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The Goddess and Her
Worship in Hindu & Buddhist Traditions Fall 2000 E.H. Rick Jarow |
The Seminar
This seminar investigates the "Divine Feminine" in her many manifestations through diverse traditions of the Indian sub-continent and beyond. The brahminical tradition associates the Goddess (Devã) with ÷akti (creative power), prakçti (nature), and màyà (the captivating "magic" of the phenomenal world). Popular traditions of Goddess worship, on the other hand, have often challenged the assumptions of normative ideologies, and they are receiving increasing (and long overdue) attention from contemporary scholars..This seminar examines both polarities: the brahminical-textual and popular-local traditions of the Goddess along with attendant issues of power, gender, sexuality, and psycho-social dispositions that constellate around the Goddess and her worship. Goddess traditions in Tantric Buddhism and Chinese popular culture will also be explored.
Throughout the seminar, comparative (and other) methodologies will be employed (phenomenological, psychoanalytic, historical) as well as experiential components such as movement, dance, films, and field-work to see how Hindu and Buddhist Goddess traditions can help us understand "Goddess Religion" in general. The sub-continent possesses some of the longest known living traditions of goddess worship, and exploring them may greatly contribute to our understanding of feminine divinity in the world.