WAVES Conference Organizing Committee WAVES Internationals

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WAVES Conference Organizing Committee WAVES Internationals

Conference Organizing Committee WAVES Conference Organizing Committee Dr. Bal Ram Singh, General Chairman Director, Center for Indic Studies, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, MA 02747, Ph: 508-999-8588, [email protected] Dr. T. R. N. Rao BoD, WAVES, [email protected] Mr. Sashi Kejriwal Chairman, BoD, WAVES, [email protected] Dr. S Kalyanraman Member, BoD, WAVES, [email protected] Pandit Ramadheen Ramsamooj 3R’s Foundation, [email protected] International Programs Committee WAVES Internationals Program Committee Dr. Douglas Allen, University of Maine ([email protected]) Dr. Hope Fitz, Eastern Connecticut State University ([email protected]) Dr. S. Kalyanaraman, Saraswati Civilization Institute ([email protected]) Dr. S. S. Ram Rao Pappu, Miami University ( <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]) Dr. Ramkrishna Puligandla, University of Toledo ([email protected]) Dr. T. S. Rukmani, Concordia University ([email protected]) Dr. Bal Ram Singh, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth ([email protected]) Dr. Shashi Tiwari, University of Delhi ([email protected]) Academic Symposium Program Dr. Douglas Allen, University of Maine ([email protected]) Dr. Bal Ram Singh, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth ([email protected]) Local Organizing Committee WAVES Conference Local Organizing Committee Trinidad & Tobago Name Organization Phone Number Dr. Ramdath Ramkissoon Saraswati Mandiram 868-663-1748 Vishnu Ramlakhan Saraswati Mandiram 868-753-8182 Swami Prakashananda Chimayananda Mission (Trinidad) 868-636-1067 Mahant Deochan Dass Satya Kabir Nidhi (Kabir Panth ) Satnarayan (Sat) Maraj Mahasabha SDMS 868-645-3240 Pt. Mukuram Sirjoo Hindu Academy 868-686-4220 Mohanlal Sahadeo Maha Veer Dal/ Trindicorp 868-689-6156 Joe Ramkissoon NCIC Ramdularie Baboolal Arya Prathinidhi Sabha (APS) 868-390-0842 Pt. Hansraj Persad Vedic Mission 868-636-0312 Pt. Ramesh Tiwari Edinburg Temple Sharam Chandrathsingh UWI Pt. Chandresh Sharma SDMS .

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Kabir: Towards a Culture of Religious Pluralism
198 Dr.ISSN Dharam 0972-1169 Singh Oct., 2003–Jan. 2003, Vol. 3/II-III KABIR: TOWARDS A CULTURE OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM Dr. Dharam Singh Though globalization of religion and pluralistic culture are more recent terms, the human desire for an inter-faith culture of co- existence and the phenomenon of inter-faith encounters and dialogues are not entirely new. In the medieval Indian scenario we come across many such encounters taking place between holy men of different and sometimes mutually opposite religious traditions. Man being a social creature by nature cannot remain aloof from or indifferent to what others around him believe in, think and do. In fact, to bring about mutual understanding among people of diverse faiths, it becomes necessary that we learn to develop appreciation and sympathy for the faith of the others. The medieval Indian socio-religious scene was dominated by Hinduism and Islam. Hinduism has been one of the oldest religions of Indian origin and its adherents in India then, as even today, constituted the largest majority. On the other hand, Islam being of Semitic origin was alien to India until the first half of the 7th century when the “first contacts between India and the Muslim world were established in the South because of the age- old trade between Arabia and India.”1 However, soon these traders tuned invaders when Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni led a long chain of invasions on India and molestation of Indian populace. To begin with, they came as invaders, plundered the country-side and went back, but soon they settled as rulers.
