- Department of Religion and Philosophy
Berry College
Mount Berry, GA 30149 - 706-331-1059
Jeffrey S Lidke
Berry College, Philosophy and Religion, Faculty Member
- Religious Studies /Indology, Himalayan Civilization-Nepal, Hindu Shakta Tantra, Kashmir Shaivism, Abhinavagupta, Tantric Buddhism, and 18 moreNeuroscience, Tibetan Buddhism, History of Religion, Mysticism, Cognitive Neuroscience, Contemplative Neuroscience, Contemplative Pedagogy, Comparative Study of World Religions, World Religions, Religious Studies, Indian Classical Music, Tabla, Philosophy and Religious Studies, Theology and Religious Studies, Inter-religious Dialogue, Interreligious Studies, Inter Religious Studies, and History of Religious Studiesedit
- Professor of Religious Studies at Berry College, Lidke earned his M.A. (1996) and Ph.D.(2000) in South Asia Religion... moreProfessor of Religious Studies at Berry College, Lidke earned his M.A. (1996) and Ph.D.(2000) in South Asia Religion and Philosophy from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Colorado (1990). He was a Fulbright Dissertation Fellow to Nepal in the 1996-97 academic year. During his graduate years, Lidke devoted himself to Sanskritic languages, both classical and vernacular, with training from several teachers, including Gerald Larson, Nandini Iyer and Sthaneshwar Timalsina. At both the University of Colorado at Boulder and at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Lidke trained in the hermeneutical methods of religious studies with particular attention to the genealogical lineage of Mircea Eliade (Sam Gill at Boulder and David White at Santa Barbara). Currently, he is chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Berry College where he has taught since 2003. Lidke recently published his sabbatical research on the neuroscience of contemplative practice (_Religions_ 2017) as well as the long overdue _The Goddess Beyond and Within the Three Cities: Śākta Tantra and the Paradox of Power in Nepāla-Maṇḍala_ (DK Printworld 2017).edit
- David Gordon White & Barbara Holdrege (Ph.D. advisors, University of California, Santa Barbara), Gerald James Larson & Ninian Smart (M.A. advisors, University of California, Santa Barbara), Robert C. Lester & Sam Gill (B. A. summa cum laude thesis advisors, University of Colorado, Boulder). edit
A historical, textual and ethnographic examination of Nepalese Sarvamnaya Shakta Tantric traditions, with a particular focus on the Urdhva-amnaya traditions of the Sri Vidya.
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Historical, anthropological and theological analysis of Nepal's Chaṅgu Nārāyaṇa as the universal form (viśvarūpa) of Kṛṣṇa from Bhagavad Gītā 11. Includes table of contents, Preface, Introduction and Chapter 4, "Viśvarūpa Maṇḍir:... more
Historical, anthropological and theological analysis of Nepal's Chaṅgu Nārāyaṇa as the universal form (viśvarūpa) of Kṛṣṇa from Bhagavad Gītā 11. Includes table of contents, Preface, Introduction and Chapter 4, "Viśvarūpa Maṇḍir: Architecture of the Divine".
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Tantric traditions like the Khas kingdom, represent a vision of community (kula) rooted in the affirmation that unification — whether social, political, ritual or mystical — is not a matter of making all people look or think or act or... more
Tantric traditions like the Khas kingdom, represent a vision of community (kula) rooted in the affirmation that unification — whether social, political, ritual or mystical — is not a matter of making all people look or think or act or speak the same things. Rather, unification is rooted in the principle of the mutual co-existence of multiple categories of diversity. Tantric kulas contain a diversity of classes, a diversity of races, a diversity of genders, a diversity of discourses, a diversity of rituals, a diversity of spiritual means, a diversity of leaders, and a diversity of languages, to name a few. The Tantric Khas kings did not construct their ‘territories’ (maṇḍala) with the intention of silencing voices or eradicating preexisting and/or alternative traditions. Rather, they implemented a vision of governance which made possible the experience and demonstration of autonomy and ‘truth’ from multiple points within the maṇḍala-kingdom. The evidence suggests, in other words, that the logic of the maṇḍala is not limited to ritual and mystical contexts exclusively; rather, it applies to — and perhaps even arises out of — the very socio-political and cultural contexts in which Tantric mystical-ritualism arose.
