Public talk for The Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the Univers... more Public talk for The Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam (July 8, 2021)
The Sethian Liberation Movement (SLM) is a New Religious Movement combining Kemetic, Gnostic, and Tantric-inspired practices under the rubric of an antinomian ‘Left Hand Path.’ Zeena Schreck (née LaVey) is the SLM’s High Priestess— a title she previously held in the Temple of Set and the Church of Satan. Simultaneously, she and her long-term collaborator/ex-husband Nikolas also present themselves as teachers of Tibetan Buddhism. Drawing on their publications and interviews, this talk explores the mediating role ideas from the Traditionalist School played in the Schrecks’ reorientation towards Buddhism and interrogates the utility of the concept of ‘conversion’ for understanding this phenomenon, as well as the implications for ‘Western Buddhism’ and ‘Western Esotericism’ as categories of analysis.
Public talk for International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University (February 24, 2021)
... more Public talk for International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University (February 24, 2021)
Why would an Indian Buddhist goddess require Hindu devotees to worship her in the ‘Chinese Way?’ What did China represent in this discourse and how has that changed over time? This talk uses Sanskrit tantras, Bengali pilgrimage texts, and ethnographic fieldwork to explore these and related questions.
The incorporation of the goddess Tārā into the Hindu pantheon appears to have begun around the tu... more The incorporation of the goddess Tārā into the Hindu pantheon appears to have begun around the turn of the first millennium, a couple of centuries after her first mentions in Buddhist sources. The earliest Hindu texts concerned with Tārā tend to acknowledge this through a narrative wherein the Vedic sage Vasiṣṭha must travel to 'Greater China' to learn from the Buddha how to propitiate the goddess properly through the violation of brāhmaṇical purity codes for which Indian tantric traditions are infamous. Over time her 'foreign' associations faded, narratives linking Tārā to sites in Assam and Bengal became more prominent, and her worship drew closer to regional Hindu orthopraxy. This essay tracks the latter stages of that process especially through a reading of early modern ritual manuals in Sanskrit before considering a more recent revival of interest in the Hindu Tārā's Buddhist connections as shown in Bengali sources and fieldwork.
A consideration of how Kālī Pūjā enters festival contexts in early modern Bengal can suggest ... more A consideration of how Kālī Pūjā enters festival contexts in early modern Bengal can suggest new ways of thinking about blood sacrifice in Hinduism. In this case, it appears we may have underappreciated the impact of sectarian conflict. Through an exploration of the traditional origens of public Kālī Pūjā, I argue that its promotion with the attendant sacrifice by brāhmaṇa aristocrats such as Rāja Kṛṣṇacandra Rāya of Nadiyā (1710-1782) can be read as a claim on public space for the tantric yet socially and theologically conservative smārta Hinduism favored by the upper castes over and against the comparatively egalitarian, sacrifice-averse ethos of the local Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava movement. Link: https://rdcu.be/bHrDI
The Assimilation of Yogic Religions Through Pop Culture, edited by Paul Hackett. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2017
Grant Morrison is one of the world’s most acclaimed comic writers, known for both metafictional s... more Grant Morrison is one of the world’s most acclaimed comic writers, known for both metafictional stylistic experiments and his very public penchant for a comparably postmodernist form of occult bricolage commonly called chaos magic. Morrison’s practical and theoretical interests in gnosticism, tantra, etc. inform his output in overt ways and exemplify an influential contemporary approach to yogic traditions in commercial comics. This chapter explores the treatment of Tibetan Dzogchen practice in Morrison’s late 2000s work on Batman, where he applies esoteric Buddhist meditation techniques to the perennial superhero theme of secret, split identities. As Marc Singer (2012) has observed, Morrison tackled similar motifs a decade earlier in The Invisibles, but where that opus generally celebrated the disruptive potential of the titular anarchist collective’s fragmented selves, here Batman’s fractured psyche forms the story’s central conflict. Transformational ego-transcendence through a solitary ‘dark retreat’ ritual akin to sensory deprivation becomes his means for survival, but even as the details of the rites draw on Buddhist traditions, the way Morrison depicts the experience and deploys the theme of isolation throughout can be read as emblematic of an individualized initiatory ordeal rooted more in the ceremonial magic of Aleister Crowley than in Tibetan Vajrayana.
