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UID:53502-1680480000-1683158399@www.embodiedphilosophy.com
SUMMARY:The Supreme Goddess
DESCRIPTION:Register now…\n\n\n\nThis is an OnDemand Course. \n\n\n\nIf you are already a member sign in and add the course to your favorites. For support\, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com.   \n\n\n\nThe Supreme Goddess: An Embodied Theology of Elemental Enlightenment\n\n\n\nThe theological vision of the Divine as Mother\, the Universal Goddess\, once common\, has almost disappeared from the world of religion. However\, it has continued to flourish through the textual\, liturgical\, ethical\, and theological traditions of God as Mother\, as Creator\, as Creation\, over a span of 2\,500 years in the world of Hindu spirituality. The tradition of Shakti/Mahādevī offers a multidimensional theological ethos that integrates transcendence and immanence\, the masculine and feminine\, life and liberation\, dynamic creativity and contemplative tranquility\, and the intuitive and empirical dimensions of experience. The course will explore the mystical narratives\, sacred texts\, theology\, contemplative praxis\, ritual art\, and theories of consciousness and subtle energy associated with the theology of the Divine Feminine. We will explore the traditions\, texts\, and teachings of this rare theological path of the Divine Feminine\, which still remains globally extant as a major branch of Hindu spiritual life. \n\n\n\nModule 1: A Philosophy Of Divine Presence: The Expansive\, Emancipatory Worldview Of Shakta Theology \n\n\n\nPeople often associate the Mother Goddess with fertility rites and ancient icons with swollen forms\, indicating the gift of life. But this aspect is far more subtle and sophisticated in Shakta theology because it owes its understanding of reality—material\, physical\, energetic\, and creative—to philosophical principles honed over millennia. She is known as Devi (Divine Feminine); Mahadevi (Supreme Divine Feminine); Shakti (the Power\, Force\, Capacity\, Creativity of the sacred source); and Brahman (Ultimate Reality). She is the fount of the process of creation\, continual creativity itself\, the consciousness that infuses the cosmos\, and the cosmic dynamism and Earthy biodiversity that results. When the divine is understood to be innate in matter-energy\, then She/He/It is latent within physical beings\, hidden within sentience\, and alive inside ecosystems and their inhabitants. All of these are understood to be endowed with intrinsic value. Embodied sacrality opposes all forms of oppression and injustice.   \n\n\n\nModule 2: The Story Of Shakta Bhakti : The Mystics Who Loved The Cosmic Mother \n\n\n\nThe Concept of the Supreme Goddess (Shakti)\, envisioned as the Source\, Sustenance\, and Support of the Universe\, is nearly four millennia-old in Hindu experience. But Shakta Bhakti\, the devotional loving surrender and service to the Divine Mother is relatively recent. It emerged between in the early modern period in the 17th century and became known internationally in the 20th century as the life story of the mystic Ramakrishna—the most renowned of the Shakti bhaktas—spread across cultures. With the arrival of modern Western scholarship on Hinduism\, a broad and extensive study of the texts and festivals of the tradition of Mahadevi (lit. the Great Goddess) filtered into the reaches of yoga communities and into the quests of other spiritual seekers. But a in-depth experience is difficult without access to an interlocutor with an internal understanding of the religious history and culture not only of Hinduism or India\, but of West Bengal (a major state and sphere of cultural influence in India in medieval and modern India). We will not merely study this fascinating time and context; we will also explore the esoteric background of this period and the genesis of Shakta Bhakti.   \n\n\n\nModule 3: Fierce & Tender: The Universal Mother’s Love & Justice \n\n\n\nThe most famous text of the tradition of Shakti/Mahadevi is the Devī Māhātmyam (circa 500 CE) which sets forth—in rich\, imaginative\, fantastical narratives—the theology and theodicy of the Supreme Reality\, the Divine Mother. This text combines ancient narratives\, the concept of Mahadevi as Brahman (Supreme Reality)\, and Divine Mother who cares for and seeks justice for her creation. According to the tradition of this canonical sacred text\, her justice is loving and liberative\, and she dissolves the knots of ignorance\, selfishness\, and malevolence in the heart of beings. She does incarnate only in majestic forms\, or even human ones\, but states that she will return as a “Bee” at a time of great drought and lack of produce on Earth. The first Asian festival to be recognized as an Intangible Human Heritage is “Durga Puja\,” the autumnal festival of the Great Goddess\, Mahadevi\, Shakti\, in her form as liberator— celebrated with unique iconic art\, aesthetics\, liturgy\, food\, theatre\, and sacred dance and song.   \n\n\n\nModule 4: Echoes Of Ecofeminism In Shakta Tantra: The Yoga Of The Divine Feminine \n\n\n\nThe vision of the earth as a sacred hierophany and material form of the divine is perhaps most dramatically displayed in Goddess theology\, first crystallized in early and late medieval narrative philosophical theology. This vision finds further expression and culminates in the sophisticated systematization of the nature and functions of Shakti (the highest Feminine Principle) in the tantric tradition. Hindu Tantra\, especially in its Shakta (Supreme Goddess-centered) strains offers a rich and nuanced resource for the construction of an ecologically-conscious spirituality. In this module\, we will explore the ontology of Hindu Tantra as a viable source of inspiration for the development of a Hindu ecofeminist theological vision.     \n\n\n\nIn this course students will: \n\n\n\n\nDemonstrate a sound understanding of the identifiable characteristics of the “Shakta Philosophical Theology of the Mahadevi (Great Goddess)” in Hinduism.\n\n\n\nRecognize the foundational doctrines that flow through all of Shakta theology.\n\n\n\nAnalyze the ways in which a psychology of emotions is used to evoke devotional love in the mysticism of Shakta Bhakti (devotional theology).\n\n\n\nDescribe how the autumn festival of the Great Goddess (Mahadevi/Shakti)\, known as Durga Puja—the first Asian festival to be granted the status\, by UNESCO\, of Intangible World Heritage—presents the Divine Feminine through beauty\, arts\, and sacred sound.\n\n\n\nDiscuss the unusual genre of “Narrative Theology” of her most famous canonical text\, and how it uses both exciting mythology & sophisticated philosophy to both experience and understand the Divine Feminine.\n\n\n\nApply acquired knowledge\, ideas\, insights\, and principles to contemporary concerns— ecological\, ethical\, and relational.\n\n\n\n\nRegister now…\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDr. Rita D. Sherma is founding Director and Associate Professor at the Graduate Theological Union’s Center for Dharma Studies in Berkeley\, California. She is Core Doctoral Faculty; and Co-Chair of Sustainability 360 at GTU. She holds an MA in Religion\, and a PhD in Theology & Ethics from Claremont Graduate University\, CA. She is the founding Vice President of DANAM (Dharma Academy of North America)—an eminent scholarly society for research on Hindu\, Jain\, and Buddhist religion\, philosophy\, and culture. Dr. Sherma has published eight books including Contemplative Studies and Hinduism: Meditation\, Devotion\, Prayer & Worship (2020)\, Swami Vivekananda: His Life\, Legacy\, & Liberative Ethics; Woman & Goddess in Hinduism; and numerous academic articles. She is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Dharma Studies\, and an Associate Editor of the Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. She serves on the Editorial Board of Reading Religion Journal (an AAR publication)\, serves as Advisor to the Parliament of the World’s Religions Climate Action-sponsored Faith for the Earth online & print project. Dr. Sherma has produced two documentaries on Ecospirituality\, and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Yale University Forum for Religion and Ecology. In June 2022\, her 35-chapter edited volume titled Religion & Sustainability in the Springer-Nature (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Series\, Springer-Nature) was released. Her forthcoming book (2023) is Radical Divine Immanence: A Hindu Ecological\, Liberation Theology of the Goddess\, Mahadevi.
