Christopher Miller | University of Zurich, Switzerland (original) (raw)
Edited Volumes by Christopher Miller
Lexington, 2019
Today’s globalized society faces some of humanity’s most unprecedented social and environmental c... more Today’s globalized society faces some of humanity’s most unprecedented social and environmental challenges. Presenting new and insightful approaches to a range of these challenges, the timely volume before you draws upon individual cases of exemplary leadership from the world’s Dharma traditions—Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism. The volume's authors refer to such exemplary leaders as “beacons of Dharma,” highlighting the ways in which each figure, via their inspirational life work, provide us with illuminating perspectives as we continue to confront cases of grave injustice and needless suffering in the world.
Taking on difficult contemporary issues such as climate change, racial and gender inequality, industrial agriculture and animal rights, fair access to healthcare and education, and other such pressing concerns, Beacons of Dharma offers a promising and much needed contribution to our global remedial discussions. Seeking to help solve and alleviate such social and environmental issues, each of the chapters in the volume invites contemplation, inspires action, and offers a freshly invigorating source of hope.
Reviewer's Comments:
Beacons of Dharma highlights important figures who have changed the course of religious history. Women figure prominently in this volume, both as contributors and as leaders being recognized for their good works, starting with Chinese Buddhist nuns in the 4th century right up to present-day teachers Acharya Chandanaji and Ammachi. Judith Simmer-Brown highlights Pema Chodron's response to contemporary issues posed by Black Lives Matter and Nikky-Guninder Singh brings to our attention the important interfaith work of Bhai Vir Singh (1872-1957), a strong voice in protest of all colonialist hegemonies. Every chapter brings new insight.... this is a treasure box to be shared with all students of religion! (Christopher Key Chapple, Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology, Loyola Marymount University)
Can humans flourish without destroying the earth? In this book, experts on many of the world's ma... more Can humans flourish without destroying the earth? In this book, experts on many of the world's major and minor religious traditions address the question of human and earth flourishing. Each chapter considers specific religious ideas and specific environmental harms. Chapters are paired and the authors work in dialogue with one another. Taken together, the chapters reveal that the question of flourishing is deceptively simple. Most would agree that humans should flourish without destroying the earth. But not all humans have equal opportunities to flourish. Additionally, on a basic physical level any human flourishing must, of necessity, cause some harm. These considerations of the price and distribution of flourishing raise unique questions about the status of humans and nature. This book represents a step toward reconciliation: that people and their ecosystems may live in peace, that people from different religious worldviews may engage in productive dialogue; in short, that all may flourish.
Edited Journal Issues by Christopher Miller
Book Chapters by Christopher Miller
This book chapter surveys three Christian and Hindu responses to yoga in North America which I br... more This book chapter surveys three Christian and Hindu responses to yoga in North America which I broadly construe as "anxious", "ambivalent", and "accepting". I provide historical context for these responses as Christians and Hindus navigate the social terrain of "yoga".
Beacons of Dharma, 2020
In the wake of the Great Depression, Paramhansa Yogananda proposed the creation of spiritual yoga... more In the wake of the Great Depression, Paramhansa Yogananda proposed the creation of spiritual yoga communities he called "World Brotherhood Colonies" as a solution to the suffering experienced throughout America. This book chapter traces the history, controversies, and ultimately the hope that his colony idea might still have to offer in the face of the perils of global capitalism.
Yoga is perhaps one of the biggest stories in globalizing India. This chapter brings the ongoing ... more Yoga is perhaps one of the biggest stories in globalizing India. This chapter brings the ongoing media discourse surrounding the International Day of Yoga, inaugurated June 21, 2015, into focus. On the international front, Narendra Modi's yoga discourse has emphasized yoga's capacity to help deal with climate change, while on the home front in India his yoga discourse has emphasized ecologically deleterious bio-political imperatives. This chapter also introduces India's national river-linking project (RLP) recently revived by the BJP, demonstrating that both Modi's yoga and the RLP are undergirded by the same climate change inducing neoliberal economic agenda. Finally, the chapter concludes with the river-restoring efforts and advocacy of India's popular "Water Man," Rajendra Singh, who combines yoga ontology and river revival to produce an alternative and more sustainable vision of development for India.
