Book of Abstracts

BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

Prayogasandhi in old javanese texts and its sanskrit antecedents Andrea Acri, Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre, ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore, and Nalanda University, Rajgir As documented by a significant textual corpus in Sanskrit and Old Javanese, various traditions of Yoga traditions reached Java and Bali in the premodern period and gave rise to ‘localized’ reconfigurations. Presentations of either ṣaḍaṅgayoga or aṣṭāṅgayoga are featured in Śaiva texts such as the Dharma Pātañjala, Vṛhaspatitattva, and Tattvajñāna (Acri 2011, 2012, 2013). An interesting development that one frequently encounters in the texts is prayogasandhi (or, as a Javanese expression, prayoga sandhi, ‘esoteric knowledge of the means’ [?]). This psycho-physical technique is, according to the context, understood in different manners. First, it is intended as a way to make the Lord manifest in the yogin through ‘friction’ (e.g. with a fire-drill, like the fire that exists in the wood) or churning (like the butter that exists in the milk). Second, it is connected to the ‘cutting off’ of good and bad karma in the yogin and the ‘travelling’ of the yogin’s subtle body into another being (akin to the paraśarīrapraveśa described in Sanskrit texts). Third, it is used as a method that the yogin doing solitary practice has to employ to heal his body should he encounter the obstacles of tamas. Fourth, it is defined by some texts as a collective denomination of the aṅgas or ancillaries of Yoga. My paper will present this theme found in Old Javanese sources and try to trace similar ideas/possible prototypes in Sanskrit sources such as the Upaniṣads, the Yogaśāstra and some Siddhāntatantras.

Yoga family: from Calcutta to "Hot Yoga" Jerome Armstrong, George Mason University, Fairfax The origin of a popular form of yoga called “hot yoga” has been unclear to date, and it’s biggest contemporary proponent, Bikram Choudhury, names the yoga after himself (ie, Bikram Yoga), further obscuring the history of this type of yoga. The 2015 publication of the previously unpublished 1938 manuscript by Buddha Bose, sheds light upon recognizing how a particular type of yoga was formulated in Calcutta in the 1930’s. And subsequently, how the defining characteristics of its sequences and format as practiced then, differ from, or continue today. Based on texts authored and original interviews, events are presented in the lives of Bishnu Ghosh and his star pupil and son-in-law, Buddha Bose, and their subsequent children and students, which resulted in the modern transnational movement of their type of yoga, from Calcutta to the broader world, between 1930 and 1975. This includes

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 1 their touring Europe and the US in the 1930’s, when they held asana demonstrations, lectures, and initiated teacher training; and then, through subsequent students that go to Germany in the early 1960’s, Thailand, Japan, and again the US in the early 1970’s. To date, very little of this research has been published and recognized for its early influence of modern yoga asana practice. The end result is a clearer historical understanding of the role of Ghosh and Bose in bringing asana practice to Europe and the US, and a clearer contemporary understanding of the origins of the now popular form called “hot yoga” and its lineage from Calcutta, India.

Gurus and their mutual relationships Tomáš Avramov, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice The paper is based on the research of various written sources and on the field research. The author personally visited more than one hundred ashrams in India, Europe and North America (from short 1-day visits to longer, several weeks visits), talked with their representatives and studied the sources concerning the founders, teachers and their teachings and sayings (especially those of the 20th century). One remarkable aspect that comes out of the research is the links, contacts and mutual relations between ashrams and especially between their respective teachers. In many cases, those relations transcend the formal differencies in the philosophies and practices (although those gurus and yogis represent very various traditions) and rather emphasize expressively mutual respect, unity and interconnectedness, as will be presented on several particular cases in the paper. What conclusion can be taken from this fact? Does this fact (sometimes neglected not only by academic research but also by the followers) has nevertheless a relation to the basic principles of the philosophies of yogis and gurus and their respective traditions?

Introduction to the Dharmaputrikā Christèle Barois, University of Vienna I will present the first elements of my study of an unpublished text devoted to yoga, named the Dharmaputrikā. It belongs to the so-called "Śivadharma corpus", of which we have a Nepalese manuscript of the 12th century. It is a short text (about 340 verses), divided into sixteen sections of unequal length, forming a coherent exposition on yoga practice. I will discuss one of the distinctive features of this text, namely that it teaches a specific yogic “treatment” in a chapter named cikitsā, based on the classical Ayurvedic theory of the three humours. I will also put forward some points that could make the Dharmaputrikā an important anchor to trace the primary sources of Haṭhayoga.

Let the sādhus talk. Ascetic practitioners of yoga in Northern India Daniela Bevilacqua, SOAS, London This paper presents emic understandings of yoga among ascetic practitioners of yoga in northern India. Bridging a gap between modern, transnational forms of yoga, popular modern Indian householder practices of yoga, and philological research on textual yoga traditions, the paper seeks to identify and explore the principles, practices, metaphysical contexts and goals of modern ascetics who practice yoga. Despite the existence of several ethnographic studies on Indian ascetic communities, very few have described the practices of yoga in these communities, nor the self- understanding of these communities regarding the role of yoga in the wider religious life.

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 2 This paper presents the initial findings of what will be a five year, full-time research project on ascetic practitioners of yoga, as part of the Hatha Yoga Project, SOAS, London. Based on extensive interviews and ethnographic fieldwork, it provides a provisional cross-section of yoga practice across a range of ascetic orders. This makes the project distinct from other ethnographies of yoga to date. It is hoped that this research will enhance our understanding of modern practices of yoga within ascetic communities, as well as bringing to light differences in approach with lay practitioners of yoga in India and globally. By complementing on-going textual-historical work on yoga, this research will also add an important missing piece to the puzzle of yoga in practice in different contexts.

Kuṇḍalinī yoga and women: Śākta temples to streaming services Sravana Borkataky-Varma, Rice University, Houston In this paper, we shall examine how kuṇḍalinī yoga is practiced in two geographies: Yoginis practicing the esoteric forms in Assam and West Bengal (two north-eastern states in India) and women yoga practitioners in the United States that practice kuṇḍalinī yoga offered through streaming services in the comfort of their homes or through local yoga studios’ in their neighborhood. Kuṇḍalinī yoga is a form of practice that is central to most Śākta traditions in India. It is also fairly popular amongst women yoga practitioners in the United States. Kuṇḍalinī is the subtle energy or life force that is thought to work through an elaborate subtle physiology imagined in the tradition as a series of “chakras” (“circles” or “energy centers”) located along the spine of the human body. The texts liken it to a serpent that normally remains “asleep” in the lower recesses of the human body. Specialized yogic practices awaken this energy so that it rises upwards into the cranial vault. As it rises, it awakens the chakras one at a time. Based on ethnographic work in north-eastern India and the United States, the objectives of this paper are (1) to discern whether women in these two geographies follow the same sets of rigorous training, and (2) to highlight whether and how the differences in the practices to raise the kuṇḍalinī drive a diverse understanding of what the kuṇḍalinī is and why it should be awakened from its coiled state.

Yogic dialectic: where yoga is the pacification of all views Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität, Munich It has become so common to hear about the distinction between ‘intellectual studies’ and ‘spiritual practices’ today, that one might be led to believe that this distinction is self-evident and has always been entertained. However, upon closer examination, this ‘theory and practice’ distinction which, in some extreme cases, led to a sharp antagonism between the proponents of one or the other, might reveal to be highly misleading concerning the nature of such complex phenomena as meditation or yoga. I propose to examine the importance given to dialectical studies by three Indian authors of different traditions, known to have composed doxographies and thus to have considered not only the study of their own sectarian views to be relevant for their religious endeavours, but also the study of competing views. Reading through some extracts of the Buddhist Bhāviveka, of the Jaina Haribhadra Suri and of the Vedāntin Śaṅkara, I intend to show how dialectic, in their view, was part and parcel of the yogic practice leading towards the ultimate end. In other words, the three suggest that there is no peace without prior critical inquiry into literature and into oneself. Hence, I will suggest that the three authors, in their own ways, promoted intense studies of traditional texts, supported by logical examination and contemplative exegesis as the

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 3 most efficient yogic practice. In each of their work, I will argue that the study of the other was used as a mirror for the critical examination of one’s own mind, a therapeutic discipline of mental pacification.

Out of devotion to the Nāths: paintings of eighty-four āsanas from Rājasthān Gudrun Buhnemann, The University of Wisconsin-Madison The early-19th-century Mahāmandir near Jodhpur in central Rājasthān bears testimony to Mahārāja Mān Singh's devotion to his first guru Devnāth and to the order of the Nāths. The walls of the sanctum of the temple are decorated with murals (dating from ca. 1810) of the eighty-four Siddhas performing different yogic postures. Udaimandir, which Mān Singh built in 1821, is decorated with similar murals. This paper discusses the depictions of āsanas at these two sites and attempts to identify some of them.

The essential image in Sabhapati Swami's lifework and an inquiry into its resemblance to Bengali yogic practice Keith Edward Cantú, University of California, Santa Barbara The literature of the Tamil yogi Sabhapati Swami (b. 1840 CE in Madras / Chennai, India) has had a far-reaching impact on South Asian, North American, and European esoteric and occult conceptions of the body, but its content is only now beginning to be properly contextualized by scholars. Sabhapati’s writings survive in English, Sanskrit, Tamil, and Hindi, and are notable for their rich visual depictions of an embodied "essential nature" or svarūpa. Sabhapati was not alone in this endeavor, however — the Gauṛīya Vaiṣṇava reformers as well as Baul poets like Lālan Fakir similarly mapped the human body by blending Sufi elements with their counterparts in Hindu and Buddhist Tantric traditions. Like Sabhapati, these Bengali spiritual adepts also called this "essential nature" the svarūpa and attached a stunningly complex array of correspondences to each region of the body. This article aims to point out some of these similarities and inspire discussion as to how these historical practices of embodiment were able to transcend the limitations of language, religion, and nationality.

Modern jaina yoga in historical context Christopher Chapple, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles In the early Jaina texts such as the Ācārāṅga Sūtra (ca. 300 B.C.E.) and the Tattvārthasūtra (ca. 400 C.E.) the term yoga refers to the binding of karma to the soul. Haribhadra Virahāṅka (6th century) describes a fivefold Yoga system in his 527 verse Sanskrit text, the Yogabindu, that uses the term Yoga to refer to types of spiritual practices similar to those found in the Upaniṣads, the Bhagavad Gītā, and Patanjali's Yoga Sūtra. The Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya written by Haribhadra Yākinῑ Putra (8th century) presents an eightfold Yoga system that indicates a "Jainification" of Yoga that continues with Hemacandra (11th century) and the Śvetāmbara sage, Yaśovijaya (17th century). In the 20th century, building also on the work of the Digambara teacher Śubhacandra (11th century), Acharya Mahaprajna (1920-2010) developed a meditation technique called Preksha Dhyan that includes meditation on colors and energy centers. Acharya Shiv Muni (b. 1942) teaches a meditation technique that focuses on the mantras so'Ham (That I Am) and ko'Ham (Who Am I?), This paper will investigate these two modern approaches to Jaina Yoga in light of antecedent traditions.

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 4 Proprioception over dogma. Sources of authority and standards of orthopraxy in Iyengar Yoga Matylda Ciołkosz, Jagiellonian University, Kraków The purpose of the paper is to discuss the factors influencing the ongoing developments in Iyengar Yoga (IY) practice. The hypothesis is that within IY, the power of authority, rather than being attributed to the guru, is located within the body and associated with individual proprioceptive experience. Despite its apparent dogmatism, manifesting in rigorous focus on minute detail and strong notions of orthopraxy, Iyengar’s system has undergone major changes ever since the publication of Light of Yoga in 1966. Since Iyengar’s death in 2014, the need for constant innovation seems to have increased. The author will argue, that the plasticity of the method is inherent in its very foundations. Treating āsanāni — and sequences thereof — as higher-order structures built of repetitive minimal units (singular motor patterns and body-part configurations) allows for considerable freedom in āsana practice without jeopardising orthoperformance. The stress lain on the detailed proprioceptive experience during practice results in locating authority in the experience itself, and in frequent modifications of āsana variations based on this authority. The discussion will be based on in-depth analysis of the writings of B.K.S. Iyengar and his children, and of the materials recorded during the second international Yogānuśāsanam convention with Geeta Iyengar, which took place in December 2015 in Pune.

The yoga of the Mataṅgapārameśvaratantra Jean-Michel Creismeas, University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle The Mataṅgapārameśvaratantra, a major tantra of Śaivasiddhānta, includes one of the longest account (454 stances) about yoga in this tradition. The commentary Mataṅgavṛtti composed by the 10th-century theologian Rāmakaṇṭha was edited some thirty years ago by the pandit N. R. Bhatt. This critical edition, based on incomplete sources, provides the mere text of the yoga section of the tantra without the commentary. Fortunately a manuscript preserved at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (n°235 / 1883-1884) contains the entire Mataṅgavṛtti. By means of this single source, we have revised the text of the tantra and established the commentary of the yoga section. The paper presents the yoga of the Mataṅgapārameśvaratantra according to Rāmakaṇṭha’s explanation. Three aspects of yoga are expounded: the specific features of tantra yoga as opposed to the yoga of the Yogasūtra, the conquest of the principles of reality (tattva) by meditation, and the extraordinary powers obtained through specific breath control and concentration techniques.

Yogic practice in the tradition of the Tantric (sahajiyā) Vaiṣṇavism in Bengal Robert Czyżykowski, Jagiellonian University, Kraków Tantric Vaiṣṇava tradition (sahajiyā) is a Tantric group, which was very influential in North-Eastern India from medieval until contemporary times. The Vaiṣṇava Tantric groups of Bengal were researched in a limited scope and due to their esoteric character our knowledge about their doctrine and practice is still limited. Nevertheless, comparative and hermeneutic tools may help in reading their esoteric texts. In my paper I propose the interpretation of the sahajiyā texts through the lens of the Yogic terminology. The discipline (sādhana) present in Tantric Vaiṣṇava texts mainly relate to more general Yogic methods like prāṇāyāma or retention of the organic fluids (bindu- dhāraṇā), but also to the methods of Tantric Yoga concerning very obscure concepts of the internal body. Particularly interesting is the fact that Vaishnava Sahajiyā tradition

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 5 initially developed its own specific model of the subtle body which gradually was replaced by more popular Śākta model of the six cakras. I argue that the research on Yogic methods used in local Bengali tradition in the context of the Vaiṣṇava religion may help us to better understand the historical development of the Yogic methods and their variations. The interpretation will be based on my own reading of the original Bengali texts and will be enriched by anthropological data derived from various sources including my research in India.

Academic yoga and contemplation studies: a survey and some reflections Elizabeth De Michelis, Independent scholar Discourses and practices inspired by yoga and contemplation in their many different forms have become truly pervasive nowadays. In parallel to this popularization we find a huge expansion of offers in yoga and contemplation related instruction. This paper will start by sketching the overall outlines of this panorama, and will then proceed to highlight the most influential thought trends that have contributed to shape this growth. Within this wider picture, we see that the growing popularity of yoga and contemplation is mirrored by certain developments in academic programming: the multiplication of undergraduate courses on yoga and contemplation related topics; the similarly relevant orientation of some group or individual research projects; the creation of ad hoc yoga and contemplation MAs, and even of whole departments or new institutions engaging in the pedagogy and/or diffusion of yoga and contemplation studies and/or practices. This paper will map some of the most significant developments in this area, and will attempt to stimulate critical and constructive discussion on current work and possible future developments.

The demography of early modern yoga in the United States Philip Deslippe, University of California, Santa Barbara It is a relatively simple task for a scholar to determine the demographics of contemporary yogic practice in the United States. For the benefit of their advertisers, magazines such as Yoga Journal routinely conduct large surveys of their readers and produce detailed portraits of who practices yoga. To understand the early history of modern yoga in America in similar detail would seem to be an impossible task. With a seemingly lack of sources, most work on this period tends to imagine very little yoga being practiced before the 1960s and focuses on a handful of widely-known and well- documented teachers. In reality, there was yoga throughout the United States with close to a hundred Indian-born teachers and tens of thousands of students during the early twentieth century. This paper, part of a larger research project and dissertation, offers for the first time a clear, expansive, and evidence-based demographic account of who taught and studied yoga during the first half of its history in the United States, from roughly 1885-1950. By employing a large number of various sources from digital and overlooked print archives— including display advertisements, pamphlets, photographs, mailing lists, and private letters— and using contemporary methods such as GIS mapping and network analysis, a startling and new picture emerges of where yoga was taught during this time, how large classes were, and who was a student of yoga. We find yoga in the United States nearly a century ago to be both familiar and strikingly different than what currently exists.

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 6 Yoga and ritual in the Kirātaparvan (Mbh 3.37-3.42) Christopher Gibbons, University of Queensland, Brisbane The Mahābhārata is a text of immense importance for understanding the early semantic history of the lexeme 'yoga'. Epic usage is marked by a rich polysemy, which the poets appear to exploit with a certain creative awareness[1]. In this paper, I will explore several occurrences of yoga in the Kirātaparvan (3.37.20-3.42): the account of Arjuna’s ascent to Indra’s heaven in order to obtain the divine weapons, crucial to victory in the impending war. I will argue against the view, formulated originally by E. W. Hopkins [2], that the occurrences of yoga in the Kirāta narrative are semantically connected to the ascetic discipline (tapas) Arjuna performs in order to see Shiva, and thereby attain the weapons. Importantly, the word yoga does not occur in the narration of Arjuna’s tapas in 3.39; nor does the word tapas occur in obvious association with Arjuna’s yoga in 3.37-38. Rather, I will show that the theme of Ajuna’s ascent to Indra’s heaven is modeled on the vedic sacrificer’s metaphorical journey to and from svarga on the sacrifice conceived of as a heaven-bound vehicle. I will argue that, within this framework, the yoga of the Kirātaparvan is a ritual expedient (possibly verbal in character) quickening Arjuna’s ascent to Indra. This reading allows us to make better sense of the supernatural motion associated with Arjuna’s aindra yoga (3.38.27c) and the definite connection this ‘yoga associated with Indra’ has with the ‘magical lore’ (yogavidyām, 3.37:34; tr. van Buitenen), Arjuna receives from Vyāsa, via Yudhiṣṭhira, following his consecration in preparation for the heavenly ascent.

The social role of medical descriptions in postural yoga Beatrix Hauser, Bremen University Modern postural yoga promises much more than health. Still, descriptions of medical benefits associated with each exercise constitute a significant part in yoga tuition. This paper focuses on the ways postural yoga is taught and the impact of these routine statements, exploring health-related comments, descriptions of physical processes caused by yoga exercises and claims on therapeutic efficacy. In medical anthropology health is not taken as an objective, timeless or universal category, but as a cultural concept that reflects specific social conditions and hence is exposed to changes over time and space. Taking this approach I consider in what respect routine statements on yoga’s therapeutic efficacy have shaped popular health consciousness and, conversely, were informed by particular and time-specific notions of the healthy body, causes of suffering, and self-care. My analysis is based on selected yoga manuals and tutorials going back to the beginning of the twentieth century. I argue that although the present popularity of yoga largely emerged from the field of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), the kind of health messages conveyed by yoga instructions revive a fairly mechanistic understanding of the human body. In their capacity as attention control, routine explanations on respective medical benefits also contribute to exceeded health expectations, presently theorized with regard to postsecular societies.

Contemporary Sāṃkhyayoga: Contributions of Hariharānanda Āraṇya and Kāpil Maṭh to modern yoga Knut A. Jacobsen, University of Bergen Hariharānanda Āraṇya founded in early 20th century in Bengal a tradition of Sāṃkhyayoga. This tradition is based on a sāṃkhya and sāṃkhyayog̨ a interpretations of the Yogaśāstra. It is considered traditional, but it is also an important part of early

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 7 modern Yoga. The tradition, the Kāpil Maṭh and its splinter institutions, have had limited success in terms of numbers, but since the institution favors solitude and peace, having been able to remain a small tradition may be considered a success in itself. This paper, based on long term field work, presents the institution of Kāpil Maṭh in north India as a living tradition of Sāṃkhyayoga. It discusses the historical and social context of Hariharānanda Āraṇya and his contribution to Yoga in the 20th century. It thereafter discusses in what sense the Kāpil Maṭh tradition can be considered to be a traditional yoga institution and in what sense it is modern. The paper presents the practice of Sāṃkhyayoga as it is found in the Kāpil Maṭh and analyzes Sāṃkhyayoga as a living practice.

Sāṃkhya-Yoga tradition in Kāpil Maṭh: the question of identity of a revived philosophical school Marzenna Jakubczak, Pedagogical University of Kraków In this paper I will discuss the contemporary example of yoga tradition as it is developed in Kāpil Maṭh near Madhupur (Jharkhand, India), a Sāṃkhya-Yoga āśrama founded in the early twentieth century by a charismatic Bengali scholar-monk, Swāmi Hariharānanda Ᾱraṇya (1869–1947). First, I will consider the idea of the re-establishment of an extinct spiritual tradition and specify the criteria of identity of the revived Sāṃkhya-Yoga darśana by explaining why and on what assumptions the reinterpretation of this tradition can be perceived as continuation of Patañjali’s and Īśvarakṛṣṇa’s lineage. The starting point is the question whether it is possible at all to re-establish a philosophical tradition which had once broken down and had disappeared for centuries. To discuss this issue I am going to speculate on ‘the Sāṃkhyan spirit’ of Kāpil Maṭh and the innovative readings of the classical Sanskrit texts offered by its founder. I will also highlight significance of the Buddhist influence on reformulation of the contemporary Sāṃkhya-Yoga school self-identity. In conclusion, I am going to argue that the Kāpil Maṭh case study may serve as a good example of modern syncretism and innovative reinterpretation of the classical Indian Yoga. What makes this phenomenon unique is a strong emphasis its founder put on mutual pervading and reinforcement between philosophical rigour, non-theistic devotion and monastic lifestyle focused on meditation.

Yesudian and yoga in Hungary 1937-1948: text, context, image and identity Cathryn Keller, Independent scholar and Museum consultant The histories of modern yoga and photography converged in wartime Budapest in 1941 with the publication in Hungarian of Sport és jóga (Sport and Yoga) by Selvarajan Yesudian (1916-1998), a Christian Indian medical student from Madras. Illustrated with 75 photographs of Yesudian performing āsanas, praṇāyāma, and meditation, the book went into multiple editions; translated into German (1949), English (1953), and 17 other languages, it sold more than three million copies. Arguably the first global yoga best-seller, the manual is a lucid introduction to hatha yoga practice and, in its serial portrait of its author, part of the visual record of transformations in yoga and the emergence of the modern yoga body. Yesudian survived German occupation, the Siege of Budapest, and Russian captivity, escaping in 1948 from communist Hungary to Switzerland, where he established a network of yoga schools, taught, and published for the next half century. His role in popularizing yoga and his influence on yoga pedagogy have been mentioned by scholars Hauser (2013) and Berger (2005), but remain otherwise invisible in recent histories of yoga. This paper will (1) provide new biographical data locating Yesudian in historic context; (2) consider his complex identities in relationship to the photo-portrait in his

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 8 first book, other photographs of him, illustrated yoga texts, and contemporaneous expressions of Indian identity such as the photographic self-portraits of Umrao Singh Sher-Gil (1870-1954); and (3) show that the emergence of contemporary interest in yoga in Eastern Europe is in fact a re-emergence.

Yoga and space in Turkey I: the forced disenchantment of the yoga space in Turkey Aysuda Kölemen, Istanbul Kemerburgaz University As the popularity of yoga in Turkey exponentially grew in the 2000s, the reaction of the government and the religious establishment evolved from an initial lack of interest in yoga to its branding as an un-Islamic spiritual activity. In this formulation, yoga studios are spaces that embody the spiritual void experienced by the secular, urban Turk, while yoga itself offers an alternative spiritual path to them. As such, yoga as it is practiced in yoga schools, is a foreign threat to the religious fabric of Turkish society. In response to this threat, the government constrained the spiritual and philosophical dimensions of yoga practice by legally defining it as a form of sports and subjecting yoga to the rules and regulations of a government controlled sports federation in 2015. The new regulations ban the use of religious symbols and music in yoga studios, which effectively transforms them into sterile spaces of physical activity attempting to disenchant them of their spirituality and stripping away the connections to India and Indian religious traditions. In my presentation, I will focus on the impact of the new regulations on the yoga community and the strategies they developed to counter them.

Aesthetic experience and yoga practice Noora-Helena Korpelainen, University of Helsinki This paper highlights the neglected link between aesthetic and yoga. Aesthetic, if understood as a power to increase our perceiving, sensing, feeling, thinking and acting, can be seen as the main obstacle for yoga practitioners. However, at least in our present culture that seems to value aesthetic experiences, yoga practice and it's presentations need to be regarded from the aesthetic point of view. This can be sensed lurking in Richard Shusterman's formulation of aesthetic as opposite to anesthetic. Therefore I survey the possibility of aesthetic experience in modern postural yoga and more precisely in Ashtanga Yoga practice. As a method I apply Shusterman's somaesthetic study which includes analytical, pragmatic and practical approaches. This means that I take into account, for example, Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali, relevant Ashtanga Yoga manuals and my personal practice experiences. I also use Arnold Berleant's concept of aesthetic field as an hermeneutic tool to outline what can be understood as material, appreciative, creative and performative in yoga practice. Thus, I hold that aesthetic experience in yoga practice has to do with liminality, sacredness, liberation of creativity and style. I also maintain that continuous, attentive and intentional practice of balance, whether physical or mental, brings forth experiences that have been by analogy called experiences of beauty in the tradition of philosophical aesthetics.

Scholars and authority in modern yoga Borayin Larios, University of Heidelberg The ongoing intellectual wars between mainly Western scholars and self-denominated "intellectual kṣatriyas" on the question of who has the authority (adhikāra) to speak about, and in the name of “yoga” has been at the forefront of the discussion of its authenticity. In recent years numerous publications (many from participants of this conference) have vehemently opposed the simplistic proposition of modern postural

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 9 yoga as a straightforward Hindu construct. Their work has revealed the influence of non-Hindu traditions (Buddhism, Jainism, Sufism), but also of television, military calisthenics, Swedish gymnastics, Western Esotericism and Hindu nationalism in the formation of modern postural yoga. Besides the array of mostly secular scholars that been at the very heart of these discussions, there are also a number of individuals who in addition to their academic work are also practitioners of some style or another of yoga. An increasing number of academicians additionally make a living by giving courses, workshops and lectures on different aspects of the yogic traditions to yoga teachers and practitioners world-wide. The main questions here are: to what extend and in which form is the knowledge produced in academia being imported into the mainstream of yoga? Among which circles of the contemporary yoga culture are scholars well-received and which ones frowned upon? And, how are practitioners of yoga using scholars and their academic studies to legitimize their own practices and discourses or to distance themselves from those of others?

Yoga and space in Turkey III: the anatolianization of yoga Till Luge, Orient-Institut Istanbul The practice commonly designated by the term yoga today is the result a process of deculturalization during the early and mid-20th century. At the present, the practice of yoga is a more or less globalized middle class phenomenon. As such, there is a variety of ways of relating yoga and the ideologies connected with it to one’s self. However, unlike some other popular practices associated with Esotericism and New Age, for instance Shamanism, yoga is seldomly linked to geographical and historical space outside of South Asia. However, two prominent figures of the Turkish yoga scene, Adnan Çabuk, one of the earliest Turkish yogis, and Akif Manaf, head of the largest yoga school and network in the country, have attempted to marry yoga with the geographical and spiritual realms of Anatolia. This presentation will explore the ways in which Anatolia may assume the place of India, the underlying cultural, religious, and political motivations, and the limits of this strategy of accommodation.

Gnosis as samādhi: Vidyāraṇya’s integration of yogic praxis with Advaita Vedāntic gnoseology James Madaio, University of Manchester and Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies In this paper I examine the articulation of yoga as a principal dharmic practice in the sādhana scheme of Advaita Vedāntin saṃnyāsins explicated in the Jīvanmuktiviveka (‘Clarifying Liberation-While-Living’), a contemporarily relevant, fourteenth century work by Vidyāraṇya, the most famous Śaṃkarācārya at the monastic-ritual institution at Śṛṅgeri. I locate how Vidyāraṇya grounds yogic methods in Śaṃkarite traditionalism and explicate his understanding of the role of yoga quo manonāśa in the process of coming to realise non-duality and in the subsequent stabilisation of that realisation. In doing so, I outline Vidyāraṇya’s two central, multifaceted approaches to yoga/manonāśa and analyse how advaitic gnosis is explained by means of saṃprajñāta-samādhi. In conclusion, I position this important intervention in the history of Advaita Vedānta in context to the wider yogic and advaitic pluralism of the period, and in terms of the development of Advaita Vedānta through the medieval and colonial periods.

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 10 A lesser-Known flavour of yoga: the Jñānayoga chapter of the Śivadharmottara Paolo Magnone, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan The paper purports to present a glimpse of the doctrine of śaiva yoga as outlined in the tenth chapter of the Śivadharmottara, a text extant in manuscript form, usually bundled with other manuscripts making up the so-called Śivadharma corpus. The chapter, styled jñānayogaḥ in the colophon, after introducing the need for the knowledge of Śiva, gives some proofs of his existence, then goes on to extol the value of the śaivāgama against its detractors. There follows an enumeration of the tattvas mainly along sāṃkhya lines. After an instruction about the favourable places, dispositions, and postures for its practice, the main subject of yoga as a means towards the attainment of the twin purpose of aiśvarya (that is to say, “sovereignty” through superhuman powers) and final deliverance is then broached, characterizing yoga as a “sacrifice of knowledge” exempt from the blame of hiṁsā. The text goes on to describe different forms and degrees of meditation, then introduces the peculiar doctrine of ṣaḍaṅgayoga (“six-limbed yoga”, in contradistinction to Patanjali’s more widely renowned aṣṭāṅga° or “eight-limbed” yoga) comprising prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, (pratiṣṭhāna =) dhāraṇā, dhyāna, japa, and samādhi, each limb being consecutively described in some detail. The chapter winds up with an overview of the progress of the yogin, including a list of the obstacles he has to face, the fruits of the several steps of yogic ascent and its final goal: he who knows and announces this redeeming knowledge truly becomes “the mother, father and kinsman of the world, its master and Śiva himself”.

Trust, authenticity and inspiration - an exploration of kayakalpa/rasayana practices among modern and contemporary yoga practitioners Suzanne Newcombe, Inform, London School of Economics This paper will begin to explore the issues of trust and authenticity in contemporary yoga and ayurvedic traditions, particularly in regard to concepts and claims of immortality and rejuvenation. Can we believe Murthy’s claims that the historical yogi Shriman Tapasviji lived 185 years after undergoing traditional kayakalpa practices? When Ramdev says ‘with utmost sincerity, experience and scientific inferences we wish to state that for 99% of diseases, we have a permanent and perfect solution in Ayurveda’ (2012, p. i) How can this be interpreted? How should claims for perfect health be understood? Do they represent a kind of helpful utopian idealism, a reflection of relative pragmatism, or a more or less practical delusion? Is immortality a real or metaphorical goal? To what extent is scientific evidence used to justify faith- based systems? What about more modest claims of ‘ordinary’ and therapeutic yoga? Is there a clear way to distinguish between a trustworthy teacher and a ‘quack’? How do these issues relate to what makes for an authentic transmission of tradition?

Buddha’s rejection of early brahminic yoga soteriology and the (in)significance of it throughout the history of East Asian Buddhism Kamil Nowak, Jagiellonian University, Kraków Bodhisatta’s study of Early Brahminic Yoga is expressed in Nikāyas with the description of his contact with Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta. Both teach him the meditation techniques leading respectively to the state of nothingness (ākiñcaññāyatana) and neither perception nor non-perception (nevasaññānāsaññāyatana). He rejected these methods understood as the sufficient means leading to liberation. Rejection of the view of sufficiency of these methods corresponds to the conviction that in order to be fully liberated specific kind of insight is necessary. Based on that, the calming and insight meditation was developed in the Buddhist tradition, with the liberating insight as a

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 11 hallmark of Buddhist soteriology. This act can be seen as the initial creation of the identity of Buddhism. Nevertheless, throughout the history of East Asian Buddhism (Chan, Tiantai) new problems came up. These are: specific relation between calming and insight [e.g. Zhiyi’s ( 智顗) critical attitude to “chan masters” ( 禅師)]; original enlightenment and the moment of enlightenment [e.g. Dahui’s (大慧) critique of meditation, which lacks moment of enlightenment]; gradual and sudden methods [e.g. Zongmi’s (宗密) model of sudden awakening and gradual cultivation]; motif of returning to the source. These kinds of issues will be analyzed in the presentation in the light of the Buddha’s attitude to early Brahminic yoga.

The intertextual transposition of the term ‘yoga’ in a classical context Karen O'Brien-Kop, SOAS, London The meaning of the term ‘yoga’ in the 4th-5th-century cannot be located solely in the Pātañjalayogaśāstra (PYŚ)*. Rather, the rich semantic field of ‘yoga’ can only be accessed through an intertextual reading that posits meaning as co-constructed in a dialogic literary network. This paper will highlight how the term ‘yoga’ is used in the PYŚ in relation to the contemporaneous Buddhist Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya (AKBh) and Yogācārabhumi, and the Jain Tattvārthasūtra (TS). Although ‘yoga’ undergoes textual transposition and is polyvalent, it nonetheless occupies similar structural functions across these Indic soteriologies. Intertextual readings compel us to expand and complexify the neat ‘classical’ definition of yoga as cittavṛttinirodhaḥ, derived from the PYŚ. For example, although the AKBh does not identify an entity called ‘yoga’, its discussion of the path (mārga) foregrounds visaṃyoga (disconnection) as equivalent to nirvāṇa, via pratisaṃkhyānirodha (cessation through understanding). This discursive positioning of visaṃyoga is resonant of yoga as nirodha and kaivalya (isolation) in the PYŚ. Elsewhere, the TS presents the Jain canonical definition of ‘yoga’ as the capacity of the soul to be bound to action, the opposite of disjunction. Yet its scheme of liberation as yoga-nirodha within śukla dhyāna suggests an intertextual paradigm. Such analysis tests our essentialized understandings of ‘classical yoga’ and problematizes the primary affiliation of yoga to Brahmanism. New and detailed insights require not only diachronic study of the textual transmission of the term ‘yoga’, but also synchronic study of its transposition.

Signs of death in haṭhayogic texts Lubomír Ondračka, Charles University, Prague Haṭhayogic texts describe various techniques leading to the main goal of Haṭhayoga – physical immortality. One of these techniques is called “cheating death” (kālavañcana) and it is based on the ability of an advanced yogi to determine the precise moment of his death (kālajñāna). He can acquire this knowledge from miscellaneous signs of death (ariṣṭāni). In this paper I will discuss the character, purpose and textual sources of these signs of death. The study is based on Haṭhayogic texts written in Sanskrit, Bengali and Brajbhasha. This topic has not been researched so far. Einoo (2004) offers very useful general survey of signs of death in different genres of Sanskrit literature. Gopal (1991) discuss this topic in Yogic texts, but he deals only with Pātañlayogaśāstra and its commentaries and he does not touch on Haṭhayogic texts. Mallinson (2007: 235, note 430) has one informative note and he deals briefly with this topic in a forthcoming book (Mallinson and Singleton 2016, pers. comm.). I did touch the purpose of signs of death in Haṭhayogic texts in my presentation at the 16th World Sanskrit Conference (Ondračka 2015). In this paper I will continue my research on this topic.

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History of yoga in the USSR Sergey Pakhomov, St. Petersburg State University The real history of yoga in USSR began since the 1950s when individual persons at their own risk began to do yoga without any teachers, in the unfavourable social atmosphere. Since 60s yoga became a part of the Soviet dissident subculture. So-called “samizdat” literature was appearing, in form of issues of Western magazines or bad translations of books about yoga. This literature was difficult to access. It was a sort of escape from the communist pressure. An important milestone is 1970, when a film “Indian yogis: who are they?” was broadcast on TV. It influenced very much a rise of interest of Soviet people in yoga. During Soviet history yoga was considered to be only a health practice, not a religious system. Besides that, Soviet people were attracted by the “miracles” that can appear in yoga practice. Some Soviet persons gained a great success in yoga without teachers (e.g. S.Kurilov), others visited India and studied yoga there under the guidance of Indian gurus (e.g. A.Zubkov). Almost all this time the relation of Soviet communist power to yoga was indifferent or hostile. In rare cases Indian gurus visited Soviet Union on official invitation, e.g. Dhirendra Brahmachari, who taught yoga to Soviet cosmonauts. After the fall of the “Iron Curtain” and the beginning of the “perestroika” in 1985 many teachers of yoga started to travel to USSR, e.g. B.K.S. Iyengar, who visited Moscow in 1989. After his visit many Iyengar schools appeared. Also the Association of Yoga in USSR under the guidance of Prof. V.Brodov was organized. At the end of USSR many yoga styles, schools and teachers operated in the country.

Yoga science or science for yoga? Claudia Wanessa Poletto and Regina Dantas, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro In recent years the remarkable increase in the circulation of yoga in the world also reached the scientific field especially as legitimizing and validating the yoga practices. The results of studies and surveys released by both peer-reviewed publications and the mainstream media bring out the complex understanding of yoga as an object of analysis, measurement and interpretation from a scientific lens. One of the purposes of this paper is to discuss how the scientific methodological choice applied to yoga with their samples and protocols would shape the results obtained in order to frame them as scientifically proven or not. For this discussion, selected papers (especially in the health field) will be reviewed containing "yoga" as the main theme. One of the expectations of this part of the work is not to question whether certain practices aimed at the body-mind-soul are really effective or not, but rather to expose the limitations of the scientific method and to identify new areas of scientific discourse to legitimize yoga. The other objective of this work is to create a dialogue about the widespread view of yoga as a science. To this end, I will reflect on the use of the term "Yoga Science" using my experience within the National Institute of Yoga Morarji Desai in Delhi. The choice of this establishment was justified because it is an autonomous institution linked to the Indian government and based on trying to understand how an Indian institution formalizes its conception of Yoga Science.

Visual and material evidence for the development of haṭhayoga in the sixteenth century: sculpted reliefs of ascetics in complex non-seated āsanas at Hampi Seth Powell, Harvard University, Cambridge This paper will attempt to analyze and historicize a number of unusual images of ascetics depicted in complex non-seated yogic āsanas, sculpted onto the pillars of

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 13 several sixteenth-century temples at Hampi, the capital city of the Vijayanagara Empire. The pillared reliefs at Hampi are striking for a number of important reasons. The first, being the complexity and level of difficulty of the depicted yogic postures, which include standing postures, inversions, twists, and unique “pretzel-shaped” balancing postures. Several of these sculpted images bear a marked similarity to several non-seated āsanas featured in modern postural yoga systems, and might represent some of the earliest evidence of their existence – visual, textual, or otherwise. Moreover, many of the images display associations and similarities with other sculpted reliefs of ascetics at nearby and contemporaneous sites, such as Srisailam, however, the ascetics at Hampi have not yet been identified as part of a particular religious order; nor has there been an attempt to understand the significance of these fascinating sculpted depictions of āsana praxis within the larger history of physical yoga traditions in pre-modern India. Utilizing art historical, textual, and epigraphical methods, as well as recent field work conducted at Hampi, I argue that the available evidence strongly suggests the influence of tantric Śaivism and larger pan-Indic Siddha cults on the iconographic program codified on the temple pillars at Hampi, and moreover, that this visual and material evidence may shine new light on the development of the physical techniques of haṭhayoga during the late medieval period.

Redefining Jain Yoga in Manonuśāsanam Samani Pratbha Pragya, SOAS, London This article focuses on Manonuśāsanam, a twentieth century modern Jain yoga text, composed in Sanskrit by Śvetāmbara Terāpanthi Ācārya Tulasī (1914-1997), in sūtra style. In Jain philosophical context, the term “yoga” is commonly used for activities, which are of three types; mind, body and speech. First time in the history of Jainism, Haribhadra (8th c. CE) defined yoga in context of spiritual path as “all activities associated with liberation is yoga”. Second definition is presented by Hemacandra (1089-1172) which relates the three jewels (ratnatraya) namely knowledge (jñāna), intuition (darsana) and (cāritra) as yoga. Finally in 20th century, Tulasī redefined yoga in the same lines of Haribhadra and Hemachadra yet with a difference. Tulasi’s definition is inclusive of action and non-action. Haribhadra’s emphasis was action oriented which concurs with the main traditional definition of yoga denoting action. Hemachandra preferred the phrase ‘mokṣa-mārga’ and presented yoga as three jewels. In his definition conduct is simply non-action, while Tulasī makes it inclusive of both action and non-action. Further being a 20th century text, he presents the spectrum of yoga definition in the context of mind (mana), speech (vāk), body (kāya), breath (ānāpāna), senses (indriya) and food (āhara), which brings to light his endeavour towards creating a layman’s text of Jain yoga rather than an intense soteriological classical text. In this paper I analyse, the three definitions of Jain yoga and particularly Tulsi’s way of redefining Jain yoga through various stages in Manonuśāsanam.

Term “yoga” in the Vishishta-Advaita-Vedanta tradition Ruzana Pskhu and Natalia Safina, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Moscow The term “yoga” in Vishishta-Advaita-Vedanta Tradition has very specific meaning. As we know the main representatives of this tradition Yamunacarya (X) and Ramanuja (XI- XII) used this term in their philosophical treatises, but with the very different connotation: only as a method of attainment of moksha. Some scholars regard Ramanuja as a traditional Vedantist who stated the path to salvation as a combination of karma- yoga, jnana-yoga, and bhakti-yoga. But if we take the classical Yoga of Patanjali we can

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 14 see that it can be applied (and it is really applied) to the atheistic and monistic systemes (for example, like Shankara's Advaita-Vedanta and others). Some scholars regard yoga practices as irrelative practice which has no correlation with a worldview or some basic values of its adherents. According Patanjali "citta-vritti-nirodha" as a cessation of mental fluctuations is a base of Yoga practice and Ishvara only gives assistance in attainment of samadhi. Yoga in this sense doesn't need the Personal Highest Being. In this case a question arises: Is Yoga possible in a theistic system (like Vishishta-Advaita-Vedanta) without any threats for a theistic worldview? Our paper, based on the textual investigation of some key texts of Vishishta-Advaita-Vedanta, deals with that question.

Yoga and Theosophy in Finland Matti Rautaniemi, Åbo Akademi University, Turku This paper is a part of my ongoing doctoral research on the history of yoga in Finland. It focuses on the roots of Finnish yoga practice in the theosophical movement of the late 1800’s. Although yoga started entering the cultural mainstream in Finland only in the late 1960’s, the theosophists published the first articles and books on yoga already in the 1890’s. There is also evidence of a form of esoteric yoga practiced by some members of the Theosophical Society in Finland. The Theosophical Society is an esoteric movement established in 1875 by Helena Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott and William Judge. Although the Finnish branch of the Theosophical Society was formally established only in 1907, the roots of the theosophical movement in Finland date back to the early 1890’s. Two figures stand out in the early history of yoga in Finland. Pekka Ervast (1875–1934) was a prolific writer and a long-time president of the Theosophical Society in Finland. He was also the first person in Finland to identify himself as a yoga practitioner. Actor and opera singer Ture Ara (1903–1979) was also influenced by theosophy, and was apparently the first person to publicly teach yoga in Finland. This paper will look at these early developments and influential figures in Finnish yoga history while also situating them to a wider historical, social and cultural context. It will also exlore how yoga was understood by these early pioneers.

Guru-induced samādhi : samādhi in the Satsangijivanam Peter Schreiner, University of Zürich The Satsaṅgijīvanam (written around 1850 by Śatānanda-Muni) describes in purāṇic style the life and teachings of Swaminarayana, the founder of the movement that bears his name. Even if it may occasionally be difficult to separate historical and legendary aspects, the role of samādhi (141 occurrences of the word in 36.579 metrical lines or 16.487 verses) deserves to be analyzed as a contribution to our knowledge of how yoga was perceived at the time, and how it was appropriated by a Vaiṣṇava movement in Gujarat. The semantics (e.g., samādhi as part of eightfold yoga; altered state of consciousness; vision; condition of omniscience; near-death experience; divine attribute) and contexts (who - when - where - how - why) of samādhi will be described and classified. The idea that samādhi is a visionary state of mind (or consciousness) which can be provoked or induced by the guru may have undergone modifications in correspondence with the role, changing during his life-time, of Swaminarayana as student - guru - avatāra - divine absolute.

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 15 Abhiniveśa: a historical and literary study Frederick M. Smith, University of Iowa, Iowa City The word abhiniveśa in Yogasūtra 2.8 is everywhere translated “fear of death and clinging to life.” This is a perfect example of one early translator arriving at this translation, then all other translators following suit without actually considering the term itself. Whatever abhiniveśa means, it does not mean “fear of death and clinging to life.” This opinion reflects Vyāsa’s commentary, and assumes that Vyāsa’s view is not subject to scrutiny. This is the position of the Indian paṇḍitic tradition and of the non- Sanskritic scholarly tradition, if one can indeed use the word tradition in the latter case, which in most quarters consciously, if passively, identifies Patañjali with Vyāsa. In my view there can be no doubt that they were different, at least partially (I would support Bronkhorst’s view, at least on this sūtra, rather than Maas’s wholesale identification of the two). In any case, what I propose here is to examine the word abhiniveśa in its historical and literary dimensions, then see how it might be read in YS based on this. I have gathered occurrences of the word from the grammatical tradition, beginning with Pāṇini, from Kālidāsa (roughly contemporaneous with YS), from Kauṭilya, various medical texts, and Buddhist literature, including a few texts such as the Abhisamayālaṃkārasūtra and the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, both also contemporaneous with the YS. Essentially, the concepts of engagement and intensity loom large for abhiniveśa, but in this paper I hope to fill in the picture.

Adaptation or appropriation: the reception of the philosophy and practice of yoga in 20th century European esotericism Olaf Stachowski, Jagiellonian University, Kraków Most contemporary texts stemming from the western esoteric tradition incorporate either yoga or some derivative form of body and breath practice as an indispensable part of the initiate’s training. This state of affairs is fairly recent, having its roots in the works of early 20th century occult writers such as of H. P. Blavatska, G. Gurdjieff and A. Crowley. The transmission and reinterpretation of Indian thought at the time is one of the most fundamental strands constituting modern western esoteric notions such as those endorsed by the various Thelemic, Wiccan or Chaos Magick-based groups. That early-century fascination with yogic philosophy is also an often-overlooked factor influencing the later reception and massive popularization of yoga in the 60s and 70s. It is my intent to present in this paper the transmission, reception and consequential westernization of Indian thought, concerning the underlying anthropology, the terms used and the practice itself. Apart of the most important points to be covered, I also intend to present some lesser known European adaptations of yoga, such as Guido von List’s Runengymnastik or Paschal Beverly Randolph’s Posism.

Insight transformed: the indian vicissitudes of modern Burmese Mindfulness Daniel M. Stuart, University of South Carolina, Columbia This paper explores the historical formation and contemporary transformation of the Indian Vipassanā tradition from 1969 to the present. Drawing on interviews, newsletters, audio-visual material, and literature in Hindi and English produced by the Vipassanā movement, I analyze how the Indo-Burmese vipassanā teacher S. N. Goenka built a large network of meditation centers designed to deliver Burmese Buddhist mindfulness practices to the Indian public. I focus particularly on the way Goenka used his own Hindu identity to appeal to Indians from Hindu and Jain communities, and constructed a “non-sectarian” practice in the context of post-colonial secular pluralism. I show that Goenka’s project has been successful in its general mission, providing a

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 16 semiotically appropriate matrix for Indians from the three major “indigenous” traditions to interface with traditional Buddhist mindfulness practice while maintaining their own identities. I also stress points of fissure, however, where the movement’s project and its network begin to break down under pressures connected to issues of religious experience and identity politics. These fissures become most apparent in the study of a series of unauthorized spin-offs of the Goenka movement—the Jain Prekṣādhyāna tradition, A. L. V. Kumar’s Traditional Yoga lineage, and the critiques of a number of Goenka’s close students who took issue with his model of teaching. These three cases show the power of Goenka’s network in forging experiential identities across traditions, while also revealing the limitations of such networks. Religious, national, and secular identities emerge in conflict in the ongoing transnational dissemination of Goenka’s teachings.

Yoga as synthesis. Yoga as revival. Eugeniusz Polończyk’s vision of yoga. Agata Świerzowska, Jagiellonian University, Kraków The study of the history of yoga in Poland has only just begun and the knowledge about the earliest stages of the reception of the idea in this country is so far negligible. The presentation is an attempt to broaden the current state of knowledge on yoga in Poland in the interwar period. It will focus on the interpretation / understanding of yoga presented by Eugeniusz Polończyk ( ? -1932 ), a medicald doctor, social activist, founder (in 1926 in Lviv) and president of "Arja", patriotic, even nationalistic society. Polończyk’s interpretation of yoga forms an integral part of his socio-political and economic views. It may be seen as an attempt to strengthen his organicist and synarchist beliefs as well as a way to introduce them into the practice of social live in order to enable the revival of Polish nation and creating an ideal (utopian in fact) “Republic of Poland with a king” (Rzeczpospolita z królem). The presentation will also cover, at least to some extent, the possible sources of Polończyk’s inspirations for his views on yoga (F. Ossendowski , A. Saint -Yves d' Alveydre ).

Buddhi, ahaṃkāra, manas in the teaching of yoga in Mahābhārata XII.203-210 Kenji Takahashi, Kyoto University and Leiden University Mahābhārata XII.203-210 is a dialogue between an anonymous teacher and his disciple on the Supreme Yoga, which preserves an early form of Yoga Philosophy. This dialogue agrees with the Classical Sāṃkhya School that buddhi, ahaṃkāra, and manas are the internal organs of human being. However, in contrast to the Classical Sāṃkhya School that ascribes definitive functions to all the three mental principles, this account takes buddhi and ahaṃkāra as marginal functions, and regards manas as the center of mental realm. I will argue that manas governs perception and action, and the restraint and purification of manas leads to the realization of Brahman, whereas buddhi supports the restraint of manas, and ahaṃkāra is regarded as the origin of ignorance and suffering. The notion of mental principles in this dialogue is close to that of the Classical Yoga School which reduces buddhi, ahaṃkāra and manas into one principle citta. This study also intends to shed new light on the historical development of the Yoga School. The uniqueness of this dialogue was first hinted at by Bedekar (1959), but he only noted the marginal functions of buddhi and ahaṃkāra compared to those according to the Classical Sāṃkhya School. I would like to draw attention to the prominent role that manas plays in this account, and stress its proximity to the Classical Yoga School.

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 17 Yoga and space in Turkey II: teaching yoga in a hostile context; the development of niches in the Turkish case Alexandre Toumarkine, Orient-Institut Istanbul The yoga sector has been witnessing considerable growth in Turkey since the 1990s, in parallel with and partially due to the general flourishing of alternative spiritualities and therapies in the country. At the same time, yoga has been encountering hostility by a subset of local conservatives and/or nationalistic circles and state institutions. The latter consider yoga as a foreign, imported discipline that poses a threat to Turkish values and identity and to Islam, which they consider the national religion. In spite of these negative reactions, yoga is openly welcomed by a secular, wealthy, young and often female audience, especially in megalopolises such as Istanbul, Ankara or Izmir. Beyond these, yoga has also expanded in provincial towns and in urban contexts actively hostile to it. Here, however, the spread of yoga has followed different strategies. This presentation intends to analyze the creation of various kinds of niches for the teaching of yoga by focusing on individual and collective actors, trajectories and strategies, networks, institutions and neighborhoods.

Kuṇḍalinī concept in Malayalam works of Nārāyaṇa Guru Hanna Urbańska, University of Wrocław In the present paper an attempt will be made towards interpreting selected stanzas from the works of Nārāyaṇa Guru (1854-1928), a South Indian philosopher and social reformer from Kerala. In his short poem composed in Malayalam, the Kuṇḍalinī Pāṭṭ (The Song of the Kundalini Snake), Guru presented an ancient yogic concept of Kuṇḍalinī, a “serpent power” which is “coiled” at the base of spine in the state of sleep. The Song of the Kundalini Snake is bringing out the spiritual significance of a physical process by which a snake is lured to dance. The concept of Kuṇḍalinī appears also in other works of Nārāyaṇa Guru, among others in: 1. Śiva Śatakam (One Hundred Stanzas Dedicated to Śiva) – stanzas 28, 31; 2. Jananī Nava Ratna Mañjarī (A Cluster of Nine Verse Gems to Mother), a hymn addressed to the Mother of Royal Yoga (rājayōgajananī) – stanzas 3, 5; 3. Maṇṇanthala Devī Stavam (Hymn dedicated to the Devi of Mannanthala Temple) - stanza 1; 4. Ātmōpadēśa Śatakam (One Hundred Stanzas on Self-Instruction) – the most important philosophical work of Guru – stanza 9. Unlike the Sanskrit works written by Guru (Darśana Mālā, chapter 9 – Yoga Darśana), his Malayalam compositions have been formed in the conventional figurative language and constructed round the Śiva / Devī myth. The elusive and ineffable character of the style is meant to be left untouched by logical analysis. Philosophical speculation – although precise and scientific – has been presented in a simple language, comprehensible to the lower caste people of Kerala. The Kuṇḍalinī concept, alluded to in the above mentioned stanzas of his Malayalam works, has been presented by Nārāyaṇa Guru as an inseparable part of a syncretic formation which is comprising different philosophical systems.

Incorporating globalised modern yoga into a local Hindu tradition of sainthood: the case of “Loknath Yoga” in contemporary West Bengal (India). Raphaël Voix, CNRS, Centre d'Etude de l'Inde et de l'Asie du Sud, Paris Lokenath Brahmachari is a saintly figure from the early modern period (allegedly 1730 - 1890) that is remembered among contemporary Bengalis as a very powerful Yogi. His cult most notably drastically expanded since the 1980’s, giving birth to many temples

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 18 and missions in South Asia and abroad. On the margin of this current, appeared a specific method of yoga called “Loknath Yoga”. Supposedly practised by the Saint, this technique is nowadays transmitted to a large public – consisting in both Indian and non- Indians – through two institutions: the Sri Sri Baba Lokenath Bramachari Mahamdal Ashram and the Loknath Institute of Yoga and Vedic Culture, both situated in Kolkata. Drawing on a recent fieldwork in these places and on an in depth study of the vernacular literature and documents available on the saint’s life, this paper will try to understand the specificity of this method of yoga and the historical and social logics at stake behind its emergence. Drawing on this data, this paper aims at deepening the understanding on how globalised modern yoga can be re-localised in Indian local contexts and how yoga branding operates in contemporary India.

