Open/Close Menu Fondation Alain Daniélou

Alain Daniélou Foundation is glad to announce the result of the selection process for the Grant Programme 2019

Gioia Lussana

Gioia LussanaProject Description

My research aims at analysing the specific qualities of aesthetic and yogic cognition, starting from the sensorial and concrete connotation that characterises the aesthetic experience (rasāsvāda) and the religious experience (brahmāsvāda) in Mediaeval Kaśmīr Śivaism. My proposal is to verify how, starting from the aesthetic dimension, a central role is also played in yogic practice by sensations, emotions and sentiments, which become the highroad to knowledge. I therefore intend to explore in what way the expression of beauty is not only present, albeit with specific features as compared to the enjoyment of art, but crucial in the experience of non-dual yoga.
My goals will be verified in the experiential part of this project, which will take place in Kaśmīr under the guidance of a Trika Master.

Dr Paolo E. Rosati (Italy, Rome)

Paolo RosatiEroticism and Death in Alain Daniélou’s Perspective: The Austro-Asiatic elements of Tantra

Project Description

Following Alain Daniélou’s insights, this project aims at shedding light on Tantra as a cross-cultural phenomenon, with different intertwined and stratified socio-cultural and religious strands. More specifically, the project will try to identify and explain the intersection between the Austro-Asiatic cult of the dead and the worship the goddess Kāmākhyā (Assam), through an analysis of blood sacrifices in north-east India.