Journal Articles by Christopher Miller
Religions, 2021
This article seeks to elevate contemporary Jain voices calling for the adoption of a vegan lifest... more This article seeks to elevate contemporary Jain voices calling for the adoption of a vegan lifestyle as a sign of solidarity with the transnational vegan movement and its animal rights, environmental protection, and health aspirations. Just as important, however, this article also seeks to
present some of the unique features of contemporary Jain veganism, including, most specifically, Jain veganism as an ascetic practice aimed at the embodiment of non-violence (ahiṃsā), the eradication
(nirjarā) of karma, and the liberation (mokṣa) of the Self (jı̄va). These are distinctive features of Jain veganism often overlooked and yet worthy of our attention. We begin the article with a brief discussion of transnational veganism and Jain veganism’s place within this global movement. This is followed by an overview of Jain karma theory as it appears in the Tattvārtha Sūtra, an authoritative diasporic Jain text. Next, we present two case studies of contemporary Jain expressions of veganism: (1) The
UK-based organization known as “Jain Vegans” and (2) The US-based organization known as “Vegan Jains”. Both organizations have found new opportunities in transnational veganism to practice and embody the virtue of ahiṃsā as well as Jain karma theory. As we will show, though both organizations share the animal, human, and environmental protection aspirations found in transnational veganism, Jain Vegans and Vegan Jains simultaneously promote ahiṃsā to varying degrees in service of the Jain
path to liberation. We conclude the article with a brief reconsideration of Marcus Banks’s diasporic “three tendencies” model to demonstrate how contemporary manifestations of Jain veganism compel us to revisit our understanding of diasporic expressions of Jain religious belief and praxis.
Journal of Dharma Studies, 2020
In this article, I will elucidate the Indian government’s two primary discourses concerning yoga ... more In this article, I will elucidate the Indian government’s two primary discourses concerning yoga since 2014 as right-wing Hindu Nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu Nationalist political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have interacted with both international and domestic audiences. These discourses can be broadly grouped into
two categories, or what I refer to as Modi and the BJP’s “double discourse”: (1) Yoga as a global soft power solution to counter the Global North’s climate change privilege on the international stage and (2) Yoga as biopower for the advancement of India’s depressed economy on the domestic front. Relying on yoga’s polyvalent character, Modi and the BJP
are able to frame yoga in these two particular ways—which together signal their commitment to neoliberal economic ideology—by drawing from historical and contemporaneous precedents which I also outline in the article. I conclude with a brief visit to the preparations for the BJP’s 2019 International Day of Yoga, where this double discourse becomes most evident in the two divergent themes announced for the event.
Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) founded the Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS) of India in 1917. Wit... more Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) founded the Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS) of India in 1917. With the blessings of his guru Sri Yukteswar, he then traveled to the United States in 1920 where he eventually established the American branch of the YSS known as the Self-Realization Fellowship to teach Kriyā-yoga and “original Christianity.” Tracing the history of the World Brotherhood Colony movement as it made its way from India to America and back to India, this article shows how Yogananda’s colonies today continue to provide a space for members of the growing global middle class to live a simpler life grounded in yogic principles. Scholars concerned with yoga’s historical transmission and entrance into transnational practice will find this article useful for understanding the
implications of Paramahansa Yogananda’s World Brotherhood Colonies in the history of modern yoga.
Religions, 2019
This article proposes an introductory course to Jainism vis-à-vis the categories of yoga and ecol... more This article proposes an introductory course to Jainism vis-à-vis the categories of yoga and ecology. Following a short introduction, the main section of this paper introduces the contents of the syllabus for this upper division undergraduate theological studies course. Students will learn not only the history and philosophy of Jainism, but will also undertake basic Jain contemplative practices. Contemplative practice is used not merely as a technique of self-care, but rather, following some of Jainism's foundational textual sources, first and foremost as a method for helping students to form a sense of ethical relationship and empathy with the world around them. Using such a pedagogical approach, which I situate as a specific form of "high-impact" learning, I suggest that at the completion of the course students will be better equipped to respond to our shared social and environmental crises. This article serves as both an introduction of this course to the academic community, as well as an invitation to scholars and professors of South Asian religious traditions to adopt the pedagogical approach proposed herein.
Special thanks to Anne Vallely for inviting me to contribute to this issue regarding new directions in Jain Studies.
Encyclopedia Entries by Christopher Miller
Wiley-Blackwell's Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2020
A Short encyclopedia entry about Jainism in Wiley-Blackwell's Encyclopedia of Sociology.
