Embodied Consciousness in Tantric Yoga and the Phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty
James Morley
Religion and the Arts 2008 DOI: 10.1163/156852908x270980 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Argues that the congruence between yoga and phenomenology lies in immersion into the lived body as homology of the cosmos, not in transcendence from the world. |
Abstract
AbstractYoga, the ancient inter-religious thread running through all Indian Spirituality, shares a remarkable congruence with twentieth-century phenomenology. But this conjuncture is not based on a common aspiration of "transcendence from the world," as argued by previous comparisons. Instead, by applying the more advanced Existential Phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty to the more indigenous Tantric stream of yoga, it will be shown that this congruence occurs in just the opposite direction of immersion into the very "flesh of the world"—the lived human body as homology of the cosmos. Yoga may offer phenomenology a much-needed somatic contemplative praxis, as much as phenomenology may offer yoga the basis for an appropriate theoretical articulation.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- When Merleau-Ponty Encounters Fazang: Comparing Merleau-Pontian Body-Network with Fazang’s Interpretation of Indra’s Net for a Critical Techno-Ethics Religions November 7, 2025
- The role of sensous flow and sensing the ground in movement skill experiences-a reflection using the practice of yoga as an example. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living 2023
- Creation and the Transcategorial Phenomenal Creation and Religious Pluralism August 20, 2020
- ‘Getting it into the body’: understanding skill acquisition through Merleau-Ponty and the embodied practice of dance September 14, 2017