Deconversion
Drifting through Samsara December 2, 2021 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197579961.003.0007 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1 |
| Population | One individual who deconverted from Goenka's Vipassana movement |
| Key findings | Authenticity talk functions as a rhetoric of self-reconstruction and empowerment after exit, not as an actual motive for leaving the movement. |
Abstract
Abstract This chapter explores deconversion as a rare exit pattern from Goenka’s Vipassana movement. Through a detailed exploration of a single case study, this chapter explores the narrator’s attempt to flee the movement’s universe of discourse. The chapter introduces the term ‘authenticity talk’ to refer to a style of discourse that functions both as (1) a recourse for self-reconstruction post exit, and (2) a rhetoric that provided the narrator with a sense of autonomy, empowerment, and self-validation. The chapter argues that the disengagement literature takes authenticity talk at face value and mistakenly conceives of it as an actual motive behind exit.
Citations in the library
Cites 6
- The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists PLoS One May 24, 2017
- Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience Numen 1995
- A phenomenology of meditation-induced light experiences: traditional buddhist and neurobiological perspectives Frontiers in Psychology 2014
- Producing intersubjectivity in silence: An ethnographic study of meditation practice Ethnography June 1, 2010
- AGNOSTIC MEDITATIONS ON BUDDHIST MEDITATION Zygon December 3, 2025
and 1 more in the library