This encyclopedia entry summarizes Sāṃkhya philosophy according to the categories of soteriolog... more This encyclopedia entry summarizes Sāṃkhya philosophy according to the categories of soteriology, epistemology, and metaphysics with an added emphasis on Sāṃkhya in practice.
Popular Publications by Christopher Miller
Tarka, 2019
I have become increasingly fascinated with the etymology of the word mitāhāra, a compound commo... more I have become increasingly fascinated with the etymology of the word mitāhāra, a compound commonly translated into English simply as “moderate (mita) diet (āhāra).” In this article, I will unpack the etymology of mitāhāra and discuss the broader implications of the meaning of this word in haṭha yoga practice. Because mitāhāra is such a central component of haṭha yoga practice, or as the Haṭha-Pradīpikā (ca. 15th c. CE) boldly proclaims, “the foremost yama [ethical restraint],” (1.38, Akers 2002, page 18) it deserves our close attention. As we shall see, mitāhāra provides the foundations for going beyond the mind in order to achieve, from the perspective of hatḥa yoga, the highest human potential.
Tarka: On the Concept of Light, 2018
A preview of our forthcoming edited volume, Beacons of Dharma.
Conference Presentations by Christopher Miller
This is the first paper I wrote in my PhD program, which was accepted to an international water c... more This is the first paper I wrote in my PhD program, which was accepted to an international water conference in Germany:
In this paper, I focus our attention upon the right-wing, Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) strategic and conflicted use of the "development" ideograph to rhetorically advance India's heavily disputed river-linking project. In rhetoric, an ideograph is a rhetorical term that carries the capacity to euphemize certain behaviors and decisions of power, thereby masking and validating its own consequences. By creating "hegemonic discourse," ideographs allow the groups who use them to undertake political action with little to no interference (McGee, 1980). In India, the BJP uses the "development" ideograph to mask the negative environmental consequences of its national river-linking project which include massive disturbance of the ecologies of deltaic flood plains, unexpected flooding and loss of wildlife, as well as deleterious alterations of river salinization (Mallik, 2003, Perveen, 2008).
As the concern with global water ethics continues to grow, so too does the level of interdisciplinary input related to this important issue. As a scholar of Indian religious traditions who is interested in the interface between politics, religion, and the environment, my paper integrates these categories into a critical rhetorical analysis. I begin by elucidating the "development" ideograph itself, after which I perform an analysis of two of the BJP's key rhetorical strategies used to invoke and employ it as a means to advance its river-linking plans in recent English-language media. The first of these strategies involves Prakash Javadekar's (India's Minister for Environment) dissociation of India from the "developed" world to license ecological destruction for the purpose of industrialization, while the second comprises Narendra Modi's ambiguous and diametrically opposed association of "development" with "environmental sustainability." Despite their inherent philosophical disagreement, I argue that both strategies left fertile ground for Uma Bharti, the BJP's Water Resources Minister, to eventually make selective use of each in an apex claim that has rhetorically advanced India's national river-linking project.
As the global "Water Ethics Charter" continues to evolve, it will be critical that it incorporate interdisciplinary perspectives in order to continue to illuminate the complex social, environmental, spiritual, economic, and political dimensions of water ethics within the particular contexts in which they are being deliberated. Doing so will ensure that the charter reflects the diverse range of local interests that it will serve, and this paper serves as an important contribution to this conversation as it relates to issues of Hindu nationalism and water ethics in India.
Book Reviews by Christopher Miller
Journal of Dharma Studies, 2020
A book review of Parveen Jain's An Introduction to Jain Philosophy
International Journal of Hindu Studies , 2019
Book review of Anya Foxen's Biography of a Yogi
Religions of South Asia, 2019
Books by Christopher Miller
Routledge , Oct 2024
Embodying Transnational Yoga is a refreshingly original, multi-sited ethnography of transnational... more Embodying Transnational Yoga is a refreshingly original, multi-sited ethnography of transnational yoga that obliges us to look beyond postural practice (āsana) in modern yoga research.
The book introduces readers to three alternative, understudied categories of transnational yoga practice which include food, music, and breathing. Studying these categories of embodied practice using interdisciplinary methods reveals transformative “engaged alchemies” that have been extensively deployed by contemporary disseminators of yoga. Readers will encounter how South Asian dietary regimens, musical practices, and breathing techniques have been adapted into contemporaneous worlds of yoga practice both within, but also beyond, the Indian Ocean rim.
