Living Landscapes: Meditations on the Five Elements in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain Yogas

262 Pages·2020·3.136 MB·English

by  Christopher Key Chapple

Living Landscapes

Living Landscapes
MEDITATIONS ON THE FIVE ELEMENTS
IN HINDU, BUDDHIST, AND JAIN YOGAS
CHRISTOPHER KEY CHAPPLE
Foreword by
John Grim and Mary Evelyn Tucker
Cover art permissions obtained for the use of the John Singer Sargent painting,
The Hermit, on the cover and the use of the line drawings created by
Gabriela Ayala-Cañizares.
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2020 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic,
magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior
permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Chapple, Christopher Key, 1954– author.
Title: Living landscapes : meditations on the five elements in Hindu, Buddhist, and
Jain yogas / Christopher Key Chapple.
Description: Albany : State University of New York, 2020. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019049140 (print) | LCCN 2019049141 (ebook) | ISBN
9781438477930 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438477947 (pbk. : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781438477954 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: India—Religion. | Yoga. | Nature—Religious aspects.
Classification: LCC BL2003 .C55 2020 (print) | LCC BL2003 (ebook) | DDC 294—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019049140
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019049141
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
to
Thomas Berry (1914–2009)

Contents
Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Foreword xv
John Grim and Mary Evelyn Tucker
Introduction: Yoga and Landscapes xix
1. The Inner World as Precondition for Experience 1
2. Earth: Loving the Land 23
3. Water: Life-giver and Purifier 71
4. Fire: Locus of Desire 87
5. Air: Wind and Breath 109
6. Animal Stories from the Upaniṣads, the Jātaka Tales, the
Pañcatantra, Jaina Narratives, and the Yogavāsiṣṭha 125
7. The Yoga of Space 151
Appendix: Constructing the Maṇḍala through Yoga Sādhana 187
viii Contents
Notes 199
Bibliography 215
Index 223
Illustrations
1. Goddess in dance and every element is within her body.
An arm made of wood, shoulders are mountains, the hair is
the night sky and rising sun. Her belly is an ocean wave, one
leg is flowers and the trunk of a tree. One leg has wheat
growing up her thigh and the trunk of tree with mushrooms.
LAM is seen above her body. Title: “Earth” / Artist: Gabriela
Ayala-Cañizares / Owner: Individual 22
2. Goddess leaping with a moon on her head and most of her
body is made of ocean waves. Her legs are sea shells. VAM is
seen above her body. Title: “Water” / Artist: Gabriela Ayala-
Cañizares / Owner: Individual 70
3. Goddess walking toward the viewer with fire in her hands. Her
body is made of crystals and the light reflects off of them. RAM
is seen to the left of her body. Title: “Fire” / Artist: Gabriela
Ayala-Cañizares / Owner: Individual 86
4. Goddess in flight; she has the body of a hummingbird and you
can see her lungs. Her hair blows behind her and you can see
YAM above her body. Title: “Air” / Artist: Gabriela Ayala-
Cañizares / Owner: Individual 108
5. Goddess sitting peacefully looking to the left. Her body is
made of plants and a bird’s nest sits in her hair. She is one
with the elephant, tiger, eagle, wolf, bear, swan, frog, and rabbit.
Title: “As One” / Artist: Gabriela Ayala-Cañizares / Owner:
Individual 124
ix