Abstract
Social transformation visions emerge from the main HIFM ideational stances and essentially reveal a ‘sociology of hope’ derived from faith, beckoning a divine fiat for change.
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Notes
- 1.
Particularly the dimension of the ‘superman’ being able to rise above the restrictions of ordinary morality—the salvation rhetoric of Ramakrishna Mission is similar to the transcendence of the superman.
- 2.
In terms of the first one, the tint is spiritual—akin to transcendentalism and transpersonalism. Parallels can also be sought in the scholastic theology within the Sufi realms and Jewish kabbalistic cosmology. As an ontological postulate, the pluralist hypothesis rationally promotes the postulation of a divine noumenal reality, named Saibaba, underlying and unifying the diverse phenomenal religions through a common ultimate referent (for their differential conceptions of the Real). Methodologically, there is a proposing of a ‘revisionist’ conception of, and approach to, religious diversity, involving the notion that the same soteriological process of human transformation takes place within the contexts of the differential religions and cultural traditions (the basic contention of Saibaba that Ram and Rahim are one). Then, the following methodological assumption is adopted: basic religious conviction that religious experience and thought mediate real contact with the higher reality, namely Saibaba—also called ‘in-principled veridicality’ of religious experience and thought.
- 3.
What has been cardinal to both Marxian and Vedantic thoughts is the elimination of the feeling of alienation and attainment of self-realization. Where Marxian socialism has a materialistic substratum, the Vedantic version has a spiritualist base. Vedantic socialism proposes a climate of change through an arousal of spirituality and the practical interpretation endowed to the ‘Hindu’ concept of Vedanta. Traditional socialism, according to Vivekananda, would retain the proletarianization of the masses Vedantic socialism would naturally alleviate (Parameswaran, 1987).
- 4.
This term has been adapted from William Tremmel’s terminology by Trompf (2000), referring to the fact that things are done with techniques appropriate to Gods that will make them work on behalf of humans. Metatechnological operations assure participants that textually or prophetically disclosed promises of the divine are true and that ‘the followers’ require engagement with the spirit order to actualize those promises.
- 5.
Dalal’s (2001) proposition is that yoga in general, and integral yoga in particular, leads to a reversal of consciousness—a complete turnover of consciousness that takes place at each radical transition in the evolutionary ascent of consciousness: the emergence of life from matter, the emergence of mind from life, and the evolution of overmind into supermind. Sherazi (2001) discusses that integral psychology is a psychological system concerned with exploring and understanding the totality of human phenomena. It is a framework that not only addresses the behavioural, affective, and cognitive domains of the human experience within a singular system but is also concerned with the relationships between the above-mentioned domains in the context of human spiritual development. It is a system that, at its breath dimension, covers the entire body–mind–psyche–spirit spectrum, whereas at its depth dimension it encompasses the previously explored unconscious and the conscious dimensions of the psyche as well as the supra-conscious dimension traditionally excluded from psychological inquiry. Integral yoga as parallel to integral psychology has principle tenets as wholeness of personality, different levels of consciousness, importance of all phases and areas of experience, need for personal integration and the concept of integral self-realization, doctrines of transformation and motivation, and the method of integral experientialism. Within it, the metaphors of personal integration are the reconciliation of opposites; a shift from state of fragmentation to state of wholeness; the unification of mind, body, and the spirit; and a journey from unconsciousness to self-consciousness to superconsciousness. Shraddhavan (2001) describes Sri Aurobindo’s psycho-cosmology as a paradigm wherein exists a complementary relationship between involution and evolution, which implies that evolution has a purpose, and each individuality is a projection, a partial expression of some divine consequences which in the involution become ego. In describing integral yoga as parallel to integral psychotherapy, Cortright (2001) has described it as an exploration of is-ness which, when we have a spiritual aspiration, allows us to penetrate more deeply within in our journey to awaken to the psychic being and atman. It is a movement that begins with the existential surface of our empirical self and ends with the essential spiritual experience of our central being. In this way, integral psychotherapy can be thought of as existential Vedanta—a psycho-spiritual practice that involves exploring our lived experience so that our physical, vital, and mental self is the most coherent, vibrant, and fit vehicle for our inner being; more purified and, therefore, more capable of a wholehearted surrender; more calm and, therefore, able to hold the peace from above and within; and more integrated and unified and so more capable of a single-minded aspiration for the Mother and for the Divine.
- 6.
