Senior Theses
Publication Date
5-21-2011
Document Type
Thesis (Open Access)
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Anthropology
Department
Sociology and Anthropology
Faculty Advisor(s)
Hillary Crane
Subject Categories
Social and Cultural Anthropology
Abstract
Using ethnographic methods I examine the process of learning vipassana meditation, a form of meditation in which the practitioner focuses on their bodily sensations, and the ways in which learning this form of meditation affects the practitioner's daily life. I employ reflexivity alongside an ethnography of the particular to capture my experiences as the student of a Thai Theravada Buddhist monk who teaches at a temple in Portland, Oregon. Through this process I have found that learning vipassana meditation pervades numerous aspects of daily life, extending beyond direct instruction and meditation practice, bringing about perceptual changes in reality as learned concepts become embodied through both meditation and lived experience.
Recommended Citation
Geffre, Craig, "Waking up to the Present: Vipassana Meditation and the Body" (2011). Senior Theses. 2.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/soanstud_theses/2
