Yoga in Jainism

by Christopher Chapple (Editor)

Overview

Jaina Studies is a relatively new and rapidly expanding field of inquiry for scholars of Indian religion and philosophy. In Jainism, "yoga" carries many meanings, and this book explores the definitions, nuances, and applications of the term in relation to Jainism from early times to the present.

Yoga in Jainism begins by discussing how the use of the term yoga in the earliest Jaina texts described the mechanics of mundane action or karma. From the time of the later Upanisads, the word Yoga became associated in all Indian religions with spiritual practices of ethical restraint, prayer, and meditation. In the medieval period, Jaina authors such as Haribhadra, Subhacandra, and Hemacandra used the term Yoga in reference to Jaina spiritual practice. In the modern period, a Jaina form of Yoga emerged, known as Preksa Dhyana. This practice includes the physical postures and breathing exercises well known through the globalization of Yoga.

By exploring how Yoga is understood and practiced within Jainism, this book makes an important contribution to the fields of Yoga Studies, Religious Studies, Philosophy, and South Asian Studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781317572176
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/14/2015
Series:	Routledge Advances in Jaina Studies
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	798 KB

About the Author

Christopher Key Chapple is the Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology and Director of the Master of Arts in Yoga Studies at Loyola Marymount University, USA.

Table of Contents

Introduction, Christopher Key Chapple 1. The Historical Development of the Jaina Yoga System and the Impacts of Other Yoga Systems on Jaina Yoga: A Comparative and Critical Study, Sagarmal Jain 2. Yoga in the Tattvārthasūtra, Jayandra Soni 3. Kundakunda versus Sāmkhya on the Soul, Johannes Bronkhorst 4. Extrasensory Perception (Yogi-Pratyaksa) in Jainism, Proofs of Its Existence and Its Soteriological Implications, Piotr Balcerowicz 5. Extrasensory Perception (Yogi-Pratyaksa) in Jainism and Its Refutations, Piotr Balcerowicz 6. The Jaina Yogas of Haribhadra Virahānka’s Yogabindu, Christopher Key Chapple 7. Hemacandra on Yoga, Olle Qvarnström 8. Ethics and Mysticism in Jaina Yoga Spirituality, Kamal Chand Sogani 9. Yaśovijaya’s View of Yoga, Jeffrey Long 10. When Will I Meet Such A Guru? Images of the Yogi in Digambar Hymns, John E. Cort 10. Preksā Dhyāna in Jaina Yoga: An Archetypal Ritual for the Proper Ordering of the Soul, Smita Kothari 11. Jain Modern Yoga: The Case of Preksā Dhyāna, Andrea R. Jain 12. Contemporary Expressions of Yoga in Jainism, Christopher Key Chapple

Editorial Reviews

'The strength of the volume thus lies in contributions like Cort's that focus on unstudied texts and practices that shed light on overlooked understandings of yoga and the yogi... For those who wish to examine the history of Jain yogas, Chapple's book is a great start.'

Ellen Gough, Emory University, Marginalia Review of Books

From the Publisher