International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
Ed. William A. Darity, Jr.. Vol. 4. 2nd ed. De... more International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
Ed. William A. Darity, Jr.. Vol. 4. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. p291-292. COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
The Mythic King: Raja Krishnacandra and Early Modern Bengal Joel Bordeaux Raja Krishnacandra Rāy ... more The Mythic King: Raja Krishnacandra and Early Modern Bengal Joel Bordeaux Raja Krishnacandra Rāy (1710-1782) was a relatively high-ranking aristocrat in eastern India who emerged as a local culture hero during the nineteenth century. He became renowned as Bengal's preeminent patron of Sanskrit and as an ardent champion of goddess worship who established the region's famous puja festivals, patronized major innovations in vernacular literature, and revived archaic Vedic sacrifices while pursuing an archconservative agenda as leader of Hindu society in the area. He is even alleged in certain circles to have orchestrated a conspiracy that birthed British colonialism in South Asia, and humorous tales starring his court jester are ubiquitous wherever Bengali is spoken. This dissertation explores the process of myth-making as it coalesced around Krishnacandra in the early modern period, emphasizing the roles played by classical ideals of Hindu kingship and print culture as well as both colonial and nationalist historiography. i Contents Acknowledgments vi Note on transliteration x List of illustrations xiii 4.3.1.1 Praise as Blame 4.3.1.2 Vyāsa in Varanasi 4.4 Insulting the Goddess 4.4.1 Good and Bad Vaiṣṇavas 4.4.2 The Emperor Jahangir So did it work? V. Plotting the Past: Kissenchund and the Plassey Conspiracy Part 1: Conspiracies and Controversies 1.1 Historical Overview 1.2 Persian histories 1.3 British East India Company records 1.4 Circumstantial and material evidence Part 2: The Mahārāj Kr̥ ṣṇacandra Rāyasya Caritram 2.1 Missionaries, Professors, and Pundits 2.2 Relation to Annadā-maṅgal 2.3 'Agnihotrī Vājapeyī Śrīmān Mahārāj Rājendra' Krishnacandra Rāy 2.4 The Trouble with Yavanas 2.4.1 Yavanas and Hindus 2.4.2 Yavana Rule and Hindutva 2.4.3 Meet the Sahebs 2.5 Yavanas vs Sahebs 2.5.1 Sources of Conflict 2.5.2 Conspiracy Redux 2.5.3 The Battle and Aftermath 2.5.4 Company Raj and the 'Rājendra Bahādur' Part 3: Palāśi in the Nationalist Imagination 3.1 Losing the Plot 3.2 Another Puja in Prison 3.3 After the Battle v Part 4: The Nation and its Origins Coda: Becoming Bengal's Vikramāditya Round Round 2 Round Works Cited vi vii descendants of Krishnacandra Ray himself: the Nadia raj family and the Rays of Ray Para, who were both exceedingly generous to me during my time in Krishnanagar. Maharaja Saumish Chandra Roy afforded me special access and tolerantly entertained my prying questions on several occasions, as did several scions of the Ray Bari, including Koushik, Ananda Ray, Raja and Anjan Kumar Banerjee, and the late Asim Ananda Ray. Asim and Biswaranjan Bhattacharjee of Nabadwip, the raj-purohits, were likewise liberal with their time and knowledge, as were Acinta Kumar Bhattacarya and Soutam Kumar Smriti Tirtha in Belpukur. Among the many people who assisted in various ways with this research, I would like to extend a special word of thanks to Hena Basu and Bharati Roy. Both made essential contributions to this project not only by helping me (as they have many others) locate sources and navigate archives in and around Kolkata, but also through their impressive forbearance and hospitality. I am likewise indebted to Prof. Anisuzzaman of Dhaka University and to Tony Stewart for their selfless efforts in digitizing a valuable manuscript on my behalf. Many others provided documents I needed, often from their personal collections and typically accompanied by lively and insightful conversation. Here I am
