Religions
May 27, 2022
Louis Komjathy
2 citations
Animals teach each other, and humans open to cross-species dialogue can learn alternative ways of perceiving and being, challenging anthropocentric views of consciousness. The article argues that equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts should extend to non-human animals, which may be key to human freedom, wellness, and justice. It explores religion and animals through contemplation, blending Animal Studies, Contemplative Studies, Daoist Studies, and Religious Studies, with focus on Daoist animal engagement, including companionship and becoming animal. Theologically, the Dao manifests in every being, enabling inter-species communication and identification. The author suggests that 'animal contemplation'—centering the animal question and shared animality—offers opportunities for becoming fully human and may help address ecological collapse.
July 8, 2024
Louis Komjathy
1 citation
This chapter examines how Contemplative Studies influences research paradigms, assessing the current state of the field, the potential and significance of genuine interdisciplinarity, and the roles of contemplative inquiry and application. It concludes by envisioning an imagined (im)possible future for the field, reflecting on its aspirations and limitations.
Entangled Religions
December 2, 2025
Louis Komjathy
Daoist effortless meditation, rooted in classical Daoism's inner cultivation lineages (ca. 350–90 BCE), centers on wúwéi (non-action or effortlessness). The practice involves specific techniques intimately tied to this concept, along with related contemplative states and traits. The article urges examining meditation beyond mere technique, considering its aesthetics, material culture, place, and spatiality. It concludes with reflections from a lived Daoist perspective.
January 1, 2007
Louis Komjathy
This work examines the early Quanzhen religious movement, focusing on the lives and teachings of its founder Wang Chongyang and his first-generation disciples. It analyzes Quanzhen through the lens of comparative religious studies, particularly conceptions of self, religious praxis, and comparative mysticism. The authors contend that the study of Daoism is inseparable from the study of Chinese culture, history, and religion, and note that the field of Daoist Studies is dominated by a Sinological approach.
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation
November 6, 2019
Louis Komjathy
Meditation has been central to the Daoist tradition from the Later Han dynasty to the present. This chapter surveys five major forms: apophatic meditation, ingestion, visualization, inner observation, and internal alchemy. Ingestion and visualization were systematized in the early medieval period; inner observation, a Daoist adaptation of Buddhist insight meditation, became central during the Tang dynasty; internal alchemy developed in the late Tang and early Song. After that, apophatic meditation and internal alchemy became the two dominant forms. The chapter provides socio-historical background, technical specifics of each type, key texts, and informing views.