Religious Authority In South Asia Generating The Guru | Asian Studies

This book focuses on genealogies of religious authority in South Asia examining the figure of the guru in narrative texts polemical tracts hagiographies histories in contemporary devotional communities New Age spiritual movements and global guru organizations. Experts in the field present reflections on historically specific contexts in which a guru comes into being becomes part of a community is venerated challenged or repudiated generates a new canon remains unique with no clear succession or establishes a succession in which charisma is routinized. The guru emerges and is sustained and routinized from the nexus of guruship narratives performances and community. The contributors to the book examine this nexus at specific historical moments with all their elements of change and contingency. The book will be of interest to scholars in the field of South Asian studies the study of religions and cultural studies. |Religious Authority in South Asia Generating the Guru | Asian Studies