Date of Award
5-3-2007
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Religious Studies
First Advisor
Kathryn McClymond - Chair
Second Advisor
Cristopher White
Third Advisor
Timothy Renick
Abstract
In contemporary society, distinct traditions are bleeding into one another, blurring traditional lines of inquiry and historically significant boundaries. This phenomenon frames this project and creates the context for the Yoga-Christian praxis dialogue this study constructively critiques. Unfortunately, this dialogue exhibits an Eliadean concern for essentialism and universality. I challenge this trend by juxtaposing two distinct texts, Patañjali‘s Yoga-Sūtra and Gregory of Nyssa’s Life of Moses. These texts point to the similar idea that without striving and personal transformation neither the yogic practitioner nor practicing Christian logically subsists. More importantly, however, from this point of correspondence I constructively critique the Yoga-Christian praxis dialogue by concretely engaging these texts and paying particular attention to the differences inherent in them. My comparison, then, suggests how attention to particularity points to a more authentic dialogue: what I wish to call a dialogue of distinction without separation.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/1062069
Recommended Citation
Hodgman, Scott William, "Distinction without Separation: Challenging Contemporary Yoga-Christian Praxis Dialogue Through a Comparison of Striving and Personal Transformation in the Yoga-S?tra and the Life of Moses." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2007.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/1062069