20th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions

Beskrivning

“Killing the lower self”: Ascetic ideals and practices in the Swedish reception of Theosophical raja yoga pedagogy

During the first years of the 20th century adherents of the Theosophical Society (Point Loma) developed a system of pedagogy which they called raja yoga. Only tangentially connected to historical yoga-traditions, raja yoga was presented as a way of teaching that would reform contemporary forms of education and serve as an antidote to the social ills of the period. Raja yoga-education combined traditional subjects like math and history with a heavy focus on arts, crafts and exercise. Raja yoga also emphasized ascetic practices presented as a strategy for controlling or destroying the lower self, which was understand as the source of each individuals’ selfish desires and bodily passions. The paper focuses on the Swedish reception of raja yoga and how the ascetic aspects of the system was conceived and sometimes practiced by members of the Theosophical Society in early 20th century Sweden.

Johan Nilsson is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies at Lund University. He is currently working on a research project about the reception of Buddhism in the Swedish Theosophical movement.

Period	2023
Typ av evenemang	Konferens
Plats	Vilnius, LitauenVisa på karta
Omfattning	Internationell