Hindu Scholars Series

Over five lectures, Gavin Flood, professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion in the Theology and Religion Faculty at Campion Hall at Oxford University, gives an overview of the history, theory and practice of Tantra. He explores aspects from the Śaiva Siddhānta tradition to the Non-Saiddhāntika, to Buddhist tantra. He gives an overview of the many developments in thought, cosmologies and the varied and fascinating practices that have emerged over the centuries. • Session 1 – Tantra in history, an overview • Session 2 – The Śaiva Siddhānta Tradition, rituals, cosmology, initiation and liberation • Session 3 – The Non-Saiddhāntika traditions including the path of purity and the path of power • Session 4 – Tantric Śaiva views of the self, the porous self & the gnostic self, Tantric meditation • Session 5 – Buddhist Tantra – Vajrayāna and the influence of Śaivism Gavin Flood is a Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion in the Theology and Religion Faculty and academic director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. Gavin read Religious Studies and Social Anthropology at Lancaster University and taught at the universities of Wales (Lampeter) and Stirling before coming to Oxford. He was elected to membership of the British Academy in 2014. His research interests are in medieval Hindu texts (especially from the traditions of Shiva), comparative religion, and phenomenology. Two recent books are The Importance of Religion: Meaning and Action in Our Strange World (Oxford: Blackwell, 2013) and The Truth Within: A History of Inwardness in Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism(Oxford University Press, 2014).

In this 5 part lecture series Gwilym Beckerlegge discusses the life and legacy of Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), the Hindu teacher who was arguably the first 'global guru'. Vivekananda has been influential in shaping, among other things,  Hindu notions of social activism, and what has come to be known as Modern Yoga, which is now practised beyond India. Gwilym covers the influence of Vivekananda's own guru, the widely revered Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda's  fascinating journey from India to the United States and Europe at the turn of the 20th century, and the institutions Vivekananda started in Ramakrishna's name.   Vivekananda  has been a highly influential but contentious figure in the history of recent Hindu tradition.  These lectures will explore aspects of Vivekananda's legacy with particular reference to the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, the movement Vivekananda founded in his guru's name, and the Vivekananda Kendra, also inspired by Vivekananda, which came into existence in 1972.  The Kendra, however, promotes in Vivekananda's name an ideology strongly influenced by Hindu nationalism. Through an examination of these two movements, the lecture will illustrate the diffuse and durable nature of Vivekananda's influence, and in the process explain why Vivekananda has been judged by some to have been a contradictory and controversial figure.   Session 1 – Introducing Vivekananda and his guru Ramakrishna Session 2 – Vivekananda in the USA and London Session 3 – Establishing the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in India: Vivekananda and the spiritual discipline of service Session 4 – Continuity, discontinuity, and innovation in Vivekananda's ideas Session 5 – Vivekananda and his Hindu nationalist admirers

In this 5 lecture series Graham Burns gives a broad overview of the Upanishads, explaining the history and culture in which they arose. He takes you through several themes that are explored in some of the more prominent Upanishads. He illuminates important concepts that begin to form the foundation of much of Indian thought. Graham presents this lecture series in a clear, intelligent way that is sure to make the wisdom of the Upanishads accessible for anyone interested in learning more about the foundations of Indian philosophy.   Session 1: Introduction to the Upanishads & their historical background Session 2: Key ideas found throughout the Upanishads Session 3: Exploring the narratives found throughout the texts Session 4: Stories of Atman or the Self Session 5: Philosophical interpretations   Graham Burns is a former City lawyer turned yoga teacher and academic. He has a MA in Religions from SOAS, University of London, where he focussed on ancient Indian religion and philosophy and the historical roots of the yoga traditions. He is a faculty member for the Yogacampus Yoga Teacher Training Diploma programmes, as well as a Senior Teaching Fellow at SOAS (The School of Oriental and African Studies of London University) where he teaches Hinduism and philosophy and is a member of the Centre of Yoga Studies. As well as a law degree from Durham University many years ago, Graham has more recently completed a PhD in ancient Indian religious philosophy at SOAS. As well as regular yoga classes and trainings in London and internationally, Graham teaches yoga history, philosophy and Sanskrit on the Yogacampus Yoga Teacher Training Diploma course.

Over three sessions Suzanne explores how yoga came to Britain, covering the individuals and movements that influenced the exchange between the yoga from India, and the cast of characters in Britain that eagerly received these exotic ideas and practices that have become part of mainstream, modern life.   Session 1: Suzanne introduces British travelogues from India in the seventeenth century, the influences of colonial India and the Theosophical Society, Watkins Bookshop, Jiddu Krishnamurti, the physical culture movement, the presentations of yogic powers and how medical science searched for answers before penicillin, the first appearance of yoga on British television in the 1940's and Paul Brunton. Session 2: We hear about the importance of B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga, Gerald Yorke and the Inner London Education Authority, Swami Sivananda, the first yoga studios in Britain, Pattabhi Jois and Derek Ireland. Session 3: Suzanne emphasises the importance of The Beatles, The Asian Music Circle, the hippie trail, the arrival of Indian gurus, Gandalf's Garden, drug culture and the expansion of consciousness, Centre House, Yogini Sunita, Wilfred Clark and the Wheel of British Yoga and the tensions between tradition and authenticity.   Suzanne Newcombe is a Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at the Open University (UK) where she researches modern yoga from a sociological and social historical perspective. Raised in Kansas, Suzanne became fascinated by religion which became a formal focus of study as an undergraduate at Amherst College in Massachusetts. Exploring living religion further, she completed an MSc in Religion in Contemporary Society in the Sociology Department of the London School of Economics. Her PhD study was in the Faculty of History at the University of Cambridge where she researched the popularisation of yoga and ayurvedic medicine in Britain. Suzanne has broad and active research interests in the sociology and social history of religion and extensive specialist knowledge in new and minority religious movements in modern and contemporary Britain and the modern history of yoga. Her monograph on Yoga in Britain was published by Equinox in 2019, she also recently edited with Karen O'Brien-Kop the Routledge Handbook of Yoga and Meditation (2021). Suzanne is the Honorary Director of Inform based at Theology and Religious Studies at King's College London, an independent charitable organisation which provides information about minority religions and sects which is as accurate, up-to-date and as evidence-based as possible. She is founding editor of the Journal of Yoga Studies (2017-present) and the Modern Yoga Research website (2009-present). Between 2015-2020 she was part of a 5-year project funded by the European Research Council (Horizon 2020) entitled 'Medicine, Immortality and Moksha: Entangled Histories of Yoga, Ayurveda and Alchemy in South Asia'.