Living Mantra : Mantra, Deity, and Visionary Experience Today Hardback
by Mani Rao
Part of the Contemporary Anthropology of Religion series
Hardback
Description
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.
Information
-
Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks
- Format:Hardback
- Pages:215 pages, 10 Illustrations, color; 2 Illustrations, black and white; XIX, 215 p. 12 illus., 10 illu
- Publisher:Springer International Publishing AG
- Publication Date:01/10/2018
- Category:
- ISBN:9783319963907
Other Formats
- Paperback / softback from £21.95
Information
-
Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks
- Format:Hardback
- Pages:215 pages, 10 Illustrations, color; 2 Illustrations, black and white; XIX, 215 p. 12 illus., 10 illu
- Publisher:Springer International Publishing AG
- Publication Date:01/10/2018
- Category:
- ISBN:9783319963907