URL:https://www.embodiedphilosophy.com/event/supreme-goddess/
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SUMMARY:Vedic Philosophy: Exploring Six Schools of Hindu Thought
DESCRIPTION:Register now…\n\n\n\nLIVE April 29\, May 6\, 13\, 20\, 27\, June 3\, 10\, 17 @ 2-4 pm EDT. Convert your time here. \n\n\n\nIf you can’t attend this event live\, all registrants will have access to the recording. \n\n\n\nIf you are already a member sign in and add the course to your favorites.  You will need to be subscribed to be able to receive reminder emails from Embodied Philosophy including to receive the Zoom link for the live sessions. For support\, please reply to your confirmation email or contact hello@embodiedphilosophy.com. \n\n\n\nVedic Philosophy: Exploring Six Schools of Hindu Thought\n\n\n\nThis course will attempt an overview of some of the six main schools of orthodox Vedic thought up to the medieval period: Vedānta\, Sāṃkhya\, Yoga\, Mīmāmsā\, Vaiśesika\, and Nyāya\, along with the two core and canonical texts that have been most formative to Yoga\, the Upaniṣads and the Bhāgavad Gītā. Attention will be paid to some of the prominent interconnections and points of contestation amongst some of these schools\, but we will keep a strong focus on Yoga\, given its prominence in exported Hinduism. The course will utilize primary texts – the original Sanskrit sutras and verses – so that students will have the opportunity of engaging some of these schools directly in their own words and through their own categories. \n\n\n\nModule 1: Upaniṣads (April 29) \n\n\n\nThe Upaniṣads are the earliest source Vedic texts wherein can be found the roots of all later Hinduism. It is in these texts that we find notions such as yoga\, karma\, mokśa\,  ātman\, reincarnation\, bhakti\, etc.\, first expressed. All later Hindu schools of yoga trace their origins back to the Upaniṣads\, so they stand as the foundation of all traditional Hindu spirituality.  Thus it is in the Upaniṣads where we find the earliest and most sacrosanct references to meditational practices that are the clear forerunners of what Patañjali later further systematizes and embellishes in his Yoga Sūtras.  The Upaniṣads are also the main canonical texts for the variegated Vedānta traditions of the next session II.  \n\n\n\nModule 2: The Vedānta Sūtra (May 6) \n\n\n\nThe course will also consider the opening verses of the Vedānta Sūtra\, a text which sets out to systematize the unsystematic material of the Upaniṣads with regard to the nature of Brahman\, the Ultimate Truth  Here we will encounter the interpretative lenses of two important Vedānta traditions – that of advaita (non-dualist) Vedānta and that of the viśiśtādvaita tradition (the lineage from which the renowned Krishnamacarya hailed)\, which allows a more dualist understanding of the relationship between brahman īśvara and the ātman.  \n\n\n\nModule 3: Sāṃkhya Kārikās (May 13) \n\n\n\nThis will engage the primary canonical text of Såmkhya\, which is the larger metaphysical tradition within which Yoga was originally a branch before it came to be situated as an independent school.  Sāṃkhya concerns itself with the metaphysics from which the deep-level self – the puruśa/ātman – must extricate itself – e.g. what the puruśa is not. \n\n\n\nModule 4: Yoga Sūtras (May 20) \n\n\n\nThis course will undertake a close reading of yoga as presented in the traditional Hindu sourcebook on the subject\, the 3rd century Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali\, where it is defined as “the stilling of all states of mind” (i.e. meditative practices)\, in order to arrive at a direct experience of the ‘soul’ or ātman\, that is to say\, of pure consciousness.   The Yoga Sūtras is the classical text on meditative practice accepted as authoritative by all the orthodox Hindu schools\, and our reading of it will be informed by the primary commentaries that have elaborated on the source text over the centuries prior to the colonial period. Here\, we will encounter what yoga has meant in Indian traditions for two millennia prior to being transplanted to the West\, where the Yoga Sūtras has since become the canonical text for western yoga.   \n\n\n\nModule 5: Vaiśesika Sūtras and Mīmāmsā Sūtras (May 27) \n\n\n\nVaiśesika and Mīmāmsā are archaic schools – the former dealing with the metaphysical ingredients of the world – sub-atomic particles\, forces\, etc.; and the latter with Dharma\, human Duty\, as understood in the context of the ancient Vedic ritualistic culture.  Unlike the other sessions of this course\, these two texts may be of less interest to modern-day yoga practitioners – we will see how we feel when we get to them- but if we decide these traditions are of little interest to us\, we can briefly overview them and then continue with the Yoga Sūtras. They are included in this course for completeness – so that students can get at least some sense of the so-called “Six Schools of Indian Philosophy.” \n\n\n\nModule 6: Nyāya Sūtras (June 3) \n\n\n\nNyāya is the rationalist school of Vaidic Philosophy i.e.\, the intellectual tradition prioritizing anumāṇa\, logic/inference. All schools acknowledge that only yoga or practices leading to direct personal experience will prove to a practitioner the claims made by scripture – such as the existence of a soul or God.  