Blurb:

Modernized forms of the philosophical system Advaita (“nondual”) Vedānta, usually referred to as Neo-Advaita or Modern Advaita, constitute an integral part of the range of South Asian spiritualities that are being taught and practiced globally today. This chapter explores the embodied dimensions of Modern Advaitic satsangs, a form of dialogical lectures in which Modern Advaitic teachings are being disseminated. Based on ethnographic material from satsangs held in Rishikesh, a northern Indian pilgrimage town and center for international spiritual tourism, the chapter discusses the importance ascribed to the process of turning abstract concepts of the nondual Self into experiential, and hence embodied knowledge in these contexts. This was a process that not only involved discourses but equally much the presence of the guru and other fellow satsang participants. A focus on experience, I suggest, provides valuable insights into the embodied reception of Advaita in partly new social, cultural, spatial, and temporal contexts. The emphasis put on personal experience in Modern Advaitic satsangs serves as an illustration of the adaptations of these types of events, as it reflects a synthesis of Advaitic tenets and a form of subjective “self-spirituality."