The book brings the field of Modern Yoga Studies into productive dialogue with the fields of Indian Ocean Studies, Embodiment Studies, Food Studies, Ethnomusicology, and Pollution Studies. It will also be a valuable resource for both scholarly work and for teaching in the fields of Religious Studies, Anthropology, and South Asian Religions.
Lexington, 2019
Today’s globalized society faces some of humanity’s most unprecedented social and environmental c... more Today’s globalized society faces some of humanity’s most unprecedented social and environmental challenges. Presenting new and insightful approaches to a range of these challenges, the timely volume before you draws upon individual cases of exemplary leadership from the world’s Dharma traditions—Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism. The volume's authors refer to such exemplary leaders as “beacons of Dharma,” highlighting the ways in which each figure, via their inspirational life work, provide us with illuminating perspectives as we continue to confront cases of grave injustice and needless suffering in the world.
Taking on difficult contemporary issues such as climate change, racial and gender inequality, industrial agriculture and animal rights, fair access to healthcare and education, and other such pressing concerns, Beacons of Dharma offers a promising and much needed contribution to our global remedial discussions. Seeking to help solve and alleviate such social and environmental issues, each of the chapters in the volume invites contemplation, inspires action, and offers a freshly invigorating source of hope.
Reviewer's Comments:
Beacons of Dharma highlights important figures who have changed the course of religious history. Women figure prominently in this volume, both as contributors and as leaders being recognized for their good works, starting with Chinese Buddhist nuns in the 4th century right up to present-day teachers Acharya Chandanaji and Ammachi. Judith Simmer-Brown highlights Pema Chodron's response to contemporary issues posed by Black Lives Matter and Nikky-Guninder Singh brings to our attention the important interfaith work of Bhai Vir Singh (1872-1957), a strong voice in protest of all colonialist hegemonies. Every chapter brings new insight.... this is a treasure box to be shared with all students of religion! (Christopher Key Chapple, Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology, Loyola Marymount University)
Can humans flourish without destroying the earth? In this book, experts on many of the world's ma... more Can humans flourish without destroying the earth? In this book, experts on many of the world's major and minor religious traditions address the question of human and earth flourishing. Each chapter considers specific religious ideas and specific environmental harms. Chapters are paired and the authors work in dialogue with one another. Taken together, the chapters reveal that the question of flourishing is deceptively simple. Most would agree that humans should flourish without destroying the earth. But not all humans have equal opportunities to flourish. Additionally, on a basic physical level any human flourishing must, of necessity, cause some harm. These considerations of the price and distribution of flourishing raise unique questions about the status of humans and nature. This book represents a step toward reconciliation: that people and their ecosystems may live in peace, that people from different religious worldviews may engage in productive dialogue; in short, that all may flourish.
This book chapter surveys three Christian and Hindu responses to yoga in North America which I br... more This book chapter surveys three Christian and Hindu responses to yoga in North America which I broadly construe as "anxious", "ambivalent", and "accepting". I provide historical context for these responses as Christians and Hindus navigate the social terrain of "yoga".
Beacons of Dharma, 2020
In the wake of the Great Depression, Paramhansa Yogananda proposed the creation of spiritual yoga... more In the wake of the Great Depression, Paramhansa Yogananda proposed the creation of spiritual yoga communities he called "World Brotherhood Colonies" as a solution to the suffering experienced throughout America. This book chapter traces the history, controversies, and ultimately the hope that his colony idea might still have to offer in the face of the perils of global capitalism.
Yoga is perhaps one of the biggest stories in globalizing India. This chapter brings the ongoing ... more Yoga is perhaps one of the biggest stories in globalizing India. This chapter brings the ongoing media discourse surrounding the International Day of Yoga, inaugurated June 21, 2015, into focus. On the international front, Narendra Modi's yoga discourse has emphasized yoga's capacity to help deal with climate change, while on the home front in India his yoga discourse has emphasized ecologically deleterious bio-political imperatives. This chapter also introduces India's national river-linking project (RLP) recently revived by the BJP, demonstrating that both Modi's yoga and the RLP are undergirded by the same climate change inducing neoliberal economic agenda. Finally, the chapter concludes with the river-restoring efforts and advocacy of India's popular "Water Man," Rajendra Singh, who combines yoga ontology and river revival to produce an alternative and more sustainable vision of development for India.
Religions, 2021
This article seeks to elevate contemporary Jain voices calling for the adoption of a vegan lifest... more This article seeks to elevate contemporary Jain voices calling for the adoption of a vegan lifestyle as a sign of solidarity with the transnational vegan movement and its animal rights, environmental protection, and health aspirations. Just as important, however, this article also seeks to
present some of the unique features of contemporary Jain veganism, including, most specifically, Jain veganism as an ascetic practice aimed at the embodiment of non-violence (ahiṃsā), the eradication
(nirjarā) of karma, and the liberation (mokṣa) of the Self (jı̄va). These are distinctive features of Jain veganism often overlooked and yet worthy of our attention. We begin the article with a brief discussion of transnational veganism and Jain veganism’s place within this global movement. This is followed by an overview of Jain karma theory as it appears in the Tattvārtha Sūtra, an authoritative diasporic Jain text. Next, we present two case studies of contemporary Jain expressions of veganism: (1) The
UK-based organization known as “Jain Vegans” and (2) The US-based organization known as “Vegan Jains”. Both organizations have found new opportunities in transnational veganism to practice and embody the virtue of ahiṃsā as well as Jain karma theory. As we will show, though both organizations share the animal, human, and environmental protection aspirations found in transnational veganism, Jain Vegans and Vegan Jains simultaneously promote ahiṃsā to varying degrees in service of the Jain
path to liberation. We conclude the article with a brief reconsideration of Marcus Banks’s diasporic “three tendencies” model to demonstrate how contemporary manifestations of Jain veganism compel us to revisit our understanding of diasporic expressions of Jain religious belief and praxis.
Journal of Dharma Studies, 2020
In this article, I will elucidate the Indian government’s two primary discourses concerning yoga ... more In this article, I will elucidate the Indian government’s two primary discourses concerning yoga since 2014 as right-wing Hindu Nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu Nationalist political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have interacted with both international and domestic audiences. These discourses can be broadly grouped into
two categories, or what I refer to as Modi and the BJP’s “double discourse”: (1) Yoga as a global soft power solution to counter the Global North’s climate change privilege on the international stage and (2) Yoga as biopower for the advancement of India’s depressed economy on the domestic front. Relying on yoga’s polyvalent character, Modi and the BJP
are able to frame yoga in these two particular ways—which together signal their commitment to neoliberal economic ideology—by drawing from historical and contemporaneous precedents which I also outline in the article. I conclude with a brief visit to the preparations for the BJP’s 2019 International Day of Yoga, where this double discourse becomes most evident in the two divergent themes announced for the event.
Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) founded the Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS) of India in 1917. Wit... more Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) founded the Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS) of India in 1917. With the blessings of his guru Sri Yukteswar, he then traveled to the United States in 1920 where he eventually established the American branch of the YSS known as the Self-Realization Fellowship to teach Kriyā-yoga and “original Christianity.” Tracing the history of the World Brotherhood Colony movement as it made its way from India to America and back to India, this article shows how Yogananda’s colonies today continue to provide a space for members of the growing global middle class to live a simpler life grounded in yogic principles. Scholars concerned with yoga’s historical transmission and entrance into transnational practice will find this article useful for understanding the
implications of Paramahansa Yogananda’s World Brotherhood Colonies in the history of modern yoga.
Religions, 2019
This article proposes an introductory course to Jainism vis-à-vis the categories of yoga and ecol... more This article proposes an introductory course to Jainism vis-à-vis the categories of yoga and ecology. Following a short introduction, the main section of this paper introduces the contents of the syllabus for this upper division undergraduate theological studies course. Students will learn not only the history and philosophy of Jainism, but will also undertake basic Jain contemplative practices. Contemplative practice is used not merely as a technique of self-care, but rather, following some of Jainism's foundational textual sources, first and foremost as a method for helping students to form a sense of ethical relationship and empathy with the world around them. Using such a pedagogical approach, which I situate as a specific form of "high-impact" learning, I suggest that at the completion of the course students will be better equipped to respond to our shared social and environmental crises. This article serves as both an introduction of this course to the academic community, as well as an invitation to scholars and professors of South Asian religious traditions to adopt the pedagogical approach proposed herein.
Special thanks to Anne Vallely for inviting me to contribute to this issue regarding new directions in Jain Studies.
Wiley-Blackwell's Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2020
A Short encyclopedia entry about Jainism in Wiley-Blackwell's Encyclopedia of Sociology.
