Tenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

While the preponderance of the female in congregational religions is said to be universal, the gender gap in New Age spirituality, more commonly known as Body-Mind-Spirit (身心靈) in Hong Kong is arguably even larger. According to ethnographic observations conducted over a span of four months in Hong Kong in 2019, the male-female proportion of participants in various kinds of Body-Mind-Spirit activities is 1:9, which is highly disproportionate. Nonetheless, although male participants comprise only a small part of the Body-Mind-Spirit milieu, there are, in recent years, male-only Body-Mind-Spirit activities ranging from yoga classes, men’s healing circles to mindfulness workshop emerging in Hong Kong. Who are those who opted to participate in male-only Body-Mind-Spirit activities? What does a male-only environment, which is extremely rare in the Body-Mind-Spirit milieu in Hong Kong, offer its participants? Most importantly, what does the emergence of male-only Body-Mind-Spirit activities inform us about the pursuit of spirituality in modern society, as well as manhood and masculinity in Hong Kong? This paper will, by engaging with ethnographic evidence collected by in-depth interviews with organisers, facilitators and participants of male-only Body-Mind-Spirit activities in Hong Kong, analyse the wider implications of the appearance of such gender-specific form of modern spirituality.