Public talk for International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University (February 24, 2021) ... more Public talk for International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University (February 24, 2021) https://youtu.be/77oz4tb8r0Y How did Hindu devotees come to worship an Indian goddess in the 'Chinese Way?' What was allegedly Chinese about these rituals and how is this related to the goddess's Buddhist origens? When did Hindus start to think of China, rather than India, as the homeland of Buddhism? This talk draws on Sanskrit tantric literature, Bengali pilgrimage texts, and the author's own ethnographic fieldwork to explore these questions. Starting with a narrative trope in which the Hindu sage Vasishta must travel to 'Greater China' to learn from the Buddha how to worship the goddess Tara, the presentation first examines the idea of Buddhist 'China' in medieval Sanskrit tantras. Next it considers how later ritual manuals adapt and re-localize the Hindu Tara in Eastern India, and further development of the tradition as the cremation ground/temple at Tarapith became a major pilgrimage site in the Indian state of West Bengal. Finally, since contemporary devotees increasingly identify the 'Greater China' of the tantras with Tibet, the presentation contextualizes the conversation with the globalization of Tibetan Buddhism.
International Journal of Hindu Studies, Jun 21, 2019
A consideration of how Kālī Pūjā enters festival contexts in early modern Bengal can suggest new ... more A consideration of how Kālī Pūjā enters festival contexts in early modern Bengal can suggest new ways of thinking about blood sacrifice in Hinduism. In this case, it appears that we may have underappreciated the impact of sectarian conflict. Through an exploration of the traditional origens of public Kālī Pūjā, I argue that its promotion with the attendant sacrifice by Brāhmaṇa aristocrats such as Rāja Kṛṣṇacandra Rāya of Nadīyā (1710–1782) can be read as a claim on public space for the Tantric yet socially and theologically conservative Smārta Hinduism favored by the upper castes over and against the comparatively egalitarian, sacrifice-averse ethos of the local Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava movement.
... He sets out the story of how the Caitanya Caritāmṛta of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja came to be the def... more ... He sets out the story of how the Caitanya Caritāmṛta of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja came to be the defining text for that form of Vaishnava expression we now familiarly call Gauḍīya, that is, Bengali. The Caitanya Caritāmṛta was ...
Public talk for The Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the Univers... more Public talk for The Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam (July 8, 2021)
The Sethian Liberation Movement (SLM) is a New Religious Movement combining Kemetic, Gnostic, and Tantric-inspired practices under the rubric of an antinomian ‘Left Hand Path.’ Zeena Schreck (née LaVey) is the SLM’s High Priestess— a title she previously held in the Temple of Set and the Church of Satan. Simultaneously, she and her long-term collaborator/ex-husband Nikolas also present themselves as teachers of Tibetan Buddhism. Drawing on their publications and interviews, this talk explores the mediating role ideas from the Traditionalist School played in the Schrecks’ reorientation towards Buddhism and interrogates the utility of the concept of ‘conversion’ for understanding this phenomenon, as well as the implications for ‘Western Buddhism’ and ‘Western Esotericism’ as categories of analysis.
Public talk for International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University (February 24, 2021)
... more Public talk for International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University (February 24, 2021)
Why would an Indian Buddhist goddess require Hindu devotees to worship her in the ‘Chinese Way?’ What did China represent in this discourse and how has that changed over time? This talk uses Sanskrit tantras, Bengali pilgrimage texts, and ethnographic fieldwork to explore these and related questions.
