Ids sussex spiritualism powerpoint

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NEW RELIGIOUS PRACTICES, AND POLITICS IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA Nandini Gooptu, University of Oxford 1

Transcript of Ids sussex spiritualism powerpoint

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NEW RELIGIOUS PRACTICES, AND POLITICS IN CONTEMPORARY

INDIA

Nandini Gooptu, University of Oxford

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Commonwealth Games 2010, Delhi: The Opening Ceremony

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Theorising New Spiritualism in the West

• Secularisation and “de-traditionalisation”• Sacralisation of the self and of quotidian experience • Subjective experience and self-actualisation • Liberation from a socially-conditioned ego and from “the

tyrannical hold of the socialized mode of being”. • Emphasis on inner life and the Self• “Subjectification” of social life: the “self-ethic”• Primacy of the autonomous self and individual agency • “Psychologisation” : social reality understood in terms of

questions of individual psychology• Therapeutic culture offers technologies of self-regulation

and self-management.

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Key themes addressed in this paper

• Modes of self-making through new spiritualism in India: How contemporary New Spiritualism is recasting individual subjectivity

• Implications of self-oriented spiritualism for: (a)democratic norms, notions and practices of

citizenship, and social contract with the state, in a mature democratic setting

(b)religious and national identity in a globalized late post-colony

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An interpretation of the political significance of contemporary forms of religious practice requires:•opening up an analytical terrain to engage with politics in a personalised and individualised mode •an analytical focus on the politics of the self, rather than the politics of the collective

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“INDIVIDUALLY TOGETHER”“Learning together to live alone”

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Individually Together; “social nonmovement” of “noncollective

actors”

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Pranic Healing and Shiv Yog• Cleansing and balancing the aura and chakras• Unity with the higher soul or divine

consciousness (Atma unites with paramatma)• Goal manifestation: “…harness the power of

your thoughts, subtle energies and your auric field to create a life of prosperity and success”

• Overcoming the ego and realizing ones true potentials

Chakras and Auras 11

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Brahma Kumaris

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“Awakening with Brahma Kumaris”

• counselling, in a therapeutic mode: interpersonal relationships, stress and anger management, contentment and happiness, positive thinking, and self-improvement.

• “You are what you think”: Harness the “incredible power” and energy of the human mind, and take control of life experiences, and create your own reality.

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Bharat Soka Gakkai exhibition of the Lotus Sutra, Kolkata, August 2010

Bharat Soka Gakkai

BSG meeting in a Delhi home: Business Standard, 21 May 2011

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Bharat Soka Gakkai (BSG): I

• attaining Buddhahood or enlightenment in this life, through service and prayer and by nurturing ones Buddha nature or enlightened nature

• enlightenment through change in our hearts and minds

• changing our lives by spiritually polishing ourselves through chants, prayer, meditation, reflection and social service.

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Bharat Soka Gakkai (BSG): II

• “rather than being a prayer to an external being, chanting … is an expression of the determination of the human spirit, seeking to come into rhythm with the reality of the universe. Through continuing in this practice of determined intention we bring forth our highest potential from within our lives.”

• Individually, Together

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Art of Living and Sri Sri Ravishankar

• “Hug yourself tightly: The most lovable person on earth”

• A beautiful vision of ones inner self17

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Art of Living and Sri Sri Ravishankar• Introspection and self-knowledge: “Spirituality

gives you strength, that inner strength to manage difficult situations and to keep ever smiling.”

• Sewa and the accumulation of personal virtue• Nurturing national spiritual and cultural

heritage• Spiritualism and the alleviation of stress for

peace, mitigation of violence and conflict resolution

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Youth and spiritualism• Brahmakumari’s Youth Empowerment Services

(YES) and International Youth Forum (IYF): encourage youth “to take up the challenge of re-creating their inner world”, to ‘see’ things differently; ‘behave’ differently and ‘act’ differently, and to act with integrity and self worth.

• Leading from within, You First and ‘When I change, the world changes’ are some of their mottos to help “empower young people to face social and developmental challenges”

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Ramdev

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Ramdev• Mass support• Political agenda: Nationalist, anti-western,

populist, pro-rural development, anti-corruption• Ramdev’s biographer notes that he “has initiated

among his followers a process of self-discovery geared towards a wider cultural and spiritual self-confidence and [national] assertion.”

• Each individual Indian, awakened and energized through the power of yoga, and ready to act, will be imbued with self-knowledge, self-pride and animated with a national purpose

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Political implications of New Spiritualism

Self-government and individual mode of politics in a time of flux

New Spiritualism provides a uniquely indigenous and

culturally familiar formula of survival and self-advancement, as Indians, especially the middle

classes, face the unknown and seek to exert control over their changing lives

“In the past, I used to pray to the guru to help me, now I pray to gain the strength to help myself”.

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New Spirtualism and the complexities of democracy and politics

• The laicization of the esoteric, and people-centric spiritual practices, consonant with the normative ascendance of the idea of citizen’s power: Peoples’ religion, suitable for a modern democratic nation

• The individual as the focus of social action and public activism: Solution to social and political problems sought through internal self-polishing

• Societal problems interpreted through the lens of personal or individual failings and deficit

• Psychologisation and somaticisation of politics; social problems addressed through the cultivation of a healthy and balanced mind, body and spirit

• Intuitive and experiential understanding of reality breeds an anti-intellectual, non-analytical and uncritical approach and thwarts critical social enquiry and breeds political quietism

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Contd..

• Sewa -- service-oriented paternalistic, middle class or elitist voluntarism, acting on the hearts and minds of those seen as the deprived – devising entrepreneurial solutions to the problems of poverty and deprivation -- anti-politics

• Personalised and individualised “lived” and “self-actualised” form of political expression through volunteerism and social service

• Personal duty and responsibility for welfare provision and reformed social contract with the state

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Reinforcing traditionalisation, desecularisation and new modes of politicisation of religion

• New spiritualism does not imply the erosion of religious identity, but signals deep personal rooting and internalisation of a religiously defined spiritual ethic and value system

• Pervasive sacralisation and desecularisation of ever more aspects of life through the idiom of traditional religion, mainly Hinduism, and cognate ideas from Buddhism

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New Spiritualism, religious identity and the nation

• NS helps to valorize the autonomous self-governed, responsible enterprising self as the protagonist of a modern and modernising nation

• A spiritually enriched or spiritually literate self-sufficient citizen, enhancing his or her own personal well-being, is to contribute to the highest common good – the good of the nation.

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Commodified Spiritualism, enterprise and consumer culture

• Packaged spiritual self-help, self-management and life-style tools are offered to help cope with the demands of contemporary transformation, including stress and competition

• Facilitates acceptance and endurance of contemporary conditions, and engenders political quietism and complicity with social ills

• NS helps to create a sense of entitlement to success, prosperity and happiness, as well as a firm belief in the possibility of achieving these through the sheer force of will and the energy of inner spirit

• Spiritualism in the corporate milieu: Spirtual and emotional intelligence; Human resource management; tool for the global manager; infusion of meaning and purpose and source of values in corporate practice

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