Contemplative Reading Research Articles

The Library of Paradise: A History of Contemplative Reading in the Monasteries of the Church of the East by David A. Michelson (review)

The Library of Paradise: A History of Contemplative Reading in the Monasteries of the Church of the East by David A. Michelson (review)

Vacare: from Lectio Divina to Contemplative Reading. Making space for the personal formation of secondary school students

The personal formation of students is an important goal in Religious Education in secondary schools in the Netherlands. This article, which is based on the design research of my PhD dissertation, examines how a contemplative approach to reading stories can, according to Religious Education teachers, contribute to the personal formation of students. Thus, a teacher’s manual, based on the monastic tradition of Lectio Divina, was designed and tested for the Contemplative Reading of Biblical parables. What possibilities does this teacher’s manual for Contemplative Reading offer for creating space for the personal formation of students in daily teaching practice? How do the results of this intervention contribute to the theory of personal formation and the theory of contemplative practices in education? Cultivating a space for freedom—vacare—appears to be essential. Contemplative Reading can open this space of attention and listening in the classroom.

The Library of Paradise: A History of Contemplative Reading in the Monasteries of the Church of the East, written by David A. Michelson

The Library of Paradise: A History of Contemplative Reading in the Monasteries of the Church of the East, written by David A. Michelson

Academic Library Book Digitization and Contemplative Reading

Academic Library Book Digitization and Contemplative Reading

Review of The Library of Paradise: A History of Contemplative Reading in the Monasteries of the Church of the East

Review of The Library of Paradise: A History of Contemplative Reading in the Monasteries of the Church of the East

David A. Michelson. The Library of Paradise: A History of Contemplative Reading in the Monasteries of the Church of the East

David A. Michelson. The Library of Paradise: A History of Contemplative Reading in the Monasteries of the Church of the East

Disney influenced her creativity in developing the contemplative reading skills of fourth-grade literary students

This research aims to know the impact of Disney's creativity model in developing the contemplative reading skills of fourth-grade literary students, and to achieve the research goal; It was designed according to the previous method, and the researcher chose, it was randomly designed for Hilla secondary school to be the research sample, in the same way she chose to represent the group with our gate (32) to represent the experimental group (32) students, and u (b) to represent the control group by (31) students. Then the researcher rewarded statistical parity between the two research groups in: (age, parents ’academic achievement, reading, and the contemplative reading test).
 As for the test, the researcher built a test in contemplative reading skills of the multiple choice type, and the test was verified after presenting it, and after the experiment was conducted, the test was applied to the students of the research sample, and the data was processed statistically using a group of statistic, the research concluded that there is an index in the test The contemplative reading in the experimental group is at a significance level (0.05). In light of the research results, the researcher concluded a number of conclusions. She also recommended an effective group and suggested proposals as an extension and completion of the research

Taming the Wild Horse: An Annotated Translation and Study of the Daoist Horse Taming Pictures by Louis Komjathy

