No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1986.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

The object of this dissertation is to illustrate the significance of Prana (life breath):- -As it obtains in the oral tradition -With reference to the Aramaic Rouhah -In Pranayama (breath control) -In Surya Namaskar (Obeisance to the sun) The role of Prana in man was recognised and venerated since time immemorial. In the introduction, Prana is perceived as a global, anthropological phenomenon. Chapter one provides a theoretical framework linking Pranato Oral Tradition by focusing on Marcel Jousse and his teachings; the Orality Perspective and the Orality - Literacy interface. Since the earliest record of the terms; yoga, Prana and Pranayama appear in the Vedas, the significance of the Vedas, especially as they exemplify oral expression, is mentioned. Chapter two focuses on: firstly, Prana within the context of yoga and secondly, Prana and its relation to the Aramaic Rouhah. The congruency of thought on the breath suffices to entrench Prana as a global entity. In chapter three, the enhancement of the quality and quantity of Prana via Pranayama (control of the breath) is discussed. Pranayama sets out with the purpose of achieving complete harmonisation of the body-mind axis, and thereby proceeding to the divinisatlon of energy. A cohesive whole is established by three essential and integrated elements; the breath (Prana), the physical gesture (asana) and the spoken gesture (mantra) in Surya Namaskar. Oral features in these elements are analysed in chapter four. The conclusion serves to emphasize that the wealth of oral tradition is amply evident in the concepts of Prana, Rouhah and Prananayama. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1998.

No description available.

This research explored Indians' definitions of peace and their solutions for peace between Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat, India. The study also focused on peacebuilding efforts after the Hindu-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002.Members of a local NGO collaborated on the project by acting as gatekeepers in the field. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Hindi with twenty-nine adult men and women (20 to 64 years old) from both the Hindu and Muslim communities. To develop an understanding of the social context of each community, the researcher initiated conversations and walks around the communities with three key informants and she also conducted participatory mapping of the communities.Data analyses of the transcribed interviews was performed by two coders using the Grounded Theory approach in the target language, i.e., Hindi. Four main themes emerged: (1) descriptions of the community, (2) perceptions of relationships Hindus and Muslims, (3) peace and solutions for peace, and (4) hopes for the future. Smaller specific categories were captured under these broader themes.Based on the data analyses, analytic matrices representing the relationships between these categories and the two main research questions were generated. These matrices were developed drawing from data obtained during participants' interviews, conversations with key informants, the researcher's field observations, participatory mapping, and the available literature.Relying on the conceptual frameworks generated from the data, participants' definitions of peace and their solutions for peace in their community were elaborated. Participants' defined peace as the absence of both direct (e.g., physical violence) and structural (e.g., unemployment, crime rates) violence. Further, their solutions for peace incorporated direct (e.g., absence of physical violence) and structural (e.g., opportunities for employment) peacebuilding as ways- to promote non-violence in their communities. The analytic matrices derived from this study provided strong evidence to suggest participants' definitions of peace and their solutions for peace could contribute to peacebuilding between Hindus and Muslims in the communities in Gujarat targeted for this project. Implications for employing peacebuilding strategies to resolve conflict between other individuals are offered, as are recommendations for investigating solutions designed to facilitate peace and limitations of this study. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This thesis is an in-depth analysis of beauty ideals in South Korea and India. These two countries have recently turned to skin lightening and cosmetic surgery in order to achieve their new beauty standards. Not only do these two countries share a propensity for those two trends, but they also have an overwhelming majority of the population that identifies with a specific religion; Hinduism in the case of India and Confucianism in the case of South Korea. However, it is not clear that the current beauty ideal in each country aligns with the beauty ideal set out in the respective foundational religion.

This thesis contains a critical edition and annotated translation of the Khecarīvidyā of Ādinātha, an early haṭhayogic text which describes the physical practice of khecarīmudrā. 31 witnesses have been collated to establish the critical edition. The notes to the translation adduce parallels in other works and draw on Ballāla's Bṛhatkhecarīprakāśa commentary and ethnographic data to explain the text. The first introductory chapter examines the relationships between the different sources used to establish the critical edition. An analysis of the development of the text concludes that its compiler(s) took a chapter describing the vidyā (mantra) of the deity Khecarī from a larger text to form the framework for the verses describing the physical practice. At this stage the text preserved the Kaula orientation of the original work and included verses in praise of madirā, alcohol. By the time that the text achieved its greatest fame as an authority on the haṭhayogic practice of khecarīmudrā most of its Kaula features had been expunged so as not to offend orthodox practitioners of haṭhayoga and a short fourth chapter on magical herbs had been added. The second introductory chapter concerns the physical practice. It starts by examining textual evidence in the Pali canon and Sanskrit works for practices similar to the haṭhayogic khecarīmudrā before the time of composition of the Khecarīvidyā and then discusses the non-physical khecarīmudrās described in tantric works. There follows a discussion of how these different features combined in the khecarīmudrā of the Khecarīvidyā. Then a survey of descriptions of khecarīmudrā in other haṭhayogic works shows how the haṭhayogic corpus encompasses various differnt approaches to yogic practice. After an examination of the practice of khecarīmudrā in India today the chapter concludes by showing the haṭhayogic khecarīmudrā has generally been the preserve of unorthodox ascetics. In the third introductory chapter are described the 27 manuscripts used to establish the critical edition, the citations and borrowings of the text in other works, and the ethnographic sources. The appendices include a full collation of all the witnesses of the Khecarīvidyā, critical editions of chapters from the Matsyendrasaṃhitā and Haṭharatnāvalī helpful in understanding the Khecarīvidyā, and a list of all the works cited in the Bṛhatkhecarīprakāśa.

