Contemplative Studies: Prospects for a New Field

It is time to reenvision higher education to foster deeper knowledge of human existence in an interrelated world. Developing a new academic field, “contemplative studies,” would bridge the humanities, sciences, and creative arts. This field would take account of emerging scientific work on the neurological foundations of concentrated and relaxed states attained by meditation and other endeavors, applying them directly to life rather than studying them as objects divorced from experience. The goal is to identify varieties of contemplative experiences, find meaningful scientific explanations, cultivate firsthand knowledge, and critically assess their nature and significance.

Study at a glance

Abstract

We have reached a moment in history when it is time to reenvision certain basic aspects of the existing models of teaching and research in higher education in order to foster a deeper knowledge of the nature of our existence as human beings in a world that is intricately interrelated on many levels. This article suggests that one way to accomplish this is to develop a new field of academic endeavor that takes account of the emerging scientific work on the neurological foundations of the concentrated and relaxed states of mind attained by meditation and by a variety of other human endeavors, and applies them directly to our lives. It is important that we do not study them only as objects divorced from our own experience, but bring our own subjectivities directly into the equation. The field I am proposing, “contemplative studies,” would bridge the humanities, the sciences, and the creative arts in an effort to identify the varieties of contemplative experiences, to find meaningful scientific explanations for them, to cultivate firsthand knowledge of them, and to critically assess their nature and significance.