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Poligrafi

ISSN 1318-8828

6 papers in the library · 1 citation · publishing 2020-2025

Papers

Islamic Mysticism and Interreligious Dialogue

Poligrafi December 23, 2020 Mohammad Saeedimehr 1 citation

Islamic mysticism offers principles that can support productive interreligious dialogue. The paper examines three mystical bases: the metaphysical principle of the unity of existence (waḥdat al-wujūd), the anthropological concept of fitra (primordial human nature), and a hermeneutic method for interpreting the Qur'an. These principles have implications for both doxastic (belief-related) and moral dimensions of dialogue between religions. The author argues that mystical views provide good grounds for fruitful interreligious exchange.

The New Escape: Reality, Virtuality, and Religious Experience

Poligrafi December 18, 2025 Jonas Miklavčič

Escapism has reversed: virtual spaces, once a refuge from reality, are now what people want to escape. Practices like digital detoxes and offline retreats reveal an existential longing for silence, solitude, interiority, timelessness, and non-responsiveness—qualities that mirror religious experience across traditions. These disconnection practices seek a mode of experience resisting algorithmic logic, commodification, and performative visibility, though they are often documented online, reproducing the conditions they flee. This movement signals a widespread desire for depth and stillness. Contemporary escapism, though secular, implies a re-engagement with the sacred as a structure of experience rather than belief or doctrine.

In that very body, within that very dream

Poligrafi December 20, 2023 Nina Petek

Dreams played a role in early Buddhism, helping to establish the continuity of the tradition. Later, in the Buddhist eremitic tradition influenced by Tantric spirituality, a transformed concept of the body gave rise to a soteriological technique of dreaming (Tib. rmi lam). This practice is analyzed through fragments of mahāsiddha Tilopa, Gampopa's commentaries, and studies from Ladakh. Dream yoga has four stages, related to other psychophysical techniques (the six dharmas). Its philosophical foundations come from the yogācāra school's doctrine of consciousness, particularly Vasubandhu's three modifications of consciousness. Training in dreaming is significant for the dying process, leading to nirvāṇa.

New Approaches in the Empirical Study of Dreams

Poligrafi December 20, 2023 Kelly Bulkeley

Digital analysis tools are accelerating dream research by enabling large-scale empirical studies. Using the Sleep and Dream Database, a free online archive, researchers can perform statistical analyses of survey responses, systematic word searches of dream reports, and comparative measurements against baseline frequencies. The paper presents basic empirical findings on patterns of perception, emotion, and social interaction in dreaming, and reflects on the interplay between dreaming and technology.

The Plausibility of Mind Uploading

Poligrafi December 18, 2025 Bojan Žalec

This article examines the plausibility of uploading the human mind onto a non-biological digital medium, a concept gaining traction with advances in digital technology and artificial intelligence. The author argues that mind uploading conflicts with theological perspectives viewing humans as an inseparable unity of mind and body. He critically examines the fundamental assumptions of mind uploading—dualism and functionalism—and presents arguments against its plausibility, including the biological limitations of consciousness, the phenomenological aspect of embodiment, the active perspective of consciousness, the significance of the body model in identity, and the role of the body in social integration. He concludes that mind uploading remains highly questionable, as the human mind is fundamentally dependent on its biological and bodily aspects.

The Somaesthetics of Heaviness and Hara in Zen Buddhist Meditation

Poligrafi December 20, 2023 Geoffrey Ashton

Breath is central to Buddhist meditation, but Rinzai Zen adapts early Buddhist breath practices in distinctive ways. In traditional Buddhist meditation, observing the breath helps practitioners realize that suffering is not ultimately binding. Rinzai Zen's seated meditation (zazen) also begins with attention to breath and fosters mind-body unity, but it recasts early Buddhist respiratory philosophy through a somaesthetic orientation. Zazen emphasizes postural form, sensing gravity, and breathing from the hara (lower belly) to transform the weight of suffering into nondual, vital energy. This paper explores how these adaptations occur.