From ego to eco: re-orienting for processual ontology in the "Dao-Field".
Heesoon Bai, Scott Bowering, Jesse Haber, Avraham Cohen, David C Chang
Cultural Studies of Science Education April 20, 2021 DOI: 10.1007/s11422-021-10028-w (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | The anthropocene Arts-based practices Atomistic worldview Inner work Processual ontology The dao field |
| Key points | Argues that humanity's damaging "atomistic" metaphysics, which treats existents as self-existing and competitive, underlies anthropogenic ecological destruction, and proposes replacing it with a processual ontology, such as Whitehead's, of complete interdependence, supported by "inner work" such as meditative and arts-based practices that shift the ego self toward an eco self. |
Abstract
The planet Earth has become increasingly susceptible to human-induced (anthropogenic) ecological disasters. The currently raging COVID-19 pandemic adds to the vast scale of destruction and suffering that humanity and the planet are experiencing. In this paper we explicate the meaning of 'human-induced' destruction in the terms of the damaging and hurting metaphysics (beyond the physical or material) that modern humanity has been entertaining in their conceptual and emotional minds and materially projecting onto the world. In turn, the damaging and hurting metaphysics is explicated in the terms of atomism that conceives all existents as self-existing and independent, necessarily engaged in competition against each other for survival. We propose to replace such metaphysics with one of the processual ontologies, such as that of Alfred North Whitehead, in which humans see themselves and each other as continuously interfusing and co-creatively re/e/merging relata of complete interdependence. This way, all of us, all the time, become "one with The Ten Thousand Things."-an expression in Chinese for the phenomenal world of thriving diversity and conviviality. We further explore self-cultivation of inner work that aids the shift from ego self to eco self, such as meditative and arts-based practices.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |