Meditation and the Post-Secular Condition
The Oxford Handbook of Meditation May 7, 2020 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198808640.013.29
Summary
The chapter discusses how meditation practice relates to the post-secular turn in culture, emphasizing a shift from transcendence to immanence. It critiques the traditional divide between secularism and religion, noting that contemporary meditation is often more secular. The author proposes a new approach to meditation that recognizes this post-secular context, especially as secular mindfulness practices risk losing their ethical foundations.
Study at a glance
| Key finding | Meditation practices are increasingly secular, prompting a need for a reinterpretation that acknowledges the post-secular turn. |
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Abstract
Abstract This chapter looks at the links between meditation practice and the post-secular turn in the wider domain of culture. The latter is a multifaceted phenomenon, and the chapter focuses on one of these—namely the assertion of immanence over transcendence. This calls for a reinterpretation of the habitual opposition between secularism and religion. Meditation is often embedded in either a religious or secular framework, with contemporary forms increasingly of the latter kind. A third way is suggested, in favor of a meditation practice that acknowledges the post-secular turn. This is particularly called for at a time when secularist forms of meditation such as mindfulness have been decontextualized to the extent of undermining the ethical context of meditation.