The incorporation of the goddess Tārā into the Hindu pantheon appears to have begun around the tu... more The incorporation of the goddess Tārā into the Hindu pantheon appears to have begun around the turn of the first millennium, a couple of centuries after her first mentions in Buddhist sources. The earliest Hindu texts concerned with Tārā tend to acknowledge this through a narrative wherein the Vedic sage Vasiṣṭha must travel to 'Greater China' to learn from the Buddha how to propitiate the goddess properly through the violation of brāhmaṇical purity codes for which Indian tantric traditions are infamous. Over time her 'foreign' associations faded, narratives linking Tārā to sites in Assam and Bengal became more prominent, and her worship drew closer to regional Hindu orthopraxy. This essay tracks the latter stages of that process especially through a reading of early modern ritual manuals in Sanskrit before considering a more recent revival of interest in the Hindu Tārā's Buddhist connections as shown in Bengali sources and fieldwork.
A consideration of how Kālī Pūjā enters festival contexts in early modern Bengal can suggest ... more A consideration of how Kālī Pūjā enters festival contexts in early modern Bengal can suggest new ways of thinking about blood sacrifice in Hinduism. In this case, it appears we may have underappreciated the impact of sectarian conflict. Through an exploration of the traditional origens of public Kālī Pūjā, I argue that its promotion with the attendant sacrifice by brāhmaṇa aristocrats such as Rāja Kṛṣṇacandra Rāya of Nadiyā (1710-1782) can be read as a claim on public space for the tantric yet socially and theologically conservative smārta Hinduism favored by the upper castes over and against the comparatively egalitarian, sacrifice-averse ethos of the local Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava movement. Link: https://rdcu.be/bHrDI
The Assimilation of Yogic Religions Through Pop Culture, edited by Paul Hackett. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2017
Grant Morrison is one of the world’s most acclaimed comic writers, known for both metafictional s... more Grant Morrison is one of the world’s most acclaimed comic writers, known for both metafictional stylistic experiments and his very public penchant for a comparably postmodernist form of occult bricolage commonly called chaos magic. Morrison’s practical and theoretical interests in gnosticism, tantra, etc. inform his output in overt ways and exemplify an influential contemporary approach to yogic traditions in commercial comics. This chapter explores the treatment of Tibetan Dzogchen practice in Morrison’s late 2000s work on Batman, where he applies esoteric Buddhist meditation techniques to the perennial superhero theme of secret, split identities. As Marc Singer (2012) has observed, Morrison tackled similar motifs a decade earlier in The Invisibles, but where that opus generally celebrated the disruptive potential of the titular anarchist collective’s fragmented selves, here Batman’s fractured psyche forms the story’s central conflict. Transformational ego-transcendence through a solitary ‘dark retreat’ ritual akin to sensory deprivation becomes his means for survival, but even as the details of the rites draw on Buddhist traditions, the way Morrison depicts the experience and deploys the theme of isolation throughout can be read as emblematic of an individualized initiatory ordeal rooted more in the ceremonial magic of Aleister Crowley than in Tibetan Vajrayana.