Practicing philosophy: performing the Yogasūtra in modern postural yoga Laura von Ostrowski, FAU Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nürnberg Patthabi Jois' students like to recall how their master identified Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga with Patañjali Yoga. Today, in modern yoga schools worldwide, practicioners' preoccupation with the Yoga-Sutra is influencing their physical practice in various ways. This paper will explore how the nexus mixing 'Modern Postural Yoga' and the Yoga- Sutra of Patañjali has come to be. A short historical overview of the reception of the Yoga-Sutra in modern times will show that in this early context, the Yoga-Sutra and Hatha-Yoga traditions were often perceived as diametrically opposed. By contrast, in the lineage of Krishnamacarya, there has always been an emphasis on the alleged link between text (the Yoga-Sutra) and postural practices, which I then will move on to examine. This modern Yoga school is the leading proponent of the idea that the content of the Yoga-Sutra is to be experienced through postural practice. Sustained by preliminary results gained through field research in the Ashtanga Yoga scene in Germany, I intend to analyze how modern yoga practicioners' physical practice is influenced by their perceptions of the Yoga-Sutra. How does this nexus influence their practices and understanding of what yoga is? How do practicioners animate this nexus? Indeed, modern teachers and students of Ashtanga Yoga develop ways of performing the Yoga-Sutra and by this attempt the ancient Indian text is given a new direction and dimension. The Sutra provides them with help for daily lifes' demands and its interpretation shapes the experiences that can be achieved through postural practice. This rapidly growing interpretative movement deserves more attention.

Karma yoga, dance mandalas and liquid gold: the culture and impact of post- traditional British yoga camps Theo Wildcroft, The Open University, UK Each summer, across the British countryside, the radical edge of yoga culture gathers at a series of camps and festivals. With a focus on communal work, interfaith ritual and ecological sensitivity, these events are resonant with echoes of counter-cultural history: from the free festivals of Stonehenge, to early ashram communes; from illegal raves, to Teepee Valley. Here is ‘seva’ as an act of love for community: the satisfaction of simple, meaningful, shared work undertaken as sympathetic magic for wider social change. This is not the yoga of lineage, although there are many with links to lineage here. Nor is it adequately covered by the definition of secular, postural yoga; balancing on the edges of sect and faith; lifestyle and science. Deliberately distanced from the commercialisation of yoga branding and fundamentalism, a part-time, nomadic community of teachers, practitioners, bhaktas and karma yogis gather again and again, to enable the transmission and evolution of emerging yoga cultural forms.

Version 4.0, 5th May 2016 19 The paper will explore the vibrant, fast-evolving culture of post-lineage British yoga. It will reflect on the complex role-power negotiations of non-lineage environments for teachers, practitioners and researchers. It will consider the personal and cultural aims that shape the ongoing and diverse evolution of practice. Finally, it will begin to set out the implications of research into non-lineage and post-traditional, hybridised yoga culture for the wider and future study of yoga, bodies and religion.

Yoga and Women in the Iyengar Yoga Tradition Agi Wittich, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem This talk will be about the emergence of adjusted yoga practice for women in Iyengar yoga. Today in the West, women constitute the majority of practitioners and teachers of yoga, even though it is assumed that in India yoga was primarily practiced, taught and written by men and for men. This change in the gender of practitioners was accompanied by a paradigm shift, the commercialization and commodification of yoga, which was surely affected by more than two centuries of colonization and contemporary Western influences. Notably, the most influential revolutionary of today’s syncretistic Yoga was B.K.S Iyengar (1918- 2014) who taught yoga to foreigners beginning in the 1950s. He was possibly the first to teach yoga for groups of women and to endorse his wife and daughters to teach yoga. His eldest daughter, Geeta Iyengar (1944 - ) has taught general classes alongside women's classes since the 1960s, in which she adjusted yoga practices to the health needs of women, and she has published books of adjusted yoga practice for the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and menopause. In this talk I will draw on interviews conducted with the Iyengar Family members and senior Iyengar Yoga teachers in order to show how the Iyengar family (1) breached the segregated milieu that preserved power over authority and (2) re-contextualized yoga (3) offered an adjusted yoga practice suitable for women. This was done while preserving a link to an ancient tradition on the one hand, and producing a new body of knowledge on the other.

Or try this: the alternative practices offered in the “vā” section of Pātañjali’s Yoga Sūtra, Chapter One Naomi Worth, University of Virginia, Charlottesville This paper considers the reception of the “vā” (meaning or) verses of Pātañjali’s Yoga Sūtra through the commentaries of Vācaspati Miśra (900-980 CE) and Vijñānabhikṣu (1550-1600 CE), and suggests how these recommendations for praxis were received by different sects at different times. Demarcated by the Sanskrit particle vā, these six verses from 1.34-39 suggest different means for stabilizing the mind, including: exhalation and retention of the breath; a focus on sense objects; maintaining a state of mind free from affliction and luminous; holding as its object a being who is free from desire; abiding in a state supported by the knowledge attained from dreams and sleep; and meditation on an object of one’s own inclination. In explaining these verses, the Sanskrit commentators allow entrance into the world of practice that arose in response to the Yoga Sūtra. Of particular interest are the connections made by the commentators to the subtle body system of channels (nāḍī), states of consciousness, and descriptions of the mind as luminous. Examining these terms within the context of the commentators’ own traditions lends insight into the development of yoga practice traditions, as well as the history of the subtle body as a medium for spiritual practice. By investigating commentaries to the verses, plus both primary and secondary literature associated with these two commentators, this paper clarifies the definitions, descriptions, and prescriptions of terms related to the subtle

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The misfortunes of samādhi: on Patañjali's attitude to mystic powers Dominik Wujastyk, University of Alberta, Edmonton The third chapter of the Pātañjalayogaśāstra is about supernatural powers. It is commonly stated that although such powers are inevitably developed by yogis, there is something disreputable about them, and they may be an obstacle to spiritual progress. A true yogi would not get distracted by them. And yet Patañjali dedicated a quarter of his treatise to such powers. Did he really hold the view that they were generally a bad thing, as so many later authors have asserted?

On the process of internalization of the enlightened other in devata yoga and buddhānusmṛti Jarosław Zapart, Jagiellonian University, Kraków In my talk I will try to interpret the Tantric practice of devata yoga through the lens of Indian Mahāyāna scriptures dealing with buddhānusmṛti practice. I will aim at demonstrating that devata yoga – as described by Mkhas grub rje dge legs dpal bzang and Tsong kha pa – is best understood in the light of scriptures such as the Pratyutpanna-sūtra and Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra). In my view the practice of buddhānusmṛti expounded in those texts and Tantric devata yoga are closely related through the process of internalization of the enlightened Other. This process begins with 'calling to mind' (anusmṛti) a mental image of an enlightened being and progresses to identification of the practitioner with that being. As such buddhānusmṛti and devata yoga constitute different stages in the development of a single practice, which goes back to early Buddhism, but culminates in the Mahāyāna notion of a 'buddha within' (tathāgatagarbha). The Buddhist Tantric tradition, by applying its understanding of tathāgatagarbha to the deity yoga, constitutes a final link of that process. Therefore, if we consider Pratyutpanna-sūtra as introducing internalization to buddhānusmṛti ('In the future I will become a buddha'), and Ratnagotravibhāga idea of tathāgatagarbha as fruition of this operation ('I have the buddha nature'), then devata yoga must be seen as an actualization of the innate buddha nature ('I commemorate the fact of having a buddha nature').

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Keynote Sessions

TRADITIONS: ‘General patterns of emergence of sanskritic traditions, with special reference to problems of authorship in relation to the Yogasūtra/Pātañjalayogaśāstra. Michel Angot (EHESS, Paris) and Philipp Maas (University of Vienna)

Topic overview: The general patterns of emergence of sanskritic traditions, with special reference to problems of authorship in relation to the Yogasūtra/Pātañjalayogaśāstra. Points of agreement and disagreement between the two discussants will be highlighted by their responding to each other’s presentations. Methodological issues and differences in the understanding of authorship in modern and pre-modern settings are also relevant topics.