Reflections (Asynchronous - Online Only)
Featured When Pain becomes Love for God - the Self as Non-object : Phenomenological Analysis of Self-Inflicted Pain among Christian Monastic Ascetics in Central Medieval Europe View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Roni Naor Hofri
This paper explores how self-inflicted pain enabled the expression of love for God among Christian monastic flagellant ascetics in medieval central Europe. As scholars have shown, being in a state of pain leads to a change in or a destruction of language, an essential feature of the self. I argue that this transformation allows the self to transcend its boundaries as an object, even if only in part, in a limited manner and temporarily. The epistemic achievement of love for God, a non-object, would not otherwise have been possible. To substantiate my argument, I show that the self’s transformation into a non-object enabled the imitation of God: not solely in the sense of imitatio Christi, of the physical and visual representations of God incarnate in the flesh of His son Christ, but also in the sense of the self’s experience of being a non-object, just like God, the telos of the self’s love.
Music Performance as a Transpersonal and Integrative Spiritual Practice View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Vanessa Cornett
Beethoven wrote, in a letter to Goethe, “Music is indeed the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.” Artists for centuries have reported experiences of connecting to the divine, or to a higher purpose, when composing or performing music. Indeed, artistic creation and performance are contemplative practices. Engagement in the arts involves a focused state of mindful attention and, for some, a flow state of consciousness. The performing arts also represent a paradox for the musician who may seek contradictory experiences on stage: control and freedom, power and grace, and the state of effortless action (wu wei) described in the Tao Te Ching. Although music is an established medium by which people often transcend their daily lives, our culture has not yet satisfactorily considered the performing arts as a form of integrative spirituality. This paper describes theories and perspectives of music listening and music performance as contemplative practices, including the connection between Western performing arts traditions and ancient Eastern philosophies, and artistic performance as an integrative spiritual experience. This topic is a meaningful contribution to the field at a time when the separation between spiritual and secular, or religious and non-religious, is often treated as a binary distinction despite the contrary experiences of many creative artists. My research draws from the fields of music performance, the psychology of peak performance, and art and music as contemplative practices, in order to explore the nature of music and other embodied arts as transpersonal and integrative spiritual practices.
From Spiritual Society to Social Spirituality: A Critical Review of Sufi Methodology in the Subcontinent View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sultan Ahmed Ali
‘Spirituality’ has relatively been a highly debated topic in human and social sciences. All mainstream religions have spiritual teachings and practices that focus on one’s personal and social development. In Islamic studies, concept of Sufism is alternatively used as Islamic spirituality. Sufism has a widespread popularity and appeal, which sees it being increasingly adopted by people all across the world. Regardless of the recent popularity, the focus of Sufis remains on awakening spirituality and enhancing the positive energy among humans. This arguably provides the basis for a spiritual society. However, the link of such spiritual society to social spirituality is not well described in the prior literature. Therefore, given the niche gap, this study seeks to critically evaluate the Sufi methodology and its relation to spiritual society together with social spirituality. Largely using a qualitative methodology, the paper focuses on those societies that inherited Sufism as their core social ideology in the Subcontinent. In doing so, the paper tests the preliminary hypothesis that the way and approach to address the socio-economic, psychological, religious, ethnic, and political issues of a society revolve around formulation and implementation of strategies and spiritual methodism to get people acquainted with pluralism and religious harmony.
The Division between East and West and the Possibility of Reunification: Ut Unum Sint View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Angelos Mavropoulos
The first and most important schism in Christianity took place in 1054 AD, when the two big Christian Churches, Eastern and Western, were divided. In reality, the separation dates back even before the birth of Christ, since it was the culmination of a long and slow process of misunderstanding and gradual estrangement. Today, about a millennium later, the relationship between the two Churches is still, sadly, a schismatic one. However, apart from the differences, there always has been mutual appreciation and respect between the two traditions. In addition, some sincere efforts for reconciliation to be achieved have been made. Are these efforts enough? Should the two sides engage in a more systematic and active dialogue, based on their mutual respect? Are there, ultimately, any chances of reunification? This work examines exactly these chances, in complete alignment with the words of John Paul II: “To believe in Christ means to desire unity.”
