“I Can’t Do All This—This Is Nuts!”: An Ethnographic Account of the Challenges Posed by Vajrayāna Deity Yoga in a Western Context
Sophie-Anne Perkins
Religions July 20, 2023 DOI: 10.3390/rel14070935 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 16 |
| Population | Western practitioners of Vajrayāna Buddhism |
| Topics | Buddhism Meditation |
| Keywords | Context archaeology Negotiation Meaning existential Ethnography Adaptation eye Epistemology Aesthetics Environmental ethics Psychotherapist Anthropology Social science Theology |
| Key findings | Sixteen Western Vajrayāna practitioners identified contextual, epistemic, ethical, personal, practical, religious, and socio-cultural factors that challenged their learning and engagement in deity yoga, and they adopted various strategies to overcome these challenges. |
Abstract
This article provides an in-depth exploration of the contextual, epistemic, ethical, personal, practical, religious, and socio-cultural factors that sixteen Western practitioners of Vajrayāna Buddhism highlighted as having particularly challenged their ability to learn and engage in deity yoga, including what strategies they may have adopted in attempting to overcome their impact. While these have been largely overlooked by empirical research on meditation, their pertinence to understanding practice efficacy and outcome, as well as the phenomenological unfolding of particularly adverse practice-related experiences, have recently been recognized alongside the prevalence of the latter. In addition, these practitioner testimonies shed light on how the cross-cultural transmission of Vajrayāna Buddhism involves a process in which practice approaches and environments are undergoing adaptation and negotiation in light of the needs and lifestyles of lay practitioners, while meaning is being synthesized through their responses to the experiences that unfold not only from their exposure to teachers and their teachings but also from their engagement in tantric practice.
Comparable studies
Other qualitative studies on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan... | 2017 | Qualitative study with mixed-methods | |
| A phenomenology of meditation-induced light experiences: traditional buddhist and neurobiological perspectives American Buddhist practitioners | 2014 | Qualitative study | |
| Common Core Thesis and Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Mysticism in Chinese Buddhist Monks and Nuns Chinese Pure Land and Chan Buddhist monks and nuns | 2011 | Mixed-methods study | n = 139 |
| Anger regulation in traumatized Cambodian refugees: the perspectives of Buddhist monks. Buddhist Cambodian monks in Massachusetts | 2011 | Qualitative study | n = 6 |
| The Lived Experiences of Experienced Vipassana Mahasi Meditators: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Experienced Vipassana Mahasi meditators | 2018 | Qualitative study |
Citations in the library
Cites 15
- The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists PLoS One May 24, 2017
- Future directions in meditation research: Recommendations for expanding the field of contemplative science PLoS One November 7, 2018
- A phenomenology of meditation-induced light experiences: traditional buddhist and neurobiological perspectives Frontiers in Psychology 2014
- The Influence of Buddhist Meditation Traditions on the Autonomic System and Attention BioMed Research International 2015
- Editorial: What can Neuroscience Learn from Contemplative Practices? Frontiers in Psychology November 10, 2015
and 10 more in the library