> Ironically, though tapas is heat, it seems to come down to keeping one’s > cool.
Well stated! Sūktam! > On Aug 29, 2024, at 5:14 AM, Matthew Kapstein <[email protected]> wrote: > > Dear Howard, > > Yes, that’s an example. But so is the Buddha’s confrontation with Māra. The > issue is really over the place in Indian sources. > > Ironically, though tapas is heat, it seems to come down to keeping one’s > cool. > > Matthew > > Sent from Proton Mail <https://proton.me/mail/home> for iOS > > > On Thu, Aug 29, 2024 at 02:19, Howard Resnick <[email protected] <mailto:On Thu, > Aug 29, 2024 at 02:19, Howard Resnick <<a href=>> wrote: >> >> Thank you Matthew. If I understand correctly your reference to autonomy and >> heteronomy, then among many applications it reminds me of the common >> scenario where Indra feels threatened by an aspiring yogī or tapasvī, and >> sends an apsara to break the yogī’s tapas and thus neutralize his power. >> Thus the yogī loses his autonomy and with it his power. In that sense >> extreme tapas might be seen as liberating the soul from dependence on the >> body, with extreme detachment producing extreme power. >> >> Just an idea… >> >> Thanks again, >> Howard >> >>> On Aug 28, 2024, at 1:20 AM, Matthew Kapstein <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>> Hi Howard, >>> >>> For some reason, I think that Heinrich Zimmer, >>> may have written about this, but I’m away from my library and can’t recall >>> exactly where. Maybe Philosophies of India. He was a Schopenhauerian, which >>> would make good sense here, as the problem of the autonomy or heteronomy of >>> the will seems clearly central to the topic that interests you. >>> >>> good luck >>> Matthew >>> >>> Sent from Proton Mail <https://proton.me/mail/home> for iOS >>> >>> >>> On Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 05:29, Howard Resnick via INDOLOGY >>> <[email protected] <mailto:On Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 05:29, Howard >>> Resnick via INDOLOGY <<a href=>> wrote: >>>> >>>> Dear Scholars, >>>> >>>> Within various genres of Sanskrit literature, perhaps especially >>>> itihāsa-purāṇa, we find a pervasive belief that tapasya — serious >>>> austerity -- bestows power on the performer, either directly or through >>>> the agency of a Deva, Ṛṣi, or other superior being. The examples are >>>> almost innumerable. >>>> >>>> I’m trying to explore this claim about the power of tapasya. On the >>>> empirical side, one can speak of the power of mental discipline and >>>> detachment from the body, etc. But of course empirically, there is nothing >>>> like the supernatural results obtained by serious ascetics in the ancient >>>> literature. >>>> >>>> One common apologetic is to attribute or assign such powers to the >>>> previous three yugas, with the claim that those powers fail in Kali-yuga. >>>> >>>> I bring this up because I am working on a reconstruction of the famous >>>> Mahābhārata story of Ambā who performed unimaginable tapasya, and then, as >>>> a result, took birth as Śikhaṇḍī and enabled the killing of Bhīṣma at >>>> Kurukṣetra. >>>> >>>> The facile explanation of course is to invoke the notion of pre-scientific >>>> mythology. I am trying to take a more cautious approach. Of course tapasya >>>> as a source of power intersects the notion of attaining yoga-siddhis, a >>>> process in which tapasya is also heavily involved. >>>> >>>> I bring this up in a heuristic, exploratory way and would be grateful for >>>> any observations, insights, or theories about this, especially the link >>>> between severe self-abnegation and power. >>>> >>>> Thanks in advance! >>>> >>>> Howard >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> INDOLOGY mailing list >>>> [email protected] >>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >>
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