The Dual-Ideal of the Ascetic and Healthy BodyThe Jain Terāpanth and Modern Yoga in the Context of Late Capitalism
This article addresses institutional innovations in the Jain Śvetāmbara Terāpanth as it has adapted to a new socio-historical and cultural context. It investigates the intersections between the Terāpanth and the context of late-capitalism, particularly in India, the United States, and the United Kin...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
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| Published: |
University of Californiarnia Press
2012
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| In: |
Nova religio
Year: 2012, Volume: 15, Issue: 3, Pages: 29-50 |
| Online Access: |
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| Summary: | This article addresses institutional innovations in the Jain Śvetāmbara Terāpanth as it has adapted to a new socio-historical and cultural context. It investigates the intersections between the Terāpanth and the context of late-capitalism, particularly in India, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and discusses shifts in orientations toward the body as acts of adaptation to late capitalism. Historically, the Terāpanth held an ascetic ideal that required social withdrawal and bodily purification for the sake of spiritual release from the world. Beginning in the late twentieth century, however, the Terāpanth prescribed a form of modern yoga for enhancing the body and life in the world. I argue that this shift signifies a practical change in the everyday body maintenance regime of the practitioner. It does not, however, signify a soteriological shift for the advanced spiritual adept. Rather, a body-negating asceticism maintains its central role in the construction of the soteriological path. |
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| ISSN: | 1541-8480 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Nova religio
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1525/nr.2012.15.3.29 |