ABSTRACT

This paper gives an ethnographic account of a contemplative class at an elite university in the US. The contemplative class, which incorporates mindfulness-based practices, took on the function of unravelling time, and of challenging the credit-oriented culture of the university. The opening up of time and credits allows for a safe communal space to explore ‘vulnerability’ and ‘authenticity’. As the semester progressed, ‘vulnerability’ and ‘authenticity’ came to be recognised as ‘skills’ to be performed in the class among some students. The conundrum is that these terms are grasped through experience, as relational, non-dualistic ways of being. An ethnographic account of a contemplative class thus begins and ends with the author’s own experience of ontological transformations through contemplative practice. The paper leaves open the question of how a contemplative approach to ethnography might be construed.

摘要

本文对美国一所精英大学的沉思班进行了民族志描述。包含基于正念的实践的沉思课程承担了解开时间的功能，并挑战了大学以学分为导向的文化。时间和信用的开放允许一个安全的公共空间来探索“脆弱性”和“真实性”。随着学期的进行，“脆弱性”和“真实性”开始被认为是一些学生在课堂上要表现的“技能”。难题在于，这些术语是通过经验掌握的，是关系的、非二元的存在方式。因此，对沉思阶级的民族志叙述以作者自己通过沉思实践对本体论转变的经验开始和结束。