International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
Ed. William A. Darity, Jr.. Vol. 4. 2nd ed. De... more International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
Ed. William A. Darity, Jr.. Vol. 4. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. p291-292. COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
The Mythic King: Raja Krishnacandra and Early Modern Bengal Joel Bordeaux Raja Krishnacandra Rāy ... more The Mythic King: Raja Krishnacandra and Early Modern Bengal Joel Bordeaux Raja Krishnacandra Rāy (1710-1782) was a relatively high-ranking aristocrat in eastern India who emerged as a local culture hero during the nineteenth century. He became renowned as Bengal's preeminent patron of Sanskrit and as an ardent champion of goddess worship who established the region's famous puja festivals, patronized major innovations in vernacular literature, and revived archaic Vedic sacrifices while pursuing an archconservative agenda as leader of Hindu society in the area. He is even alleged in certain circles to have orchestrated a conspiracy that birthed British colonialism in South Asia, and humorous tales starring his court jester are ubiquitous wherever Bengali is spoken. This dissertation explores the process of myth-making as it coalesced around Krishnacandra in the early modern period, emphasizing the roles played by classical ideals of Hindu kingship and print culture as well as both colonial and nationalist historiography. i Contents Acknowledgments vi Note on transliteration x List of illustrations xiii 4.3.1.1 Praise as Blame 4.3.1.2 Vyāsa in Varanasi 4.4 Insulting the Goddess 4.4.1 Good and Bad Vaiṣṇavas 4.4.2 The Emperor Jahangir So did it work? V. Plotting the Past: Kissenchund and the Plassey Conspiracy Part 1: Conspiracies and Controversies 1.1 Historical Overview 1.2 Persian histories 1.3 British East India Company records 1.4 Circumstantial and material evidence Part 2: The Mahārāj Kr̥ ṣṇacandra Rāyasya Caritram 2.1 Missionaries, Professors, and Pundits 2.2 Relation to Annadā-maṅgal 2.3 'Agnihotrī Vājapeyī Śrīmān Mahārāj Rājendra' Krishnacandra Rāy 2.4 The Trouble with Yavanas 2.4.1 Yavanas and Hindus 2.4.2 Yavana Rule and Hindutva 2.4.3 Meet the Sahebs 2.5 Yavanas vs Sahebs 2.5.1 Sources of Conflict 2.5.2 Conspiracy Redux 2.5.3 The Battle and Aftermath 2.5.4 Company Raj and the 'Rājendra Bahādur' Part 3: Palāśi in the Nationalist Imagination 3.1 Losing the Plot 3.2 Another Puja in Prison 3.3 After the Battle v Part 4: The Nation and its Origins Coda: Becoming Bengal's Vikramāditya Round Round 2 Round Works Cited vi vii descendants of Krishnacandra Ray himself: the Nadia raj family and the Rays of Ray Para, who were both exceedingly generous to me during my time in Krishnanagar. Maharaja Saumish Chandra Roy afforded me special access and tolerantly entertained my prying questions on several occasions, as did several scions of the Ray Bari, including Koushik, Ananda Ray, Raja and Anjan Kumar Banerjee, and the late Asim Ananda Ray. Asim and Biswaranjan Bhattacharjee of Nabadwip, the raj-purohits, were likewise liberal with their time and knowledge, as were Acinta Kumar Bhattacarya and Soutam Kumar Smriti Tirtha in Belpukur. Among the many people who assisted in various ways with this research, I would like to extend a special word of thanks to Hena Basu and Bharati Roy. Both made essential contributions to this project not only by helping me (as they have many others) locate sources and navigate archives in and around Kolkata, but also through their impressive forbearance and hospitality. I am likewise indebted to Prof. Anisuzzaman of Dhaka University and to Tony Stewart for their selfless efforts in digitizing a valuable manuscript on my behalf. Many others provided documents I needed, often from their personal collections and typically accompanied by lively and insightful conversation. Here I am
Public talk for International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University (February 24, 2021) ... more Public talk for International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden University (February 24, 2021) https://youtu.be/77oz4tb8r0Y How did Hindu devotees come to worship an Indian goddess in the 'Chinese Way?' What was allegedly Chinese about these rituals and how is this related to the goddess's Buddhist origens? When did Hindus start to think of China, rather than India, as the homeland of Buddhism? This talk draws on Sanskrit tantric literature, Bengali pilgrimage texts, and the author's own ethnographic fieldwork to explore these questions. Starting with a narrative trope in which the Hindu sage Vasishta must travel to 'Greater China' to learn from the Buddha how to worship the goddess Tara, the presentation first examines the idea of Buddhist 'China' in medieval Sanskrit tantras. Next it considers how later ritual manuals adapt and re-localize the Hindu Tara in Eastern India, and further development of the tradition as the cremation ground/temple at Tarapith became a major pilgrimage site in the Indian state of West Bengal. Finally, since contemporary devotees increasingly identify the 'Greater China' of the tantras with Tibet, the presentation contextualizes the conversation with the globalization of Tibetan Buddhism.
