Landscapes of Transcendence
Sanjeeva Guneratne, Upendra RMK Rajapaksha, Faiz MMT Marikar
Social Sciences and Education Research Review April 21, 2025 preprint DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15258276 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Sacredscape Mountain Transcendence Aniconic Archetypal Nature |
| Key points | Argues that integrating South and Southeast Asian notions of sacrality with Western psychobiological perspectives reveals both challenges and possibilities for the resacralisation of mountain sacredscapes worldwide. |
Abstract
This study presents a philosophical and theoretical overview of the process by which "geography and spiritual growth converge” in the construction of sacrality and experience of transcendence in the aniconic mountain sacredscapes of the world. Parallel concepts such as apophasis and archetypicality are explored in order to emphasise their points of convergence, it is supported by a literature review that explores the commonalities between Buddhist Insight Meditation, geo-phenomenology and major Western discourses on transcendence and the wilderness as a restorative landscape. In this fashion, common ontological and epistemological ground is sought against the backdrop of what is evidently a rapprochement between these traditions in the modern era. This paper, therefore, is an attempt at integrating South and Southeast Asian notions of sacrality with Western psychobiological perspectives. The outcome shows the challenges and possibilities for the resacralisation of mountain sacredscapes the world over.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |