Contemporary Yoga and Sacred Texts

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Susanne Scholz (Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, USA) Caroline Vander Stichele (Tilburg University, the Netherlands)

Contemporary Yoga and Sacred Texts

Susanne Scholz (Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, USA), Caroline Vander Stichele (Tilburg University, the Netherlands)

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Hardback

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English

Routledge
10 September 2024

Oriental & Indian philosophy; Religion: general; Hindu life & practice; Other non-Christian religions

Series: Routledge Studies in Religion

This book explores the textual traditions that authorize the history, legitimacy, and authenticity of today’s physical posture practice. The volume focuses on why and how yoga communities have adopted various texts that they consider sacred or spiritually meaningful. Among the texts discussed are Yogananda‘s Autobiography, Sri Aurobindo's Savitri, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, the Bhagavad Gita, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Upanishads, the Vedas, and the Yoginī Tantra. Famous thinkers included are Aurobindo, Yogananda, Osho-Rajneesh, Sogyal Rimpoche, Charles Johnston, and Howard Thurman. Offering a starting point, the ten chapters address the nature, selection, and function of various ancient and contemporary texts read in contemporary yoga settings. The attention centers on how and why texts are read and for whom they are read. As yoga is practiced in ashrams, yoga studios, gyms, meeting rooms, and even private living rooms, scholarly approaches to investigate the connections between yoga and texts are necessarily diverse.

This volume aims to inspire further scholarship on the reading of texts in past and present yoga communities. The collection demonstrates that textual tradions deserve to be an important part of contemporary yoga scholarship. The volume will, therefore, be of great interest to scholars of religious studies, yoga studies, and Asian studies, as well as those studying sacred texts.

Edited by: Susanne Scholz (Perkins School of Theology Southern Methodist University USA), Caroline Vander Stichele (Tilburg University, the Netherlands)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780367185428
ISBN 10: 0367185423
Series: Routledge Studies in Religion
Pages: 206
Publication Date: 10 September 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Introduction: Why Thinking about Texts Matters in Contemporary Yoga Practice Susanne Scholz and Caroline Vander Stichele 1 Becoming the Inheritors of Mā-Kālī: Sādhana-krīyā and Mokṣa in the Yoginī Tantra Arunjana Das 2 An Exploration of “Crazy Wisdom” in Ancient and Contemporary Buddhist Stories Paul van der Velde 3 Charles Johnston’s Translation of the Yogasūtra Framed by Theosophical Initiation Yves Mühlematter 4 Life, Death and Deathlessness in Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri Daniel Raveh 5 Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi as Sacred Text David J. Neumann 6 Howard Thurman and the Roots of Modern Black Atlantic Yogas James Manigault-Bryant 7 Dynamic Meditation, Shivering Kuṇḍalinī, and Neo-Tantra: Osho-Rajneesh and the Reformulation of Yoga in the Twentieth Century Hugh B. Urban 8 How the Vedas Became the Word of God Hugh Pyper 9 Reading Patanjali's Yoga Sutra like the Bible in Sunday School Susanne Scholz 10 Texts, Teachers, and Traditions of Flemish Yoga Pioneers Caroline Vander Stichele

Susanne Scholz is Professor of Old Testament at SMU Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Texas, United States. Her research focuses on the cultural study of sacred texts, especially the Hebrew Bible. Caroline Vander Stichele is Professor of New Testament and Cultural Impact of the Bible in Western Culture at the Tilburg School of Catholic Theology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands.