Contemplative Praxis and Politics

Abstract

This book is the first collection to systematically map the political implications of contemplative practices of all kinds – Buddhist meditation, yoga, and Indigenous ritual to name a few – with an explicit focus on the political, and from practitioners with firsthand experience. A diverse array of essays address the relationship between contemplative practices and education, activism, disability, colonialism, gender, race, capitalism and other issues. Each chapter includes a literature review that maps the existing research and commentary. Contributors offer ways to engage in contemplative praxis—from meditation to indigenous prayer, yoga to ritual—in communal and life sustaining ways that challenge norms and support more progressive political projects.