"Je kunt geen vrede brengen, je kunt het alleen voelen." Hoe contemplatieve activisten de wereld (willen) veranderen

Abstract

A growing group of people uses contemplation as a spiritual response to complex global challenges such as conflict. Peace, these contemplative activists argue, is not an external material condition, but an embodied, mystical experience beyond religion, language and social roles that brings about social change. Scholars should therefore reconsider the claim that spirituality in the public domain only supports the neoliberal status quo. This article shows such movements instead challenge a liberal conceptualization of peace by rejecting an ontological separation of inner experiences and outer reality. The argument developed in this article, then, is twofold: firstly, contemplative activism shows that spirituality becomes a form of social action and social action becomes a form of spirituality. Secondly, if scholars want to better understand how spiritual people respond to societal challenges, they must begin by recognizing that for many spiritual activists interior experiences and exterior realities are not separate realms of being.

Keywords

• vredesbewegingen
• contemplatief activisme
• meditatie
• maatschappelijke verandering
• esoterisch/exoterisch
• spiritualiteit & politiek