Implicit Religion
October 30, 2025
André Van der Braak
1 citation
Latour constructs a plurality of ontologies by distinguishing various modes of existence with their own type of existent. One of these modes of existence is religion, which involves invisible “beings of religion.” Latour criticizes both psychological and (onto)theological interpretations of such beings. He distinguishes between psychogenic beings that constitute the self, and beings of religion...
Ai & Society
October 28, 2025
Omer Chomski
2 citations
Abstract Meditation has been a cornerstone of Buddhism for millennia, yet its adoption in Western culture increasingly intertwines spirituality with digital technologies. Neuro-meditation devices, which employ neurofeedback and brain stimulation to enhance meditative states, are now promoted as tools that democratize meditation by flattening its learning curve and enabling real‐time progress...
Analítica
October 27, 2025
Richa Singh
This study investigates the role of Buddhist mindfulness techniques as foundational values in the emerging field of philosophical counselling. Bridging Eastern contemplative traditions and Western philosophical practice, the paper argues that mindfulness understood not merely as meditation but as active, value-oriented awareness; can significantly contribute to the goals of philosophical...
International Journal of the Classical Tradition
October 23, 2025
Carlos Sánchez Pérez
Abstract This paper explores the reception of ancient theurgy in contemporary online esotericism, with a particular focus on its transformation into the practice known as meme magic. Theurgy, a ritual practice rooted in Late Antique Neoplatonism and the Chaldean Oracles, was traditionally understood as a means of invoking the divine through symbols. Over the centuries, its legacy has persisted...
medRxiv
October 22, 2025
Matthew A Aldridge, Nanda Cara, Alan Simpson et al.
preprint
Abstract Second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs) extend typical mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) by grounding them in Buddhist epistemological and pedagogical frameworks and integrating additional Buddhist-derived practices. Systematic reviews show that MBIs can reduce burnout, distress, anxiety, depression and stress among university students—an issue of increasing...
Religions
October 21, 2025
J.S. Kim, Yuanfei Li, Fenggang Yang
This study examined the spatial distribution of shamanic practice in contemporary South Korea, focusing on its territorial relationship with institutional religions. Contrary to portrayals of shamanism as a rural remnant or as absorbed by Pentecostal Christianity, population-adjust maps and spatial models reveal substantial concentrations in urban and peri-urban districts. Drawing on a geocoded...
Humans
October 21, 2025
Federico Divino
With an emphasis on the adaptation and mediation of Buddhist meditation within Western societies, this study explores the transformative interaction of traditional contemplative practices and modern technologies. By means of an extensive ethnographic investigation carried out in multiple European locations, this study sheds light on the significant influence that digital devices—specifically,...
The Journal of Somaesthetics
October 12, 2025
Kei Nagaoka
This study explores the embodied experience of prostration among Tibetan Buddhists through ethnographic research in the Eastern Himalayas. I extend somaesthetics theory by using a sensory ethnographic approach to analyze the intersubjective relations and bodily sensibility that intersect in the daily experience of prostration. By focusing on the interactions among their senses, aesthetics, and...
Religions
October 7, 2025
Hong Zeng, Shu Su
The Bardo Thodol (bar do thos grol), commonly known in the West as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, has traditionally served as a spiritual manual guiding consciousness through the postmortem bardo (bar do) states toward liberation or rebirth. While prior interpretations have framed the text in ritualistic, psychological, or mystical terms, this essay proposes an original and interdisciplinary...
Schizophrenia Bulletin
October 1, 2025
Julia Cassaniti, Chaiyun Sakulsriprasert, T M Luhrmann
Background and hypothesis: Research has found that the content and valence of voices heard by persons with schizophrenia appear to be shaped by local culture. We interviewed twenty participants about their voices in Suan Prung Hospital in Chiang Mai, Thailand to see if, and how, there appeared to be such local influences. Study design: In an ethnographically driven and phenomenological study,...