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How Hinduism Seeped into American Soil
Dana Sawyer Philip Goldberg Harmony Books, 2010 416 pp.; $26.00 cloth It’s often said that Buddhism is the fastest growing religion in America. There are dharma centers in every major American city, and more are springing up every year. But long before Buddhism became so popular among convert practitioners, Hinduism had its turn in the spotlight. Back in the late 1960s and the 1970s, mostly through the efforts of hippie gurus like Allen Ginsberg and Ram Dass, and the Beatles, the religion of Shiva and Krishna outperformed buddhadharma by a wide margin. In the 70s, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Beatles’ diminutive guru, managed to convince more than two million Americans to try Transcendental Meditation, and when he appeared on the Merv Griffin Show in 1975, he reached an audience of some 30 to 40 million viewers. Today, even the Dalai Lama doesn’t post those kinds of numbers. But given that Hinduism was so popular, why did it fade? And what made it so attractive in the first place? In his latest book, American Veda, the author, interfaith minister, and meditation teacher Philip Goldberg offers some answers. 「American Veda」という本を最近見つけたのですが、これは面白そうです。
インド思想がアメリカ人の考え方にどのような影響を与えてきたのかをエマソンの時代から現代までなかなか深く分析しているようです。
ニュソートの思想家にもかなり影響を与えているようであり、そのあたりの分析も興味があるところです。
Dana Sawyerという人の書評はなかなか面白そうなのでここで紹介してみたいと思います。
今現在、ダライラマなどのチベット仏教などの人気によって、仏教が急速にアメリカ人の間に広まっているようのですが、その前に、六十年代から七十年代にかけてHinduismの人気が高まり、特に、 Maharishi Mahesh Yogiがthe Merv Griffin Showに出演したときには３千万から４千万のアメリカの視聴者を惹きつけたというのですから、その影響力は凄いものがあったと思います。タイム誌の表紙になったりしていますね。あのころが、ビートルズなどが Maharishi Mahesh Yogiのところへ瞑想を習いにいったということが大きなニュースになり、横尾忠則さんなどもショックを受けたそうで、インド思想の人気の頂点だったのではないかというのですが、そうでもないと思うのです。ヨーガや瞑想が着実にアメリカ人の間に浸透してきているのではないか。そんな気がしています。あのころからですかね、日本でも、Transcendental Meditationという言葉を聞くようになったり、 Maharishi Mahesh Yogiの超越瞑想という本が翻訳されたのをよく見かけるようになりました。
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, original name Mahesh Prasad Varma (born 1917?, Jabalpur, India—died Feb. 5, 2008, Vlodrop, Neth.), Hindu religious leader who introduced the practice of transcendental meditation (TM) to the West.
Little is known of the Maharishi’s early life. He studied physics at the University of Allahābād and worked for a time in factories. He later left for the Himalayas, where for 13 years he studied under Guru Dev, the founder of TM. When Guru Dev died in 1952, the Maharishi organized a movement to spread the teachings of TM throughout the world; his first world tour took place in 1959 and brought him to the United States. TM is a type of meditation, practiced twice a day, in which the subject mentally recites a special mantra (sacred sound or phrase). Concentration on the repeated utterances decreases mental activity, and as a result the subject is expected to reach a higher state of consciousness. The movement grew slowly until the late 1960s, when the Beatles, an English rock-music group, and numerous other celebrities began to join his following. Since then, many have left the movement, but TM remains a popular form of relaxation, especially in the United States. The principles of transcendental meditation are discussed in the Maharishi’s books The Science of Being and Art of Living (1963) and Meditations of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1968). |
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