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This paper is a call for the development of a neuroscientific research protocol for the study of the impact of Tantric practice on the autonomic nervous system. Tantric texts like Abhinavagupta’s Tantrālokā map out a complex meditative... more
This paper is a call for the development of a neuroscientific research protocol for the study of the impact of Tantric practice on the autonomic nervous system. Tantric texts like Abhinavagupta’s Tantrālokā map out a complex meditative ritual system in which inward-gazing, apophatic, sense-denying contemplative practices are combined with outward-gazing, kataphatic sense-activating ritual practices. Abhinavagupta announces a culminating “bi-directional” state (pratimīlana-samādhi) as the highest natural state (sahaja-samādhi) in which the practitioner becomes a perfected yogi (siddhayogi). This state of maximized cognitive capacities, in which one’s inward gaze and outward world-engagement are held in balance, appears to be one in which the anabolic metabolic processes of the parasympathetic nervous system and the catabolic metabolic processes of the sympathetic nervous systems are simultaneously activated and integrated. I posit that this neurological “co-activation” is the aim of Tantric practice. Akin to secularized mindfulness and compassion training protocols like Emory’s CBCT, I propose the development of secularized “Tantric protocols” for the development of secular and tradition-specific methods for exploring the potential of the human neurological system.
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Published in: Pacific World--Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, 3.6 (2004): 257-291. In this essay I explore how the relationship between king and Kumārī catalyzes from the political center a complex matrix of... more
Published in: Pacific World--Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, 3.6 (2004): 257-291.
In this essay I explore how the relationship between king and Kumārī catalyzes from the political center a complex matrix of mystico-political power rooted in a Nepalese form of Kaula Śākta tantra called Sarvāmnāya. Sarvāmnāya Śākta Tāntrikas utilize multiple forms of Devī—particularly Bhuvaneśvarī, Dakṣiṇakālī, Kubjikā, Ugra Tāra, Guhyakālī, and Tripurasundarī—to construct a dyadic semiotics of power. Employed on a primary and esoteric level within this system, Devī, the goddess, signifies that singular consciousness-power (cit-śakti) that manifests creation through the flashing forth of her phonemic self (mātṛkātmaka) into a vibrant circle of power, śakti-cakra. On a secondary and exoteric level, Devī functions as a sign of the politico-military power of Nepalese kings. This paper investigates the interplay between these two levels through a study of the correlation of Sarvāmnāya theology, ritual, and yogic practice to the variety of cultural productions in Nepal—including architecture, paintings, music, and public ritual—which function as signs of the king’s right to abide at the center of Nepāla-Maṇḍala.
In this essay I explore how the relationship between king and Kumārī catalyzes from the political center a complex matrix of mystico-political power rooted in a Nepalese form of Kaula Śākta tantra called Sarvāmnāya. Sarvāmnāya Śākta Tāntrikas utilize multiple forms of Devī—particularly Bhuvaneśvarī, Dakṣiṇakālī, Kubjikā, Ugra Tāra, Guhyakālī, and Tripurasundarī—to construct a dyadic semiotics of power. Employed on a primary and esoteric level within this system, Devī, the goddess, signifies that singular consciousness-power (cit-śakti) that manifests creation through the flashing forth of her phonemic self (mātṛkātmaka) into a vibrant circle of power, śakti-cakra. On a secondary and exoteric level, Devī functions as a sign of the politico-military power of Nepalese kings. This paper investigates the interplay between these two levels through a study of the correlation of Sarvāmnāya theology, ritual, and yogic practice to the variety of cultural productions in Nepal—including architecture, paintings, music, and public ritual—which function as signs of the king’s right to abide at the center of Nepāla-Maṇḍala.
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Journal of Indian Research, Vol. 1, Number 4 (October: December 2013): 1-24. Abhinavagupta (ca. 975-1025 C.E.) is the greatest synthesizer of Indian Tantric thought and practice. His works influenced and shaped theoretical paradigms in... more
Journal of Indian Research, Vol. 1, Number 4 (October: December 2013): 1-24.
Abhinavagupta (ca. 975-1025 C.E.) is the greatest synthesizer of Indian Tantric thought and practice. His works influenced and shaped theoretical paradigms in the field of Indian aesthetics, Tantra, literature, and philosophy. In this paper, the author examines the 105 verses of Abhinavagupta’s Paramārthasāra (Quintessence of the Highest Purpose) in which Abhinavagupta articulates his philosophy of absolute monism, known popularly as Kashmir Śaivism. An earlier Paramārthasāra was composed by the South Indian legendary saint, diśeṣa during the sixth century, some four hundred years before Abhinavagupta. Abhinavagupta’s reinvention of this older text indicates the constant transaction of ideas between Kashmir and South India, Vaiṣṇavite and Śaivite sects. The present shape of Indian thought emerged only as a
result of the fusion and appropriation of different thought-streams. A translation of the Paramārthasāra along with an introduction into Abhinavagupta’s Monistic Śaivism has been herewith attempted.