Reviewed by: Taming the Wild Horse: An Annotated Translation and Study of the Daoist Horse Taming Pictures by Louis Komjathy Joshua Capitanio Louis Komjathy. Taming the Wild Horse: An Annotated Translation and Study of the Daoist Horse Taming Pictures. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017. Pp. 264. $75.00 (cloth). ISBN 978-0231181266. In Taming the Wild Horse: An Annotated Translation and Study of the Daoist Horse Taming Pictures, his most recent work, Louis Komjathy brings together two topics that he has been researching and writing about for over a decade now: meditative practice within the late imperial Daoist tradition of Complete Perfection (Quanzhen 全) and contemplative approaches to the study of religion. Those who are more familiar with his work on Daoist studies may not be aware of Komjathy's prominent role in the development of the field of contemplative studies: he was a founding member of the Contemplative Studies Unit within the American Academy of Religion, serving also as co-chair from its inception in 2010 until 2016, and has published several important works in the field, including the edited volume Contemplative Literature: A Comparative Sourcebook on Meditation and Contemplative Prayer1 and the more recent monograph Introducing Contemplative Studies.2 Taming the Wild Horse represents an attempt to bring the methodology of contemplative studies to bear on a pre-modern Daoist text, an untitled composition (referred to throughout the book as the "Horse Taming Pictures") that portrays the path of meditation in Complete Perfection Daoism allegorically through images depicting the process of taming a wild horse. Komjathy's "contemplative reading" of this text goes beyond translation and exegesis to document his own subjective engagement with the Horse Taming Pictures, guiding readers to "engage the contemplative dimensions of the text and the implications for human-animal relationships and equine being … [as] a form of contemplative practice" (x). The result is a unique work, which offers an engaging perspective on the text of the Horse Taming Pictures and a fresh approach to the study of Daoism and other religious traditions. [End Page 477] The book is divided into three main parts, comprising a historical and topical introduction, the translation of the Horse Taming Pictures text along with its verse commentary, and the author's own exegesis of the text. In "In Search of the Wild Horse," the first chapter in Part I, Komjathy introduces the Horse Taming Pictures and their author, Gao Daokuan 高道寬 (1195–1277). Situating both the text and its author within the Complete Perfection tradition, Komjathy provides a basic overview of the principles of internal alchemy and graded meditative cultivation that inform Complete Perfection practice as presented within the Horse Taming Pictures, outlining the structure of the text and the progression depicted within. This section is useful, but I would have liked to see more discussion of the relationship between the Horse Taming Pictures and the Chan Buddhist oxherding pictures on which they are clearly based. Komjathy does provide a general overview of the similarities between the Horse Taming Pictures and the two contemporaneous editions of the oxherding pictures that remain extant, the eleventh-century composition by Puming 普明 and the twelfth-century work by Kuo'an 廓庵. The discussion is brief, however, and focuses more on the dissimilarities between the Horse Taming Pictures and the Chan oxherding genre than on their similarities. However, Gao's composition of a text based directly upon the Buddhist oxherding pictures suggests a deep interest and engagement with Chan Buddhist literature. Arguably, Gao's interest in Chan influenced the structure and contents of the Horse Taming Pictures as much as, if not more than, any interest that he had in horses and the particulars of their training, yet the latter topic is the subject of an entire chapter of Taming the Wild Horse while the former is given only a brief four-page treatment. Gao's Horse Taming Pictures could in fact be read as a sort of "contemplative criticism" of the corresponding Chan text(s) and the practices that it advocates, and thus a deeper engagement with Chan Buddhist literature in general and the oxherding pictures in particular would provide important context for Gao's work, and might reveal additional aspects of his...

‘Lived experiences’ of the love of God according to 1 John 4: A spirituality of love

This article probes to enlighten this old truth of the revelation and experience of God’s love in a fresh, dynamic and different way, from the perspective of early Christian spirituality. How did the early Christians possibly experience the love of God existentially in their daily lives? Another question is, ‘What did they experience when they have read this text of 1 John 4:7–21? This article looks briefly at how the author of 1 John understands the character of God which is necessary for understanding the love of God. The article continues to express how the ‘love’ of God (according to 1 Jn), was experienced by the Early Church through the following modes of lived faith experiences that emerged from the text and existential life situations: faith experience, relational experience and mystical experience. The article shows how the contemplative reading of sacred texts can contribute to a deeper understanding and lived faith experience of God.

Sobre el ascetismo cristiano. Ejercicios espirituales en las ‘Confesiones’ de san Agustín

