Backdoor Hinduism: a recoding in the language of spirituality
At the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions, Swami Vivekananda spoke as a member of the Hindu delegation and famously declared, "I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Univ.
2011
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| In: |
Nidān
Year: 2011, Volume: 23, Issue: 1, Pages: 53-71 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | At the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions, Swami Vivekananda spoke as a member of the Hindu delegation and famously declared, "I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true."But contemporary transnational gurus who have followed in his wake appear to be much less proud to belong to any one religion. Instead, many rely on the more universalistic language of "spirituality" as the cornerstone of their global messages and diminish their self-identification with the term "religion" in their discourses. This article analyzes the discourses and practices of one such transnational guru figure, Amritanandamayi Ma, (b. 1953 aka "Amma" meaning "mother"). Herein I argue that like many of her contemporaries, Amma uses the language of spirituality to appeal to global audiences despite the fact that her practices are distinctly Hindu. |
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| ISSN: | 2414-8636 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Nidān
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.58125/nidan.2011.1 |