Abhinavagupta (ca. 975-1025 C.E.) is the greatest synthesizer of Indian Tantric thought and practice. His works influenced and shaped theoretical paradigms in the field of Indian aesthetics, Tantra, literature, and philosophy. In this paper, the author examines the 105 verses of Abhinavagupta’s Paramārthasāra (Quintessence of the Highest Purpose) in which Abhinavagupta articulates his philosophy of absolute monism, known popularly as Kashmir Śaivism. An earlier Paramārthasāra was composed by the South Indian legendary saint, diśeṣa during the sixth century, some four hundred years before Abhinavagupta. Abhinavagupta’s reinvention of this older text indicates the constant transaction of ideas between Kashmir and South India, Vaiṣṇavite and Śaivite sects. The present shape of Indian thought emerged only as a
result of the fusion and appropriation of different thought-streams. A translation of the Paramārthasāra along with an introduction into Abhinavagupta’s Monistic Śaivism has been herewith attempted.
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Invited essay for Sutra Journal on the occasion of the 1,000-year celebration of the life and writings of Abhinavagupta.
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The Oxford Journal of Hindu Studies (4: 2011): 248-257. doi: 10.1093/jhs/hir035. In this article, I utilize current scholarship on synesthetic experience as a lens for evaluating the multi-layered cognitive and artistic processes by... more
The Oxford Journal of Hindu Studies (4: 2011): 248-257. doi: 10.1093/jhs/hir035.
In this article, I utilize current scholarship on synesthetic experience as a lens for evaluating the multi-layered cognitive and artistic processes by which Sri Vidya practitioners construct, visualise, and embody the primary symbol of their clan, the Sri Vidya diagram. This diagram is simultaneously a multi-hued visual image and a resounding symphonic field of luminous, reverberating graphemes. By constructing externally and visualising internally a sound field that is not just heard but perceived, the sadhaka generates an embodied poly-sensualised consciousness that is the ritualised means for achieving the aim of his Sakta practice: the recognition of one’s self as
non-distinct from that supreme goddess, Mahatripurasundara, she whose self-emanation as the resounding, luminous Sri Yantra, is itself the emergent cosmos.
In this article, I utilize current scholarship on synesthetic experience as a lens for evaluating the multi-layered cognitive and artistic processes by which Sri Vidya practitioners construct, visualise, and embody the primary symbol of their clan, the Sri Vidya diagram. This diagram is simultaneously a multi-hued visual image and a resounding symphonic field of luminous, reverberating graphemes. By constructing externally and visualising internally a sound field that is not just heard but perceived, the sadhaka generates an embodied poly-sensualised consciousness that is the ritualised means for achieving the aim of his Sakta practice: the recognition of one’s self as
non-distinct from that supreme goddess, Mahatripurasundara, she whose self-emanation as the resounding, luminous Sri Yantra, is itself the emergent cosmos.
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Published in: International Journal of Hindu Studies, vol. 10, issue 3 (January 2006): 35-57. In this essay, I seek to situate myself hermeneutically from both the center and the periphery, to view Nepalese Tantra as an intersection of... more
Published in: International Journal of Hindu Studies, vol. 10, issue 3 (January 2006): 35-57.
In this essay, I seek to situate myself hermeneutically from both the center and the periphery, to view Nepalese Tantra as an intersection of several traditions, a chorus of multiple voices, a maṇḍala of varied hues and multiple patterns. The center itself is the institution of kingship. Kingship speaks in the language of Sanskrit and its Gorkha-birthed dialect, Nepali. The peripheries are the Newar and shamanic cultures which dialogue with, impact, and are in turn shaped by the politicoreligious discourse of the center. In this system the center is ever-shifting. The relationship of the center to the periphery is dynamic, fluid, and interchanging. At the center the king and his network of Tantric priests and gurus speak both an elitist ritual language of Sanskrit and the local dialect Newari. At the peripheries numerous ethnic communities utilize a variety of vernacular languages and distinct ritual patterns that are nevertheless linked to a shared notion of the goddess a maṇḍalic-emblem of kingship, speaking through the ritualized language of blood-sacrifice and possession.
