The Brahma Kumaris as a ‘Reflexive Tradition’ PDF Download

Author: John Walliss
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351742450
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
This title was first published in 2002. Drawing on primary research on the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, a millenarian New Religious Movement of Indian origin, this book examines the status of tradition in the contemporary world through a critical engagement with the recent social theory of Anthony Giddens on the emergence of a post-traditional society. Wallis examines both the ways in which forms of tradition not only persist but also flourish in the contemporary world and also the manner in which such traditions are drawn on and (re)created by individuals in their ongoing construction of self-identity. Illuminating some of the difficulties encountered when social theory is applied to 'the real world', this book also offers a way of theorising about the status of contemporary religiosity that does not refer directly to the notion of secularisation.

Author: John Walliss
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishe
ISBN: 9788120829558
Category : Brahmakumari
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description
The aim of this book is to examine the status of tradition in the contemporary world, through a critical engagement with the recent social theory of Anthony Giddens on the emergence of a `post-traditional society` using as a case study, the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organisation, a millenarian South Asian New Religious Movement, aims to examine the ways in which forms of tradition not only persist but also flourish in the contemporary world, and the manner in which they are drawn on and (re) created by individuals in their ongoing construction of self - identity. Contents Acknowledgements, Introduction-Responding to Late Modernity, Beyond Tradition and Modernity, Reflexive Traditions and the New Age Religious Life, From World-Rejection to Ambivalence: A Genealogy of the Brahma Kumaris, The Ascetic and the Instrumental: Two Contemporary Renditions of Raja Yoga, Users, Drifters and Searchers: A Typology of Brahma Kumaris, Membership Patterns, Manifesting Ambivalence: The Pursuit of the Millennium, Conclusion-in Search of Post-Traditional Religiosity, Bibliography, Index.

Author: John Walliss
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781315188225
Category : RELIGION
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
"This title was first published in 2002. Drawing on primary research on the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, a millenarian New Religious Movement of Indian origin, this book examines the status of tradition in the contemporary world through a critical engagement with the recent social theory of Anthony Giddens on the emergence of a post-traditional society. Wallis examines both the ways in which forms of tradition not only persist but also flourish in the contemporary world and also the manner in which such traditions are drawn on and (re)created by individuals in their ongoing construction of self-identity. Illuminating some of the difficulties encountered when social theory is applied to 'the real world', this book also offers a way of theorising about the status of contemporary religiosity that does not refer directly to the notion of secularisation."--Provided by publisher.

Author: Frank Whaling
Publisher: Dunedin Academic Press
ISBN: 9781903765517
Category : Brahmakumari
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The Brahma Kumaris are a new spiritual tradition. The movement currently has over 450,000 worldwide adherents in more than 100 countries. As with all spiritual traditions, the Brahma Kumaris are different, bewildering, and fascinating in their newness and in their complexity. In 1936, in Hyderabad, India, a millionaire diamond merchant named Lekhraj Khubchand began to have visions at around the age of 60. The visions led him to hold meetings in his own home which were attended mainly by women. This was the beginning of the Brahma Kumaris. Dada Lekhraj, as he became affectionately known, used his fortune to set up a trust composed of 11 women. One of the young women, who became known as Om Radhe, became the leader of the new movement, while Dada Lekhraj remained a key figure. Following the Partition, the Brahma Kumaris moved to Mount Abu in Rajasthan, India, and this remains their headquarters. Through phenomenology, this book examines the Brahma Kumari tradition. Phenomenology involves firstly putting one's own world-view aside in order to understand the world-view of others. Applying 'epoche' (to avoid bias) and 'empathy' (to engage sympathetically), the objective of this study is to understand the Brahma Kumaris, as far as is possible, from within. The book, along with others in the Understanding Faith series by Dunedin Academic Press, is intended for students of comparative religion and is a basic source of essential information about the major world faiths in the 21st century for those who seek to understand this aspect of influence on our lives today. (Series: Understanding Faith)

