Articles

“Re-Visioning Ethnography Through Meditative Practice: The Proposal for a Contemplative Anthropology and Its Experience through Visual Elicitation Technique” by Federico Divino, Visual and Digital Cultures research center at the University of Antwerp Abstract: This article introduces a novel method presently in development that integrates ethnography and visual elicitation techniques to explore meditative experiences and investigate…

“Hesychasm and Psychedelics: Altered States, Purgation, and the Question of Authentic Mysticism,” by Thomas Cattoi, Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University Abstract: The purpose of this essay is to introduce the reader to the tradition of Hesychasm—a form of monastic asceticism rooted in the tradition of the Desert Fathers and given a systematic…

“A Study of Cheng Yi’s Quiet-Sitting Meditation and Other Contemplative Practices in the Confucian Context”  Abstract: This study delves into Cheng Yi’s (程頤, 1033–1107) Ruist (Confucian) contemplative practices, addressing a gap in contemplative studies from a Ruist perspective. As a seminal thinker in the Cheng-Zhu lineage, Cheng Yi developed various practices, including quiet-sitting meditation, beholding,…

“Relationships between Religious and Scientific Worldviews in the Narratives of Western Buddhists Reporting Meditation-Related Challenges”  Abstract: Contemporary Buddhist meditators in the West are likely to find themselves engaged in practices with rich associations with both religious and scientific worldviews. Meditation-related challenges can provoke existential concerns that make unexplored relationships between religious and scientific worldviews more…