Articles
Original scholarship published on a rolling basis
About
The Journal of Contemplative Studies regularly publishes original research and scholarship on topics related to the world’s contemplative traditions — historical and contemporary, religious and secular. Articles are not restricted to a particular disciplinary or methodological approach as long as scholarship is deeply grounded in the humanities or transdisciplinary scholarship with a humanistic core, and adheres to the journal’s Focus and Scope. Articles are reviewed and published on a rolling basis, either independently, or within a Special Issue. Details about how to submit an article are on the Submissions page.
Recent Articles
No Attainment, Nothing to Attain: A Buddhist Reflection on Psychedelics
Peter D. Hershock
The religious or spiritual value of contemplative practices and the use of psychedelics is not intrinsic to experiences obtained through them and is instead relational—a function of how they alter consciousness. Hershock presents a nonreductive, nondualist Buddhist account of consciousness that calls critically into question the merits of both physicalist and phenomenalist reductionism, makes a Buddhist case for seeing that changes in subjective experience are at best provisional goals of these alterations, and draws some challenging inferences regarding the dynamics of contemplative practice, and more.
Re-Visioning Ethnography Through Meditative Practice: The Proposal for a Contemplative Anthropology and Its Experience through Visual Elicitation Technique
Federico Divino
This article introduces a novel method presently in development that integrates ethnography and visual elicitation techniques to explore meditative experiences and investigate consciousness. Central to this method is the utilization of mandala-like images as a means to capture the dynamic evolution of consciousness during contemplative practices. This article provides an illustrative case study that scrutinizes the method’s potential applications and contributions within the domain of anthropological research on contemplative practices.
Hesychasm and Psychedelics: Altered States, Purgation, and the Question of Authentic Mysticism
Thomas Cattoi
Hesychasm is a form of monastic asceticism rooted in the tradition of the Desert Fathers and given a systematic articulation by the Byzantine author Gregory Palamas (1296–1359). This article considers how the mystical experiences described in Palamas’s Triads compare to the altered states at the center of contemporary psychedelic research, turning to the discipline of Comparative Theology as a helpful framework to bring into dialogue the hesychastic understanding of deification as a trajectory grounded in the reception of the sacraments and the therapeutic impact of psychedelic experiences.
Portrait of a Poison: Datura in Buddhist Magic
Samuel M. Grimes
The psychoactive plant Datura metel appears across a range of traditions in premodern South Asia including the form of tantric Buddhism (Vajrayāna) located in the yoginī tantras, where the plant is most prominently used in instructions for bringing about magical acts (ṣaṭkarman). This paper explores the possibility that datura was consumed for its hallucination-inducing potential by considering how the plant was viewed and used in premodern South Asia through an ethnobotanical approach to relevant texts. It argues that the material potency of the plant as a dangerous poison gave it a magical potency that made it a favored ingredient in several hostile magic rites (abhicāra) and suggests that the line between material and magical is an inappropriate distinction to draw when examining these tantras.
A Study of Cheng Yi’s Quiet-Sitting Meditation and Other Contemplative Practices in the Confucian Context
Bin Song
This study delves into Cheng Yi’s Ruist (Confucian) contemplative practices, addressing a gap in contemplative studies from a Ruist perspective. These practices, including quiet-sitting meditation, beholding, calligraphy, and restful sleep, emerged during political and social crises, amid diverse interpretations of Ruist classics and the influences of Buddhism and Daoism. Cheng Yi’s approach provides valuable comparative insights for contemporary contemplative studies and guidance for practitioners seeking to balance intellectualism, contemplation, and ethical action.
Relationships between Religious and Scientific Worldviews in the Narratives of Western Buddhists Reporting Meditation-Related Challenges
Roman Palitsky, David J. Cooper, Jared R. Lindahl, Willoughby B. Britton (PDF)
Relationships between religious and scientific worldviews are important factors in exploring meditation-related challenges for Western Buddhist meditators. Interviews with sixty-eight meditators and thirty-three meditation experts were analyzed to examine how they understand these relationships, which were observed to be conflicting, compatible, nested, discrete, and complementary. These dynamics suggest an expansion of existing understandings of the relationships between science and religion as they apply to Buddhist meditators.