Pub Date : 2016-05-31DOI: 10.1558/IJSNR.V7I1.20123
E. Thorsén
This article addresses how a language and practice of non-denominational universality is used within the Oneness movement, and the ways in which this universality has been crucial in order to appeal to a global audience. The Oneness movement, founded by the couple Sri Amma and Bhagavan, originated in South India in the 1990s, and has gained a substantial international following during the last decade. The cornerstone of the movement is the practice of giving and receiving deeksha, a kind of energy transmission said to usher the receiver into a state of higher consciousness. Drawing on empirical material collected during fieldwork with Oneness groups in India and Sweden, and taking the concepts of portable practice and transposable message as a point of departure, the practice of deeksha and the message of an all-encompassing human potential for spiritual awakening is analysed in order to find the themes that have made Oneness appealing in a global context. It is argued that the diffusion of Oneness into new cultures has been a balancing act between on the one hand adaptation to local cultures, and on the other hand claims of universal applicability and validity. By making use of the argument that their spiritual message stretches beyond boundaries such as those imposed by culture and religion, the Oneness movement sees its message as compatible with most (if not all) major religious traditions, and can thus encourage cultural adaptation of their teachings without loosing their credibility. This makes the language of universality function as an important strategy in the process of acquiring legitimacy on a global level.
{"title":"Unity Behind Diversity or the Reverse?: The Language of Universality in Amma and Bhagavan’s Oneness Movement","authors":"E. Thorsén","doi":"10.1558/IJSNR.V7I1.20123","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/IJSNR.V7I1.20123","url":null,"abstract":"This article addresses how a language and practice of non-denominational universality is used within the Oneness movement, and the ways in which this universality has been crucial in order to appeal to a global audience. The Oneness movement, founded by the couple Sri Amma and Bhagavan, originated in South India in the 1990s, and has gained a substantial international following during the last decade. The cornerstone of the movement is the practice of giving and receiving deeksha, a kind of energy transmission said to usher the receiver into a state of higher consciousness. Drawing on empirical material collected during fieldwork with Oneness groups in India and Sweden, and taking the concepts of portable practice and transposable message as a point of departure, the practice of deeksha and the message of an all-encompassing human potential for spiritual awakening is analysed in order to find the themes that have made Oneness appealing in a global context. It is argued that the diffusion of Oneness into new cultures has been a balancing act between on the one hand adaptation to local cultures, and on the other hand claims of universal applicability and validity. By making use of the argument that their spiritual message stretches beyond boundaries such as those imposed by culture and religion, the Oneness movement sees its message as compatible with most (if not all) major religious traditions, and can thus encourage cultural adaptation of their teachings without loosing their credibility. This makes the language of universality function as an important strategy in the process of acquiring legitimacy on a global level.","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":"7 1","pages":"69-90"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2016-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1558/IJSNR.V7I1.20123","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67498033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-05-31DOI: 10.1558/IJSNR.V7I1.26074
Christopher A. Plaisance
This article explores the issues surrounding the critical analysis of first generation electronic objects within the context of the study of contemporary esoteric discourse. This is achieved through a detailed case study of Benjamin Rowe’s work, A Short Course in Scrying, which is solely exemplified by digital witnesses. This article demonstrates that the critical analysis of these witnesses is only possible by adapting the general methods of textual scholarship to the specific techniques of digital forensics—particularly the analysis of computer metadata and web archives. The resulting method, here termed web philology, is applicable to the critical analysis by the scholar of religion of any primary source documents originating on the web as electronic objects.
