Union and Communion: A Heuristic Inquiry into the Practice of Presence and the Experience of the Holy

• Author / Creator

  Stephen H. Inglis

• This thesis explored how the practice of presence has impacted the experience of the Holy. As a heuristic process, the scope of the research was limited to the person of the researcher. This included all aspects of life for the researcher as all dimensions of human experience are available to different degrees of presence, just as the Holy may be revealed through any dimension of experience. The primary method of practicing presence took place through the practice of Yoga. The traditional Yoga practice of eight limbs was focused through a heuristic research method involving six stages, which brought familiar academic form to the process and structured the exposition of the findings. Practicing presence was significant in the recognition of personal barriers and transforming the vision of the practitioner. Presence was required to discern between what was transient and personal from what was enduring and transpersonal. This exploration revealed a deep relational nature to the experience of the Holy. Difference, separation, otherness, and the idea of the wholly other as a conception of the Holy emerged as the dimensional fields for relationship. Relationship in all dimensions of being—physical, psychological, emotional, social, political, and spiritual—bridge the separation between our lived experience in nature and the dimensions of deeper ontological meaning. The specific content of the experience of the Holy remains nevertheless illusive, as it may be manifest only to understanding through the transient terms of human experience. We remain only singular participants in the relationship with what transcends our limitations or separations.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • home
  • dialectical
  • addictions
  • embodiment

• Graduation date

  2021

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-bm9v-8k38

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.