PB April 2009 REVIEWS For review in PRABUDDHA BHARATA, publishers need to send two copies of their latest publications. The Brahma Kumaris as a 'Refl exive Tradition' John Walliss Motilal	Banarsidass,	41	UA	Bungalow Road,	Jawahar	Nagar,	Delhi	110	007.	Email:	mlbd@vsnl.com.	2007.	xiv	+131	pp. Rs	295. eligious	traditions	are	one	of	those	social	structures	humans	create	to	fulfi	l	their	multifarious needs.	Over	time,	as	with	all	structures,	religious	traditions	lose	their	following	as	they	are	seen	inadequate in	addressing	the	changing	needs	of	society.	While some	traditions	appear	to	doggedly	cling	to	their	existing	patterns,	new	movements	spring	up,	supposedly bringing	solutions	to	the	questions	left unanswered by	the	older	traditions.	While	some	New	Religious Movements	(nrms)	bring	a	refreshing	change	in	religious	understanding	and	practice,	some	others	differ	from	the	mainstream	religiosity	merely	to	appear novel	and	more	suited	to	contemporary	society. Engaged	in	a	constant	process	of	adapting	themselves	to	society,	religious	institutions	have	never	been completely	traditional,	and	constant	questioning and	rethinking	have	been	integral	to	them.	However, trends	of	reassessing	past	traditions	and	the	emergence	of	new	refl	exive	movements	appear	to	be	more pronounced	in	these	postmodern	times	of	ours.	Interestingly,	most	of	these	new	movements	draw	heavily from	the	mainstream	religiosity,	both	in	their	philosophy	and	practice.	For	example,	while	many	concepts	of	mainstream	Hinduism	like	Brahma,	Vishnu, and	Lakshmi	have	been	woven	into	the	philosophy	of the	Brahma	Kumaris,	concepts	like	raja yoga,	kalpa, and	yuga	have	been	radically	reinterpreted. nrms	freely	reinterpret	established	principles	of religion	and	supplement	or	complement	them	in consonance	with	the	contemporary	drift of	social thought.	For	instance,	if	scientifi	c	spirit	is	dominating	the	minds	of	people	in	a	given	period,	nrms	of that	period	draw	parallels	to	scientifi	c	developments and	resort	to	'name-dropping'	involving	scientifi	c thinkers. Evolved	from	his	doctoral	thesis,	this	timely	book by	John	Walliss	is	a	sociological	analysis	of	the	refl	exivity	of	new	religious	movements	and	the	extent of	their	'detraditionalisation'. 'Refl	exivity',	in	sociology,	refers	to	the	application	of	social	patterns	to the	very	institutions	creating	these	patterns.	Not giving	any	defi	nition	of	refl	exivity	himself,	Walliss tries	to	'advance	and	develop	Philip	Mellor's	notion of	"refl	exive	traditions"	as	a	hermeneutic	tool	for the	examination	of	"post-traditional"	spirituality'. Th rough	the	example	of	the	inner	workings	of	the Brahma	Kumaris,	also	called	Brahma	Kumaris	World Spiritual	University,	Walliss	brings	out	the	typical characteristics	of	an	nrm.	Aft	er	discussing	various theories	of	refl	exivity	of	traditions,	he	proceeds	to study	Brahma	Kumaris	in	the	light	of	these	theories. In	his	charmingly	candid	style,	he	takes	us	through an	intricate	study	of	the	phenomenon	of	refl	exive traditions, which will undoubtedly enhance the thought	of	students	of	sociology	and	religion. Like	other	new	religious	movements,	Brahma Kumaris	had	to	face	severe	social	opposition	before becoming	a	socially	acceptable	institution.	Consequently,	their	outlook	has	become	more	accommodating	in	contrast	to	an	earlier	isolation.	Th e	patterns of the	benefi	ciaries	of this	movement	have	been minutely	analysed	to	show	the	mixed	nature	of	the nrm's	following.	Th ough	the	Brahma	Kumaris	may not	be	a	typical	representative	of	nrms,	striking	similarities	to	other	such	movements	cannot	be	denied. Being	a	millenarian	movement,	the	Brahma	Kumaris	have	to	constantly	reinterpret	their	prophecies and	alter	or	postpone	the	time	of	the	apocalypse. Th ese	reinterpretations	have	led	to	inner	strife	in	the institution.	Walliss	brings	forth	such	diff	erences- which	are	generally	known	to	crop	up	amongst	the followers	of	nrms-by	discussing	the	case	of	'Advance	Party',	a	breakaway	faction	of	the	Brahma Kumaris,	and	shows	how	such	factions	could	themselves	be	prey	to	the	failings	of	their	parent	institution.	