This encyclopedia entry summarizes Sāṃkhya philosophy according to the categories of soteriolog... more This encyclopedia entry summarizes Sāṃkhya philosophy according to the categories of soteriology, epistemology, and metaphysics with an added emphasis on Sāṃkhya in practice.
Tarka, 2019
I have become increasingly fascinated with the etymology of the word mitāhāra, a compound commo... more I have become increasingly fascinated with the etymology of the word mitāhāra, a compound commonly translated into English simply as “moderate (mita) diet (āhāra).” In this article, I will unpack the etymology of mitāhāra and discuss the broader implications of the meaning of this word in haṭha yoga practice. Because mitāhāra is such a central component of haṭha yoga practice, or as the Haṭha-Pradīpikā (ca. 15th c. CE) boldly proclaims, “the foremost yama [ethical restraint],” (1.38, Akers 2002, page 18) it deserves our close attention. As we shall see, mitāhāra provides the foundations for going beyond the mind in order to achieve, from the perspective of hatḥa yoga, the highest human potential.
Tarka: On the Concept of Light, 2018
A preview of our forthcoming edited volume, Beacons of Dharma.
This is the first paper I wrote in my PhD program, which was accepted to an international water c... more This is the first paper I wrote in my PhD program, which was accepted to an international water conference in Germany:
In this paper, I focus our attention upon the right-wing, Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) strategic and conflicted use of the "development" ideograph to rhetorically advance India's heavily disputed river-linking project. In rhetoric, an ideograph is a rhetorical term that carries the capacity to euphemize certain behaviors and decisions of power, thereby masking and validating its own consequences. By creating "hegemonic discourse," ideographs allow the groups who use them to undertake political action with little to no interference (McGee, 1980). In India, the BJP uses the "development" ideograph to mask the negative environmental consequences of its national river-linking project which include massive disturbance of the ecologies of deltaic flood plains, unexpected flooding and loss of wildlife, as well as deleterious alterations of river salinization (Mallik, 2003, Perveen, 2008).
As the concern with global water ethics continues to grow, so too does the level of interdisciplinary input related to this important issue. As a scholar of Indian religious traditions who is interested in the interface between politics, religion, and the environment, my paper integrates these categories into a critical rhetorical analysis. I begin by elucidating the "development" ideograph itself, after which I perform an analysis of two of the BJP's key rhetorical strategies used to invoke and employ it as a means to advance its river-linking plans in recent English-language media. The first of these strategies involves Prakash Javadekar's (India's Minister for Environment) dissociation of India from the "developed" world to license ecological destruction for the purpose of industrialization, while the second comprises Narendra Modi's ambiguous and diametrically opposed association of "development" with "environmental sustainability." Despite their inherent philosophical disagreement, I argue that both strategies left fertile ground for Uma Bharti, the BJP's Water Resources Minister, to eventually make selective use of each in an apex claim that has rhetorically advanced India's national river-linking project.
As the global "Water Ethics Charter" continues to evolve, it will be critical that it incorporate interdisciplinary perspectives in order to continue to illuminate the complex social, environmental, spiritual, economic, and political dimensions of water ethics within the particular contexts in which they are being deliberated. Doing so will ensure that the charter reflects the diverse range of local interests that it will serve, and this paper serves as an important contribution to this conversation as it relates to issues of Hindu nationalism and water ethics in India.
Routledge , Oct 2024
Embodying Transnational Yoga is a refreshingly original, multi-sited ethnography of transnational... more Embodying Transnational Yoga is a refreshingly original, multi-sited ethnography of transnational yoga that obliges us to look beyond postural practice (āsana) in modern yoga research.
The book introduces readers to three alternative, understudied categories of transnational yoga practice which include food, music, and breathing. Studying these categories of embodied practice using interdisciplinary methods reveals transformative “engaged alchemies” that have been extensively deployed by contemporary disseminators of yoga. Readers will encounter how South Asian dietary regimens, musical practices, and breathing techniques have been adapted into contemporaneous worlds of yoga practice both within, but also beyond, the Indian Ocean rim.
The book brings the field of Modern Yoga Studies into productive dialogue with the fields of Indian Ocean Studies, Embodiment Studies, Food Studies, Ethnomusicology, and Pollution Studies. It will also be a valuable resource for both scholarly work and for teaching in the fields of Religious Studies, Anthropology, and South Asian Religions.