The present article seeks to address an important point of contact between early Christian ascetic practice and the heritage of Platonism through the end of the fourth century AD. In short, I find marked similarities between Pierre Hadot’s reading of Plato's Phaedo, for example, and that of St Augustine’s personal prayer book, the Confessions. After outlining essential characteristics of Hadot’s take on spiritual exercises and Augustinian anthropology, I subject the text of the Confessions to critical examination in order to determine whether an emphasis on ‘spiritual exercises’ is indeed present. I argüe that similar spiritual practices may be clearly discerned. First, I discuss the distinct ‘Christian’ and Augustinian character of ‘spiritual exercises’ which incorporate biblical typology of Adam and Christ as paradigmatic for the spiritual life. Next, in terms of concrete practices, I then discern from the first four books of the Confessions a series of exercises through which such a path of spiritual progress (i.e., from ‘Adam’ to ‘Christ’) may occur. Of note, I consider the dialectic praxis of 1) contemplative reading, 2) prayer-writing and 3) prayer itself, or ‘pure’ prayer - distinct from Augustine’s written reflections; 4) the role of lectio divina or meditation on Scripture; and, finally, 5) meditation on death. In addition to developing these individual practices, it is the traditional Augustinian anthropology (rooted as it is in a theology of divine grace) that reveals the essential ‘Christian’ contribution of Augustine.

Contemplation as an alternative to curiosity: St Bonaventure on Ecclesiastes 1:3–11

AbstractThis article seeks to offer a christological interpretation of the opening poem in Ecclesiastes (1:3–11) through engagement with St Bonaventure's exegesis of the passage. It begins with a brief survey of contemporary treatments of the passage, which are characterised by an emphasis on cosmic monotony as an illustration of the futility of human labour. Then, it examines the Seraphic Doctor's version of thecontemptus mundiinterpretation of the book, relating it to his metaphysics of emanation, exemplarity and consummation. It will be suggested that Bonaventure's version ofcontemptus mundiinforms an alternative interpretation to the critical status quo.In his exegesis of the opening poem, Bonaventure begins by describing three kinds of existence: existence in the eternal and unchanging Word, material existence in the cosmos, and abstract existence in the mind. While Bonaventure does not consider existence in the Word in relation to Ecclesiastes 1:3–11, because such existence is not subject to the vanity of mutability, the conclusion of the article will propose that such existence is in view in the text. When Bonaventure considers material existence, his metaphysics will not allow him to read the cosmological motion in Ecclesiastes 1:5–7 as monotonous, but rather as creaturely movement which invites contemplation. When he considers abstract existence, he contrasts the movement of heavenly and elemental creatures with the dissatisfaction of human perception, constrained by curiosity, the vice which characterises the protagonist's pursuits in Ecclesiastes 1:12–2:26. Thus, it will be suggested from Bonaventure's exegesis that the problem in Ecclesiastes 1:3–11 is not an oppressively monotonous universe which shows humans how pointless their own movement is, but rather humanity's failing to treat the cosmos as a book which speaks of God.In the article's final section, a relationship between the contemplative reading of Ecclesiastes 1:3–11 and Bonaventure'sItinerariumwill be outlined. The consideration of material existence in Ecclesiastes 1:4–7 will be related to contemplation through vestiges. Then a contrast between the perceptual rupture of Ecclesiastes 1:8–11 and contemplation through the divine image in humanity will be shown. Finally, a christological reading of Ecclesiastes 1:10a will be offered, suggesting that this verse gestures towards the incarnate Word, who reforms the divine image in humanity and thus places humanity back on course towards similitude. It will be suggested in closing that, in signalling this hope, Ecclesiastes 1:10a prepares one for the union with Christ which Song of Songs depicts.

Stop, Look, Listen: Contemplative Teaching and Learning

In an age of overwhelming quantities of information, an increasing superficiality of understanding, and an increasing emphasis on “devices,” Christian educators can invite learners into transformational learning through focal contemplative practices that help learners sharpen their attention and deepen their experience. Participation in focal practices invites the emergence of contemplation and helps cultivate a readiness to receive the gift of contemplation. This essay explores briefly the relationship between focal practice and contemplation. It then considers three particular practices that can support and encourage contemplative knowing across a range of teaching/learning contexts: contemplative looking, contemplative reading, and contemplative play.

