In a paper entitled ‘Saints and Heroes’ 1 Professor J. O. Urmson has criticised ‘the trichotomy of duties, indifferent actions, and wrongdoing’ , commonly found in moral philosophy, on the ground that it fails to cover an important class of actions, of which saintly and heroic actions are ‘conspicuous” but by no means the only examples. I am inclined to think that this trichotomy is defensible, and that at least it deserves a much longer run for its money than Urmson (...) gives it. The form in which he presents it, however, makes it more implausible than it need be and this is perhaps the main reason why he finds it so indefensible. (shrink)

Sanskrit text with verse translation in English and Hindi.

Study of the basic concepts of Hindu philosophy and mysticism.

Critical study of Traitavāda, in which Brahman (God), Jiva (soul) and Prakriti (matter/universe) are separate entities that exist eternally, propagated by Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati with reference to Advaita and related philosophy.

Philosophical study of the mantras of Vājasaneyisaṃhitā of Yajurveda, Hindu canonical text.

본 연구는 현대요가의 선구자 중의 한 사람인 쉬리 요겐드라가 현대요가에 끼친 영향을 고찰하였다. 그의 일생을 연대기적으로 서술하면서 요겐드라에게 있어 요가의 의미, 요겐드라에게 미친 서구사상의 영향, 요겐드라 요가가 전통요가를 왜곡한 점과 발전시킨 점, 요겐드라가 현대요가에 미친 영향을 고찰하였다. 이를 통해 현대요가의 발전적 방향을 모색해보고 제안해 보았다. 요겐드라는 요가를 인류의 유전적인 발전에 복무할 수 있는 인도 고대 과학의 기법으로 인식했다. 이를 증명하기 위해 요가의 치유적 효능에 대한 과학적 근거 마련에 힘쓰고, 대중적인 요가 수련의 보급에 앞장섰다. 이런 활동을 통해 그는 인도 전통요가의 신비주의적 (...) 관점을 일반 대중의 눈높이로 끌어내렸다. 그러나 그는 19세기와 20세기 초의 사회진화론과 우생학에 깊은 영향을 받아 유전적인 진화를 진보로 이해하는 서구적 진보의 개념에서 벗어나지 못했다. 이런 사회진화론과 우생학적 관점의 진보 개념은 제국주의자들이 식민지 획득을 정당화하고 독일 3제국이 게르만 제일주의를 내세우는 논리의 기초가 되었다. 개별적 자아라는 망상을 벗어나 참나를 찾으려는 전통 인도요가의 관점에서 본다면 만인 대 만인의 투쟁을 기초로 하는 사회진화론이나 우생학적 사고는 요가의 이념과는 상반된 것이다. 이런 점에서 요겐드라의 요가적 관점은 비판받을 수 있다. 그러나 전통요가의 신비주의를 대중의 눈높이로 끌어 내린 점, 그리고 요가를 전인적(全人的)인 관점에서 바라본 점은 그의 현대요가에 대한 공헌이며, 오늘 날 현대요가 수행자들도 깊이 고려해야 할 문제이다. (shrink)

Verse work, with autocommentary, on semantics according to the Mīmāṃsā school in Indic philosophy.

『하타(요가)쁘라디삐까, Hp』는 나타(Nātha)파 요가의 고전이자 하타요가의 수행 체계를 완성한 문헌이다. 방대한 필사본과 다수의 주석서가 존재한다는 점에서 그리고 Hp에서 제시된 수행 전통이 스승에서 제자로 계속 전수되었다는 점에서 Hp의 영향력과 권위는 여타의 하타요가 문헌과 구별된다. 하지만 Hp 내에서 Hp의 문헌적 권위를 하락시킬 수 있는 요소도 발견되는데 그것은 용어 사용이 느슨할 뿐만 아니라 일관성을 결여하고 있다는 점이다. Hp가, manas와 citta를 거의 구별하지 않고 심지어 동일 게송 내에서조차 혼용하고 있다는 것이 한 예이다. 하지만 Hp가 citta와 manas와 같은 용어를 혼용했던 이유 그리고 수슘나, 꾼달리니와 같은 (...) 하타요가 특유의 용어가 혼란스러울 정도로 많은 대체어를 지닌 이유는 의외로 단순한 것에서 발견되었는데, 그것은 운율상의 제약 때문으로 판단된다. 필자가 다룰 내용은 두 가지인데 하나는 ‘운율적 제약에 따른 주요 용어의 다양한 대체어’를 검토하는 것이고 다른 하나는 예비적인 작업으로 Hp의 389게송의 운율을 분석하는 것이다. 여기서는 먼저 예비적인 작업으로 Hp의 389 게송에서 사용된 운율을 분석하고자 한다. (shrink)

The cult of the Kanphata Yogis is a definite unite within Hinduism, and its study is essential for understanding this phase of the religious life of India. the book is divided into three sections. The first two sections comprising chapters 1 - 13 deal with the cult and history of this sec. the third section containing chapters 14 - 16 opens with the Sanskrit Text Goraksastaka and its English rendering and annotations. The book is fully documented. It has a preface, (...) Glossary, Bibliography, Plates and General Index. This book is an attempt to present a systematic and consistent account of the philosophical background of the spiritual culture associated with the names of Yogi Gorakhnath and other adepts of the natha school. (shrink)

Compendium of Advaita and Dvaita Vedanta philosophy; includes Yogendrānandīdīpikā Sanskrit commentary and Hindi interpretation of Gaudabrahmanandi sanskrit commentary ofand Hindi commentary.

Selected works of Gorakhanātha, exponent of the Natha sect in Hinduism and Hindi poet; includes study of his life and works.

