Fashioning the Word-Tool: The Instrumental Character of the Word in Yogic Mantra Meditation and Phenomenology

The essay argues that yogic mantra meditation and phenomenology each offer insights that can enrich the other's understanding of language. Mantra meditators' experiences of sound and repetition reveal formative, pre-linguistic processes that shape linguistic meaning, which phenomenologists have largely overlooked. Conversely, phenomenology's analysis of intentionality and meaning provides a fresh perspective on the debate among mantra researchers about whether mantras are linguistic. The author suggests that mantras operate in a space between language and non-language, and that combining these two traditions can deepen our grasp of how meaning arises from embodied, meditative practice.

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Abstract

Abstract:This essay combines insights into the nature of language from yogic mantra meditation and phenomenology. I argue that phenomenologists can gain insights into the formative experiences that shape linguistic meaning from mantra meditators. Meanwhile, phenomenology can offer an original perspective on debates in mantra research concerning the linguisticality of mantras.