In this episode we speak with Lucy May Constantini about her fascinating research and practical experience studying the south-Indian martial art tradition of kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘. We discuss Lucy's background of training in Kerala, the history of kaḷari, the role of the gurukkaḷ ("lineage-holder"), the tradition's Śākta Tantra context in Kerala, medieval ankam battles, the gendered dynamics of male and female practitioners, training with weapons, parallels with yogāsana and the renaissance of modern postural yoga, and much more. We conclude by previewing Lucy's upcoming online course, YS 128 | Kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘: Embodying the Cosmic Wind.

Speaker Bio

Lucy May Constantini is a dance-artist turned scholar who first encountered the South Indian martial art kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘ in 2002 during a residential dance workshop in South India. She went on to train extensively in kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘ at CVN Kalari Sangham in Thiruvananthapuram. In 2012 she was initiated into and apprenticed in kaḷaricikilsa, kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘’s therapeutic system. She was awarded with distinction a masters in South Asia Area Studies from SOAS, University of London in 2018, and recently submitted her PhD thesis in the School of Religious Studies at the Open University in the UK. This was funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership and supported by the École française d'Extrême-Orient in Pondicherry. Lucy’s research was co-created with the lineage-holder of CVN Kalari Sangham and explores the relationship between practice and textual traditions in kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘. Her interdisciplinary research encompasses ethnography, drawing on the relationship since 2002 with CVN Kalari in Thiruvananthapuram, and the study of manuscripts in Malayalam. Her research methodology draws on her background in dance and somatic practices, where her work investigates the confluence of her praxes of postmodern dance, martial arts and yoga.

Links

• https://www.yogicstudies.com/ys-128
• https://open.academia.edu/LucyMayConstantini
• "Firm Feet and Inner Wind: Introducing Posture in the South Indian Martial Art, Kaḷarippayaṟṟ˘" (2023, Journal of Yoga Studies)

In this episode we welcome back Kate Hartmann, former director of Buddhist Studies Online, to discuss all things pilgrimage and Buddhism. We discuss how Kate first got into pilgrimage studies as a grad student at Harvard, whether pilgrimage is a universal concept across cultures, and question what separates a pilgrim from a tourist? We then turn to the early history of the Buddhist pilgrimage tradition in India, going back to accounts of the words of the Buddha himself to Ānanda and his other close disciples. We discuss some of the major Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India and other parts of Asia, what a Buddhist pilgrim sees and experiences, and question the age-old adage of whether a Buddhist pilgrimage is more about the journey or the destination. Leaning into Kate's own research, we look at the Tibetan pilgrimage tradition, and discuss various types of Tibetan literature on pilgrimage--from guides and handbooks to the diaries of pilgrims. We conclude by previewing Kate's upcoming online course, BS 110 | Buddhism and Pilgrimage.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Kate Hartmann is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Wyoming. Hartmann’s primary research focus is on the intellectual history of pilgrimage in Tibet, but she also researches Buddhist ethics, as well as Buddhist approaches to addiction and recovery. Her book Making the Invisible Real: Practices of Seeing in Tibetan Pilgrimage Literature is forthcoming from Oxford University Press.

She received her PhD in Buddhist Studies from Harvard University in 2020, an MA in the History of Religions from the University of Chicago in 2013, and a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia in 2011.

As part of her training, Hartmann has spent extended periods of time living in Asia. She has spent summers backpacking across India, living with Tibetan Buddhist nuns in Ladakh, in Dharamsala working in the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, studying at the Dunhuang caves in China, traveling to Lhasa, and conducting research around Boudha in Nepal. She speaks modern colloquial Tibetan and conducts research in Classical Tibetan and Sanskrit.

As a scholar and teacher, Hartmann has long been interested in the practices religions develop to transform people's experience of the world. She aims to help students understand Buddhist traditions through deep engagement with primary sources, a process that helps illuminate central Buddhist concepts while embracing the internal diversity of Buddhist traditions. She balances an irreverent and down-to-earth style with deep respect for Buddhist texts, traditions, and practitioners. She teaches both online and in-person courses on the history and philosophy of Buddhism and other Asian religions, and has presented at lectures and conferences around the country.

Links

• BS 110 | Buddhism and Pilgrimage
• https://www.drkatehartmann.com

In this episode we speak with Christopher Miller about his recent monograph, Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in Transformation (Routledge 2023) and his upcoming online course at Yogic Studies. We begin by discussing his academic background and how he first got into critical Yoga and later Jain Studies, his experiences as a practitioner of yoga in Santa Monica, California, and how he developed his dissertation project that would eventually become the book. We discuss the importance of shifting Modern Yoga Studies beyond the study of postural yoga, exploring his three book chapters which analyze the practices of eating (yogic diet), singing (kīrtan), and breathing (prāṇāyāma). We discuss the origins and history of the harmonium, how yoga intersects with food and pollution studies, and question what it means to practice prāṇāyāma in a heavily polluted Indian city. We conclude the conversation by previewing Miller's upcoming online course, YS 127 | Embodying Transnational Yoga.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Christopher Jain Miller is the co-founder, Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Professor of Jain and Yoga Studies at Arihanta Institute. Miller completed his PhD in the study of Religion at the University of California, Davis. He is a Visiting Researcher at the University of Zürich’s Asien-Orient-Institut and Visiting Professor at Claremont School of Theology where he co-developed and co-runs a remotely available Masters Degree Program focusing on Engaged Jain Studies. His current research focuses on Modern Yoga and Engaged Jainism. Christopher is the author of a number of articles and book chapters concerned with Jainism and the practice of modern yoga. He is the author of Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in Transformation (Routledge 2023) as well as co-editor of the volumes Engaged Jainism: Critical and Constructive Approaches to the Study of Jain Social Engagement (SUNY Forthcoming) and Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age (Lexington 2020).

Links

• YS 127 | Embodying Transnational Yoga
• Arihanta Institute
• https://uzh.academia.edu/ChristopherMiller
• Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in Transformation (Routledge, 2023) -- use code ESA32 before Dec 31, 2023 to receive a 20% discount.