The Tirumantiram, believed to have been written in midfirst millennium CE, is regarded as the tenth of the twelve volumes of the Śaiva Tamil canon Paṇṇiru Tirumuṟai used in worship in Śiva temples all over Tamilnadu. The Tirumantiram is a collection of approximately 3100 verses in lucid Tamil written by Tirumūlar, regarded variously as a ŚaivaSiddhānta yogi, a nātha yogi, and a tāntric. Tirumūlar’s verses form the basis of the Tamil ŚaivaSiddhānta philosophy; they also deal with tantra and yoga. Unlike (...) other ŚaivaSiddhānta texts, the Tirumantiram elaborates on aṣṭāṅga yoga like in the yoga sūtras of Patañjali; it further goes on to describe several āsanas and prāṇāyāma in elaborate detail. Acknowledging that classical and modern scholarship on yoga have paid scant attention to the work of Tirumūlar, this essay provides an insight into Tirumūlar’s legacy. It compares the aṣṭāṇga yoga of Tirumūlar framed in the context of ŚaivaSiddhānta with the approach of Patañjali. It also shows the continuity of the Tirumūlar tradition in the framework of bhakti literature and in the context of the earlier Tamil approach to āsanas. It establishes that no narrative on yoga is complete without acknowledging the enduring contribution of Tirumūlar. (shrink)

One Seit Platon (mit dem Spott von Diogenes) über Kant ist die Fundamentalfrage "Was ist der Mensch?" bis heute nicht nur von der Philosophie (als regina scientiarum), sondern von der Wissenschaft überhaupt nicht beantwortet. Phänomenologisch hat der Mensch a posteriori physische (somatische), psychische(perceptio, emotio, cognitio), mentale (logische), spirituelle (conscientia, volitio, actio) "Sphären". Ontologisch in Kontext von to ti en einai (Aristoteles) sollte der Mensch a priori ein "Programm" (Information) vor der Kosmogonie haben. Der (Neo‐) Positivismus (z.B. Hume bis Carnap, Russel*; (...) * Nobel Laureate) verwirft Fragen der Metaphysik als Scheinprobleme. Damit bleibt das Menschen‐Wesen in Kontext von Postulaten, wie res cogitans (Descartes), Monaden(Leibniz), "Gott, Freiheit, Unsterblichkeit", Seligkeit und (moralischer) Vollkommenheit (Kant), absoluter Geist (Hegel) in der theologischen Dimension. Antwort könnte eine zukünftige (holistisch‐multidimensionale) philosophische theoretische und Experimentaltheologie (kontrollierbare Beobachtung) durch weitere Forschung geben, in Kontext (bzw. Existenz) von A. Physikotheologie bzw. (a) höhere (als drei) geometrische/physikalische Dimensionen (Hilbert, Riemann /Friedmann, Minkowski, Schmutzer), (b) Paralleluniversen (z.B. L. Randall), (c) Quantentheorie/‐philosophie (Planck*, u.a.), (d) Gravitations‐/Relativitätstheorie (Newton/Einstein*), (e) Vakuumenergie (Sato), etc. B. ChemoBiotheologie bzw. "psychischen" (Fechner) und "spezifischen" (Joh. Müller) Energien,"biologischem Feld" (Gurwitsch), künstlicher Biogenese (Oparin, Fox, Urey*, u.a.; 32 Fragen von John Bernal). C. Psychotheologie bzw. parapsychische Phänomene (Carrel*, Richet*/France, Rhinne/USA, Vassilev, Bechterew/Russia, etc.). D. Religionstheologie: (über‐) Bewußtsein, übersinnliche, immaterielle, supraphysikalische Phänomene (Sri Aurobindo, Dalai Lama*, Konfuzius/Laotse, Gopi Krishna, Papst Benedikt, Paramahansa Yogananda, Sri Yogendra, etc.)und ihre physiologische Begründung (Anand/Chinna, Kasamatsu/Hirai, Ornstein, Pauli*, von Weizsäcker, etc.). Damit hängt die ontologische Frage nach dem MenschenWesen mit der Lösung des Problemkomplexes "Gott Geist/Seele Mensch Natur" zusammen. (shrink)

* Hatha yoga is commonly thought to be a pure, ancient Indian spiritual discipline that transcends cultural, temporal and spatial boundaries or a spiritual discipline corrupted by Indians (for export) or Westerners (for import) to accommodate Westerners. Calling these beliefs into question, Max Popov's Radiant Bodies shows how hatha yoga was transformed from sacred practice into a health and fitness regime for middle-class Indians in India in the early and mid-20th century. Popov tells the story of this transformation through the (...) lives and accomplishments of eleven key figures: six Indian yogis (Shri Yogendra, Swami Kuvalayananda, S. Sundaram, T. Krishnamacharya, Swami Sivananda and B. K. S. Iyengar), an Indian bodybuilder (K. V. Iyer), a rajah (Bhavanarao Shrinivasrao), an Indian diplomat (Apa Pant), an American-born English journalist (Louise Morgan), and a Russian-born yogi trained in India (Indra Devi).Their accomplishments are placed within the context of such Western trends as the physical culture movement, the commodification of exercise, militant nationalism, post-World War I anxiety, the mystique of science, jazz age popular entertainment, and the quest for youth and beauty. Through a series of biographical narratives placed in a rich cultural context, Popov not only brings to life the formation of modern hatha yoga as an exercise system in the early 20th century but also its transformation over the course of the 20th century into an embodied spiritual practice. Popov draws on extensive research from rare primary sources to present a cutting edge interpretation of the history of modern hatha yoga. Radiant Bodies is a thoughtful book for the educated general reader that would also be of special interest for religion scholars and yoga professionals and practitioners. (shrink)