But\, in the face of challenges by e.g. Buddhists and materialists\, Nyāya uses that logic and reason to argue that a stronger case can be made for the existence of such entities rather than any philosophy denying their reality. Thus\, Nyāya stresses the importance of using coherent reason and clear thinking to choose our yogic path and metaphysics. This is all the more so given the counterclaims made by other intellectual traditions (including some in our own day and age) which argue that beliefs in a non-material soul or God are irrational and outdated forms of thought – Nyāya’s arguments are still very much relevant to modern discussions on such topics.   In this session\, we will also encounter the debates between the Buddhists and Vedic schools.  \n\n\n\nModule 7: Bhagavad Gītā and stories from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa (June 10) \n\n\n\nThe Bhagavad Gītā is perhaps the most representative and certainly the most influential and popular text from the numerous and varied spiritual traditions of Hindu India. Spoken by Lord Krishna to Arjuna who is undergoing a moment of crisis\, the text deals with the nature of the self\, the world\, ultimate reality\, the purpose of human existence\, and the spiritual paths that can be undertaken to accomplish this purpose. One can schematize the teachings into four such paths\, or yoga systems\, featured in the text\, through which one can unite with the Divine: the path of self-knowledge\, jnāna yoga; the path of action in the world\, karma yoga; the path of meditation\, rāja/dhyāna yoga; and the path of theistic devotion\, bhakti yoga. This session will undertake a detailed discussion of these four yoga systems\, with contextual references to the background of the text and referencing the major streams of Hindu thought covered in the earlier sessions. \n\n\n\nModule 8: Bhagavad Gītā and stories from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa\, (continued) (June 17) \n\n\n\nThis final session will continue the discussion from module 7 on the Bhagavad Gītā and stories from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. Taking up the detailed discussion of these four yoga systems\, featured in the text\, through which one can unite with the Divine: the path of self-knowledge\, jnāna yoga; the path of action in the world\, karma yoga; the path of meditation\, rāja/dhyāna yoga; and the path of theistic devotion\, bhakti yoga\, with contextual references to the background of the text and referencing the major streams of Hindu thought covered in the earlier sessions.  \n\n\n\nThe Gītā clearly prioritizes bhakti as the highest and most ultimate form of yoga\, as we will explore in this\, our final session.  We will encounter Krishna in this module\, and discuss how the text presents the yoga of bhakti to him. We will conclude our workshop with one of the best-loved stories of Krishna’s earlier life as a mischievous cowherd in Vrindavan. \n\n\n\nHere we will encounter Krishna’s claim to being the Supreme Godhead. We will finish the course with one or two of the most beloved stories in Hinduism from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa\, featuring the Krishna of adoration and devotion. The Bhāgavata will also give us a lens into how non-scholastic philosophy filters down into popular culture. \n\n\n\nIn this course students will: \n\n\n\n\nEncounter the six classic schools of orthodox Vedic/Hindu thought up to the medieval period.\n\n\n\nAnalyze the goals of life as articulated by these traditions and explore their explanation of suffering\, its cause\, and its removal.\n\n\n\nCompare and contrast the differences between these major philosophical systems.\n\n\n\nUtilize primary texts\, including the original Sanskrit sutras and verses.\n\n\n\nEngage two core and canonical texts that have been formative to Yoga\, the Upaniṣads and the Bhāgavad Gītā.\n\n\n\nTrace the historical and philosophical roots of core concepts including yoga\, karma\, mokśa\,  ātman\, reincarnation\, and bhakti.\n\n\n\n\nRegister now…\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEdwin Bryant received his Ph.D. in Indic languages and Cultures from Columbia University. He taught Hinduism at Harvard University for three years and is presently the professor of Hinduism at Rutgers University where he teaches courses on Hindu philosophy and religion. He has received numerous awards and fellowships\, published eight books\, and authored a number of articles on the earliest origins of the Vedic culture\, yoga philosophy\, and the Krishna tradition. \n\n\n\nAs a personal practitioner of bhakti yoga for over 45 years\, a number of them spent in India studying with traditional teachers\, where he returns yearly\, Edwin strives to combine academic scholarship and rigor with appreciation towards traditional knowledge systems. His teaching method is to allow the ancient texts to speak in their own voice and through their own terms and categories. \n\n\n\nEdwin’s most recently published work is Bhakti Yoga: Tales and Teachings from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa (Farrar\, Straus & Giroux\, 2017). This work seeks to ground the practices of bhakti in the traditional Krishna-centered framework of the Vrindavan devotional traditions.
URL:https://www.embodiedphilosophy.com/event/vedic-philosophy-exploring-six-schools-of-hindu-thought/
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