ITPI Newsletter Articles - Summer 2023
In our summer newsletter, we examine the various facets of the philosophy that shape our practice and learn from contributors about their interpretation of ITP’s worldview.
Loriliai Biernacki
Loriliai Biernacki (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania) is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research interests include Hinduism, the interface between religion and science, and gender. Her first book, Renowned Goddess of Desire: Women, Sex and Speech in Tantra (Oxford, 2007) won the Kayden Award in 2008. She is co-editor of God’s Body: Panentheism Across World Religions (Oxford University Press, 2013). Her study of the 11th century Indian philosopher Abhinavagupta, The Matter of Wonder: Abhinavagupta’s Panentheism and New Materialism, is forthcoming from Oxford University Press in 2023. It addresses the 11th century Indian philosopher Abhinavagupta's notions of selfhood, body, and cosmology. She is also currently working on the interstices between religion, science and panentheism.
The Worldview of Wonder
Wonder can mean many things to many of us. Explore what Professor Loriliai Biernacki has written about the meaning and role of wonder in excerpts drawn from her recent book, The Matter of Wonder: Abhinavagupta’s Panentheism and New Materialism by Loriliai Biernacki, Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder. In the excerpts below, Hindu scholar Biernacki features the worldview of Abhinavagupta, a philosopher and mystic born in 950 CE in Kashmir. His ancient philosophical writings on panentheism are closely aligned with the worldview that informs and enlivens ITP.
Psychology of Meditation
Explore the evolution of the non-dual sense of self through the historical sweep of meditation practices that engender our inner experiences.