{"title":"Methods of Web Philology: Computer Metadata and Web Archiving in the Primary Source Documents of Contemporary Esotericism","authors":"Christopher A. Plaisance","doi":"10.1558/IJSNR.V7I1.26074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/IJSNR.V7I1.26074","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the issues surrounding the critical analysis of first generation electronic objects within the context of the study of contemporary esoteric discourse. This is achieved through a detailed case study of Benjamin Rowe’s work, A Short Course in Scrying, which is solely exemplified by digital witnesses. This article demonstrates that the critical analysis of these witnesses is only possible by adapting the general methods of textual scholarship to the specific techniques of digital forensics—particularly the analysis of computer metadata and web archives. The resulting method, here termed web philology, is applicable to the critical analysis by the scholar of religion of any primary source documents originating on the web as electronic objects.","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":"7 1","pages":"43-68"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2016-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67497639","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-01-20DOI: 10.1558/IJSNR.V6I2.28443
Johanna J. M. Petsche
After the death of G. I. Gurdjieff in 1949, Gurdjieff-based groups began to emerge, including a colourful assortment of fringe groups. Fringe groups are established by individuals who never met Gurdjieff but who, in some or other way, assimilate elements of his teaching into new religio-spiritual systems. One noteworthy yet little understood Gurdjieff fringe group is the School of Economic Science (SES), founded by Leon MacLaren (1910-1994) in London in 1937. The SES was initially inspired by the work of nineteenth century American economist Henry George. However, in the early 1950s when MacLaren studied with Dr Francis Roles, who was P. D. Ouspensky’s personal physician and one of his earliest pupils, he gradually integrated into SES teachings concepts and practices of Ouspensky and Gurdjieff. This paper will examine the substantial influence of the work of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky on the SES, particularly in regards to MacLaren’s emphasis on residential living and working, the significance of the Laws of Three and Seven in his cosmology, and his use of the ‘natural octave’ in his large-scale musical compositions. This paper draws on firsthand accounts, original materials and unpublished music manuscripts.
{"title":"Gurdjieffian Overtones in Leon MacLaren’s School of Economic Science","authors":"Johanna J. M. Petsche","doi":"10.1558/IJSNR.V6I2.28443","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/IJSNR.V6I2.28443","url":null,"abstract":"After the death of G. I. Gurdjieff in 1949, Gurdjieff-based groups began to emerge, including a colourful assortment of fringe groups. Fringe groups are established by individuals who never met Gurdjieff but who, in some or other way, assimilate elements of his teaching into new religio-spiritual systems. One noteworthy yet little understood Gurdjieff fringe group is the School of Economic Science (SES), founded by Leon MacLaren (1910-1994) in London in 1937. The SES was initially inspired by the work of nineteenth century American economist Henry George. However, in the early 1950s when MacLaren studied with Dr Francis Roles, who was P. D. Ouspensky’s personal physician and one of his earliest pupils, he gradually integrated into SES teachings concepts and practices of Ouspensky and Gurdjieff. This paper will examine the substantial influence of the work of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky on the SES, particularly in regards to MacLaren’s emphasis on residential living and working, the significance of the Laws of Three and Seven in his cosmology, and his use of the ‘natural octave’ in his large-scale musical compositions. This paper draws on firsthand accounts, original materials and unpublished music manuscripts.","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"197-217"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2016-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67497790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-01-20DOI: 10.1558/IJSNR.V6I2.28944
Joseph Azize
In Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson , Gurdjieff writes of the critical importance of “Aiessirittoorassnian-contemplation” for the formation of the “soul”. First, I discuss some definitions of “meditation” and “contemplation” in relation to Gurdjieff’s practices with a view to determining the most appropriate term. Second, commencing with Beelzebub, but ranging across Gurdjieff’s oeuvre, I explore his understanding of the “soul”, and “Aiessirittoorassnian-contemplation”. I then examine Gurdjieff’s first recorded contemplative technique, the “I Am” exercise, thus illuminating an under-appreciated aspect of Gurdjieff’s practice. It transpires that Gurdjieff’s contemplative techniques are more significant to his practical teaching than previously suspected.
