Introducing Contemplative Studies

Louis Komjathy

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781119156727
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Asian Religions

The first book-length introduction to an exciting new interdisciplinary field—written by an internationally recognized leader of the Contemplative Studies movement

This is the first book-length introduction to a growing and influential interdisciplinary field focused on contemplative practice, contemplative experience, and contemplative pedagogy. Written by an internationally recognized leader in the area, Introducing Contemplative Studies seeks to provide readers with a deep and practical understanding of the nature and purpose of the field while encouraging them to find a place of their own in an increasingly widespread movement.

At once comprehensive overview, critical reflection, and visionary proposal, the book explores the central approaches and issues in Contemplative Studies, tackles questions and problems that sometimes go unaddressed, and identifies promising new developments. The author also discusses contemplative pedagogy, an experiential approach to teaching and learning informed by and expressed as contemplative practice.

This is a major introduction to a fast emerging interdisciplinary field that will be invaluable to those interested in the area.

• The only comprehensive introduction to the emerging, interdisciplinary field of Contemplative Studies
• Written by a distinguished leader in the Contemplative Studies movement who is founding Co-Chair of the Contemplative Studies Group of the American Academy of Religion
• Informed by ten years of research and practice, the book explores the field's varied approaches and expressions
• Offers critical reviews of trends which will create discussions both within and outside the Contemplative Studies
• Liberally illustrated with both images and charts

Introducing Contemplative Studies is a must-read for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, teachers and scholars in Contemplative Studies, as well as anyone who is curious about contemplative practice, meditation, contemplative experience, contemplative pedagogy, contemplative science, and, of course, the exciting field of Contemplative Studies generally.

1
Contemplative Studies

Contemplative Studies (CS; COST) is an emerging interdisciplinary field dedicated to research and education on contemplative practice and contemplative experience, including the possible relevance and application to a wide variety of undertakings. As it is still in its formative moments, being expressed in various ways, the parameters of the field invite exploration and are open to debate. In the present chapter, I begin with an overview of the field in which emphasis is placed on defining characteristics. This is followed by a “meta‐history” of the field, including critical reflection on cultural influences and emerging trends. Next, I discuss important programs, organizations, and venues. Here I highlight some examples as models and opportunities for reflection. The chapter concludes with reflection on critical issues in the field as currently expressed.

An Emerging Interdisciplinary Field

Contemplative Studies is an emerging interdisciplinary field dedicated to research and education on contemplative practice and contemplative experience,¹ including the possible relevance and application to a wide variety of undertakings. It may employ first‐person, second‐person, and third‐person approaches, although “critical first‐person discourse” is a defining characteristic. In short, Contemplative Studies represents a paradigm shift, a new model for research and education. There are some parallels and overlapping concerns with other fields of inquiry, such as consciousness studies, mysticism studies, neuroscience, psychology, Religious Studies, and so forth. Individuals familiar with or located within religious traditions, especially the contemplative expressions of Christianity, might think that “Contemplative Studies” refers to the study and practice of contemplation, but the name is increasingly being used to designate the emerging field, the “contemplative movement.” Contemplative practice and contemplative experience are the primary focus and shared interest. As explored more fully in subsequent chapters, “contemplative practice” is a larger umbrella category; it encompasses approaches and practices more commonly referred to as “meditation,” “prayer,” and cognate disciplines. Contemplative practice refers to various approaches, disciplines, and methods for developing attentiveness, awareness, compassion, concentration, presence, wisdom, and the like. Possible connective strands or family resemblances include attentiveness, awareness, interiority, presence, silence, transformation, and a deepened sense of meaning and purpose (see Komjathy 2015). Such practices include not only religiously committed and tradition‐based methods, but also ecumenical, spiritualist, and secular ones. Recognizing but even going beyond modern movement awareness practices, members of Contemplative Studies tend to understand “contemplative practice” in terms of a specific approach, an approach that may be applied to and expressed in almost any activity. This includes art, dance, writing, photography, research, teaching, theatre, walking, and so forth.² That is, as discussed below, the “interdisciplinary” or “multidisciplinary,” even “transdisciplinary,” dimension of Contemplative Studies may include almost any undertaking, area of interest, or field of inquiry. Along these lines, Contemplative Studies concerns itself with “contemplative experience,” or experiences that occur within the context of contemplative practice, are associated with particular contemplative practices, and/or are deemed significant by contemplatives and related communities. The field is also closely connected with “contemplative pedagogy,” or teaching and learning informed by and perhaps expressed as contemplative practice. While these are sometimes conflated, Contemplative Studies, in my way of thinking, encompasses contemplative pedagogy; contemplative pedagogy is one expression of Contemplative Studies, perhaps, albeit, an essential one.

Although the parameters of this exciting, controversial, and potentially subversive field are still being established, we may identify a specific esprit de corps (“spirit of body”), gestalt (“shape”/“form”), and zeitgeist (“spirit of the age”). It also involves a “paradigm shift” (see Kuhn 1996). One key characteristic and generally shared commitment is contemplative practice. Contemplative Studies involves, perhaps requires, practice. We may refer to this dimension of Contemplative Studies as “practice commitment.” For this type of inquiry to be fully successful, individuals need to have direct experience with personal contemplative practice. One critically investigates one’s personal experience, whether psychological or somatic, in the context of one’s own actual practice. This includes recognition of embodied, lived, sociopolitical, and other layers of practice and experience. We may refer to this second key characteristic as “critical subjectivity,” or “critical first‐person discourse” (Roth 2006, 2008). As first described by the Dutch psychologist Han de Wit in his influential Contemplative Psychology (1991),

Psychology of religion, “of” being used in the conventional sense of “about,” is a form of what is nowadays called third‐person psychology. Psychology in the third‐person is about other people, about “him” or “her” or “them”; it has other people as its object of study … Contemplative psychology, however, focuses rather strongly on personal experience as it occurs to me or us. While also accepting the approach of a third‐person psychology, contemplative psychology comprises a first‐person psychology and methodology that includes subjectivity or “private experience.”

