Contemplative Practice in the Face of the Climate Crisis
P. Woodhouse
Modern Believing 2022 DOI: 10.3828/mb.2022.5 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that contemplative practice can help people cope with despair over the climate and biodiversity crisis by fostering a new relationship with the natural world and new ways of knowing, seeing, and understanding. The author contends that these capacities confront the myths of consumer capitalism and human exceptionalism and lead to living differently and becoming part of a different story. |
Abstract
As the climate and biodiversity crisis grows ever more serious, the article suggests five human reactions to climate change and the deeper responses they can provoke. It then explores what a contemplative practice can mean and how it can be a profound resource in coping with the despair that so many feel. This practice leads to a new relationship with the natural world. It assists in developing a new knowing, seeing and understanding, all of which confront the modern myths of consumer capitalism and human exceptionalism. Finally the article describes how contemplative practice leads to a way of living differently and becoming part of a different story.
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 |