Skip to content

Secularization and its ethical consequences: orthodox Israeli Jews sanctifying ‘mundane’ Buddhist meditation

Ori Mautner

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute September 18, 2022 DOI: 10.1111/1467-9655.13822 (opens in new tab)

Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Qualitative study Peer reviewed
Population Orthodox Jewish Israeli meditators practicing vipassanā (insight) meditation
Topics Buddhism Meditation
Citations 4
Key findings Argues that the secularization of vipassanā allows Orthodox Jewish Israelis to adopt it as a religiously neutral, therapeutic body-focused technique without concern over 'idolatry', while also using it to enhance Jewish practice, character, and closeness to God, and sometimes situating it in a national-religious narrative of redemption.

Abstract

Abstract ‘Insight’ or vipassanā meditation refers to meditative practices employed within Buddhist traditions. But following the secularization of vipassanā in recent decades – that is, its differentiation from Buddhism – orthodox Jewish Israeli meditators frame it as a religiously neutral, therapeutic technique centred on the mundane human body. They thus consider it as involving no forbidden ‘Eastern’ religious contents. Nevertheless, these ‘Jewish Vipassanā’ meditators also utilize insight meditation for improving their Jewish practice, characters, and ability to experience closeness to God; and some situate it within a national‐religious historical narrative culminating in redemption. The secularization of vipassanā enables orthodox Jewish practitioners to engage with it in ways that are significant for them as observant Jews, and without continually being concerned over ‘idolatry’. Secularization therefore has important implications for people's ethical projects, or attempts to foster what they consider good. Examining these implications can both stimulate secular studies and contribute to anthropological research on ethics.

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 4

Related reading

Explore topics

Buddhism Meditation