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This invaluable anthology examines histories of esotericism, mysticism and occultism in modern Asia, understood here as the period roughly stretching from the late-nineteenth through the twentieth century, and paving eventually the way for the so-called ‘New Age’. The idea of ‘histories’, in plural, has to do with the complexities of their lineages, the many pathways through which their affinities, encounters and entanglements flowed and/or developed during the period under review. The contributors hail from different disciplines – history, literature and religious studies, for instance and, in what accounts for a cutting edge of the book, provide truly multidisciplinary insights on the subject in one single volume. Their select case studies illuminate key aspects of contemporaneous socio-religious processes. They explicate how aspects of mysticism, esotericism and occultism were closely tied to wider socio-political and intellectual processes of the period that were at once transregional, even global, and frequently transcultural and/or cosmopolitan in character. Postgraduate students, research scholars and academics in general working in the fields of religious studies and/or Asian religions in modern times will find this collection to be of great interest.
‘This volume offers a valuable and innovative scholarly perspective on Asian esotericism, mysticism, and spiritual imaginaries within a global religious history. Critically engaging Eurocentric epistemolo-gies and moving beyond diffusionist frameworks, the essays meticulously reconstruct individual histor-ical cases, demonstrating the multi-directional nature of esoteric traditions and their complex entan-glements on a global scale.’ — Michael Bergunder, University of Heidelberg
‘This is an exceptionally insightful collection of essays on the history of modern spirituality in South Asia and beyond. The essays offer excellent analyses of specific cases but do not lose sight of the broader global context. Highly recommended for readers interested in Asian religions and politics.’ — Peter van der Veer, Max Planck Society, Göttingen, author of The Modern Spirit of Asia: The Spiritual and the Secular in China and India
Soumen Mukherjee (Dr. phil. 2010, University of Heidelberg) teaches History at Presidency University, Kolkata. His publications are in the fields of religious and intellectual history of modern South Asia, and include two monographs – Religion, Mysticism, and Transcultural Entanglements in Modern South Asia: Towards a Global Religious History (2024) and Ismailism and Islam in Modern South Asia: Community and Identity in the Age of Religious Internationals (2017) – two edited collections, and several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.
• Toshio Akai is Professor of Humanities at Kobe Gakuin University with expertise in and publications on Theosophist activities in Ireland and India, and Irish impact on the interwar years Japanese culture. He is the co-author of The Cosmic Movement: Sources, Contexts, Impact (2020) and other books.
Esotericism, Mysticism, and Spiritual Imaginaries in Modern Asia: An Introduction- Soumen Mukherjee (Presidency University, Kolkata) and Toshio Akai (Kobe Gakuin University, Kobe); PART I. MYSTICISM, POLITICS, AND THE QUESTION OF IDENTITY: THE SEARCH FOR ROOTS, Chapter 1. Sufism and Gandhi: A Historical Perspective- Amit Dey (University of Calcutta); Chapter 2. The Four Prisons of Man: ‘Ali Shari‘ati and the Sufi Undercurrents of a Hosseini Shi‘i- Kingshuk Chatterjee (University of Calcutta); Chapter 3. Understanding Satpanth Ismāʿīlī Identity: Transhistorical Perspectives- Hussain Jasani (Institute of Ismaili Studies, London); PART II. MODERN ESOTERICISM, THEOSOPHY, AND FLOWS ACROSS CULTURES AND RELIGIONS, Chapter 4. James Henry Cousins: Theosophy, Aesthetics, and Literary Internationalism- Sirshendu Majumdar (Bolpur College, Bolpur); Chapter 5. Mystics, Theosophists, and Vijñāna as Scientia Sacra: Gopinath Kaviraj, His Yogīs, and Their Indo-Tibetan Peregrinations- Soumen Mukherjee (Presidency University, Kolkata); Chapter 6. Jesus in India?: Interreligious Reflections on a Fascinating Claim- Jeffery D. Long (Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania); Chapter 7. Discerning the Heart of the Matter: The Christian Visions of Bede Griffiths, Henri Le Saux, and Sara Grant-Ankur Barua (University of Cambridge) and Daniel Soars (Eton College); Notes on Contributors and Editors; Index