Apart from verbal testimonials, there is a body of systematic scientific literature examining the efficacy of SK&P procedure for health and well-being: Bhatia, M., Kumar, A., Kumar, N., Pandey, R.M., and Kochupillai, V. (2003) Electrophysiologic Evaluation of Sudarshan Kriya: An ECG, BAER and P300 study. Indian Journal of Physiological Pharmacology, 47, 157–163; Brazier, A., Mulkins, A., and Verhoef, M. (2006) Evaluating a Yogic Breathing and Meditation Intervention for Individuals Living with HIV/AIDS. American Journal of Health Promotion, 20, 192–195; Brown, R.P., et al. (2005) Sudarshan Kriya Yogic Breathing in the Treatment of Stress. Anxiety and Depression: Part 1 – Neurophysiologic Model. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 11(1), 189–201; Brown, R.P., et al. (2005) Sudarshan Kriya Yogic Breathing in the Treatment of Stress, Anxiety and Depression: Part II – Clinical Applications and Guidelines. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 11(4), 711–717; Descilo, T., Vedamurthachar, A., Gerbarg, P.L., Nagaraja, D., Gangadhar, B.N., Damodaran, B., et al. (2009). Effects of a Yoga Breath Intervention Alone and in Combination with an Exposure Therapy for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Depression in Survivors of the 2004 South-East Asian Tsunami. Acta Psychiatria Scandinavia, 1–12; Janakiramaiah, N., Gangadhar, B.N., Naga Venkatesa Murthy, P.J. (1998) Therapeutic Effects of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) in Dysthymic Disorder. NIMHANS Journal, 16(1), 21–28; Janakiramaiah, N., Gangadhar, B.N., Naga Venkatesa Murthy, P.J. Harish, M.G., Subbakrishna, D.K., and Vedamurthachar, A. (2000) Anti-Depressant Efficacy of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga in Melancholia: A Randomised Comparison with Electroconclusive Therapy (ECT) and Imipramine. Journal of Affective Disorders, 57(1–3), 255–259; Kochupillai, V., Kumar. P., Singh. D., Agarwal, D., Bharadwaj, N., Bhutani, M., and Das, S.N. (2005) Effects of Rhythmic Breathing (Sudarshan Kriya and Pranayam) on Immune Functions and Tobacco Addiction. Annals of New York Academy of Science, 1056, 242–252; Vedamurthachar, A., Janakiramaiah, N., Hegde, J.M., Shetty, D.K., Subbakrishna, D.K., Sureshbabu, S.V., and Gangadhar, B.N. (2006) Antidepressant Efficacy and Hormonal Effects of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga in Alcohol-dependent Individuals. Journal of Affective Disorder, 94(1–3), 249–253; Gangadhar, B., Janakiramaiah, N., Sudarshan, B., and Shetty, K.T. (1999) Stress-related Biochemical Effects of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga in Depressed Patients. Bangalore, India: NIMHANS.
- 7.
Guthrie and Stickley (2008) have undertaken a qualitative study based on a small group of clergy in the UK exploring their views and perceptions on the relationship between spiritual experience and mental distress.
- 8.
The important goal of Kohutian self-psychology (Heinz Kohut) is to look at updating individual’s spiritual internalizations by bringing them in conscious contact with individual’s changing experiences of reality (Amarasingam, 2009).
- 9.
Carr (2000) has used object relations theory, especially the concept of transitional object, to link religious thinking and psychoanalysis.
- 10.
This is parallel to the philosophy of the Spiritual Modelling Inventory of Life Environments (SMILE) measure of perceptions of spiritual models, defined as prominent people who have functioned as exemplars of spiritual qualities such as compassion, self-control, and faith.
- 11.
Hoecke (2006) has described three paradigms in Indian psychotherapy: the Bhagavad Gita paradigm, which guides the individual to larger macrocosmic domains instead of exploring the edges of individuality; the guru–chela paradigm, which focuses on authority, context, and morality instead of normality; and the abhyasa paradigm, which accentuates the interpersonal dimensions of the therapeutic relationship.
- 12.
Here one can also talk about Neubert’s (2008) notion of dépense, that is, the expenditure, which is made by people, driven by faith, without any expectations in return. This defies the traditional rational-choice models in economics, which propose that people spend when the return from the expenditure is equivalent.
- 13.
See Copeman and Ikegame (2012) for a discussion on the equivalence of guru seva and manav seva.
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Pandya, S.P. (2019). Transformational Actors: Private and Public Agendas. In: Faith Movements and Social Transformation. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2823-7_7
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