In this essay, I seek to situate myself hermeneutically from both the center and the periphery, to view Nepalese Tantra as an intersection of several traditions, a chorus of multiple voices, a maṇḍala of varied hues and multiple patterns. The center itself is the institution of kingship. Kingship speaks in the language of Sanskrit and its Gorkha-birthed dialect, Nepali. The peripheries are the Newar and shamanic cultures which dialogue with, impact, and are in turn shaped by the politicoreligious discourse of the center. In this system the center is ever-shifting. The relationship of the center to the periphery is dynamic, fluid, and interchanging. At the center the king and his network of Tantric priests and gurus speak both an elitist ritual language of Sanskrit and the local dialect Newari. At the peripheries numerous ethnic communities utilize a variety of vernacular languages and distinct ritual patterns that are nevertheless linked to a shared notion of the goddess a maṇḍalic-emblem of kingship, speaking through the ritualized language of blood-sacrifice and possession.
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Analysis of kundalini-yoga within the Sarvamnaya Tantra system of Nepal, based on ethnographic and textual research conducted in Kathmandu Valley in the 1990s.
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In this essay I explore the connections between the temple-originated dance traditions of Andhra Pradesh, the hermeneutics of rasa articulated in both Tantric and alamkara contexts, and the reflections on the danced-body by contemporary... more
In this essay I explore the connections between the temple-originated dance traditions of Andhra Pradesh, the hermeneutics of rasa articulated in both Tantric and alamkara contexts, and the reflections on the danced-body by contemporary exponents of dance. This presentation reflects preliminary work on a larger book project on the embodied mysticism in Indian arts. In that work I seek to adopt Timalsina’s challenge for an application of a Tantric hermeneutics to Indian culture, an approach that employs the interpretive logic of Tantra via a creative hermeneutics of Indian culture as that field in which the deeper meaning of the symbol is displayed and communally encoded through ritualization (Timalsina 2006).
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A celebration and critical evaluation of Sthaneshwar Timalsina's brilliant book, Tantric Visual Culture: A Cognitive Approach. In this groundbreaking work, Timalsina utilizes the lens of cognitive studies to shed interpretive light on the... more
A celebration and critical evaluation of Sthaneshwar Timalsina's brilliant book, Tantric Visual Culture: A Cognitive Approach. In this groundbreaking work, Timalsina utilizes the lens of cognitive studies to shed interpretive light on the Tantric visualization practices that he knows both as a scholar and lifetime practitioner. Timalsina argues that mastery of Tantric practice requires immersion in the culturally relative metonymic and holographic logic framed by the Tantric ritual texts. The conclusion that arises from his analysis is that Tantric " truths " are bound to the linguistic and cultural systems that frame them. In response, I herewith offer a perennialist critique and argument for a more nuanced consideration of the transcendent " truth " or " being " that is the stated aim of Tantric practice. The mainstream hermeneutic approaches to reading Tantric culture have failed to address the nuanced domains of inscribing and deciphering meanings and images. The argument made here is the cognitive approach gives a new direction and finds meaning beyond the literal. —Timalsina (2015 p. 48) The Wisdom of a Lineage Bearer In his groundbreaking book, Tantric Visual Culture: A Cognitive Approach (Timalsina 2015), professor of Indology at San Diego State University, Sthaneswhar Timalsina, utilizes the lens of cognitive studies to shed interpretive light on the Tantric visualization practices that he knows both as a scholar and lifetime practitioner. Timalsina argues that mastery of Tantric practice requires immersion in the culturally relative metonymic and holographic logic framed by the Tantric ritual texts. The conclusion that arises from his analysis is that Tantric " truths " are bound to the linguistic and cultural systems that frame them. In response, I herewith offer a perennialist critique and argument for a more nuanced consideration of the transcendent " truth " or " being " that is the stated aim of Tantric practice. Sthaneshwar Timalsina is a scholar of uncommon gifts in the field of Tantric studies. Blessed to claim Sanskrit as his mother tongue, Timalsina spent the first 20 years of his life excelling in the traditional fields of Sanskritic learning, including grammar, poetry, aesthetics, Vedānta, Mīmāṃsakā, Yoga-Sāṅkhya and other classical darśanas, as well as multiple traditions of Tantric literature, including Trika Kaula and the Sarvāmnāya tradition of Nepal. When I first met Timalsina in 1997 in Nepal he could already claim being head of the Department of Tantric Studies at Valmiki Sanskrit Campus in Kathmandu, Nepal, despite being barely 30 years old. At that time he was widely regarded by his Nepalese colleagues as a foremost authority on Tantra-vidyā and was extensively
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Reading environmentalist concerns from a Tantric perspective.
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Invited essay for the inaugural issue of Sutra Journal. Semiotic analysis of the Kumārī within Nepal's tantric political and cultural systems.
http://www.sutrajournal.com/royal-kumari-the-goddess-who-peers-through-the-eyes-of-a-child
http://www.sutrajournal.com/royal-kumari-the-goddess-who-peers-through-the-eyes-of-a-child
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Epoche, Journal for the Study of Religions 22 (Fall 2000): 27-32.
