“Just a Swinging Door” – Examining the Egocentric Misconception of Meditation

Summary

Contemplative practices have been part of Western philosophy since antiquity but are now absent from academic philosophy, which treats knowledge as purely intellectual and ignores holistic mind-body engagement. This creates a blind spot for moral and pedagogical transformation. Meditation is often seen as apolitical and egoistic due to liberal and Cartesian views of subjectivity prevalent in education. Analyzing a breathing exercise can deconstruct these dualisms and open new ways to think about truth and subjectivity, with socio-political implications for educational theory and practice.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Various kinds of contemplative practices have been a part of the western philosophical tradition since the Age of Antiquity. Today, however, philosophy as a way of life has ceased to be an integral part of academic practice. The capability to gain knowledge or understanding is believed to come out of pure intellectual endeavor, without exercising the mind and body holistically. This has created a blind spot for philosophy, where no profound pedagogical and moral transformation of subjectivity can be articulated. Furthermore, meditation practices have often been understood as egoistic, apolitical activity. Our purpose is to suggest that this understanding is due to the liberalist and Cartesian tradition of subjectivity today widely proliferated in education. However, through an analysis of a meditation exercise in breathing, it is possible to deconstruct these notions and open novel vistas for thinking about the relationship between truth and subjectivity in education. A simple breathing exercise can dissolve the dualisms ingrained in occidental philosophy and culture - which has many socio-political implications for educational theory and praxis

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