Practices of Faith
From Design in Religion to Sacred in Design
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Zoltán Körösvölgyi
“There is something deeply hypocritical about praying for a problem you are unwilling to resolve.” Following the quote from Miroslav Volf, the presentation attempts to investigate questions raised by the author’s research of contemporary sacred art embedded in the field of design culture studies, with regard of the relation of design and religion. What can design learn from religion—and vice versa—in the era of the Capitalocene? Theories of sacred design to sacred service design suggest a wide range of approaches. The paper suggests that design culture and its academic studies, as “it forces one to move beyond the enervated position of the detached or alienated observer overwhelmed by images” to become “mobilized not merely as analysis, but as a generative mode that produces new sensibilities, attitudes, approaches, and intellectual processes in design practice” and the sacred, as it “inhabits this gap between knowing and doing, and could thus be a powerful counterforce to akrasia” show analogies, and can thus cooperate in providing a relevant and effective answer for major current challenges. In support of the arguments, the presentation uses works from Ferenc Svindt’s oeuvre as a case study.
Spirituality, Transpersonal Psychology and Eastern Traditions: Interdependencies and Mutual Influences
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Milica Zegarac
Contemporary Western spirituality with its main theme being the evolution of consciousness (i.e., psychospiritual development) on the one hand, and the ancient Eastern contemplative traditions on the other, are significantly interrelated. Also, the central theme of transpersonal psychology from its inception in the late 1960s to the beginning of the 21st century has been - its position as a liaison between the Western mainstream psychology and the Eastern spirituality. There has been an overwhelming interest in those spiritual traditions and many of their concepts such as healing, self-realization, expansion of consciousness, transformation, self-transcendence and immanence, and others. This study discusses the psychological and spiritual structures, functions, and developmental values expounded by both Yoga (e.g., subtle energy system) and Buddhism (e.g., nonduality, mindfulness). Those concepts significantly overlap with some contemporary transpersonal theories that focus on nondual states and stages, cartographies of consciousness, positive transpersonal emotions (e.g., joy and loving-kindness) and recent neuro-cognitive research. The author also investigates how the work of some of the forefathers of transpersonal movement such as William James, Roberto Assagioli, and Carl G. Jung, as well as its eminent founders such as Abraham Maslow, Stanislav Grof, and Ken Wilber, was influenced by the central tenets of Buddhism and Yoga as systems of philosophy/psychology. Furthermore, their mutual interdependence and manifestations are analyzed, while the findings of this study reveal some possible future developmental, therapeutic and clinical implications. Some of the offered postulates have a heuristic origin, while others are based on the literature review.