In this early essay I apply a Derridean post-theological hermeneutics to the Bhagavad Gita, contrasting Arjuna with Abraham.
In this early essay I apply a Derridean post-theological hermeneutics to the Bhagavad Gita, contrasting Arjuna with Abraham.
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Epoche, Journal for the Study of Religions 19 (1994): 1-27.
In this, my first publication, I analyze Abhinavagupta's writings on Tantric spiritual practice from the hermeneutical perspective of comparative mysticism.
In this, my first publication, I analyze Abhinavagupta's writings on Tantric spiritual practice from the hermeneutical perspective of comparative mysticism.
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A discussion on the connections and disconnections between Christianity and Buddhism with Dale McConkey, Michael Papazian and Michael Bailey
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Interview for AIB-TV program on "Feminine representations of the Divine." November 2012.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlfitj24fC0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlfitj24fC0
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Published in Knut Jacobsen, ed., The Theory and Practice of Yoga: Essays in Honour of Gerald James Larson ( Leiden: Brill, 2005): 143-180. In this essay I utilize Abhinavagupta’s fourfold system of mystical practice (upāya-catuṣṭayam)... more
Published in Knut Jacobsen, ed., The Theory and Practice of Yoga: Essays in Honour of Gerald James Larson ( Leiden: Brill, 2005): 143-180.
In this essay I utilize Abhinavagupta’s fourfold system of mystical practice (upāya-catuṣṭayam) as a heuristic for critiquing certain Western assumptions about the mind/body relationship. Specifically, I examine the hermeneutical limitations one encounters when applying W. T. Stace’s model of comparative mysticism--which gives a Cartesian privilege to the ‘introvertive’ mystical experience of mental inwardness over its ‘extrovertive’ counterpart--to Abhinavagupta’s eleventh-century
Trika-Kaula system. Abhinavagupta’s own discourse on mystical states of consciousness inverts Stace’s model and ultimately collapses the distinction between introvertive and extrovertive. In the preparatory stages of Trika-Kaula practice, the adept harnesses an inward, regressive power (visarga-śakti) in pursuit of an introvertive mystical experience with eyes closed (nimīana-samādhi ). In the later stages, however, the same regressive power is inverted to reveal its progressive side and the Tantric thereby attains an extrovertive experience with eyes opened
(unmīlana-samādhi ). At the culmination of his or her practice the Tantric attains a state of consciousness in which the inner and outer become united in the singular continuum of consciousness. At this ‘no-path’ stage of transcendent experience (bhairavīmudrā) the Self within and the world without are one.
In this essay I utilize Abhinavagupta’s fourfold system of mystical practice (upāya-catuṣṭayam) as a heuristic for critiquing certain Western assumptions about the mind/body relationship. Specifically, I examine the hermeneutical limitations one encounters when applying W. T. Stace’s model of comparative mysticism--which gives a Cartesian privilege to the ‘introvertive’ mystical experience of mental inwardness over its ‘extrovertive’ counterpart--to Abhinavagupta’s eleventh-century
Trika-Kaula system. Abhinavagupta’s own discourse on mystical states of consciousness inverts Stace’s model and ultimately collapses the distinction between introvertive and extrovertive. In the preparatory stages of Trika-Kaula practice, the adept harnesses an inward, regressive power (visarga-śakti) in pursuit of an introvertive mystical experience with eyes closed (nimīana-samādhi ). In the later stages, however, the same regressive power is inverted to reveal its progressive side and the Tantric thereby attains an extrovertive experience with eyes opened
(unmīlana-samādhi ). At the culmination of his or her practice the Tantric attains a state of consciousness in which the inner and outer become united in the singular continuum of consciousness. At this ‘no-path’ stage of transcendent experience (bhairavīmudrā) the Self within and the world without are one.
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Published in Dave Machacek and Melissa Wilcox, eds., Sexuality and the World’s Religions (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2003): 101-132. In this essay I investigate the history of sexuality within Hindu traditions, giving primacy to Puranic and Tantric... more
Published in Dave Machacek and Melissa Wilcox, eds., Sexuality and the World’s Religions (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2003): 101-132.
In this essay I investigate the history of sexuality within Hindu traditions, giving primacy to Puranic and Tantric traditions, but with reference to their Vedic origins.
In this essay I investigate the history of sexuality within Hindu traditions, giving primacy to Puranic and Tantric traditions, but with reference to their Vedic origins.
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Lidke, Jeffrey S. & Jacob Dirnberger. “Churning the Ocean of Milk: Imagining the Hindu Tantric Response to Radical Life Technologies,” in Calvin Mercer and Derek F. Maher, eds., _Religion and the Implications of Radical Life... more
Lidke, Jeffrey S. & Jacob Dirnberger. “Churning the Ocean of Milk: Imagining the Hindu Tantric Response to Radical Life Technologies,” in Calvin Mercer and Derek F. Maher, eds., _Religion and the Implications of Radical Life Extension_ (Palgrave MacMillan, 2009): 176-195.
Nearly all tantric texts assume and champion the importance of the body in the pursuit of spiritual insight. Therefore, we can assume that tāntrikas would, in general, affirm any technology of bodily well-being. To come to a deeper and more nuanced imagining of the tantric response to radical life technologies one needs to understand the basic commonalities and differences in the narratives, doctrines, and practices of the tantric and scientific systems of medical practice. How do they differ? What are their basic assumptions? Where is their common ground?
Nearly all tantric texts assume and champion the importance of the body in the pursuit of spiritual insight. Therefore, we can assume that tāntrikas would, in general, affirm any technology of bodily well-being. To come to a deeper and more nuanced imagining of the tantric response to radical life technologies one needs to understand the basic commonalities and differences in the narratives, doctrines, and practices of the tantric and scientific systems of medical practice. How do they differ? What are their basic assumptions? Where is their common ground?
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Published in Hillary Rodriquez, ed., Studying Hinduism in Practice (New York: Routledge, 2011): 118-130. Hindus recognize an innate connection between their traditional arts, their theological understandings, and the traditions of... more
Published in Hillary Rodriquez, ed., Studying Hinduism in Practice (New York: Routledge, 2011): 118-130.
Hindus recognize an innate connection between their traditional arts, their theological understandings, and the traditions of spiritual practice that link them together. Since the time of the Upaniṣads, Hindus have recognized sound, nāda, as divine, as Brahman (Absolute Reality). A profound tradition of classical music has developed over the past 2,000 years that integrates ancient techniques of yoga with the finest technologies in musical practice, instrument design, and performance. The union of art and spirituality reached its apex in the aesthetic reflections of Abhinavagupta, and other geniuses of Hindu Tantra. In this chapter I reflect on my 20-year study of tablā and Tantra, both in academic contexts here in the United States, as well as in my field research in Nepal, India, Bhutan, and Bali.
Hindus recognize an innate connection between their traditional arts, their theological understandings, and the traditions of spiritual practice that link them together. Since the time of the Upaniṣads, Hindus have recognized sound, nāda, as divine, as Brahman (Absolute Reality). A profound tradition of classical music has developed over the past 2,000 years that integrates ancient techniques of yoga with the finest technologies in musical practice, instrument design, and performance. The union of art and spirituality reached its apex in the aesthetic reflections of Abhinavagupta, and other geniuses of Hindu Tantra. In this chapter I reflect on my 20-year study of tablā and Tantra, both in academic contexts here in the United States, as well as in my field research in Nepal, India, Bhutan, and Bali.
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Published in in Patricia Monaghan, ed., Goddesses in World Culture (Volume 1: Asian and Africa. Oxford: Praeger Press, 2010): 85-98. The identification and worship of prepubescent girls, called kumārīs, as living goddesses has a long... more
Published in in Patricia Monaghan, ed., Goddesses in World Culture (Volume 1: Asian and Africa. Oxford: Praeger Press, 2010): 85-98.
The identification and worship of prepubescent girls, called kumārīs, as living goddesses has a long standing history in South Asia. The Kathmandu valley is home to a vibrant millennium-old tradition of royal kumārīs whose virginal bodies are believed to protect and empower the nation and its citizens. This essay investigates the diverse, yet interrelated myths, liturgies, and ideologies that inform contemporary interpretations of Nepal’s living goddess.
The identification and worship of prepubescent girls, called kumārīs, as living goddesses has a long standing history in South Asia. The Kathmandu valley is home to a vibrant millennium-old tradition of royal kumārīs whose virginal bodies are believed to protect and empower the nation and its citizens. This essay investigates the diverse, yet interrelated myths, liturgies, and ideologies that inform contemporary interpretations of Nepal’s living goddess.
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Volume 36 (2014) of Southeast Review of Asian Studies, co-edited with Dr. John Hickman. With a lead article by Sthaneshwar Timalsina.
http://www.uky.edu/Centers/Asia/SECAAS/Seras/2014/2014TOC.html
http://www.uky.edu/Centers/Asia/SECAAS/Seras/2014/2014TOC.html
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Special issue on South Asia, co-edited with John Hickman. Featuring articles by David Gordon White, Sthaneshwar Timalsina, David Lawrence, Hugh Urban & Kerry Skora.
http://www.uky.edu/Centers/Asia/SECAAS/Seras/2013/2013TOC.html
http://www.uky.edu/Centers/Asia/SECAAS/Seras/2013/2013TOC.html
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Review: David Lawrence’s _The Teachings of the Odd-Eyed One: A Study and Translation of the Virūpākṣapañcāśikā with the Commentary of Vidyācakravartin_ in Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Volume 78, Number 3 (September 2010):... more
Review: David Lawrence’s _The Teachings of the Odd-Eyed One: A Study and Translation of the Virūpākṣapañcāśikā with the Commentary of Vidyācakravartin_ in Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Volume 78, Number 3 (September 2010): 847-849.
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Review of SEEING AND APPEARANCE: HISTORY OF THE ADVAITA DOCTRINE OF DRSTISRSTI. By Sthaneshwar Timalsina. Shaker Verlag GmbH, 2006. Pp. 241. €39,80. ISBN: 978-3-8322-5572-5. Published in: Religious Studies Review (Vol. 34, Issue 1. 2008).
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Journal of Dharma Studies
(October 2018) Volume 1, Issue 1, pp. 185–187
(October 2018) Volume 1, Issue 1, pp. 185–187
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International Journal of Hindu Studies, (2018) 22.2: pp. 368-69
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Published in Chris Chapple, ed., Yoga and Ecology. Deepak Heritage Books. 2009
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Published in: Contemporary Issues in Constructive Dharma, vol. 2 (March-April 2005): 65-82. In this published paper from 2005 I argue that the study of tantric texts in their tantric contexts ought to be guided by the application of a... more
Published in: Contemporary Issues in Constructive Dharma, vol. 2 (March-April 2005): 65-82.
In this published paper from 2005 I argue that the study of tantric texts in their tantric contexts ought to be guided by the application of a hermeneutics derived from the tantras themselves. Such a method is necessarily grounded in the ritual logic of the maṇḍala. Maṇḍala-logic assumes an interweaving of multiple perspectives from within a unified field, whether that field is cognitive or social, ritual or artistic, divine or human. As such, it is a polysemantic interpretive grid interweaving a variety of communities (kulas) at multiple levels within the self-replicating Hindu cosmos. In this way, maṇḍala-logic provides an interpretive mesocosm or intermediating sphere that makes possible the kind of interpretive work necessary for understanding any given ideological system on its own terms.
In this published paper from 2005 I argue that the study of tantric texts in their tantric contexts ought to be guided by the application of a hermeneutics derived from the tantras themselves. Such a method is necessarily grounded in the ritual logic of the maṇḍala. Maṇḍala-logic assumes an interweaving of multiple perspectives from within a unified field, whether that field is cognitive or social, ritual or artistic, divine or human. As such, it is a polysemantic interpretive grid interweaving a variety of communities (kulas) at multiple levels within the self-replicating Hindu cosmos. In this way, maṇḍala-logic provides an interpretive mesocosm or intermediating sphere that makes possible the kind of interpretive work necessary for understanding any given ideological system on its own terms.
Research Interests:
In this paper I reflect on the mind-body relationship as presented in or at least linked to the yogic texts synthesized in this volume. “Yogic body,” a key chapter in this volume, addresses the issue of a visualized body that interacts... more
In this paper I reflect on the mind-body relationship as presented in or at least linked to the yogic texts synthesized in this volume. “Yogic body,” a key chapter in this volume, addresses the issue of a visualized body that interacts with the flesh, creating a mesocosmic platform for a dialogical infusion of the habit-oriented Hathayogic practices and cognitively-focused contemplative practices. The emergent structure of the yogic body also makes a case for the study of yogic tradition through the lens of contemporary cognitive science, with its central focus on the dynamics of the mind-body complex. Exploring the synthesis presented by Mallinson and Singleton, and at times exploring the scope of textual reference outside of these parameters, I explore the contribution yogic traditions can make for the contemporary studies of consciousness and the body. Inspired by McMahan and Dunne, I conclude that the practices that inform the construction of yogic bodies, can be categorized as either Innateist or Constructivist. Innateist tradition employ apophatic strategies for stripping away false concepts (vikalpa) that distort our recognition of Self. Constructivist tradition utilize the imagination powers (bhāvanāśakti) to construct subtle energy worlds and bodies in which the practitioner can roam as a kind of super being. Neurological studies indicate that Innateist yogic practices seem to activate the metabolic processes of the pasympathetic nervous system, associated with rest and regeneration. Constructivit practices seem to activate the metabolic processes of the sympathetic nervous system, associated with bodily activity and the combustion of energy. When simultaneously activated, as in advanced Tantric practices, the autonomic nervous system produces a host of positive neurological registers. I conclude that it is indeed this positive-impact-on-the-body that is the means by which Tantra Yoga makes possible the ultimate recognition of the poure consciousness that is one’s innate Self.
