Living Mantra: Mantra, Deity, and Visionary Experience Today 2019 Edition Contributor(s): Rao, Mani (Author) |
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ISBN: 3319963902 ISBN-13: 9783319963907 Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan OUR PRICE: $85.49 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: October 2018 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Anthropology - Cultural & Social - Social Science | Sociology Of Religion |
Dewey: 201.7 |
Series: Contemporary Anthropology of Religion |
Physical Information: 0.81" H x 5.83" W x 8.27" (1.18 lbs) 215 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Living Mantra is an anthropology of mantra-experience among Hindu-tantric practitioners. In ancient Indian doctrine and legends, mantras perceived by rishis (seers) invoke deities and have transformative powers. Adopting a methodology that combines scholarship and practice, Mani Rao discovers a continuing tradition of visionaries (rishis/seers) and revelations in south India's Andhra-Telangana. Both deeply researched and replete with fascinating narratives, the book reformulates the poetics of mantra-practice as it probes practical questions. Can one know if a vision is real or imagined? Is vision visual? Are deity-visions mediated by culture? If mantras are effective, what is the role of devotion? Are mantras language? Living Mantra interrogates not only theoretical questions, but also those a practitioner would ask: how does one choose a deity, for example, or what might bind one to a guru? Rao breaks fresh ground in redirecting attention to the moments that precede systematization and canon-formation, showing how authoritative sources are formed. |