The Resounding Field of Visualised Self-Awareness: The Generation of Synesthetic Consciousness in the Sri Yantra Rituals of Nityasodasikarnava Tantra
Jeffrey S. Lidke
The Journal of Hindu Studies October 1, 2011 DOI: 10.1093/jhs/hir035 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 6 |
| Key points | Argues that Śrī Vidyā practitioners use synesthetic experience to construct and internalize the Śrī Yantra as a sound field, generating an embodied poly-sensualized consciousness that ritually enables recognition of the self as non-distinct from the goddess Mahātripurasundarī. |
Abstract
In this article, I utilise current scholarship on synesthetic experience as a lens for evaluating the multi-layered cognitive and artistic processes by which Śrī Vidyā practitioners construct, visualise, and embody the primary symbol of their clan, the Śrī Vidyā diagram. This diagram is simultaneously a multi-hued visual image and a resounding symphonic field of luminous, reverberating graphemes. By constructing externally and visualising internally a sound field that is not just heard but perceived, the sādhaka generates an embodied poly-sensualised consciousness that is the ritualised means for achieving the aim of his Śākta practice: the recognition of one's self as non-distinct from that supreme goddess, Mahātripurasundarī, she whose self-emanation as the resounding, luminous Śrī Yantra, is itself the emergent cosmos.
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
- The Potential of the Bi-Directional Gaze: A Call for Neuroscientific Research on the Simultaneous Activation of the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems through Tantric Practice Religions November 14, 2016
- The Self as Combination of Deities and Yantras: Divinisation Rituals among Contemporary Śrīvidyā Practitioners in India Religions August 12, 2022