Drawing on Simone Weil's philosophy, the paper argues that praying the Rosary can cultivate the kind of deep, selfless attention that Weil considered central to moral and spiritual life. Weil's two-step philosophical method—reflection on personal experience—is applied to the Rosary, showing how the practice can serve as a spirituality of liberation. The work presents Weil as both a mystic and a radical, and contributes to progressive discourse in the philosophy of religion within the Roman Catholic tradition.
Zen is presented as a way to understand the true self before conceptual thinking arises. This true self is perceived by letting go of concepts and abstractions and moving into intuition, which is direct experience of reality without mediation. The Zen tradition offers two practices to achieve this state: Zazen (sitting meditation) and Koan (interview with the Zen Master). Awareness of the true self, or intuition, is also seen as enlightenment and true freedom. The paper critically examines these practices and considers how both can contribute to the development of human life.