Detta examensarbete undersöker hur hinduismen och buddhismen framställs i en lärobok för grundskolan 7-9, publicerad 2006. Undersökningen bygger på intervjuer och analyser av sex elever i årskurs nio. Utifrån en kvalitativ innehållsanalys granskas om det finns ett andrafierande, ett vi och dem sätt att beskriva dessa religioner och om det finns eurocentristiskt formuleringssätt i dessa läroböcker. Undersökningens fokus ligger på om det i läroböckernas framställningar förekommer spår av ett vi- och dom-perspektiv och på vilka sätt dessa eventuella spår då yttrar sig. Eleverna får också ta ställning till om de anser att läroböcker i ämnet religion skulle vinna på fler inslag av verkliga troende individers medverkan ifråga om beskrivningar av vardagen och heliga ceremonier. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att det i läroboken finns spår av ett vi- och dom-perspektiv i någon grad. Till viss del ställs ett tillsynes homogent ”vi” i relation till ett tillsynes homogent ”dom”. ”Vi” representerar ”europén” och den kristne ”västerlänningen”, ”dom” å andra sidan får representera ”de Andra”, det vill säga hindun och buddhisten samt deras religiösa trosföreställningar.   Det visar sig att den undersökta läroboken innehåller formuleringar och bilder som innebär en exotifiering och andrafiering av hinduismen och buddhismen vilket också förstärker den eurocentriska bilden av den andre. Den religiösa individen tolkas därtill uteslutande utifrån kollektivet vilket förstärker en stereotypisk bild av hindun och buddhisten. Läroboken skapar på detta sätt en föreställning hos elever som ger dem ett intryck av ”de andra” i relation till den norm som de omedvetet får lära sig är ”den västerländska.” Eleverna själva uttrycker att de skulle uppskatta textinlägg skrivna av troende hinduer och buddhister. De menar att dessa inlägg skulle förstärka deras förståelse och öka deras intresse för dessa religioner. Detta skulle förmodligen innebära att den stereotypiska bilden av hindun och buddhisten i lärobokens framställningar skulle bli ber individ baserad. Eleverna skulle förmodligen då också kunna relatera till religionerna på ett mer objektivt sätt.

This dissertation examines the attacks on "idolatry" by two prominent nineteenth-century Hindu reformers, Rammohun Roy and Dayananda Sarasvati. Their iconoclastic fervour in the context of Hindu India appears (at face-value) as an anomaly because image-worship is widely perceived as such a prominent feature of that religion. Is their image-rejection to be explained as a borrowing of an Islamic or Protestant attitude? Both men have been referred to as the "Luther of India," but is the label "Protestant" as also applied to their reformed Hinduism appropriate and what is suggested by this expression? The dissertation examines indigenous and foreign elements in the anti-idolatry polemics of both men and argues that explanation by diffusion from non-Indian sources is inadequate whereas explanation by independent invention is in need of nuancing. I explore the hypothesis that metaphysical arguments against images may be considered indigenous to India whereas moral arguments imply borrowing. I argue that although catalyzed by Western influence, nineteenth-century Hindu iconoclasm draws on Indian sources. The British presence in nineteenth-century India acts as the "stress" that triggers the particular diathesis (latent cultural predisposition) that manifests in the Hindu iconoclasm of these two reformers. The fact that the two men had very different backgrounds and degrees of integration with Islamic or British culture and yet both regarded image-worship as the central issue of reform suggests other grounds to explain their iconoclasm than borrowing or diffusion. I explore the formative events in their biographies that describe their individual disenchantment with images. Further, evidence is presented from their writings that indicates that a major concern for both men in the attack on "idolatry" was the disenchantment of religion and culture in the service of the development, unification, and modernization of Hindu India.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request