The West, Indian gurus and the search for Enlightenment

The West, Indian gurus and the search for Enlightenment

For women of a certain class, there was a tremendous romance attached to Indian swamis and gurus. That's perhaps because gurus of that time presented themselves as an antidote to the very stiff, rigid idea of manhood that prevailed in Victorian and Edwardian society. What could be more romantic than this figure talking about liberation and enlightenment experiences? For these people it was as if Jesus was walking on the earth again. That had an attraction to women who were educated but were not able to pursue careers and do the things that women take for granted today. Yoga is probably the longest lasting legacy of what happened in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Minds in the West were considerably broadened by the sense of spiritual enquiry and that was a tremendous benefit to people." - Mick Brown, author, The Nirvana Express talks to Manjula Narayan about Indian gurus and the West's search for enlightenment Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(348)

The Road to Zanskar

The Road to Zanskar

"Even in winter, twice a month, the first postmen in Zanskar in the 1980s climbed rock faces and crossed frozen rivers -- if you fell in, you could die -- in a journey that took three days, to deliver...

26 Mar 57min

Slow and steady wins the race

Slow and steady wins the race

"The fossil fuel age gave us speed. This, on the one hand, allows us to think, 'I'm going faster', but it never defines 'faster to where, and to what?' You become a victim of speed -- always trying to...

20 Mar 54min

The quiet pull of the Pune police procedural

The quiet pull of the Pune police procedural

"The way I look at it, whydunnit is actually more important than whodunnit. There are only so many permutations and combinations you can think of in terms of whodunnit. It's finite whereas whydunnit i...

12 Mar 48min

A return to the land

A return to the land

"We went in with urban confidence and rural reality hit us in the face at every turn! Establishing a farm is probably the most difficult thing I've done. I think everybody should do it."- Arti Dwarkad...

5 Mar 54min

Using stick figures to demolish dubious politics, doublespeak and more

Using stick figures to demolish dubious politics, doublespeak and more

"You may try to believe that you are living in a First World country and that your reality differs from that of a poor person in your vicinity. But, at the end of the day, you will face the same exist...

26 Feb 1h 5min

A fight against forgetting

A fight against forgetting

"Comics and literature allow us to enter worlds through our imagination; it is a medium of not-saying. We read because we want to get into the interior worlds of say, a family living in a room in Algi...

19 Feb 59min

A people willing to sacrifice their lives to save nature

A people willing to sacrifice their lives to save nature

"The Salman Khan story reached the headlines and people thought, well, if the Bishnois can go for him so effectively, it's not safe to poach there. It has actually reduced poaching. So many Bishnoi di...

13 Feb 55min

Jewellery: Of ornamentation and adornment

Jewellery: Of ornamentation and adornment

"I don't think you will find anyone in India who doesn't wear a piece of jewellery [of some sort]. The Amrapali Collection is a pan Indian one. The jewels in this book are worn by pastoralists, the ag...

5 Feb 52min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden-usa
aftenpodden
konspirasjonspodden
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
popradet
wolfgang-wee-uncut
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
min-barneoppdragelse
rss-espen-lee-usensurert
grenselos
synnve-og-vanessa
fladseth
rss-lilli-isabelle
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
rss-optimisten-pessimisten-realisten
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-herrepanelet
opptur-med-annette-og-ingeborg