Download or read book The Brahma Kumaris as a Reflexive Tradition written by John Walliss and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-11-22 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Brahma Kumaris as a reflexive Tradition written by John Walliss and published by Motilal Banarsidass Publishe. This book was released on 2007 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Brahma Kumaris as a Reflexive Tradition written by John Walliss and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "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.
Download or read book Understanding the Brahma Kumaris written by Frank Whaling and published by Dunedin Academic Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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)
Download or read book Gender and Power in Contemporary Spirituality written by Anna Fedele and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemporary distinctions between religion and spirituality can often be traced to rebellion against hierarchical institutions with biases towards women and minorities that constrain individual freedom. This opposition is carefully addressed in this volume, with greater attention paid to gender and power in the context of contemporary spirituality and how these relate to the distinction between religion and spirituality.
Download or read book Flows of Faith written by Lenore Manderson and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-02-18 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Spiritual and Visionary Communities written by Timothy Miller and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-01 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Religious Identities and the Global South written by Felix Wilfred and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-01-04 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Spiritual and Visionary Communities written by Professor Timothy Miller and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2013-03-28 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Handbook of Hinduism in Europe 2 vols written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-07-27 with total page 1677 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book On the Margins of Religion written by Frances Pine and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2008-03-01 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Evangelical Dictionary of World Religions written by H. Wayne House and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2019-02-19 with total page 792 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With all of the different religions, sects, denominations, and belief systems out there, it can be difficult to separate the facts from mere opinion, especially if one is relying solely on online sources which may or may not be vetted and which often have an ideological or political slant to them. How can we truly understand if we cannot even be sure we are getting the facts straight? In this comprehensive resource, more than 75 evangelical scholars offer a thoroughly researched guide to Christianity, other world religions, and alternative religious views, including entries on movements, theological terms, and major historical figures. Perfect for pastors, students, and anyone who wants ready access to information on today's religious landscape.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Hinduism written by Constance Jones and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 593 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illustrated A to Z reference containing more than 700 entries providing information on the theology, people, historical events, institutions and movements related to Hinduism.
Download or read book Beyond Religion and the Secular written by Wayne Hudson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-11-17 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Deploying a distinctive disaggregative approach to the study of 'religion', this volume shows that spiritual movements with extensive counterfactual beliefs have been much more creative than one might expect. Specifically, Wayne Hudson explores the creativity of six spiritual movements: the Bahá'ís, a Persian movement; Soka Gakkai, a Japanese movement; Ananda Marga and the Brahma Kumaris, two reformed Hindu movements; and two controversial American churches, The Church Universal and Triumphant and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most of these movements have counterintuitive features that have led Western scholars making Enlightenment assumptions to dismiss them as irrational and/or inconsequential. However, this book reveals that these movements have responded to modernity in ways that are creative and practical, resulting in a wide range of social, educational and cultural initiatives. Building on research surrounding the ways in which spiritual movements engage in cultural productions, this book takes the international research in a new direction by exploring the utopian intentionality such cultural productions reveal.
Download or read book The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Sociology of Religion written by Adam Possamai and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2020-02-14 with total page 2399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Sociology of Religion takes a three-pronged look at this, namely investigating the role of religion in society; unpacking and evaluating the significance of religion in and on human history; and tracing and outlining the social forces and influences that shape religion. This encyclopedia covers a range of themes from: • fundamental topics like definitions • secularization • dimensions of religiosity to such emerging issues as civil religion • new religious movements This Encyclopedia also addresses contemporary dilemmas such as fundamentalism and extremism and the role of gender in religion.
Download or read book New Religions 2 volumes written by Eugene V. Gallagher and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2021-02-15 with total page 781 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A valuable resource for students and general audiences, this book provides a unique global perspective on the history, beliefs, and practices of emergent faith communities; new religious traditions; and religious movements worldwide, from the 19th century to the present. New Religions: Emerging Faiths and Religious Cultures in the Modern World provides insightful global perspectives on the emergent faith communities and new traditions and movements of the last two centuries. Readers will gain access to the information necessary to explore the significance, complexities, and challenges that modern religious traditions have faced throughout their history and that continue to impact society today. The work identifies the themes and issues that have often brought new religions into conflict with the larger societies of which they are a part. Coverage includes new religious groups that emerged in America, such as the Seventh-day Adventists, the Latter-day Saints, and the Jehovah's Witnesses; alternative communities around the globe that emerged from the major Western and Eastern traditions, such as Aum Shinrikyo and Al-Qaeda; and marginalized groups that came to a sudden end, such as the Peoples Temple, Heaven's Gate, and the Branch Davidians. The entries highlight thematic and broader issues that run across the individual religious traditions, and will also help students analyze and assess the common difficulties faced by emergent religious communities.
Download or read book Religions of the World 6 volumes written by J. Gordon Melton and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2010-09-21 with total page 3788 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This masterful six-volume encyclopedia provides comprehensive, global coverage of religion, emphasizing larger religious communities without neglecting the world's smaller religious outposts. Religions of the World, Second Edition: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices is an extraordinary work, bringing together the scholarship of some 225 experts from around the globe. The encyclopedia's six volumes offer entries on every country of the world, with particular emphasis on the larger nations, as well as Indonesia and the Latin American countries that are traditionally given little attention in English-language reference works. Entries include profiles on religion in the world's smallest countries (the Vatican and San Marino), profiles on religion in recently established or disputed countries (Kosovo and Nagorno-Karabakh), as well as profiles on religion in some of the world's most remote places (Antarctica and Easter Island). Religions of the World is unique in that it is based in religion "on the ground," tracing the development of each of the 16 major world religious traditions through its institutional expressions in the modern world, its major geographical sites, and its major celebrations. Unlike other works, the encyclopedia also covers the world of religious unbelief as expressed in atheism, humanism, and other traditions.