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Ritual and Reform in the Kabir Panth
1 RITUAL AND REFORM IN THE KABIR PANTH Peter Friedlander: La Trobe University [email protected] Introduction The Kabir Panth is a religious movement based on the teachings of the north Indian poet saint Kabir (1398-1518). This paper looks at the practice of rituals called chauka in the Kabir Panth and a campaign led by the leader of the Kabircaura branch of the Kabir Panth to abolish the chauka rituals. The paper starts by outlining the history of the Panth and the role of the chauka ritual in the practices of the branches of the Kabir Panth who follow the teachings of Kabir’s disciple Dharmdas. It then examines accounts of the life of Vivekdas, the leader of the Kabircaura branch of the Kabir Panth, and his arguments that the chauka ritual should be abandoned because it is a corrupt practice which is not based on the teachings of Kabir. I propose that the controversy over the practice of the chauka ritual reflects different branches of the Kabir Panth’s responses to modernity. The importance of this I suggest it that it shows how a religious movement can become divided into branches with some advocating conservative practices based on localised rituals at the same time as other branches can advocate reformist approaches based on establishing a universal global identity.1 1 This paper was presented to the 18th Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia in Adelaide, 5-8 July 2010. It has been peer reviewed via a double referee process and appears on the Conference Proceedings Website by the permission of the author who retains copyright.
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KRAKAUER-DISSERTATION-2014.Pdf (10.23Mb)
Copyright by Benjamin Samuel Krakauer 2014 The Dissertation Committee for Benjamin Samuel Krakauer Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Negotiations of Modernity, Spirituality, and Bengali Identity in Contemporary Bāul-Fakir Music Committee: Stephen Slawek, Supervisor Charles Capwell Kaushik Ghosh Kathryn Hansen Robin Moore Sonia Seeman Negotiations of Modernity, Spirituality, and Bengali Identity in Contemporary Bāul-Fakir Music by Benjamin Samuel Krakauer, B.A.Music; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2014 Dedication This work is dedicated to all of the Bāul-Fakir musicians who were so kind, hospitable, and encouraging to me during my time in West Bengal. Without their friendship and generosity this work would not have been possible. জয় 巁쇁! Acknowledgements I am grateful to many friends, family members, and colleagues for their support, encouragement, and valuable input. Thanks to my parents, Henry and Sarah Krakauer for proofreading my chapter drafts, and for encouraging me to pursue my academic and artistic interests; to Laura Ogburn for her help and suggestions on innumerable proposals, abstracts, and drafts, and for cheering me up during difficult times; to Mark and Ilana Krakauer for being such supportive siblings; to Stephen Slawek for his valuable input and advice throughout my time at UT; to Kathryn Hansen
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Towards a Comparative Poetics of Buddha, Kabir and Guru Nanak: Aparna Lanjewar Bose from a Secular Democratic Perspective
Towards a Comparative poetics of Buddha, Kabir and Guru Nanak: Aparna Lanjewar Bose From A Secular Democratic perspective Artículos atravesados por (o cuestionando) la idea del sujeto -y su género- como una construcción psicobiológica de la cultura. Articles driven by (or questioning) the idea of the subject -and their gender- as a cultural psychobiological construction Vol. 4 (2), 2019, abril-septiembre ISSN 2469-0783 https://datahub.io/dataset/2019-4-2-e85 TOWARDS A COMPARATIVE POETICS OF BUDDHA, KABIR AND GURU NANAK: FROM A SECULAR DEMOCRATIC PERSPECTIVE HACIA UNA POÉTICA COMPARATIVA DE BUDA, KABIR Y GURÚ NANAK DESDE UNA PERSPECTIVA DEMOCRÁTICA SECULAR Aparna Lanjewar Bose [email protected] Department of English Literature, School of Literary Studies at The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India Cómo citar este artículo / Citation: Bose A. L. (2019). «Towards a Comparative poetics of Buddha, Kabir and Guru Nanak: From A Secular Democratic perspective». Revista Científica Arbitrada de la Fundación MenteClara, 4(2) abril-septiembre 2019, 19-44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32351/rca.v4.2.85 Copyright: © 2019 RCAFMC. Este artículo de acceso abierto es distribuido bajo los términos de la licencia Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Recibido: 27/05/2019. Aceptado: 03/06/2019 Publicación online: 30/10/2019 Conflict of interests: None to declare. Abstract This article shows how democratic secular values existed 2500 years ago with the Buddha and later during the saint tradition in India, around 14th and 15th century, with Kabir and Guru Nanak even before they were legalized and enshrined in the Indian constitution.
