Sādhana-Bhakti and Conceptualized Perceptions of Kṛṣṇa: Investigating Historically-Embedded Theological Claims Through Multidisciplinary Researches

Presenter:

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Abstract

References to perceptions of the divine abound in the history of South Asian religions. Many of these directly conflict with essentialist views of “mystical experiences.” An excellent example are references to perceptions of Kṛṣṇa found throughout early Gauḍīya theological literature and the texts that inform it, such as the Bhāgavata-Purāṇa. Early Gauḍīya theologians argue that such conceptualized perceptions (savikalpa-pratyakṣa) of Kṛṣṇa, which generally occur in the advanced stages of one’s absorption in Kṛṣṇa, are more complete than indeterminate perceptions (nirvikalpa-pratyakṣa) of brahman. To this end, as Holdrege (2014) notes, they allot “a pivotal role to various meditative practices as a critical component of the Gauḍīya path of sādhana-bhakti, and more specifically rāgānugā-bhakti, that can serve as means to attain direct experiential realization of Kṛṣṇa’s vigraha, absolute body, and his unmanifest līlā.” But how do we make sense of such historically-embedded theological claims? Are they references to perceptions people actually had, a means of establishing the authenticity of the path of devotion, or some combination thereof? Why do sādhana practices play such a critical role in their occurrence? Drawing on humanistic (Taves, 2009) and ethnographic researches (Luhrmann, et al., 2010) on religious experiences, cognitive theories of learning (Rumelhart, et al, 1976; Bechtel et al, 2002), and attribution theories (Spilka et al, 1985; Malle, 2004), I argue that central practices of devotion serve to create favorable cognitive conditions for the occurrence of what early Gaudīya theologians reference, describe, and attribute as being perceptions of Kṛṣṇa.