Author: Lenore Manderson
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400729316
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Unique local transformations of the practice of established religions in Asia and the Pacific are juxtaposed with the emergence of new religious movements whose incidence is growing across the region. In Flows of Faith, the contributing authors take as their starting point questions of how religions manifest outside their cultural boundaries and provide the basis for new social identities, political movements and social transformations. With fresh insights into the globalization of beliefs, their local inflections, and their institutionalization, the authors explore how old and new religions work in different settings, and how their reception and membership challenge orthodox understandings of religion and culture. The chapters – set in Asia, the Pacific, Australia, and the US – illustrate the contrasts and commonalities of these belief systems, and their allegiances and networks in the region and beyond. They include new religious movements – Falun Gong, Brahma Kumaris, the Hare Krishna movement, based in East and South Asia with outreach posts in Australia and the U.S. – and established ‘old’ religions – Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam – that are revitalized and recreated in different settings and places. Flows of Faith describes the transnational reaches of faith. Religious practices and their local manifestations track the movement of peoples, through mission outreach, flight, migration, and pilgrimage. In each new setting, religions are shaped by and in turn shape political and cultural forces, proving that they are resilient and generative, originary and distinctive. The volume is a major contribution, providing readers with a fresh and creative approach into the living experience of religious communities in a contemporary globalised world.

Author: Timothy Miller
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317051246
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
Exploring religious and spiritual intentional communities active in the world today, Spiritual and Visionary Communities provides a balanced introduction to a diverse range of communities worldwide. Breaking new ground with its focus on communities which have had little previous academic or public attention, the authors explore a part of contemporary society which is rarely understood. Communities studied include: Israeli kibbutzim, Mandarom, the Twelve Tribes, ’The Farm’ and the Camphill movement. Written from a range of perspectives, this collection includes contributions from members of the groups themselves, former members, and academic observers, and as such will offer a unique and invaluable discussion of religious and spiritual communities in the U.S., Europe, and beyond.

Author: Felix Wilfred
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030607380
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 383

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Book Description
This book offers a comprehensive and interdisciplinary account of religious identities in the Global South. Drawing on literature in various fields, Felix Wilfred analyzes how religious identities intersect with the processes of globalization, modernity, and postmodernity. He illustrates how the study of religion in the Global North often revolves around questions of secularism and fundamentalism, whereas a neo-Orientalist quality often attends study of religion in the Global South. These approaches and theorizing fail to incorporate the experiences of lived religion in the South, especially in Asia. Historically, the religions in the South have played a highly significant role in resistance to the domination by the colonial forces, an important reason for the continued attachment of the peoples of the South to their religious universe. This book puts the two regions and their scholarly norms in conversation with one another, exploring the social, political, cultural, and economic implications.

Author: Professor Timothy Miller
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN: 1472400682
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
Exploring religious and spiritual intentional communities active in the world today, Spiritual and Visionary Communities provides a balanced introduction to a diverse range of communities worldwide. Breaking new ground with its focus on communities which have had little previous academic or public attention, the authors explore a part of contemporary society which is rarely understood. Communities studied include: Israeli kibbutzim, Mandarom, the Twelve Tribes, ‘The Farm’ and the Camphill movement. Written from a range of perspectives, this collection includes contributions from members of the groups themselves, former members, and academic observers, and as such will offer a unique and invaluable discussion of religious and spiritual communities in the U.S., Europe, and beyond.

Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004432280
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1677

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Book Description
Handbook of Hinduism in Europe portrays and analyses how Hindu traditions have expanded across the continent, and presents the main Hindu communities, religious groups, forms, practices and teachings. The Handbook does this in two parts, Part One covers historical and thematic topics which are of importance for understanding Hinduism in Europe as a whole and Part Two has chapters on Hindu traditions in every country in Europe. Hindu traditions have a long history of interaction with Europe, but the developments during the last fifty years represent a new phase. Globalization and increased ease of communication have led to the presence of a great plurality of Hindu traditions. Hinduism has become one of the major religions in Europe and is present in every country of the continent.

Author: Frances Pine
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 0857450115
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
Focusing on places, objects, bodies, narratives and ritual spaces where religion may be found or inscribed, the authors reveal the role of religion in contesting rights to places, to knowledge and to property, as well as access to resources. Through analyses of specific historical processes in terms of responses to socio-economic and political change, the chapters consider implicitly or explicitly the problematic relation between science (including social sciences and anthropology in particular) and religion, and how this connects to the new religious globalisation of the twenty-first century. Their ethnographies highlight the embodiment of religion and its location in landscapes, built spaces and religious sites which may be contested, physically or ideologically, or encased in memory and often in silence. Taken together, they show the importance of religion as a resource to the believers: a source of solace, spiritual comfort and self-willed submission.