Drifting through Samsara : tacit conversion and disengagement in Goenka's Vipassana movement / Masoumeh Rahmani.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rahmani, Masoumeh, author.

Series:

American Academy of Religion academy series

AAR Academy series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Vipaśyanā (Buddhism).

Conversion--Buddhism.

Conversion.

Physical Description:

viii, 244 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2022]

Summary:

"Goenka's Vipassana movement is distinguished for its consistent refusal to identify as Buddhist and its rich rhetorical repertoire for repackaging Theravada Buddhist teachings in pseudo-scientific and secular language. This book is an in-depth qualitative study of Goenka's movement in New Zealand. It illustrates the implication of the movement's discourse on shaping unique processes and narratives of conversion and disengagement. It argues that conversion to this movement is tacit and paradoxically results in the members' rejection of religious labels and categories. The book subsequently examines disengagement in the context of tacit conversion, outlining three pathways: (1) pragmatic leaving, (2) disaffiliation, and (3) deconversion. Pragmatic leavers refer to individuals who disengaged prior to developing a commitment and their language is characterised by pragmatisms, dualistic discourse, and ambivalence, and their post-disengagement involves an active gravitation towards practices with easily accomplished goals. Disaffiliates and deconverts are individuals who disengaged after years of intense commitment to the movement. One of the distinguishing features of disaffiliation narratives is self-doubt resulting from the movement's ambiguous discourse regarding progress, and that post-disengagement often involves the retrospective adoption of the Buddhist identity. The book argues that consequential to its linguistic strategies as well as the movement's relation to the host culture, deconversion from this movement is a rare exit pattern. The book thus also questions the normative participant recruitment approach in conversion studies and argues that a simple reliance on the informants' identification or rejection of categories fails to encompass the tonalities of conversion in the contemporary spiritual landscape"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: S. N. Goenka's Vipassana Organisation

The Field Site

Introducing the Participants

Conceptualisations

Research Design and Personal Orientations

Outline of the Book

1. Conversion Career

Preaffiliation

Affiliation

Conversion

Commitment

Concluding Summary

2. Tacit Conversion

Conversion Narratives

Language and Self-Transformation

Selected Case Study: Elijah

Plotting the Narrative

The Performance of Conversion Narrative

Self-Acceptance and Agency

Mind-Body Relationship

3. Pragmatic Leaving

(1). Pragmatism

(2). Dualistic Discourse

(3). Ambivalence

Experience Seekers

Traumatic Meditative Experiences

Frustrating Experiences

Loss of Experience

Loss of Experience in Disengagement Literature

4. Disaffiliation

Religious Disaffiliation

Selected Case Study: Damian

Doubt and Religious Disengagement

Ambivalent Language in Disaffiliation Narratives

Chasing Enlightenment

5. Disaffiliation Trajectories

Trajectory (1) Drifters in Samsara

Trajectory: (2) Pursuers of the Gateless Gate

Selected Case Study: Karen

Remnants of the Movement's Language

6. Deconversion: Breathing New Self into Not-Self

Selected Case Study: Luke

Leaving a Universe of Discourse Behind

Authenticity vs. Authenticity Talk

Authenticity in Disengagement Literature

Origins of Authenticity

Concluding Summary.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [229]-240) and index.

ISBN:

9780197579961

0197579965

OCLC:

1251737698

Publisher Number:

99989828950