(31–32, italics in original)

We will return to psychological approaches to Contemplative Studies and the concept of “experience” later. For the moment, we may note that this line of inquiry is not just knowledge about, but knowledge of and from (see also Forman 1993, 1998; Komjathy 2016a, 2016b, 2017a). The practical and experiential dimension of the field is one area of discomfort for more conservative individuals, including some educators and scholars. Rightfully so. In addition to practice commitment and critical subjectivity, members of the field generally recognize and emphasize the beneficial and transformative effects of contemplative practice. These extend from positive psychosomatic changes to forms of sociopolitical engagement and application, including action directed toward increased peace and social justice. The latter may involve concern for the alleviation of suffering, even extended to animal welfare. That is, there is an ethical and social, or at least an existential and psychological, dimension. We may refer to this third characteristic of Contemplative Studies as “character development.”³ Given such commitments, it is legitimate to question the informing motivations, rationales, agendas, and the like. As discussed below, these are often sources of concern for potential critics, though the latter’s discomfort may increase considerably when the gaze is reversed to illuminate their own unrecognized biases as well as larger social forces and institutional structures, including issues of access, discrimination, power, privilege, and so forth (see Chapter 7). In any case, some generally shared values of members of the field include awareness, empathy, interiority, presence, reflection, silence, wisdom, and of course appreciation of the beneficial and transformative influences of contemplative practice itself (see Chapter 3). Individuals familiar with ancient Hellenistic culture and the monastic foundations of the university may hear echoes here (see, e.g., Hadot 1995; Ferzoco and Muessig 2000), but comparative Religious Studies reveals some important cross‐cultural parallels with respect to contemplative practice and contemplative experience (see, e.g., Komjathy 2015). In this way, there is overlap with Spirituality as an Academic Discipline (see, e.g., Frohlich 2001; Dreyer and Burrows 2005; Sherman 2014a)⁴ and even the “new monasticism” movement (see, e.g., McEntee and Bucko 2015). That is, from a certain perspective, there might be some connections with critical adherence, lived religion, interreligious dialogue, and even comparative theology. However, many, perhaps most, members of the field generally conceive of it or wish to conceive of it as a “secular,” “objective,” and/or “scientific” undertaking, as explicitly “not religious.” This is partially a protective strategy, rooted in fear of potential opposition to perceived sectarianism and (covert) proselytization. I will critically investigate these various claims and views in the pages that follow. For the moment, we may say that practice commitment, critical subjectivity, and character development are three essential features of the emerging field. While alternative and complementary approaches (e.g., historicism, neuroscience) are possible, the field would not be what it is and what it may be without these characteristics.

As mentioned, the field of Contemplative Studies is still in its formative phase, even though certain trends and social expressions have been established. Although there is some coherence as well as shared interests and values, Contemplative Studies as a field is diverse, disparate, and decentralized. There is no single or dominant model or authority. In fact, as the history of the field reveals (see below), it may be that egalitarianism and anti‐authoritarianism are implicit values. Given the recent pedigree, radicalness, and diversity of the field, there is thus great potential for exploration, collaboration, and innovation. That is, individuals and communities with affinities for contemplative practice and associated applications have an opportunity to participate here. In terms of my own involvement, I have found that acceptance and experimentation are the norm. We do not really know what we are doing or what is possible. I do not say this as support for critique and dismissal, as though participating individuals are unconscious and uncritical. While there clearly are blind spots, areas of denial and resistance, and tendencies requiring deeper reflection, the field evidences a high degree of critical awareness and intentional development. However, there is no single approach or mandated structure for participation, even if some patterns are becoming more entrenched. Perhaps this is analogous to the Indian parable of blind men trying to describe an elephant, with each understanding a certain part that they have touched. Ultimately, Contemplative Studies represents an open field (no pun intended) for interested individuals. In its current and emerging expression, it has a vaguely recognizable form with a spaciousness capable of encompassing diverse interests, approaches, and articulations. It invites and encourages personal inquiry, reflection, and perhaps application. This even extends to informed and thoughtful critics. From my perspective, the contemplative in Contemplative Studies presupposes such characteristics, including a commitment to meta‐reflection. The latter involves the investigation of unquestioned assumptions and the overcoming of ingrained opinions, both within and beyond the field. It involves asking to what extent the field’s members and diverse expressions are actually contemplative.

Given the recent emergence of Contemplative Studies, there have been few explicit discussions on a conceptual and theoretical level. One of the earliest attempts to describe the field was written by Harold Roth (2006), director of the interdisciplinary Contemplative Studies Initiative at Brown University:

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Prospects for a New Field

A new field of academic endeavor devoted to the critical study of contemplative states of experience is developing in North America. It focuses on the many ways human beings have found, across cultures and across time, to concentrate, broaden and deepen conscious awareness. Contemplative studies is the rubric under which this research and teaching can be organized. In the field of contemplative studies we attempt to:

1. Identify the varieties of contemplative experiences of which human beings are capable;
2. Find meaningful scientific explanations for them;
3. Cultivate first‐person knowledge of them;
4. Critically access their nature and significance.

That is, we study the underlying philosophy, psychology and phenomenology of human contemplative experience through a combination of traditional third‐person approaches and more innovative, critical first‐pe...