with the Center for Dharma Studies, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley; Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley; and Principal Fellow in the School of Historical and Philosophical and the Australia India Institute at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Sophia: International Journal of Philosophy and Traditions and is also co-editor of Journal of Dharma Studies.
Purushottama Bilimoria is a Distinguished Research Fellow in Indian Philosophy with the Center for Dharma Studies, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley; Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley; and Principal Fellow in the School of Historical and Philosophical and the Australia India Institute at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Sophia: International Journal of Philosophy and Traditions and is also co-editor of Journal of Dharma Studies.
Editor
Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley CA. USA
Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, USA
Content
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 Isvara-pra?idhana in the Classical Sa?khya and Yoga Tradition Marzenna Jakubczak 5. Emotional and Devotional Union: A Bhagavata Theology of Oneness Gopal K. Gupta 6. Sri Chinmoy on the Nature and Goals of Contemplative Practice Kusumita P. Pedersen Part III. Sadhana: Knowledge, Wonder, and Love 7. The Role of Sadhana in Advaita Vedanta Varun Khanna 8. The Instability of Non-Dual Knowing: Post-Gnosis Sadhana in Vidyara?ya's Advaita Vedanta James Madaio 9. Srividya: A Sakta Model of Esoteric Sadhana of the Sricakra Madhu Khanna 10. The Body and Wonder in Tantra Loriliai Biernacki 11. Semiotics and Illocution in Gau?iya Sadhana Cogen Bohanec Part IV. Prayer, Worship, and Ritual 12. Prayer and Worship in the Ascetics of the Ramananda Sampraday Ramdas Lamb 13. Mantric Effect, Effervescent Devata-s, Noetic Supplications, and Apurva in the Mima?sa Purushottama Bilimoria 14. Prayer and Worship through Music and Liturgy in North Indian Vai??ava Traditions Guy L. Beck