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Witchcraft, Religious Transformation, and Hindu Nationalism in Rural Central India
University of London The London School of Economics and Political Science Department of Anthropology Witchcraft, Religious Transformation, and Hindu Nationalism in Rural Central India Amit A. Desai Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2007 UMI Number: U615660 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615660 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Abstract This thesis is an anthropological exploration of the connections between witchcraft, religious transformation, and Hindu nationalism in a village in an Adivasi (or ‘tribal’) area of eastern Maharashtra, India. It argues that the appeal of Hindu nationalism in India today cannot be understood without reference to processes of religious and social transformation that are also taking place at the local level. The thesis demonstrates how changing village composition in terms of caste, together with an increased State presence and particular view of modernity, have led to difficulties in satisfactorily curing attacks of witchcraft and magic. Consequently, many people in the village and wider area have begun to look for lasting solutions to these problems in new ways.
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Milestones and Signposts in Inter-Faith Relations: a Hindu Perspective
Australian eJournal of Theology 17 (December2010) Milestones and Signposts in Inter‐faith relations: a Hindu Perspective1 Anita C. Ray Abstract: This is the last of three papers initially delivered at the Parliament of World Religions, Melbourne 9th December 2009, on approaches in Interfaith Relations. The first two are presented in the prior issue of AEJT [16] representing Muslim and Christian perspectives on interreligious dialogue. Here, Anita C. Ray takes up the same theme from the Hindu point of view, beginning with some typical ‘western’ misconceptions of Hinduism and then introducing us to the contribution of the northern Indian Sants in the 15th to 17th centuries. Their contemporary relevance as a signpost for interfaith harmony is defended. [Editor] Key Words: interreligious conflict; BhagavadGita; the Sants; bhakti; Kabir; Brahmin; Muslim ewsweek recently declared that Americans have a predilection for a “divine‐deli‐ cafeteria religion, much in the spirit of Hinduism.”2 The author of the article asserts, “A Hindu believes there are many paths to God ... none is better than any other; all are equal.” She supports this statement with a quotation from the most ancient of all Hindu texts, the Rig Veda (c. 1500 BCE), “Truth is one but the sages speak of it by many names.”3 Unfortunately, this is a misrepresentation of Hinduism. The poets of the Rig Veda are merely referring to the sages of their own tradition, and they are in fact at pains to clarify that the reason their sages use so many names for God is because human language is incapable of capturing divine Infinitude.
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The Arya Samaj in Gujarat 1895-1930
1 Purifying the Nation: The Arya Samaj in Gujarat 1895-1930 David Hardiman Department of History, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK [email protected] Tel: 02476572584 Fax: 02476523437 2 Abstract This article examines the impact of the Arya Samaj in Gujarat from 1895 to 1930. Although the founder of this body, Dayanand Saraswati, was from Gujarat, it proved less popular there initially than in the Punjab. The first important Arya Samajists in Gujarat were Punjabis, brought there by Sayajirao Gaekwad of Baroda to carry out educational work amongst untouchables. The Arya Samaj only became a mass organisation in Gujarat after a wave of conversions to Christianity in central Gujarat by untouchables, with Arya Samajists starting orphanages to ‘save’ orphans from the clutches of the Christian missionaries. The movement then made considerable headway in Gujarat. The main followers were from the urban middle classes, higher farming castes, and gentry of the Koli caste. Each had their own reasons for embracing the organisation, ranging from a desire for higher social status, to religious reform, to building caste unity, and as a means, in the case of the Koli gentry, to ‘reconvert’ Kolis who had adopted Islam in medieval times. The movement lost its momentum after Gandhi arrived on the political scene, and many erstwhile Arya Samajists embraced the Gandhian movement. When the Gandhian movement itself flagged after 1922, there was an upsurge in communal antagonism in Gujarat in which Arya Samajists played a provocative role. A riot in Godhra in 1928 is examined. 3 Over the past decade, Gujarat has come to be seen as a hotbed of communalism, ruled by a state government that has connived at, and even encouraged, murderous attacks on Muslims and Christians.
