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On the life and works of Veṅkaṭanātha, 1268-1369, Vaishnavite philosopher.
Scholars of religion and seekers in general will find Forms of Krishna: Collected Essays on Vaishnava Murtis to be an informative introduction to Indic philosophy and Vaishnava history, particularly in terms of Krishna’s form and the underlying theological and scriptural background for the worship of his iconic image. For those who are already so informed, many details of Krishna and his worship are unveiled for the first time (at least in the English language), and this is especially so for the much beloved icons explored in these pages, whose full story may be hard to find, even in Sanskrit and Bengali literature. Just as Krishna’s form and its many variants are central to Gauḍīya Vaishnava thought, the entire philosophy of Indian spirituality, including yoga and meditation, can be understood through these forms in both direct and indirect ways. Steven J. Rosen, well known in the field as founding editor of the Journal of Vaishnava Studies, brings his vast learning to bear, as readers are brought into the esoteric world of Vaishnavism.
The temple for the Lord of Vengadam in Tirumala (Andhra Pradesh, India) is one of the richest places of worship in the entire world with ever-increasing popularity, the footfall of devotees on the Seven Hills touching a whopping figure of seventy thousand on weekdays and one hundred thousand during the weekends. The Temple's annual budget hovers around 25 billion rupees. This world record to fame and riches is not without its flip side. The temple has become the focal point for a variety of controversies-some created by the political class, some by historians with an axe to grind, and some more by Hindus with a sectarian outlook. The never-ending dispute is over the identity of the idol as a...
Ancient ideas on sacred sound find a very tangible and lively expression in the practice of kirtan, which is a broad term referring to various forms of devotional singing commonly done in South Asian traditions. Kirtan is a core practice in the Hindu and Sikh faiths that is becoming increasingly popular around the world among people of all ethnicities, thus developing as a transnational and transcultural phenomenon. Indeed, the broader cultural implications and deepening social penetration that this practice has achieved over the past five decades suggest that it is attaining permanent status in the world’s religious soundscape. Sacred Sound and the Transcultural Practice of Kirtan explores the practice of kirtan as it has been re-created in the United States, Canada, and Brazil through multi-sided interactions that generate new cultural patterns in an ongoing process of cross-pollination. Approaching kirtan as a type of ‘technology of the self’, Gustavo Moura combines textual, historical, and ethnographic sources to address the questions of how this practice is adopted and adapted in the Americas and how it has been shaping identities, communities, and traditions.
In the sixteenth century, the saint and scholar Sri Caitanya set in motion a wave of devotion to Krishna that began in eastern India and has now found its way around the world. Caitanya taught that the highest aim of life is to develop selfless love for God Krishna, the blue-hued cowherd boy who spoke the Bhagavad Gita. Although only a handful of poetry is attributed to Caitanya, his devotional theology was expounded and systematized by his followers in a vast array of poetical, philosophical, and ritual literature. This book provides a thematic study of Caitanya Vaishnava philosophy, introducing key thinkers and ideas in the early tradition, using Sanskrit and Bengali sources that have seldom been studied in English. The book addresses major areas of the tradition, including epistemology, ontology, aesthetics, ethics, and history, and every chapter includes relevant readings from primary sources.
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Through the wisdom of ""saints"" and spiritual masters from the worlds religions, Thomas Forsthoefel explores the challenge of recovering our full humanity. Examples drawn from both East and West reflect ways of holiness expressed in compassion, action, serenity, detachment, suffering, and everyday life. These holy teachers are not perfect people. But in their wholeness, they express an authentic ""soulsong."" From them, we may learn the way back to our true selves.
Since the dawn of Philosophy, our ancient seers were into the deep inquiry of the three realities the Brahman, the sentient beings, and insentient objects. The theological system of Sri Rāmānuja’s philosophy, known as Viśiṣṭādvaita, analogous to the Pan-en-theism of Western concept is a school-based on Vedanta which assigns different stages to the Divine body of the God where God is “FAR” from us yet He is very NEAR. His paratva (superiority) is as glorious as His soulabhya (accessibility). He is part of this world and all the rest form His body and He is inseparably intertwined with the rest of the universe. This unique concept is the fulcrum on which the entire Viśiṣṭādvaita revolves.
In the late 1990's, LB Shriver traveled to India as a journalist-seeker to find answers to questions he had about Swami Brahmananda Saraswati. All proceeds from this book will go to Sacred Sun Ministries.