Concluding	this	remarkable	work	on	religious movements	in	the	late	modern	era,	Walliss	maintains that	all	religious	traditions	are	refl	exive	and	that	the R -No bleed here- PB April 2009304 Prabuddha Bharata56 forces	of	tradition	and	refl	exivity	are	less	dualistic and	more	dynamic. Swami Narasimhananda Advaita	Ashrama,	Kolkata So Far So Near Amal Kumar Roy alias Kinkar Krisnananda Bharatiya	Vidya	Bhavan,	Kulapati	Munshi Marg, Mumbai 400 007. E-mail: brbhavan@bom.vsnl.net.in.	2008.	xviii +	165	pp.	Rs	150. This	is	the	English	version	of	the	original	Bengali	work	Tad Dure Tadu Antike	published	in	2004. Th e	title	is	culled	from	the	Isha Upanishad	to	signify the	immanence	and	transcendence	of	Sri	Sitaramdas Omkarnath's	being.	Th e	author	had	the	privilege	of hearing	directly	from	his	master	about	four	instances of	divine	communion	on	the	occasion	of	the	master's	eighty-ninth	birthday	celebrations	at Mehsana. Th ese	form	the	substance	of	the	book,	which	has been	prefaced	by	Dr	Karan	Singh	and	carries	an	introduction	by	the	Dalai	Lama.	Th e	latter	had	occasion	to	meet	Sri	Sitaramdas	and	was	impressed	by	his deep	spirituality	and	genuine	global	sympathies. Th e	four	mystic	incidents	in	the	life	of	Sri	Sitaramdas	recorded	in	this	book	are:	(i)	his	naming	as Prabodh,	(ii)	a	vision	of	Shiva	at	the	age	of	six,	(iii)	a second	vision	of	Shiva	and	an	esoteric	experience	of the	phenomenon	of	Creation	originating	from	the primordial	sound	Om,	and	(iv)	his	merger	in	mahakasha,	cosmic	space,	with	the	vision	of	his	Chosen Deity. Th e	author	interprets	these	mystic	experiences and	related	utterances	of	his	master	in	the	light	of	the Upanishads,	Kashmir	Shaivism,	and	modern	scientifi	c	thought.	Many	ideas	from	the	Tantras	and	yoga are	also	woven	into	the	text.	Th e	theory	of	Creation proceeding	from	sphota,	Logos,	is	elaborated	upon, reiterating	the	Upanishadic	stand	that	this	world	is a	projection	of	God.	Th e	master's	intense	spiritual practices	and	his	disregard	for	bodily	comforts	evoke awe.	His	willingly	stretching	his	legs	to	feed	hungry mosquitoes	is	an	eye-opener	and	speaks	of	his	selfsacrifi	cing	nature. Bharatiya	Vidya	Bhavan	is	one	of	India's	major cultural	institutions	and	has	been	publishing	important	works	representing	the	Indian	spirit	and	culture. However,	the	present	book	could	do	with	careful	editing	and	systematic	presentation	of	ideas.	A	brief	life sketch	of	Sri	Sitaramdas	would	also	have	been	welcomed	by	readers.	Th e	details	in	the	book	are	sketchy and	the	frequent	use	of	Sanskrit	and	Bengali	terms hampers	readability.	A	glossary	of	such	terms	would have	helped.	Hopefully	these	issues	will	be	addressed by	the	author	and	publishers	in	the	next	edition. Swami Atmajnananda Advaita	Ashrama,	Kolkata Śiva Sūtras: The Supreme Awakening Swami Lakshmanjoo Munshiram	Manoharlal,	Post	Box	5715, 54	Rani	Jhansi	Road,	New	Delhi	110	055. Website: www.mrmlbooks.com. 2007. xxviii	+	322	pp.	Rs	400. Coming	from	the	line	of	the	masters	of	Kashmir	Shaivism,	Swami	Lakshmanjoo	brings	out	the wisdom	of	his	spiritual	experiences	in	this	translation	of	the	commentary	on	Shiva Sutra,	called	'Shiva Sutra	Vimarshini'	by	Kshemaraja.	Th e	Shiva Sutra comprises aphorisms on the knowledge of Godconsciousness	as	revealed	by	Bhagavan	Shiva	to	his devotee	Vasugupta.	Th e	result	of	recordings	of	the swami's lectures, transcribed	and	edited	by John Hughes	and	aptly	subtitled	'Th e	Supreme	Awakening', this	masterly	commentary	will	guide	spiritual	seekers	in	unravelling	and	awakening	the	Consciousness inherent	in	them.	Th e	volume	contains	the	original Sanskrit	texts	of	the	Shiva Sutra	and	'Siva	Sutra	Vimarshini'	as	appendices,	and	is	an	essential	read	for students	of	Kashmir	Shaivism. PB BOOK RECEIVED Truth and Cosmic Rhythm in the Vedas vis-à-vis Physical Sciences of Today Dinendra Marik Hem-Tara	Foundation,	17	Broad	Street, Kolkata	700	019.	2006.	58	pp.	Rs	35. Sri	Anirvan	is	one	of	the	few	ori-ginal	modern	interpreters	of	the Vedas.	His	works	Veda Mimamsa and	Rig Veda Samhita: Gayatri Mandala	have	received	high	critical acclaim.	Th is	small	book	is	an	exposition	of	some	of Sri	Anirvan's	thoughts	in	the	light	of	the	concepts and	fi	ndings	of	modern	physics.