The Divine Consort

The Divine Consort
Author: John Stratton Hawley
Publisher:
Total Pages: 444
Release: 1984
Genre: Goddesses, Hindu
ISBN: 9780895814418

Papers presented at a conference held June 1978 at Harvard University, sponsored by the Center for the Study of World Religions.

The Goddess Lakṣmī

The Goddess Lakṣmī
Author: P. Pratap Kumar
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 204
Release: 1997
Genre: Lakshmi (Hindu deity).
ISBN: 9780788501999

What is the status of the Goddess Laksmi in relation to her consort Vishnu in South Indian Vaisnavism? In some Hindu sub-traditions the Goddess is seen as a mediator between devotees and God. Other traditions put the Goddess on a par with her male counterpart. In yet other traditions she is worshiped as an independent deity in her own right. South Indian Vaisnavism views the Goddess in all of these ways, and theological debates on these issues have flourished. In clarifying these debates and the assumptions behind them the author contributes not only to the interpretive study of South Indian Vaisnavism, but also to an understanding of gender issues in the study of religion.

Devī

Devī
Author: John Stratton Hawley
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
Total Pages: 380
Release: 1998
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9788120814912

The monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have severely limited the portrayal of the divine as feminine. But in Hinduism "God" very often means "Goddess." This extraordinary collection explores twelve different Hindu goddesses, all of whom are in some way related to Devi, the Great Goddess. They range from the liquid goddess-energy of the River Ganges to the possessing, entrancing heat of Bhagavati and Seranvali. They are local, like Vindhyavasini, and global, like Kali; ancient, like Saranyu, and modern, like "Mother India." The collection combines analysis of texts with intensive fieldwork, allowing the reader to see how goddesses are worshiped in everyday life. In these compelling essays, the divine feminine in Hinduism is revealed as never before--fascinating, contradictory, powerful.

The Hidden Spirituality of Men

The Hidden Spirituality of Men
Author: Matthew Fox
Publisher: New World Library
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2010-09-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1577317920

It is no secret that men are in trouble today. From war to ecological collapse, most of the world’s critical problems stem from a distorted masculinity out of control. Yet our culture rewards the very dysfunctions responsible for those problems. To Matthew Fox, our crucial task is to open our minds to a deeper understanding of the healthy masculine than we receive from our media, culture, and religions. Popular religion forces the punitive imagery of fundamentalism on us, pushing most men away from their natural yearning for spirituality and toward intolerance and domination. Meanwhile, many men, particularly young men, are looking for images of healthy masculinity to emulate and finding nothing. To awaken what Fox calls “the sacred masculine,” he unearths ten metaphors, or archetypes, ranging from the Green Man, an ancient pagan symbol of our fundamental relationship with nature, to the Grandfatherly Heart to the Spiritual Warrior. He explores archetypes of sacred marriage, showing how partnership becomes the ultimate expression of healthy masculinity. By stirring our natural yearning for healthy spirituality, Fox argues, these timeless archetypes can inspire men to pursue their higher calling to reinvent the world.

Dance of Divine Love

Dance of Divine Love
Author: Graham M. Schweig
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 420
Release: 2018-06-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0691190178

The heart of this book is a dramatic love poem, the Rasa Lila, which is the ultimate focal point of one of the most treasured Sanskrit texts of India, the Bhagavata Purana. Judged a literary masterpiece by Indian and Western scholars alike, this work of poetic genius and soaring religious vision is one of the world's greatest sacred love stories and, as Graham Schweig clearly demonstrates, should be regarded as India's Song of Songs. The story presents the supreme deity as the youthful and amorous cowherd, Krishna, who joins his beloved maidens in an enchanting and celebratory "dance of divine love." Schweig introduces this work of exquisite poetry and profound theology to the Western world in the form of a luminous translation and erudite scholarly treatment. His book explores the historical context and literary genre of the work and elucidates the aesthetic and emotional richness of the composition, highlighting poignant details of this drama of divine love. Schweig illuminates the religious dimensions and ethical nuances of the drama, drawing widely from the commentaries and esoteric vision of masters of the Caitanya school of Vaishnavism, a prominent devotional Hindu tradition. Themes such as transcendence of death through love, the yoga of devotion, the contrast between worldly love and passionate love for God, and the dialectical tension between ethical boundaries and boundless love are presented. The final event of the Rasa dance, the author concludes, presents a dynamic symbol of supreme love that provides the basis for a theological vision of genuine religious pluralism.

The Golden Bough

The Golden Bough
Author: Sir James George Frazer
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 772
Release: 2012-04-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0486119726

Classic 1890 study of cults, rites, and myths of antiquity helped define terms of social anthropology, influencing generations of thinkers. Abridgment omits footnotes, occasionally condenses text; all main principles remain intact.

The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion

The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion
Author: James George Frazer
Publisher: anboco
Total Pages: 1261
Release: 2016-09-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 3736412371

The primary aim of this book is to explain the remarkable rule which regulated the succession to the priesthood of Diana at Aricia. When I first set myself to solve the problem more than thirty years ago, I thought that the solution could be propounded very briefly, but I soon found that to render it probable or even intelligible it was necessary to discuss certain more general questions, some of which had hardly been broached before. In successive editions the discussion of these and kindred topics has occupied more and more space, the enquiry has branched out in more and more directions, until the two volumes of the original work have expanded into twelve. Meantime a wish has often been expressed that the book should be issued in a more compendious form. This abridgment is an attempt to meet the wish and thereby to bring the work within the range of a wider circle of readers. While the bulk of the book has been greatly reduced, I have endeavoured to retain its leading principles, together with an amount of evidence sufficient to illustrate them clearly. The language of the original has also for the most part been preserved, though here and there the exposition has been somewhat condensed. In order to keep as much of the text as possible I have sacrificed all the notes, and with them all exact references to my authorities. Readers who desire to ascertain the source of any particular statement must therefore consult the larger work, which is fully documented and provided with a complete bibliography.