{"title":"The Practice of Contemplation in the Work of Gurdjieff","authors":"Joseph Azize","doi":"10.1558/IJSNR.V6I2.28944","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/IJSNR.V6I2.28944","url":null,"abstract":"In Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson , Gurdjieff writes of the critical importance of “Aiessirittoorassnian-contemplation” for the formation of the “soul”. First, I discuss some definitions of “meditation” and “contemplation” in relation to Gurdjieff’s practices with a view to determining the most appropriate term. Second, commencing with Beelzebub, but ranging across Gurdjieff’s oeuvre, I explore his understanding of the “soul”, and “Aiessirittoorassnian-contemplation”. I then examine Gurdjieff’s first recorded contemplative technique, the “I Am” exercise, thus illuminating an under-appreciated aspect of Gurdjieff’s practice. It transpires that Gurdjieff’s contemplative techniques are more significant to his practical teaching than previously suspected.","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"139-156"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2016-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1558/IJSNR.V6I2.28944","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67497909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editor's introduction: G. I. Gurdjieff and the study of Religion/s","authors":"S. Sutcliffe, C. Cusack","doi":"10.1558/ijsnr.v6i2.2152","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.v6i2.2152","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"109-114"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2016-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67497754","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-01-14DOI: 10.1558/IJSNR.V6I2.29641
Bernard Doherty
{"title":"Santo Daime: A New World Religion by Andrew Dawson. Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2013. 226pp., pb. £22.99, ISBN-13: 9781441154248","authors":"Bernard Doherty","doi":"10.1558/IJSNR.V6I2.29641","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/IJSNR.V6I2.29641","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":"12 1","pages":"229-231"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2016-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67497990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2016-01-01DOI: 10.1558/IJSNR.V7I2.31955
A. Gearin
There has been ongoing scholarly debate concerning whether New Age spirituality may be defined by individualistic more than collectivistic values, beliefs and behaviours. Most scholars have answered in the positive and indicated how New Age beliefs and techniques emphasise the importance of the self and self-interests of the practitioner. This article contributes to debates on New Age individualism with an analysis of ayahuasca neoshamanism in Australia. I introduce thick ethnographic evidence of collectivist logics of social action in ritual practices of ecstatic purging and visions. I argue that these practices can be interpreted through anthropological notion of "dividualism" whereby the person is multiple, partible, and exchangeable along social relations of obligation (Strathern 1988, Mosko 2013). The article illustrates how ethnographic theory may contribute to debates about individualism and collectivism in New Age spirituality by creating space for "native" or emic theories of social action.
{"title":"Dividual Vision of the Individual: Ayahuasca Neo-shamanism in Australia and the New Age Individualism Orthodoxy","authors":"A. Gearin","doi":"10.1558/IJSNR.V7I2.31955","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/IJSNR.V7I2.31955","url":null,"abstract":"There has been ongoing scholarly debate concerning whether New Age spirituality may be defined by individualistic more than collectivistic values, beliefs and behaviours. Most scholars have answered in the positive and indicated how New Age beliefs and techniques emphasise the importance of the self and self-interests of the practitioner. This article contributes to debates on New Age individualism with an analysis of ayahuasca neoshamanism in Australia. I introduce thick ethnographic evidence of collectivist logics of social action in ritual practices of ecstatic purging and visions. I argue that these practices can be interpreted through anthropological notion of \"dividualism\" whereby the person is multiple, partible, and exchangeable along social relations of obligation (Strathern 1988, Mosko 2013). The article illustrates how ethnographic theory may contribute to debates about individualism and collectivism in New Age spirituality by creating space for \"native\" or emic theories of social action.","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":"7 1","pages":"199-220"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2016-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1558/IJSNR.V7I2.31955","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67498052","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2015-10-07DOI: 10.1558/ijsnr.v6i1.27726
C. Cusack
{"title":"The Cambridge Companion to New Religious Movements, edited by Olav Hammer and Mikael Rothstein. Cambridge University Press, 2012. 341pp. Hb. $84.99, ISBN-13: 9780521196505; Pb. $29.95, ISBN-13: 9780521145657","authors":"C. Cusack","doi":"10.1558/ijsnr.v6i1.27726","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsnr.v6i1.27726","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"106-108"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1558/ijsnr.v6i1.27726","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67497684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2015-10-07DOI: 10.1558/IJSNR.V6I1.27725
Måns Broo
{"title":"American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation. How Indian Spirituality Changed the West, by Philip Goldberg. Harmony Books, 2010, 416pp., 8pp. bw Pb. $15.00. ISBN-13: 9780385521352","authors":"Måns Broo","doi":"10.1558/IJSNR.V6I1.27725","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/IJSNR.V6I1.27725","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"103-105"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1558/IJSNR.V6I1.27725","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67497608","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2015-10-07DOI: 10.1558/IJSNR.V6I1.27729
S. Whedon
{"title":"Voices From The Pagan Census: A National Survey of Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States by Helen A. Berger, Evan A. Leach and Leigh S. Shaffer. University of South Carolina Press, 2003. 304pp., 55 illus. Hb. $29.95, ISBN-13: 9781570034886","authors":"S. Whedon","doi":"10.1558/IJSNR.V6I1.27729","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/IJSNR.V6I1.27729","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":53821,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for the Study of New Religions","volume":"6 1","pages":"101-102"},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2015-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1558/IJSNR.V6I1.27729","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67497728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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