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Kabir: Relevance from Past to Present
RESEARCH PAPER RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary e-ISSN: 2455-3085 | Vol.06 | Iss.07 | July 2021 | pp. 134-139 Double-Blind Peer Reviewed/Refereed Journal Kabir: Relevance from Past to Present *Arunima Pati Post Graduate Student, Department of History, Presidency University, Kolkata, West Bengal Abstract Article Publication The 15th century India is an age of political turmoil and increasing antagonism among Published Online: 15-Jul-2021 different faiths all over the Indian subcontinent. During that era of orthodoxy and unrest, a man denied all rituals and superstitions of religions and emphasized to cherish *Author's Correspondence the God within ourselves- the one Supreme Lord. We know him as ‘Kabir’, a man Arunima Pati who is venerable to the Hindus and the Muslims alike. Despite his worldwide fame, his real identity is quite contentious. Kabir has been called a Vaishnav bhakta, a pir, Post Graduate Student, Department a bhagat, a Nath-yogi, a Tantric, a Sufi and many more. Kabir himself suggests what of History, Presidency University, he was- a premi, madly in love with the divine. His messages were meant for the entire Kolkata, West Bengal. mankind irrespective of religion. He uttered the primal truth that God is but one even if we call him by many names. His vigorous criticisms of religious orthodoxies and arunimapati635[at]gmail.com rituals are still unimaginable to us. The present article seeks to highlight the role played by Kabir in his own time and ours. 10.31305/rrijm.2021.v06.i07.022 © 2021The Authors. Published by Keywords: Rationality, Pure Knowledge, Philosophy, Teachings, Mankind, RESEARCH REVIEW International Secularism Journal of Multidisciplinary.
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Creating Kabīr
Creating Kabīr Understanding the use of Kabīr through the lens of Sanskritization By Felix Rosén Uppsala University Department of theology History of Religions 30 Credits, Master Thesis, Spring 2021 Supervisor: Billing, Nils Grading Teacher: Borgland, Jens Email: [email protected] Abstract The so called Bhakti movement spread, during the Late Medieval period, like wildfire across the South Asian subcontinent and acted like a catalyst for the development of nirguṇī-traditions. These newly emerging nirguṇī-traditions rallyd men and women alike, preaching for the abolation of the varṇa-system, for Muslim-Hindu unity, devotion to the one omipresent godhead, nirguṇa. Among these traditions, a man named Kabīr came and claimed the leading position, a position that history still, to this day, gives credit as being one of the most, if not the most, important figure amongst the of the North Indian bhakti preachers. Kabīr’s teachings came to be, after his passing, the foundation for the establishment of the Kabīr Panth (Path of Kabīr) a by now well known tradition. However, at an early stage of formation, the Kabīr Panth began to separate into many branches, which all started to produce their own literature regarding several contrasting retellings of Kabīr’s life, his poems, and the installation of rituals and praxis. As a consequence of the various legends along with myths created, following the schism between the main branches, Kabīr’s life and legacy came to be displayed and understood rather differently. This study does not only demonstrate how Kabīr is perceived within the various branches, most prominent that of the Kabīr Chaurā and Dharmadasī branch, and what attributes, human and divine, are given him.
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Los Angeles a Dissertation Submitted in Partial Satisfaction of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomu
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles FIND THE TRUE COUNTRY: DEVOTIONAL MUSIC AND THE SELF IN INDIA’S NATIONAL CULTURE A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology by VIVEK VIRANI 2016 © Copyright by Vivek Virani 2016 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Find the True Country: Devotional Music and the Self in India’s National Culture by Vivek Virani Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology University of California, Los Angeles, 2016 Professor Daniel M. Neuman, Chair For centuries, the songs of devotional poet-saints have been an integral part of Indian religious life. Countless regional traditions of bhajans (devotional songs) have been able to maintain their existence by adapting to serve the contemporary social needs of their participants. This dissertation draws on fieldwork conducted over 2014-2015 with contemporary bhajan performers from many different genres and styles throughout India. It highlights a specific tradition in the Central Indian region of Malwa based on poetry by Kabir and other Sants (anti- establishment poet-saints) performed by lower-caste singers. This tradition was largely unheard- of half a century ago, but is now a major part of Malwa’s cultural life that has facilitated the creation of lower-caste spiritual networks and created a space for those networks to engage in discourse about social issues. Malwa’s bhajan singers have also become part of India’s popular ii religious and musical life as certain performers have attained celebrity status and been recognized at the national level as living bearers of the Sant tradition. This dissertation follows performers and songs from Malwa into new contexts and explores the processes by which performers and audiences in diverse styles and contexts use Sant bhajans to construct understandings of the self.