Read at the 2014 Dharma Association of North America Conference in San Diego, this paper comprises two sections. In the opening section I reflect on the semantic relation between “tantra” and “bhakti” asking the question, “To what data... more
Read at the 2014 Dharma Association of North America Conference in San Diego, this paper comprises two sections. In the opening section I reflect on the semantic relation between “tantra” and “bhakti” asking the question, “To what data set do these Sanskrit signifiers refer?” In part two I turn to the case of one particular Tāntrika, the 11th Kaśmirī paṇḍita Śrī Abhinavagupta, and explore the place of bhakti in his Tantric work Quintessence of Supreme Truth (Paramārthasāra). My thesis is that for Abhinavagupta adoration, devotion (bhakti) serves the higher Tantric purpose of self-re-cognition (svātma-pratyābhijñā). As understood by Abhinavagupta, once the innermost Śiva Self is properly cognized then the Tāntrika’s chosen object of worship becomes the very same Self engaged in the act of worship. In this state of non-dual self-worship, lower forms of devotion give way to a gnostic revelation that is the experiences of consciousness rejoicing in its infinite capacity to reflect back upon itself its own irresistibly beautiful revelations.
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The interwoven rhythms of domestic and temple practice in Nepal operate under an indigenous logic of unity-within-multiplicity (bhedhābheda-vāda), grounded in the theological perception that one supreme Goddess has manifested herself as... more
The interwoven rhythms of domestic and temple practice in Nepal operate under an indigenous logic of unity-within-multiplicity (bhedhābheda-vāda), grounded in the theological perception that one supreme Goddess has manifested herself as an embodied cosmos (kula), replete with a multiplicity of tantric gods and goddesses who in turn are embedded in the lands, shrines and homes of Nepāla-Maṇḍala. Just as that Goddess projects creation internally onto the screen of her own being, thus playfully exhibiting that ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ are mutually interwoven, necessary, relative and complementary facets of divine consciousness, so Nepālī tāntrikas intertwine internally-focused meditative and visual practices (antar-yāga) together with externally-oriented liturgical exercises (bahir-yāga) in both their domestic and temple contexts. Whether inwardly-focused or outwardly-focused, and whether in the privacy of their home shrine-rooms or in public display in a temple courtyard or other communal ritual context, these tantric practitioners—be they lay adepts or temple priests—share together a common caste-transcendent identity as adherents of Nepālī Sarvāmnāya Tantra, the Tantra of the Total Revelation, being the composite revelatory system of the six transmissions (ṣaḍāmnāya) associated with the six faces of their Lord Paśupati.
Research Interests:
Today, Newār and non-Newār Nepālī tāntrikas alike identify their tradition as being the tradition that contains the total (sarva) revelation of the six streams of revelation (ṣaḍ-āmnāya) by naming it Sarvāmnāya tantra. In the course of... more
Today, Newār and non-Newār Nepālī tāntrikas alike identify their tradition as being the tradition that contains the total (sarva) revelation of the six streams of revelation (ṣaḍ-āmnāya) by naming it Sarvāmnāya tantra. In the course of their respective spiritual disciplines (sādhanas) Sarvāmnāya tāntrikas seek initiation into each of the six revelations as it is through the cumulative total of all the revelations that one achieves the desired status of being ‘established in all the āmnāyas’ (sarvāmnāya-viśaradā). While no religious populace is ever 100% cognizant of the esoteric meaning of its respective religious practice, it is the case that in Nepal there are a significant number of scholar-practitioners who are indeed well-versed in the deeper meaning of the practices of all the āmnāyas. Given that Nepal not only birthed a good number of texts and traditions—including but not limited to the Guhyakālī tradition of the Northern Revelation—but also has functioned to this day as a proverbial ‘water pot’ for the inflow of the streams of revelation that came from Kashmir, Bengal and Kerala, one therefore cannot over emphasize the impact and value of the Sarvāmnāya tradition for the study and understanding of tantra in South Asia.