Indian civilisation has been strongly characterised by the work of containment erected by the Brahmanical elite over the almost two thousand years of its grandiose attempt at culturally and so- cially dominating the Indian world as a whole. Lacking any direct power, the Brahmans have re- placed it by successfully imposing, as an alternative, an opposition between purity and impurity that has marked every aspect of Indian culture: purity of spirit, purity of philosophy, purity of rites, purity of language, purity of social and religious conduct, etc. Nondualistic Śaiva Tantrism’s re- sponse starts by questioning the legitimacy and very basis of the division between pure and impure, destined to crumble progressively beneath the thrust of deliberate “non-dual” behaviour (advaitācāra). Purity or impurity are not properties of things. They are quali cations pertaining to the knower depending on whether he perceives the object as united with consciousness or not. “Impure is what has fallen away from consciousness: therefore everything is pure if it has achieved identity with consciousness.” Moreover, if Śiva “is” the universe, there may be no impu- rity. In the Tantric texts special emphasis is laid on the necessity to overcome śaṅkā (“hesitation, inhibition”), viewed as the ultimate purpose of the Brahmanical rules concerning purity/impurity, acting as a subtle and effective instrumentum regni.
Purity and impurity in nondualistic Śaiva Tantrism / Torella, Raffaele. - In: ZESZYTY NAUKOWE UNIWERSYTETU JAGIELLONSKIEGO. STUDIA RELIGIOLOGICA. - ISSN 0137-2432. - STAMPA. - 48:2(2015), pp. 101-115. [10.4467/20844077SR.15.008.3554]
Purity and impurity in nondualistic Śaiva Tantrism
Raffaele Torella
2015
Abstract
Indian civilisation has been strongly characterised by the work of containment erected by the Brahmanical elite over the almost two thousand years of its grandiose attempt at culturally and so- cially dominating the Indian world as a whole. Lacking any direct power, the Brahmans have re- placed it by successfully imposing, as an alternative, an opposition between purity and impurity that has marked every aspect of Indian culture: purity of spirit, purity of philosophy, purity of rites, purity of language, purity of social and religious conduct, etc. Nondualistic Śaiva Tantrism’s re- sponse starts by questioning the legitimacy and very basis of the division between pure and impure, destined to crumble progressively beneath the thrust of deliberate “non-dual” behaviour (advaitācāra). Purity or impurity are not properties of things. They are quali cations pertaining to the knower depending on whether he perceives the object as united with consciousness or not. “Impure is what has fallen away from consciousness: therefore everything is pure if it has achieved identity with consciousness.” Moreover, if Śiva “is” the universe, there may be no impu- rity. In the Tantric texts special emphasis is laid on the necessity to overcome śaṅkā (“hesitation, inhibition”), viewed as the ultimate purpose of the Brahmanical rules concerning purity/impurity, acting as a subtle and effective instrumentum regni.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
---|---|---|---|
Torella_Purity_2015.pdf
accesso aperto
Note: Articolo completo in versione editoriale
Tipologia:
Versione editoriale (versione pubblicata con il layout dell'editore)
Licenza:
Tutti i diritti riservati (All rights reserved)
Dimensione
300.08 kB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
300.08 kB | Adobe PDF |
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.