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The Mystic Mind and Music of Kabir
EDUCATIONAL INSIGHT A Fifteenth Century Poet-Saint’s The Mystic Wisdom on Life, Death, Guru & God ATIO By Lakshmi Chandrashekar Subramanian C N U Mind and A D L L L L E E E E E I N “ Drop falling in the ocean: everyone knows. S S T Music of Ocean absorbed in the drop: a rare one knows.” I G H Kabir, Sakhi 69, Bijak (Hess) or over fi ve hundred years, Kabir’s poetry has been remembered, recited and sung throughout North India and today in various parts of the world due to the Indian diaspora. Sant Kabir (ca. 1398- 1448 or 1518) is one of the most renowned poets of the Indian ver- F nacular languages. Also known as Kabir Das, “servant of the Great (God),” he belonged to the weaver (julaha) class in Varanasi, the ancient city in the present-day Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Kabir’s works are known for their nirgun bhakti, personal devotion to the formless, impersonal Di- vine. Recurring themes in his poems include a focus on the name of God, critiques of religious customs, the transience of life, and the spiritual need for a true teacher, or guru. His approach defi ed convention and questioned orthodoxies, not unlike other luminaries in South India, including Viras- haiva poet-saint Basavanna, and contemporaries in the North, like Guru Nanak and Mirabai. Categorized historically, Kabir’s works can be placed outside of the Hindu/Muslim binary, and later infl uenced the nascent Sikh community. Today various Hindu, Sikh and Sufi communities claim Kabir; and his dohas (couplets) are taught in secular education systems in India and Indian international schools abroad.
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Towards a Comparative Poetics of Buddha, Kabir and Guru Nanak
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE Towards a Comparative poetics of Buddha, Kabir and Guru Nanak: provided by Aparna Revista Científica Lanjewar Arbitrada Bose de la Fundación MenteClara From A Secular Democratic perspective Artículos atravesados por (o cuestionando) la idea del sujeto -y su género- como una construcción psicobiológica de la cultura. Articles driven by (or questioning) the idea of the subject -and their gender- as a cultural psychobiological construction Vol. 4 (2), 2019, abril-septiembre ISSN 2469-0783 https://datahub.io/dataset/2019-4-2-e85 TOWARDS A COMPARATIVE POETICS OF BUDDHA, KABIR AND GURU NANAK: FROM A SECULAR DEMOCRATIC PERSPECTIVE HACIA UNA POÉTICA COMPARATIVA DE BUDA, KABIR Y GURÚ NANAK DESDE UNA PERSPECTIVA DEMOCRÁTICA SECULAR Aparna Lanjewar Bose [email protected] Department of English Literature, School of Literary Studies at The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India Cómo citar este artículo / Citation: Bose A. L. (2019). «Towards a Comparative poetics of Buddha, Kabir and Guru Nanak: From A Secular Democratic perspective». Revista Científica Arbitrada de la Fundación MenteClara, 4(2) abril-septiembre 2019, 19-44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32351/rca.v4.2.85 Copyright: © 2019 RCAFMC. Este artículo de acceso abierto es distribuido bajo los términos de la licencia Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Recibido: 27/05/2019. Aceptado: 03/06/2019 Publicación online: 30/10/2019 Conflict of interests: None to declare. Abstract This article shows how democratic secular values existed 2500 years ago with the Buddha and later during the saint tradition in India, around 14th and 15th century, with Kabir and Guru Nanak even before they were legalized and enshrined in the Indian constitution.
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