Meditative practices have flourished in widely different parts of Eurasia, yet historical research on such practices is limited. Research to date has focused on contexts rather than actual practices, and within individual traditions.
For the first time in one volume, the meditative practices of the three traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam are examined. They are viewed in a global perspective, considering both generic and historical connections to practices in other traditions, particularly in India and East Asia. Their cultural and historical peculiarities are examined, comparing them both to each other and to Asian forms of meditation.
The book builds on a notion of meditation as self-administered techniques for inner transformation, a definition which focuses on transformative practice rather than notions of meditative states and
mystical experiences. It proposes ways of studying meditative practice historically, and concludes with an essay on the modern scientific interest in meditation.
Halvor Eifring is a Professor in the Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo, Norway.
Contributors
Acknowledgements
Preface
1. Introduction
Meditation in Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Technical Aspects of Devotional Practices
Halvor Eifring, Professor of Chinese, Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo
2. Judaism
Ancient Hebrew Meditative Recitation
Terje Stordalen, Professor of Theology, Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo
Mystics without Minds? Body and Soul in Merkavah Mysticism
Michael D. Swartz, Professor of Hebrew and Religious Studies, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, The Ohio State University
Meditative Prayer in Moshe Cordovero's Kabbalah
Alan Brill, Cooperman/Ross Endowed Chair of Jewish-Christian Studies, Department of Religion, Seton Hall University
Spiritual Friendship as Contemplative Practice in Kabbalah and Hasidism
Lawrence Fine, Irene Kaplan Leiwant Professor of Jewish Studies, Mount Holyoke College
3. Christianity
Meléte in Early Christian Ascetic Texts
Per Rönnegård, Research Fellow, Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University
The Early Jesus Prayer and Meditation in Greco-Roman Philosophy
Henrik Rydell Johnsén, Research Fellow, Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University
Meditation in the East Syrian Tradition
Serafim Seppälä, Professor of Systematic Theology and Patristics, School of Theology, Philosophical Faculty, University of Eastern Finland
The Pathless Path of Prayer: Is There a Meditation Method in Meister Eckhart?
Jeffrey Cooper, Assistant Professor, Theology Department, University of Portland
Teresa Of Avila's Evolving Practices of 'Representing' Christ in Prayer
Mary Frohlich, Associate Professor of Spirituality, Catholic Theological Union of Chicago
Jesuit Ekphrastic Meditation: Louis Richeome's Painting in the Mind
Judi Loach,Interdisciplinary Research Professor in the Humanities, Cardiff University
Imageless Prayer and Imagistic Meditation in Orthodox Christianity
Augustine Casiday, Honorary Research Fellow, School of History, Archaeology and Religion, Cardiff University
4. Islam
Sufi Dhikr Between Meditation and Prayer
Jamal J. Elias, Walter H. Annenberg Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania
Movement and Stillness: The Practice of Sufi Dhikr in Fourteenth-Century Central Asia
Shahzad Bashir, Lysbeth Warren Anderson Professor in Islamic Studies, Department of Religious Studies, Stanford University
Music and Remembrance as Meditation: Sama' in the Indus Valley
Michel Boivin, Senior Fellow, Centre for South Asian Studies, CNRS-EHESS
5. Science
The Natural Science of Meditation – A 'Black Box' Perspective?
Svend Davanger, Professor of Neuroscience, Institute of Basic Medical Science, University of Oslo
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