Early Latin American Esoteric Yoga as a New Spirituality in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

This article seeks to present the history and influences of the first characters of yoga in Latin America. There is a research gap on Latin American yoga between the years 1900 and 1950, when no Indian yogi had yet arrived on the continent. This insulation, rather than delaying the advent of Yogic r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of Latin American religions
Main Author: Simões, Roberto Serafim (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer International Publishing [2018]
In: International journal of Latin American religions
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Latin America / Yoga / Esotericism / Spirituality / Alternative / History 190-1950
RelBib Classification:AZ New religious movements
BK Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism
KBR Latin America
Further subjects:B Meditation
B Religion
B Yoga
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:This article seeks to present the history and influences of the first characters of yoga in Latin America. There is a research gap on Latin American yoga between the years 1900 and 1950, when no Indian yogi had yet arrived on the continent. This insulation, rather than delaying the advent of Yogic religiosity, brought about problems and unique solutions that five key figures sought to answer, offering a certain uniqueness to the establishment of Latin American yoga. I have chosen Katherine Tingley, Cesar Della Rosa, Leo Costet, Serge Raynaud, and Benjamin Guzman as main precursors, for they were the first to introduce, in their own ways, proto-yoga in Latin America. But unlike Europeans and Americans, who in the same period received their first yogic instructions from the hands of Indian yogis, Latin Americans created their own explanations, without instructions from Indian yogis. Latin American yoga may be similar to American and European yoga when comparing the yogic teachings taught in institutions, the therapy given in hospitals and in health posts, and connections to signs in other religions. However, Latin American yoga is unique because of the influences of symbolic exchanges of the aforementioned yogis during a movement that had been building since 1900.
ISSN:2509-9965
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal of Latin American religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s41603-018-0062-5