Reading Christ the Book in Aemilia Lanyer’s Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1611): Iconography and the Cultures of Reading

Aemilia Lanyer’s poem, Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum , uses striking pre-Reformation iconography to present Christ as a book, a strategy that has not received prior critical attention. This article argues that this metaphor, together with the metaphoric presentation of her book as a sacred feast, lies at the center of the mode of affective devotional reading. It also aligns her own text with scripture and authorizes her poetics. In providing instructions for reading Christ the Book that are rich in the language of affective meditation, Lanyer draws on a tradition of pre-Reformation contemplative reading, which, the article argues, can be identified in early modern female devotional traditions. The article discusses the history of the use of the iconography of Christ as a book, from the twelfth century to Lancelot Andrewes, and explores it in relation to Bernadine and Lutheran spirituality. It argues that Lanyer engages a diverse nexus of confessional modalities in her treatment of this iconography and of religious sorrow, matching her own mixed religious heritage and the confessionally diverse group of her dedicatees. She uses a poetics of incarnation to overcome difference and to promote the synergistic force of reading the Passion.

Theories of reading: books, bodies, and bibliomania

List of Illustrations. Acknowledgements. Introduction: Anatomy of Reading. (Books Bibliomania Bodies). 1. A History of Reading. (From Reading Aloud to Reading Silently From Monastic to Scholastic Reading Reading in Solitude From Intensive to Extensive Reading). 2. The Material Conditions of Reading. (Expressive Function of Print Instability of the Textual Object Histories of Textual Transmission From Manuscript to Typographic Culture from Print to Hypermedia Culture). 3. The Physiology of Consumption. (Side-effects of Reading Reading-Fever Reading Addiction Modernity and the Assault on the Senses Eye-Strain and Eye-Hunger Film-Fever Dazzling the Audience Dizzy in Hyperspace (Dis)Embodied in Cyberspace Passive Consumers). 4. The Reader in Fiction. (Dangers of Reading The Tearful Reader The Frightened Reader The Passionate Reader Pathology of Reading Reading Games The Danger of a Future without Books Multisensory Media). 5. The Role of Affect in Literary Criticism. (Reading with/out Pathos Docere-Delectare-Movere From Reader to Author to Text Disinterested and Contemplative Reading Close Reading Reading for Sense rather than Sensation). 6. The Reader in Theory. (Un/Readability A Priori Conditions of Reading Controlling Readers' Responses Reading Expectations Conventions of Reading Interpretive Communities Failure of Reading Misreading The Reader as Writer The Politics of Difference). 7. Sexual Politics of Reading. (The Resisting Reader Black Women Readers Empirical Audiences Active Consumers Low-/Middle-/Highbrow Reading Embodied Reading Reading as/like a Woman The Feminisation of the Reader). Conclusion: Materialist Readings. Notes. References and Bibliography. Index

“Empire of the Muse”: American Encounters with Wordsworth

This essay investigates a series of encounters – critical, textual, and personal – between Wordsworth and his American Romantic contemporaries that helped to solidify the poet's transatlantic reputation. In keeping with negative British reviews, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Cullen Bryant, and William Ellery Channing initially scorned Wordsworth's experimental poetics, but they became earnest advocates of both his poetry and his values as a result of their contemplative reading and their conversations with the poet himself. These writers function as case studies of the larger history of Wordsworth's reception in America: a history fraught by both nationalist suspicion and tremendous creative exchange.

Contemplative Reading—The Experience, the Idea, the Applications

The weight of academic tradition and current trends is powerful. We are inclined to work with conventional and popular terms, categories, and ideas about literature and teaching, even when our personal experience gives us different cues. For example, the term “contemplative reading” is not usually seen in textbooks or discussions of literary genres. But I believe that certain nonfiction works evoke an experience of contemplative response that is familiar to innumerable teachers and other readers.

Contemplative Reading--The Experience, the Idea, the Applications

interdisciplinary conference, many teachers from all levels responded strongly to a sample list of contemplative readings that put forward, initially with trepidation. Comments like That's on my night stand at home right now and I didn't know other people were reading along these lines were common. recognized many of the titles they mentioned and jotted down new ones for future reading. We worked toward shaping thie idea of contemplative reading in ways that reflected our sense of what was common in the works and what was characteristic of