The Concept of the Body in Chinese and Indian Bodily Practices: Transformation, Perspective, and Ethics
Date
2015-10-07
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Abstract
Paljudes religioonitraditsioonides on välja kujunenud kehalised praktikad ehk rituaalsed tegevused, mis kasutavad keha ja mille eesmärk on samuti seotud kehaga. Eriti selgelt on need välja arenenud Lõuna- ja Ida-Aasia traditsioonides, kus nad on hatha jooga või taoistliku meditatsiooni juures saavutanud suure keerukuse. See näitab, et inimkehal on religioonis mängida oluline roll, millest tihti mööda vaadatakse.
Inimkehale omistatakse religioonis mitmeid omadusi, mis võivad olla nii positiivsed kui negatiivsed ning rituaalis luuakse raamistik, mis võimaldab muuta negatiivseid omadusi positiivseteks – näiteks muudetakse rüve keha või seisukord puhastusrituaalis puhtaks. Kehaliste praktikate raames ei soovita aga muudeta mitte ainult üksikuid omadusi, vaid kogu keha. Selline keha transformatsioon, millega ületatakse tavakeha piirangud võib olla iseseisev religioosne eesmärk.
Kehaliste enesetransformatsiooni praktikate aluseks on arusaam inimkehast kui millestki ebastabiilsest ja muutlikust. Eelmodernses religioosses mõtlemises on keha enamat kui bioloogiline entiteet. See on inimese ja ühiskonna ning maailma ühenduspunkt, mis on pidevas taasloomise protsessis. Seetõttu on inimese identiteet tugevalt seotud tema kehaga, mis on omakorda seotud sellega, kuidas inimene igapäevaselt käitub ja kellega ta seotud on.
In many religious traditions bodily practices, that is ritual actions that make use of the body and have a body-related goal, have evolved. Such practices are especially well developed in South- and East Asian traditions, where they have reached a great complexity in Hatha Yoga or in Daoist meditation. This shows that the human body has a major role to play in religions, which is something that is too often overlooked. Several qualities are attributed to the human body in religious thought systems that may be both positive and negative and in the ritual a framework is created that enables to transform the negative qualities into positive ones – for example, in a purification ritual the unpure body or condition is converted into a pure one. Not only singular qualities may be changed in the bodily practices but the whole body. Such a transformation of the body that aims to transcend the limits of the ordinary human body, can be a religious goal in its own right. The bodily practices of self transformation are based on the idea of the body as something unstable and changeable. In the premodern religious thought the body is more than a biological entity. It is a midpoint between a person and the society and the world that finds itself in a constant process of re-construction. It follows that the identity of a person is strongly tied to the body which is in turn related to how a person acts on a daily basis and to whom one is connected to.
In many religious traditions bodily practices, that is ritual actions that make use of the body and have a body-related goal, have evolved. Such practices are especially well developed in South- and East Asian traditions, where they have reached a great complexity in Hatha Yoga or in Daoist meditation. This shows that the human body has a major role to play in religions, which is something that is too often overlooked. Several qualities are attributed to the human body in religious thought systems that may be both positive and negative and in the ritual a framework is created that enables to transform the negative qualities into positive ones – for example, in a purification ritual the unpure body or condition is converted into a pure one. Not only singular qualities may be changed in the bodily practices but the whole body. Such a transformation of the body that aims to transcend the limits of the ordinary human body, can be a religious goal in its own right. The bodily practices of self transformation are based on the idea of the body as something unstable and changeable. In the premodern religious thought the body is more than a biological entity. It is a midpoint between a person and the society and the world that finds itself in a constant process of re-construction. It follows that the identity of a person is strongly tied to the body which is in turn related to how a person acts on a daily basis and to whom one is connected to.
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Keywords
inimene, keha, transformatsioon, jooga, tantrism, India, taoism, meditatsioon, Hiina, rituaalid, religioossed aspektid, religiooniuuringud, juhtumiuuringud, human being, body, transformation, Yoga, Tantricism, India, Taoism, meditation, China, rituals, religious aspects, religious studies, case analysis