Transpersonal psychology has at times critiqued the broader psychology field for perpetrating a somewhat arbitrary Cartesian subject-object divide. Some phenomenologists claim that reframing this purported divide as an experienced phenomenon can defuse its philosophical impact. If subjective experiences are viewed as continuous with the lifeworld out of which objective phenomena are abstracted,...
This chapter focuses on exploring various models of spiritual development. It first addresses philosophical dilemmas underpinning the concept of spiritual development by questioning whether these can be addressed without metaphysical assumptions embedded in religious worldviews and thus understood in any consensual way across different historical and cultural contexts. Traditional models of...
This paper explores the experience of a silent meditation retreat from the perspective of a novice practitioner.The 7-day Scientist Meditation Retreat was held at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California.It was intended to provide meditation researchers an intensive silent retreat experience.The author shares his reflections throughout the retreat and concludes with some of the...