coordenadoria de aperfeiÃoamento de pessoal de ensino superior / O presente estudo investigou as percepÃÃes cognitivas e simbÃlicas de indivÃduos que adotam prÃticas alimentares vegetarianas por motivaÃÃes religiosas, na cidade de Fortaleza, pertencentes a uma linha de yoga no Ãmbito dos novos movimentos religiosos. Este estudo teve como cenÃrio a Universidade Espiritual Mundial Brahma Kumaris â BKWSU, na referida cidade, entre os anos de 2007 e 2011, e utilizou como recursos metodolÃgicos a observaÃÃo participante e entrevistas semiestruturadas com alunos e professores deste movimento espiritual de cariz neo-hindu. Inicialmente, interessava compreender as representaÃÃes e as prÃticas relacionadas com a alimentaÃÃo, mas ao longo da pesquisa ficou evidente a existÃncia de uma confluÃncia semÃntica entre o sentimento religioso e alimentaÃÃo, ambos concorrendo para a construÃÃo de um regime de vida brahmin. Assim, o alimento tem seu sentido alargado e à tomado aqui como signo/metÃfora para se pensar a relaÃÃo corpo e alma sugerida pelo cÃdigo de condutas â maryadas â deste movimento espiritual. As formas de pensar, sentir e ver o mundo dos participantes deste grupo sÃo expressÃo de uma pertenÃa coletiva que Ã, ao mesmo tempo, subjetivada e ressignificada em termos do processo de aperfeiÃoamento de si e de sacralizaÃÃo do mundo. / The present study inquires into cognitive and symbolic perceptions of individuals from the town of Fortaleza who adopt a vegetarian diet for religious motivations. They belong to a yoga line, in scope of the new religious movements. This study took place in the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University â BKWSU, in the aforementioned city, between the years 2007 and 2011, and used as methodological tools participant observation and semi-structured interviews with students and professors of this spiritual movement with a neo-hindu face. Initial interest was to understand foodrelated representations and practices, but as the research went on, the existence of a semantic confluence between religious sentiment and food became evident, both converging to the construction of a brahmin life regimen. So, food has its meaning widened and is considered here as a sign/metaphor to think the body and soul relationship, suggested by the behavior code â maryadas â of this spiritual movement. For the participants of this group, forms of thinking, feeling and seeing the world are the expression of a collective belonging, which is, at the same time, subjectified and resignified in terms of the self-improvement process and sacralisation of the world.

I begin this thesis with a brief account of my meetings with popular South Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba (1926- ) and very brief a discussion of recent fraud and sexual abuse allegations that have been made against him. I note that one of the key factors involved in this, also accountable for his extraordinary popularity, is his divine persona-especially his self-proclaimed identity as "the avatar"-and I review previous academic studies pertaining to this. In contrast to most previous studies of Sathya Sai Baba, which align him primarily with Śaiva traditions and with the "Sai Baba movement", I note a strong (and long running) affinity in his ideas for Vaiṣṇava traditions (especially the Bhagavad-Gītā and the Bhāgavata-Purāṇa), and I add that his background as a member of a traditionally highly regarded bardic caste may have contributed to his divine persona. I further investigate this persona via a history of potentially parallel traditional and modern avatar ideas. I show something of the manner in which many of the avatar concepts and myths to which Sathya Sai Baba refers originated and developed, especially invoking the episteme of "resemblance", posited by Brian Smith, the idea of "inclusivism"-which I adapt from the work of Paul Hacker and Wilhelm Halbfass-and traditional (Sāṁkhya) processes of "distinction", "categorization", and "enumeration". In addition to these, I much refer to Max Weber's analysis of "pure types" of authority-traditional, charismatic, and rational-showing that Sathya Sai Baba draws upon all of these in legitimating his claim to be "the avatar". I also show that his divine persona draws upon a strong affinity that he exhibits for advaita ("non-dualism"), especially that of Śaṅkara, and that his personal history of intense devotional and ecstatic/yogic spiritual practices was likely important in the formative stages of this persona. I further suggest that the history of his geographic locale, in which there are strong themes of sacred kingship and ecstatic/advaitic/poetic/devotional sainthood, may have contributed to the production and reception of his persona. On top of this, I note that the influence of a number of modern avatar figures, especially Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, and Aurobindo, is patent in his avatar teachings, and I compare and contrast him with a number of other significant modern figures. Based upon all of this, I consider the question of whether Sathya Sai Baba ought to be regarded as a "traditionalist", both vis-à-vis modernity ("Neo-Hinduism", as defined especially by Paul Hacker) and "innovation". I conclude that, in contrast to most previous scholarly characterizations, he is certainly innovative, but that he ought not to be considered a "Neo-Hindu"-most appearances to the contrary being due to his borrowing or extrapolating ideas in a very traditional manner from typical Neo-Hindu thinkers (especially Vivekananda), as if these ideas, and those that framed them, were thoroughly traditional. Finally, I outline a couple of major themes in his avatar teachings: an ambivalent attitude to his role as an exemplar, which I note to accord with earlier and parallel avatar ideas; and strong docetic tendencies, which similarly, in contrast to some scholarly characterizations, find parallels in popular portrayals of other avatar figures.