Meditation and Culture

Eifrings edited volume is an extraordinarily rich collection of essays, by some of the most prominent scholars of meditation theory and practice worldwide, which accomplishes even more than the book itself promises. Meditation emerges here as not simply a crucial influence on its ambient cultural contexts but as one of human civilizations greatest cultural achievements in its own right. -- Robert E. Buswell, Jr., Irving and Jean Stone Endowed Chair in Humanities, Director, Center for Buddhist Studies, University of California, USA, and author of The Zen Monastic Experience This innovative volume brings together a group of excellent essays that illustrate the diverse ways in which meditative practices from a range of religious traditions are embedded in their cultural contexts. It is a must-read for anyone interested in better understanding the complex interplay of religious thought, meditative practice, and the socio-cultural environment, and who wants to explore meditation as a cross-cultural and cross-religious concept. -- Morten Schltter, Associate Professor of Chinese Religion, The University of Iowa, USA

Halvor Eifring is Professor of Chinese at the University of Oslo, Norway. He teaches Chinese language, literature and culture and directs an international research project on the cultural histories of meditation. He is General Secretary of Acem International School of Meditation.

List of Illustrations Acknowledgments List of Contributors Introduction 1 Meditative Practice and Cultural Context, Halvor Eifring Section 1 Traveling Practices 2 The Daoist Adaptation of Buddhist Insight Meditation, Livia Kohn 3 Ignatian Visual Meditation in Seventeenth-Century China, Nicolas Standaert 4 Modern Meditation in the Context of Science, yvind Ellingsen and Are Holen Section 2 Competing Practices 5 Mindfulness and Mindlessness in Early Chn, Robert H. Sharf 6 Reverence and Quietude in Neo-Confucianism, Rur-bin Yang 7 Meditative Pluralism in Hanshan Dqing, Halvor Eifring Section 3 Competing Cultures 8 The Hindi Sants Two Yogic Paths to the Formless Lord, Daniel Gold 9 Inner Islamization in Java, Paul D. Stange 10 Cinnabar-fi eld Meditation in Korea, Don Baker Section 4 Cultural Mosaics 11 Tibetan Chd as Practiced by Ani Lochen Rinpoche, Hanna Havnevik 12 Vedic Chanting as a Householders Meditation Practice in the Tamil Saiva Siddhanta Tradition, M. D. Muthukumaraswamy 13 Spontaneous Thoughts in Meditative Traditions, Halvor Eifring Notes References Index