[INDOLOGY] OM, Brahmans and early yoga

[Mark McLaughlin]

Dear Finnian,

I am very excited to read your article. I cover some of the same territory
(though likely much more broadly) in an article on *samādhi *burial
practice coming out this month in *Journal of Hindu Studies*. I'm certain
your work in this article will be very helpful as I push forward on the
book project.

All best to you and congrats on the article.

Mark


On Tue, May 4, 2021 at 10:07 AM Finnian Moore-Gerety via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear colleagues—
> I’d like to draw your attention to the new issue of *History of Religions
> *(vol. 60, no. 3 February 2021), which features my article “Between Sound
> and Silence in Early Yoga: Meditation on ‘Om’ at Death.”
> <https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/711944> Pushing back
> against Johannes Bronkhorst’s contention that Brahmans played no role in
> the formation of early yoga, this article examines a mantra-based
> contemplative praxis that was central to Brahmanical constructions of yoga
> from the late Veda up through Patañjali and beyond. I hope my contribution
> will be of interest to list-members—especially in light of the upcoming
> online symposium at the University of Alberta on Bronkhorst’s Greater
> Magadha hypothesis.
>
> Yours,
> Finnian
>
> *Abstract*
> This article examines the history of yoga with attention to mantras and
> sacred sound. It argues that meditation on the syllable “*om*” at the
> moment of death, which is central to the construction of early yoga, has
> roots in a much older technique from Vedic sacrifice called the “yoking” (
> *yukti*). In this rite, the practitioner employs a contemplative praxis
> with *om* in order to ascend to the sun and attain immortality. Sacrifice
> thus furnishes an ancient link in the chain of Indian soteriologies
> associated with *om*, death, and solar ascent—a genealogy that extends
> from the Vedas up through foundational yogic discourses. By examining the
> interplay between sound and silence in contemplative practices around the
> sacred syllable, this article aims to explain how *om* first became
> integral to early yoga, to emphasize the importance of mantra meditation in
> the formation of yogic traditions, and to invite a reappraisal of the role
> of Brahmans in the formation of early yoga.
>
> Finnian M.M. Gerety
> Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
> [Affiliated] Faculty of Contemplative Studies and Center for
> Contemporary South Asia
> Brown University
> www.finniangerety.com <http://finniangerety.com/>
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-- 
Mark McLaughlin, PhD
*Senior Lecturer of South Asian Religions*


*Department of Religious StudiesWilliam & MaryWilliamsburg, VA*
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