No description available.

The thesis is based on fieldwork carried out in the Tzeltal community of Tenejapa. It is concerned primarily with the practices of the "traditional" religion, which is part of a so-called cargo system. The practices are that aspect of the lives of the traditionalists that they conceive of as being the most unchanging in an environment that is otherwise altering rather rapidly. All that is considered to be part of the habitus of tradition and in particular their religion tends to be classified by the term "stalel" and to have a particular ethos. Since the Spanish Conquest, the Indians have used the practices largely unconsciously as protective mechanisms to shield themselves from mestizoisation, although they have always been and are still dependent on the Mestizos for their ceremonial prerequisites. The thesis outlines the organization of persons and the fiestas and other events that they celebrate. It discusses the substances that they use for ritual and the ceremonial language of prayer. It then looks at the people in the community who involve themselves in the cargo practices and who, by so doing, perpetuate the ethos of "stalel", year after year. Recently, however, the Indians have felt themselves to be under increasing pressure to change, an awareness that is explored during .Carnival. As various kinds of national institutional infrastructure have been provided for them in the community, they have become aware that their identity can have a positive aspect. While the numbers of those participating in the religious cargos has fallen, many have converted to various Protestant sects. Such conversions indicate a shift from an unconscious perpetuation of a particular ethos to a greater awareness of identity, and represent for the Indians a means of raising their status in their own eyes and those of the Mestizos, whilst retaining their cultural identity, which they are in the process of redefining.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Between 1910 and 1926, Hazrat Inayat Khan, a musician and Sufi master from the Chishtiyya order in India, introduced Sufism to the United States of America and Europe. He established a Western Sufi order, the International Sufi Movement, with groups in America, England, and across Europe. In the early 1930s this Western Sufism was introduced into Australia. The aim of this study is to explore and analyse the origins, nature and development of the Sufi Movement in Australia with particular attention to the relationship between the spiritual teacher and the disciple. The study, in its various aspects, and as a whole, makes a contribution to understanding religious change, religion and New Religious Movements in Australia, Sufism in the West and the murshid-mureed relationship. Using what has been termed a “dynamic of religions” framework and Baumann’s model of religious adaptation in cross-cultural circumstances, the study employs a combination of in-depth fieldwork, participant observation, interviews and historiography to identify and analyse both continuity and change in Sufi Movement groups in contemporary Australia. The study found that the early phases of transplantation from India to Europe and America, as well as the struggles within the group after the death of Inayat Khan, substantially shaped the Western Sufism that arrived in Australia. The most significant early adaptations included redefining the relationship between Sufism and exoteric Islam, gender equality, formation of a formal organisation, and the use of music to spread the Sufi Message. Addressing issues identified in the literature on the master-disciple relationship in Eastern traditions in the West, the study describes and analyses the murshid-mureed (master-disciple, spiritual teacher-student) relationship in Inayat Khan’s time, and in contemporary Australia. It shows that Sufism’s development in the West has been interconnected with understandings and practice of this central relationship. The study shows that the continued strength of the murshid-mureed relationship alongside emerging alternatives, the factors affecting change generally in the Sufi Movement, as well as the growing popularity of Sufism in Australia, demonstrate the need to consider not only East-West aspects of transplantation, but also the influences of modernity on spiritual traditions. As well as documenting the Australian history, the study describes the details of the variety of practices and rituals, forms of community and organisation, and forms of the murshid-mureed relationship, found in contemporary Australian groups. This provides insight into the intricacies of Sufi practice in Australia and provides a basis for comparison with other groups. Sufi practice within these groups in Australia includes highly innovative developments alongside preservation of the tradition as taught by Inayat Khan. It also reflects a tension between the spiritual and organisational hierarchy, and concerns for democracy and local autonomy.

Between 1910 and 1926, Hazrat Inayat Khan, a musician and Sufi master from the Chishtiyya order in India, introduced Sufism to the United States of America and Europe. He established a Western Sufi order, the International Sufi Movement, with groups in America, England, and across Europe. In the early 1930s this Western Sufism was introduced into Australia. The aim of this study is to explore and analyse the origins, nature and development of the Sufi Movement in Australia with particular attention to the relationship between the spiritual teacher and the disciple. The study, in its various aspects, and as a whole, makes a contribution to understanding religious change, religion and New Religious Movements in Australia, Sufism in the West and the murshid-mureed relationship. Using what has been termed a “dynamic of religions” framework and Baumann’s model of religious adaptation in cross-cultural circumstances, the study employs a combination of in-depth fieldwork, participant observation, interviews and historiography to identify and analyse both continuity and change in Sufi Movement groups in contemporary Australia. The study found that the early phases of transplantation from India to Europe and America, as well as the struggles within the group after the death of Inayat Khan, substantially shaped the Western Sufism that arrived in Australia. The most significant early adaptations included redefining the relationship between Sufism and exoteric Islam, gender equality, formation of a formal organisation, and the use of music to spread the Sufi Message. Addressing issues identified in the literature on the master-disciple relationship in Eastern traditions in the West, the study describes and analyses the murshid-mureed (master-disciple, spiritual teacher-student) relationship in Inayat Khan’s time, and in contemporary Australia. It shows that Sufism’s development in the West has been interconnected with understandings and practice of this central relationship. The study shows that the continued strength of the murshid-mureed relationship alongside emerging alternatives, the factors affecting change generally in the Sufi Movement, as well as the growing popularity of Sufism in Australia, demonstrate the need to consider not only East-West aspects of transplantation, but also the influences of modernity on spiritual traditions. As well as documenting the Australian history, the study describes the details of the variety of practices and rituals, forms of community and organisation, and forms of the murshid-mureed relationship, found in contemporary Australian groups. This provides insight into the intricacies of Sufi practice in Australia and provides a basis for comparison with other groups. Sufi practice within these groups in Australia includes highly innovative developments alongside preservation of the tradition as taught by Inayat Khan. It also reflects a tension between the spiritual and organisational hierarchy, and concerns for democracy and local autonomy.

