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UID:news83@ethnologie.philhist.unibas.ch
DTSTAMP;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20190306T095519
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20190320T161500
SUMMARY:“Silence of Being”: Performative Knowledge and Unknowing as Ag
ents of Perceptual Change in Contemplative Christian Ritual
DESCRIPTION:Silence\, meditation\, chant . . . traffic jams? One teacher
in my ethnographic research among a global network of inter-religious Chri
stian contemplatives said\, “Commuter traffic\, like silent meditation\,
is an invitation to the contemplative life.” Though most set aside sp
ecial periods each day for formalized ritual and silence\, these contempla
tive practitioners of a meditation technique called Centering Prayer also
approach ordinary activities as “prayer without ceasing.” Monastic
and non-monastic\, religiously affiliated and independent\, diverse membe
rs of the Centering Prayer network understand the “inner gestures” of
meditation to be a way of cultivating a “silence of being” that can pe
rmeate all aspects of life\, even in the uncertain\, bustling spheres of t
heir pluralized worlds. Drawing from more than ten years of ethnographic
research in North America and on pilgrimages to India\, Italy\, and Israe
l/Palestine\, this paper describes how members of this global movement int
entionally foster “unknowing”\, a ritualized form of ambiguity\, along
side intellectual knowledge and social activism in an effort to work towar
d a phenomenological transformation of consciousness in any context\, whet
her acoustically still or not. Here\, I will introduce the terms\, apoph
asis (ambiguous\, contemplative “inner gestures”) and cataphasis (obse
rvable action)\, to the anthropological study of ritual and silence to hel
p us understand how everyday behaviours can become acts of contemplation w
hen addressed with intentionality and discipline.\\r\\nDr. Paula Pryce is
a lecturer and research associate at the University of British Columbia in
Vancouver\, Canada. She is the author of The Monk’s Cell: Ritual and
Knowledge in American Contemplative Christianity (Oxford University Press\
, 2018) and “Keeping the Lakes’ Way”: Reburial and the Re-Creation
of a Moral World among an Invisible People (University of Toronto Press\,
1999).
X-ALT-DESC:Silence\, meditation\, chant . . . traffic jams? \; O
ne teacher in my ethnographic research among a global network of inter-rel
igious Christian contemplatives said\, “Commuter traffic\, like silent m
editation\, is an invitation to the contemplative life.” \; Though m
ost set aside special periods each day for formalized ritual and silence\,
these contemplative practitioners of a meditation technique called Center
ing Prayer also approach ordinary activities as “prayer without ceasing.
” \; \; Monastic and non-monastic\, religiously affiliated and i
ndependent\, diverse members of the Centering Prayer network understand th
e “inner gestures” of meditation to be a way of cultivating a “silen
ce of being” that can permeate all aspects of life\, even in the uncerta
in\, bustling spheres of their pluralized worlds. \; Drawing from more
than ten years of ethnographic research in North America and on pilgrimag
es to India\, Italy\, and Israel/Palestine\, this paper describes how memb
ers of this global movement intentionally foster “unknowing”\, a ritua
lized form of ambiguity\, alongside intellectual knowledge and social acti
vism in an effort to work toward a phenomenological transformation of cons
ciousness in any context\, whether acoustically still or not. \; Here\
, I will introduce the terms\, apophasis (ambiguous\, contem
plative “inner gestures”) and cataphasis (observable act
ion)\, to the anthropological study of ritual and silence to help us under
stand how everyday behaviours can become acts of contemplation when addres
sed with intentionality and discipline.\nDr. Paula Pryce is a lectu
rer and research associate at the University of British Columbia in Vancou
ver\, Canada. \; She is the author of The Monk’s Cell: Ritual and
Knowledge in American Contemplative Christianity (Oxford University P
ress\, 2018) \; and “Keeping the Lakes’ Way”: Reburial and th
e Re-Creation of a Moral World among an Invisible People (University o
f Toronto Press\, 1999).
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Zurich:20190320T180000
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