International Journal of Hindu Studies, Jun 21, 2019
A consideration of how Kālī Pūjā enters festival contexts in early modern Bengal can suggest new ... more A consideration of how Kālī Pūjā enters festival contexts in early modern Bengal can suggest new ways of thinking about blood sacrifice in Hinduism. In this case, it appears that we may have underappreciated the impact of sectarian conflict. Through an exploration of the traditional origens of public Kālī Pūjā, I argue that its promotion with the attendant sacrifice by Brāhmaṇa aristocrats such as Rāja Kṛṣṇacandra Rāya of Nadīyā (1710–1782) can be read as a claim on public space for the Tantric yet socially and theologically conservative Smārta Hinduism favored by the upper castes over and against the comparatively egalitarian, sacrifice-averse ethos of the local Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava movement.
... He sets out the story of how the Caitanya Caritāmṛta of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja came to be the def... more ... He sets out the story of how the Caitanya Caritāmṛta of Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja came to be the defining text for that form of Vaishnava expression we now familiarly call Gauḍīya, that is, Bengali. The Caitanya Caritāmṛta was ...
Uploads
Videos by Joel Bordeaux
https://youtu.be/EgLQlv6HoII
The Sethian Liberation Movement (SLM) is a New Religious Movement combining Kemetic, Gnostic, and Tantric-inspired practices under the rubric of an antinomian ‘Left Hand Path.’ Zeena Schreck (née LaVey) is the SLM’s High Priestess— a title she previously held in the Temple of Set and the Church of Satan. Simultaneously, she and her long-term collaborator/ex-husband Nikolas also present themselves as teachers of Tibetan Buddhism. Drawing on their publications and interviews, this talk explores the mediating role ideas from the Traditionalist School played in the Schrecks’ reorientation towards Buddhism and interrogates the utility of the concept of ‘conversion’ for understanding this phenomenon, as well as the implications for ‘Western Buddhism’ and ‘Western Esotericism’ as categories of analysis.
https://youtu.be/77oz4tb8r0Y.
Why would an Indian Buddhist goddess require Hindu devotees to worship her in the ‘Chinese Way?’ What did China represent in this discourse and how has that changed over time? This talk uses Sanskrit tantras, Bengali pilgrimage texts, and ethnographic fieldwork to explore these and related questions.
Texts by Joel Bordeaux
Ed. William A. Darity, Jr.. Vol. 4. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. p291-292. COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
Papers by Joel Bordeaux
https://youtu.be/EgLQlv6HoII
The Sethian Liberation Movement (SLM) is a New Religious Movement combining Kemetic, Gnostic, and Tantric-inspired practices under the rubric of an antinomian ‘Left Hand Path.’ Zeena Schreck (née LaVey) is the SLM’s High Priestess— a title she previously held in the Temple of Set and the Church of Satan. Simultaneously, she and her long-term collaborator/ex-husband Nikolas also present themselves as teachers of Tibetan Buddhism. Drawing on their publications and interviews, this talk explores the mediating role ideas from the Traditionalist School played in the Schrecks’ reorientation towards Buddhism and interrogates the utility of the concept of ‘conversion’ for understanding this phenomenon, as well as the implications for ‘Western Buddhism’ and ‘Western Esotericism’ as categories of analysis.
https://youtu.be/77oz4tb8r0Y.
Why would an Indian Buddhist goddess require Hindu devotees to worship her in the ‘Chinese Way?’ What did China represent in this discourse and how has that changed over time? This talk uses Sanskrit tantras, Bengali pilgrimage texts, and ethnographic fieldwork to explore these and related questions.
Ed. William A. Darity, Jr.. Vol. 4. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. p291-292. COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning