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DC Field | Value | Language |
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dc.contributor.advisor | Younger, Paul | en_US |
dc.contributor.author | French, Harold W. | en_US |
dc.date.accessioned | 2014-06-18T17:01:47Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2014-06-18T17:01:47Z | - |
dc.date.created | 2013-06-04 | en_US |
dc.date.issued | 1972-05 | en_US |
dc.identifier.other | opendissertations/7826 | en_US |
dc.identifier.other | 8919 | en_US |
dc.identifier.other | 4197647 | en_US |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11375/12988 | - |
dc.description.abstract | <p>In defining the Ramakrishna Movement as a "satellite", the writer's purpose throughout is twofold: 1) to investigate those themes from the Indian religious tradition from which the Movement drew its inspiration and authentication, and 2) to study the Western influences which both gave to the Movement its larger mission, beyond the subcontinent, and provided models for social service and organization within it. Its" satellite" character is evidenced in its having emerged, then, from the soil of India with a message for other climes. It has also received from this trans-cultural encounter, however. The message which it proclaims and which it relays back to India is significantly altered by this factor of exchange.</p> <p>The validity of the tradition itself was affirmed through the paradigmatic pilgrimage of Ramakrishna himself. The normative interpretation given him was that he had personally established the spiritual truth of the rich and varied paths offered by the tradition. This he did in virtual isolation from direct Western influence. His chief disciple, Vivekananda, brought his master's model into confrontation with the West in vivid and colourful fashion . He convincingly demon - strated to many that Vedanta, or Hinduism universalized, was not only a viable religion among others, but that it constituted the essential basis of all religion. Attention is given to the manner in which the heroic audacity of this claim gave strength to nationalist aspirations in India, in addition to its more specifically religious appeal.</p> <p>Methodologically, the thesis in the first part deals historically with the background of the British presence and the Indian response, and then, successively, with the examples of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. Particular attention, with the latter, is devoted to formative and reactive elements in India and the West which, beyond Vivekananda's own forceful personality, helped to shape the Movement's directions. The personalities of Vivekananda's Western disciples and those of his successors in the West from India, also receive attention. These emerge with more clarity through the inclusion of previously unpublished materials, chiefly letters, to which the writer had access through the courtesy of the Vedanta Society of Southern California.</p> <p>In addition to the historical material, Part II of the thesis attempts an analysis of the Movement, in its relation to the Indian religious tradition, its emphasis on social service and nationalism, and its intellectual contribution, primarily with reference to universalist themes. With respect to the tradition, the judgment is made that the Movement's primary models were, 1) heroism and strength from the Vedic period, 2) a stress on renunciation and intellectual zeal from Shaivism and Buddhism, 3) and social service and a missionary component, also from Buddhism. While the implications of these models were largely drawn for the purpose of establishing the vocation of the monastic community, the heroism, in particular, made a visible contribution to rising nationalist expressions among the larger populace. Social service, an important part of the Movement's work in India, was wholly absent in the Western centers, for reasons which are explored. Neither in the West or in India, interestingly, was social reform a significant objective; reform was conceived in more narrowly religious terms.</p> <p>The Western presence may be understood as the catalyst for the vigorous stress on social service and universalism adopted by the Movement. In conscious reaction to Protestant efforts in education and social service, the Movement sought to establish that the Indian tradition, properly understood, also sanctioned such efforts. While Western organizational models were often utilized for these purposes, Vedanta's understanding of its universalist message was in partial contrast to that of Christian missionaries. It was asserted that it was less dogmatic and thus more tolerant, and capable, also, of reconciliation with modern scientific philosophy. The thesis concludes with an examination of alternative ways in which the Movement has voiced its universalist claim.</p> | en_US |
dc.subject | Religion | en_US |
dc.subject | Religion | en_US |
dc.title | The Ramakrishna Movement and the vJest | en_US |
dc.type | thesis | en_US |
dc.contributor.department | Religion | en_US |
dc.description.degree | Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) | en_US |
Appears in Collections: | Open Access Dissertations and Theses |
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fulltext.pdf | 133.74 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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