Type of Document Master's Thesis Author Hodgman, Scott William Author's Email Address swhodgman@gmail.com URN etd-04212007-213702 Title DISTINCTION WITHOUT SEPARATION: CHALLENGING CONTEMPORARY YOGA-CHRISTIAN PRAXIS DIALOGUE THROUGH A COMPARISON OF STRIVING AND PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION IN THE YOGA-SŪTRA AND THE LIFE OF MOSES Degree Master of Arts Department Religious Studies Advisory Committee
Advisor Name Title Kathryn McClymond Committee Chair Cristopher White Committee Member Timothy Renick Committee Member Keywords
- Yoga
- Christian spirituality
- Patañjali
- Gregory of Nyssa
- Yoga-Sūtra
- Life of Moses
- personal transformation
- praxis
- comparative study
- Hindu-Christian dialogue
- Early Church Fathers
- patristic
Date of Defense 2007-03-16 Availability unrestricted Abstract In contemporary society, distinct traditions are bleeding into one another, blurring traditional lines of inquiry and historically significant boundaries. This phenomenon frames this project and creates the context for the Yoga-Christian praxis dialogue this study constructively critiques. Unfortunately, this dialogue exhibits an Eliadean concern for essentialism and universality. I challenge this trend by juxtaposing two distinct texts, Patañjali‘s Yoga-Sūtra and Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Moses. These texts point to the similar idea that without striving and personal transformation neither the yogic practitioner nor practicing Christian logically subsists. More importantly, however, from this point of correspondence I constructively critique the Yoga-Christian praxis dialogue by concretely engaging these texts and paying particular attention to the differences inherent in them. My comparison, then, suggests how attention to particularity points to a more authentic dialogue: what I wish to call a dialogue of distinction without separation.Files
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