Living Mantra: Mantra, Deity, and Visionary Experience Today

Living Mantra is an anthropology of mantra-experience among Hindu-tantric practitioners. In ancient Indian doctrine and legends, mantras perceived by rishis (seers) invoke deities and have transformative powers. Adopting a methodology that combines scholarship and practice, Mani Rao discovers a cont...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rao, Mani 1965- (Author)
Format: Electronic Book
Language:English
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WorldCat: WorldCat
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Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 2019
In:Year: 2019
Series/Journal:Contemporary Anthropology of Religion
SpringerLink Bücher
Further subjects:B Ethnography
B Religion and sociology
B Ethnology
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Erscheint auch als: 978-3-319-96390-7
Printed edition: 9783319963907
Printed edition: 9783319963921
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Summary:Living Mantra is an anthropology of mantra-experience among Hindu-tantric practitioners. In ancient Indian doctrine and legends, mantras perceived by rishis (seers) invoke deities and have transformative powers. Adopting a methodology that combines scholarship and practice, Mani Rao discovers a continuing tradition of visionaries (rishis/seers) and revelations in south India’s Andhra-Telangana. Both deeply researched and replete with fascinating narratives, the book reformulates the poetics of mantra-practice as it probes practical questions. Can one know if a vision is real or imagined? Is vision visual? Are deity-visions mediated by culture? If mantras are effective, what is the role of devotion? Are mantras language? Living Mantra interrogates not only theoretical questions, but also those a practitioner would ask: how does one choose a deity, for example, or what might bind one to a guru? Rao breaks fresh ground in redirecting attention to the moments that precede systematization and canon-formation, showing how authoritative sources are formed
Part 1: Preparation -- 1. Introduction -- 2. A Mountain of Scholarship -- 3. Crossing Over -- 4. Are there Revelations Today? - Part 2: Fieldwork -- 5. Body-Yantra: Sahasrakshi Meru Temple, Devipuram -- 6. Self-Made: Svayam Siddha Kali Pitham, Guntur -- 7. "I am in Mantra, Mantra is in me": Nachiketa Tapovan, Kodgal -- Part 3 -- 8. Understanding Mantra Again
ISBN:3319963910
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-96391-4