Contemplative Studies & Jainism: Meditation, Prayer, and Veneration

About

Cogen Bohanec currently holds the position of Assistant Professor in Jain Studies at Arihanta Academy and he has taught numerous classes on South Asian Culture & Religions and Sanskrit language at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley. Along with Jain philosophy and literature Dr. Bohanec specializes in comparative dharma traditions philosophy of religion and Sanskrit language and literature and has numerous publications in those areas. He has a PhD in Historical and Cultural Studies of Religion with an emphasis in Hindu Studies from GTU where his research emphasized ancient Indian languages literature and philosophical systems. He also holds an MA in Buddhist Studies from the Institute of Buddhist Studies at GTU where his research primarily involved translations of Pli Buddhist scriptures in conversation with the philology and philosophy of the Hindu Upaniads.Rita D. Sherma is founding Director and Associate Professor at the Graduate Theological Unions Center for Dharma Studies (CDS) in Berkeley California. She has developed programs in multiple MA and PhD concentrations and is Core Doctoral Faculty and Co-Chair of Sustainability 360 an environmental humanities project. She holds an MA in Religion and a PhD in Theology & Ethics from Claremont Graduate University CA. Prior to coming to GTU she served as the Swami Vivekananda Professor of Hindu Studies at University of Southern California (USC) Los Angeles.Dr. Sherma serves on the Editorial Board of the American Academy of Religions Reading Religion Journal the Advisory Board of the Yale University Forum for Religion and Ecology and is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Dharma Studies: Asian and Transcultural Religion Philosophy and Ethics. Published in June 2022 was her 35-chapter edited volume titled Religion & Sustainability: Interreligious Resources Interdisciplinary Responses (UN Sustainable Development Goals Series with P. Bilimoria Springer-Nature). Her monograph Radical Divine Immanence: An Ecofeminist Emancipatory Hindu Theology of Shakti is pending publication in 2023. She has published eight books including Contemplative Studies and Hinduism: Meditation Devotion Prayer & Worship (2020) Swami Vivekananda: His Life Legacy & Liberative Ethics (2021); Woman & Goddess in Hinduism (2011); Hermeneutics and Hindu thought: Towards a Fusion of Horizons (2008) and 35 academic book chapters and articles. Her works have appeared in publications released by NYU SUNY Georgetown University and other notable publishers. She has produced two documentaries through GTUx titled Ecospirituality: Environmental Pathways to Healing and Greening Spirituality (with Dr. Devin Zuber) and was a religion and culture advisor on the animated movie Soul which won several academy awards including best feature in its category. Rita Sherma has presented over 100 scholarly research papers at major academic forums such as the American Academy of Religion and other eminent venues. She is a meditation teacher of long-standing and speaks widely at invitational events.Purushottama Bilimoria works in the areas of Indian & Cross-Cultural philosophy Continental Philosophy Philosophy of Religion Critical Thinking and Diaspora Studies. Current affiliations: Professor in Law School O.P. Jindal Global University (India); Principal Fellow at University of Melbourne; Faculty @ San Francisco State University and University of California (Merced); he is Permanent Fellow of the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies; serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Sophia and Assoc. Editor Journal of Dharma Studies. Recent publications include: History of Indian Philosophy (with Amy Rayner 2019 2021) Religion and Sustainability (UNGSD series edited with Rita D. Sherma 2021) Contemplative Studies and Hinduism (edited with Rita Sherma and Cogen Bohenac Routledge 2021); Indian Ethics Vol. 2: Women Justice Ecology and Bioethics (edited with A. Rayner Routledge 2023 forthcoming).