The Fulcrum of Experience in Indian Yoga and Possession Trance

The &#8220;inner organ&#8221; (<i>antaḥkaraṇa</i>) in the Indian philosophical school called Sāṃkhya is applied in two different experiential contexts: in the act of transcendence according to the path of yoga explored in the Yogasūtras of Pata&#241;jali (ca. 350 CE) and in t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Frederick M. Smith
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-05-01
Series:Religions
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/5/332
Description
Summary:The &#8220;inner organ&#8221; (<i>antaḥkaraṇa</i>) in the Indian philosophical school called Sāṃkhya is applied in two different experiential contexts: in the act of transcendence according to the path of yoga explored in the Yogasūtras of Pata&#241;jali (ca. 350 CE) and in the process of identity shift that occurs in possession by a deity in a broader range of Indian cultural practices. The act of transcendence will be better understood if we look at the <i>antaḥkaraṇa</i> through an emic lens, which is to say as an actual organ that is activated by experiential shifts, rather than as a concept or explanation that is indicative of a collocation of characteristics of the individuating consciousness or merely by reducing it to nonepistemic objective or subjective factors.
ISSN:2077-1444