12. Moving Beyond the Mind Through “Listening by Heart”: The Role of Experience in Modern Advaitic Satsangs

Embodied Reception - South Asian Spiritualities in Contemporary Contexts - Henriette Hanky

Elin Thorsén [+-]
University of Gothenburg
Elin Thorsén completed a PhD in religious studies at the University of Gothenburg in 2022. Her thesis revolves around the international scene of Modern Advaitic satsang in Rishikesh. Thorsén’s research areas are Modern Advaita and Hindu-inspired meditation movements, with a focus on lived religion.

Description

Modernized forms of the philosophical system Advaita (“nondual”) Vedānta, usually referred to as Neo-Advaita or Modern Advaita, constitute an integral part of the range of South Asian spiritualities that are being taught and practiced globally today. This chapter explores the embodied dimensions of Modern Advaitic satsangs, a form of dialogical lectures in which Modern Advaitic teachings are being disseminated. Based on ethnographic material from satsangs held in Rishikesh, a northern Indian pilgrimage town and center for international spiritual tourism, the chapter discusses the importance ascribed to the process of turning abstract concepts of the nondual Self into experiential, and hence embodied knowledge in these contexts. This was a process that not only involved discourses but equally much the presence of the guru and other fellow satsang participants. A focus on experience, I suggest, provides valuable insights into the embodied reception of Advaita in partly new social, cultural, spatial, and temporal contexts. The emphasis put on personal experience in Modern Advaitic satsangs serves as an illustration of the adaptations of these types of events, as it reflects a synthesis of Advaitic tenets and a form of subjective “self-spirituality."

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Citation

Thorsén, Elin. 12. Moving Beyond the Mind Through “Listening by Heart”: The Role of Experience in Modern Advaitic Satsangs. Embodied Reception - South Asian Spiritualities in Contemporary Contexts. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 242-260 Nov 2024. ISBN 9781800503540. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=44431. Date accessed: 09 Feb 2025 doi: 10.1558/equinox.44431. Nov 2024

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