A History of Modern Yoga: Patañjali and Western EsotericismIn recent years yoga and meditation have become mass-market pursuits in the West. A History of Modern Yoga traces this phenomenon back to its ideological roots in the esoteric circles of late 18th century Bengal, then follows some of its main developments to date. Fully-fledged Modern Yoga, the author argues, started with the publication of Swami Vivekananda's seminal Raja Yoga (1896), in which Patanjali's Yoga Sutras were reconfigured along the lines of a then emerging New Age style of secularised and individualistically oriented religiosity. But what exactly are yoga and meditation as taught and practised today? Many committed practitioners and sympathisers take them to be straight continuations, or even rediscoveries, of ancient South Asian religious practices, but use peculiarly modern ideas when they define them as powerful tools for cultivating one's human potential' and as ultimately aimed at achieving 'self-realisation'. Thus, despite the fact that Modern Yoga encapsulates many religio-philosophical presuppositions (some of which are discussed in this book), it is often characterised as a 'philosophy' or as 'a way of life' rather than as 'religion' per se. In order to map t |
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Page 13
... context . Moving next to an examination of modern Bengali intellectual circles ( mid - eighteenth century onwards ) , a case is made for a strong ( if so far largely unacknowledged ) presence of Western esoteric cur- rents in these ...
... context . Moving next to an examination of modern Bengali intellectual circles ( mid - eighteenth century onwards ) , a case is made for a strong ( if so far largely unacknowledged ) presence of Western esoteric cur- rents in these ...
Page 92
... context of Neo - Vedantic esotericism and of Modern Yoga . Not quite a Neo- Hindu philosopher , not quite a militant nationalist , he nevertheless became a cult figure and a popular ideologue in both fields . Most of all , however , he ...
... context of Neo - Vedantic esotericism and of Modern Yoga . Not quite a Neo- Hindu philosopher , not quite a militant nationalist , he nevertheless became a cult figure and a popular ideologue in both fields . Most of all , however , he ...
Page 161
... context of the present discussion as they have remained foundational in Modern Yoga speculations , especially so in the case of more somatically oriented types of practice . Let us examine how the four basic principles of mesmerism ...
... context of the present discussion as they have remained foundational in Modern Yoga speculations , especially so in the case of more somatically oriented types of practice . Let us examine how the four basic principles of mesmerism ...
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Some notes on terminology | 7 |
3 Imagination and mediations | 22 |
Copyright | |
20 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
A History of Modern Yoga: Patanjali and Western Esotericism Elizabeth De Michelis Limited preview - 2005 |
A History of Modern Yoga: Patañjali and Western Esotericism Elizabeth De Michelis No preview available - 2004 |
A History of Modern Yoga: Patan~jali and Western Esotericism Elizabeth De Michelis No preview available - 2014 |
Common terms and phrases
Acculturation Age religion āsana assimilated aṣṭāngayoga B. K. S. Iyengar become beliefs Bengali body Brahmo Samaj British Chapter Christian classical Hinduism concept contemporary context cultic milieu cultural Datta Debendranath Tagore developments dhyāna discourses discussed divine doctrinal elaborations esoteric esotericism especially example forms Halbfass Hanegraaff 1996 hathayoga healing Hindu Hinduism human ibid ideas ideological India influence intellectual interpretations Iyengar Yoga Keshubchandra knowledge Kopf Light on Yoga LOYSP meditation mesmeric Metaphysical mind Modern Postural Yoga Modern Yoga mysticism nature Neo-Hindu Neo-Vedāntic occultism occultistic Oriental Orientalist Patañjali popular practice practitioners Prana prāṇāyāma psychological quoted Raja Rāja Yoga Ramakrishna movement Rammohan realization religious ritual role Roy's samādhi Samādhi Model Sanskrit schools secular Self-realization Sen's soul spiritual Swami Vivekananda Tagore's teachers teachings theory thought tradition translation types universe Upanisad Vedanta West Western esotericism Yoga Institute Yoga Sutras Yogi yogic