Book Panel on Loriliai Biernacki’s *The Matter of Wonder: Abhinavagupta’s Panentheism and the New Materialism* (OUP, 2022)

This roundtable brings together several scholars to discuss Loriliai Biernacki’s recent book The Matter of Wonder: Abhinavagupta’s Panentheism and the New Materialism (Oxford University Press, 2022) in the broader context of South Asian philosophies of materiality. What does it mean for a thing to be “material”? What is the relationship between matter and consciousness? What does it mean to speak of the divine as immanent within the material world? How might premodern thinkers like Abhinavagupta contribute to contemporary philosophies of materiality and the recovery of wonder?

Participants will discuss these questions and engage with Biernacki’s book from a variety of perspectives, drawing from a wide range of sources. Lynna Dhanani (UC Davis) will consider various pan-Indian conceptions of wonder as well as engage with Jaina and Sāṃkhya sources to explore the relevance and potential limitations of Abhinavagupta’s philosophy, as interpreted by Biernacki, to the contemporary ecological crisis. Sundari Johansen Hurwitt (CIIS) will focus on the material agency of the female body in Hindu Tantra and in Hindu traditions more broadly. John Nemec (UVa) will respond directly to Biernacki’s book from the perspective of Śaiva Tantra up to the time of Abhinavagupta. Finally, Sthaneshwar Timalsina (Stony Brook) will explore questions of materiality and immanence drawing from later Kaula thinkers such as Maheśvarānanda and Śitikaṇṭha. Elaine Fisher (Stanford) will moderate the session, and Loriliai Biernacki (U Colorado Boulder) will serve as respondent.