Between 1910 and 1926, Hazrat Inayat Khan, a musician and Sufi master from the Chishtiyya order in India, introduced Sufism to the United States of America and Europe. He established a Western Sufi order, the International Sufi Movement, with groups in America, England, and across Europe. In the early 1930s this Western Sufism was introduced into Australia. The aim of this study is to explore and analyse the origins, nature and development of the Sufi Movement in Australia with particular attention to the relationship between the spiritual teacher and the disciple. The study, in its various aspects, and as a whole, makes a contribution to understanding religious change, religion and New Religious Movements in Australia, Sufism in the West and the murshid-mureed relationship. Using what has been termed a “dynamic of religions” framework and Baumann’s model of religious adaptation in cross-cultural circumstances, the study employs a combination of in-depth fieldwork, participant observation, interviews and historiography to identify and analyse both continuity and change in Sufi Movement groups in contemporary Australia. The study found that the early phases of transplantation from India to Europe and America, as well as the struggles within the group after the death of Inayat Khan, substantially shaped the Western Sufism that arrived in Australia. The most significant early adaptations included redefining the relationship between Sufism and exoteric Islam, gender equality, formation of a formal organisation, and the use of music to spread the Sufi Message. Addressing issues identified in the literature on the master-disciple relationship in Eastern traditions in the West, the study describes and analyses the murshid-mureed (master-disciple, spiritual teacher-student) relationship in Inayat Khan’s time, and in contemporary Australia. It shows that Sufism’s development in the West has been interconnected with understandings and practice of this central relationship. The study shows that the continued strength of the murshid-mureed relationship alongside emerging alternatives, the factors affecting change generally in the Sufi Movement, as well as the growing popularity of Sufism in Australia, demonstrate the need to consider not only East-West aspects of transplantation, but also the influences of modernity on spiritual traditions. As well as documenting the Australian history, the study describes the details of the variety of practices and rituals, forms of community and organisation, and forms of the murshid-mureed relationship, found in contemporary Australian groups. This provides insight into the intricacies of Sufi practice in Australia and provides a basis for comparison with other groups. Sufi practice within these groups in Australia includes highly innovative developments alongside preservation of the tradition as taught by Inayat Khan. It also reflects a tension between the spiritual and organisational hierarchy, and concerns for democracy and local autonomy.

Between 1910 and 1926, Hazrat Inayat Khan, a musician and Sufi master from the Chishtiyya order in India, introduced Sufism to the United States of America and Europe. He established a Western Sufi order, the International Sufi Movement, with groups in America, England, and across Europe. In the early 1930s this Western Sufism was introduced into Australia. The aim of this study is to explore and analyse the origins, nature and development of the Sufi Movement in Australia with particular attention to the relationship between the spiritual teacher and the disciple. The study, in its various aspects, and as a whole, makes a contribution to understanding religious change, religion and New Religious Movements in Australia, Sufism in the West and the murshid-mureed relationship. Using what has been termed a “dynamic of religions” framework and Baumann’s model of religious adaptation in cross-cultural circumstances, the study employs a combination of in-depth fieldwork, participant observation, interviews and historiography to identify and analyse both continuity and change in Sufi Movement groups in contemporary Australia. The study found that the early phases of transplantation from India to Europe and America, as well as the struggles within the group after the death of Inayat Khan, substantially shaped the Western Sufism that arrived in Australia. The most significant early adaptations included redefining the relationship between Sufism and exoteric Islam, gender equality, formation of a formal organisation, and the use of music to spread the Sufi Message. Addressing issues identified in the literature on the master-disciple relationship in Eastern traditions in the West, the study describes and analyses the murshid-mureed (master-disciple, spiritual teacher-student) relationship in Inayat Khan’s time, and in contemporary Australia. It shows that Sufism’s development in the West has been interconnected with understandings and practice of this central relationship. The study shows that the continued strength of the murshid-mureed relationship alongside emerging alternatives, the factors affecting change generally in the Sufi Movement, as well as the growing popularity of Sufism in Australia, demonstrate the need to consider not only East-West aspects of transplantation, but also the influences of modernity on spiritual traditions. As well as documenting the Australian history, the study describes the details of the variety of practices and rituals, forms of community and organisation, and forms of the murshid-mureed relationship, found in contemporary Australian groups. This provides insight into the intricacies of Sufi practice in Australia and provides a basis for comparison with other groups. Sufi practice within these groups in Australia includes highly innovative developments alongside preservation of the tradition as taught by Inayat Khan. It also reflects a tension between the spiritual and organisational hierarchy, and concerns for democracy and local autonomy.