Contemplative practices of the many traditions of the West and of the East have different characteristics. For example, the absorption of mystics (in Christian or Sufi traditions) has a different character than does Buddhist contemplation. Whereas the mystic enters into the subtle domain of mind in the experience of a higher power (in the face …
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Concurrent Session 1 – “This peace, this rest, this eternity”: Meditation and Consciousness in Modernist Literature
This paper explores the role of the meditative mind in modernist literatureand theories of consciousness. Modernist authors, such as Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust, and William Faulkner, are known for their fascination with subjective perception and self-conscious interiority, as well as representations of trauma and illness. This paper shows how the hitherto unexplored trajectory of the …
Concurrent Session 4 – Leaning into Difference Through Contemplative Education: A Mindful Exploration of Power, Privilege, and Oppression
“The single most pressing issue . . . in the 21st century is helping students learn to engage constructively with those who are not like themselves” (Coburn, 2005). How can we teach students to constructively engage with The Other? How do we inspire learners to move beyond their zones of comfort and privilege, and support …
The Peril and Promise of Selflessness
A psychologist explores the path into depression or anatta
Grey Matters: Examining Subjective Experience
Mind & Life’s resident neuroscientist on the past, present, and future of neurophenomenology.
