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Category Archives: yoga
Tantra Symposium in Rome
On October 17, the Jesuits in Rome will be hosting a scholarly symposium on Tantrism (Hindu and Buddhist) and Christian meditation/contemplation. This will be my first time back in Italy since I returned permanently to our monasteries in California (Incarnation … Continue reading
Ascent to the depths
“Ascent to the depths of the heart”: this phrase is the title of the published diaries of the monk Henri Le Saux, who in India was known as Swami Abhishiktananda. Actually, the English translation of the book says “depth” in … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, faith as hope, India, inter-spirituality, Jesus, yoga
Tagged Abhishiktananda, ascension, heart, Jesus, liturgy, love, Shantivanam, yoga
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Christian meditation, yoga practice, ‘intention’
8. Alternatives to Yoga: John Main’s meditation movement and his initial Hindu inspiration; Centering Prayer; the use of mantras; the Christian embrace of the Hindu greeting gesture, the namaskara. American devotees of Hindu gurus who have converted to the Catholic … Continue reading
From West to East: Vedic America returns to India
7. From West to East: Western scholarship and comparative religious studies and their influence in India: Raimon Panikkar; Mircea Eliade and the Chicago school. The controversy surrounding Jeffrey J. Kripal’s reading of Sri Ramakrishna. The work of Georg Feuerstein on … Continue reading
Posted in dialogue, Hinduism, India, inter-spirituality, yoga
Tagged Bede Griffiths, Caste, Daya Mata, Henri Le Saux, Hindu, Indology, Jules Monchanin, kriyaban, mircea eliade, Raimon Pannikkar, Scholars, Wayne Teasdale, Yogoda Sat-Sanga
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Hinduism in Anglo-American cinema
5. Hinduism in Anglo-American cinema (e.g. “The Razor’s Edge”, “Around the World in Eighty Days”, “A Passage to India”) and pop culture; Reincarnation for the masses; Health-club Yoga; rock-stars and transcendental meditators; is the culture itself ‘spiritual but not religious’? … Continue reading
Yogananda, S.R.F., and other offshoots of Yogananda’s mission
4. Yogananda’s idea of ‘Christianity’ as opposed to ‘Churchianity’ (this expression was first used by Vivekananda). Offshoots of Yogananda’s mission, whether institutional or charismatic: Self-Realization Fellowship, Kriyananda and his Ananda Community, Roy Eugene Davis. The opposition between Christianity and Churchianity … Continue reading
Posted in dialogue, Hinduism, India, inter-spirituality, yoga
Tagged Ananda Community, Churchianity, Daya Mata, Kriya Yoga, Kriyananda, Roy Eugene Davis, Self-Realization Fellowship, Yogananda
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Vedic America
The following is a draft of the syllabus for a new course that I’ll be teaching next January (N.B.: I revised this syllabus on June 5, 2012). Hinduism in American philosophy and culture, following the historical outline of Philip Goldberg’s … Continue reading
January 2012 course
The following is the syllabus for the course I taught this January at the JST, which is the Berkeley branch of Santa Clara University. DHARMA, YOGA, TANTRA This course will offer a broad historical view of the constant interaction between … Continue reading
The Ethics of Yoga and the Rule of Benedict
The following is a talk I gave in Rome, to a gathering of monastics, on June 10, 2011. Comparing the incomparable The title of this lecture is not properly academic. One might see it on a poster at a street … Continue reading
Posted in dialogue, India, inter-spirituality, monastic life, yoga
Tagged chastity, ethics, love, monastic, non-violence, Patanjali, sutras, yoga
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Ashram Diary 