Paper short abstract:

"Eating love and light through the heart", "going out with the breath from the heart", "sensing a pulsating expansion from the heart" – in three video examples I present experiential descriptions of expansions of the heart provided by Muslim, Christian and Buddhist practitioners in Egypt and Denmark

Paper long abstract:

A sufi shaykh describes a moment of eating love and light through the heart during the chanting of a poem. This moment is followed by an expansion of the sensation of love, starting in the heart and from there connecting to the body and mind. A woman who practices a meditation inspired by Tibetan Buddhism describes how she inhales light from above her head, and then breathes out through her heart. This is followed by an expansion and transformation of the sense of space. A man describes how his recitation of the Jesus Prayer becomes silent and is followed by a sensation of pulsating expansion from his chest that moves through him and brings him into contact with the environment around him.

These three reports of specific experiences that occurred during religious and contemplative practice can be understood as examples of micro-actions or micro-gestures that work to release sensations of agentive control and allowing feelings of love or other qualities of the heart to expand. In the presentation we will watch videos of the three examples and discuss the similarities and differences.

The three reports were collected during ongoing fieldwork with Muslim, Christian, and Buddhist practitioners in Egypt and in Denmark. The project is entitled "Heart Openings: The Experience and Cultivation of Love in Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam" (ERC-STG 2021-26).