Texte remanié de: Ph. D.--Utrecht--University, 1992. / Contient aussi le texte en sanskrit suivi de la trad. anglaise de : "Kubjikāmatatantra 14-16" Bibliogr. p. [299]-312 et notes bibliogr. Index.

The intention of this project is to make a case for the cakras by finding their place in contemporary discourse. The assumption that allows for this project is that the structure and context of the cakras as psycho-physical phenomenon are not sufficiently established in scholarship. The method employed is to illuminate the cakras, which are primarily addressed as historical/textual entities, as phenomenological and psychological entities. This will be done through the phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and the additions to his depiction of the lived body as per YUASA Yasuo, who introduces the “unconscious quasi-body” (i.e., the subtle body) as a level of the body of which one may become aware. The cakras will also be presented as that which function similarly to psychological entities, introducing the depth psychology and commentary of C.G. Jung. By doing so, the human component of the cakras will be drawn out of historical/textual matters and into the lived experience of the human body where they may become the subject of phenomenological and psychological analysis. Through arguing for the addition of these standpoints, future dialog with other disciplines, especially contemporary cakra practitioners, may be facilitated. / Religion

Traditional ritual studies approaches to the body are effective for illuminating how the body functions as an entity that absorbs and expresses a variety of social, and political dynamics; however, they are less productive for understanding the body as a physical organism. This interdisciplinary thesis applies theoretical models from cognitive science, social psychology and ritual studies to the Śrī Cakra Pūjā in order to develop a more complete understanding of the ritual body as a physical body. Using Lawrence Barsalou’s theory of embodied cognition, which focuses on the impact of human experiences on the creation and integration of neural pathways, this essay, argues that Śrī Cakra Pūjā affects the mind by shaping the neural architecture of the brain. This cognitive perspective on religious ritual practice is compared with the more traditional ritual studies approach of Catherine Bell in an effort to provide a more complete understanding of the religious ritual body, brain and mind.