This article presents approaches to the reception of religion proposed by the German sociologist and phenomenologist Gustav Mensching (1901-1978). Mensching’s primary goal was to identify a more meaningful perspective for studying religion in its existential and social essence. He proposed considering the interdisciplinary interaction between sociology of religion and phenomenology of religion,...
The article considers silence as the most important component of vipassana (meditation technique from early Buddhism) as it is taught in the tradition of S.N. Goenka. As a religious vow, silence is a condition for the successful meditation retreat. Although meditative silence does not seem to form sociality, vipassana courses are a collective practice. After the end of courses, the desire of...