TY - JOUR

T1 - Exploring tranquility: Eastern and Western perspectives

AU - Christoffersen, Vincent Ringgaard

AU - Škodlar, Borut

AU - Henriksen, Mads Gram

PY - 2022/8

Y1 - 2022/8

N2 - Although tranquility is a fundamental aspect of human life, the experientialnature of tranquility remains elusive. Traditionally, many philosophical,religious, spiritual, or mystical traditions in East and West have strived to reachtranquil experiences and produced texts serving as manuals to reach them.Yet, no attempt has been made to compare experiences of tranquility andexplore what they may have in common. The purpose of this theoretical studyis to explore the experiential nature of tranquility. First, we present examplesof what we consider some of the most central experiences of tranquilityin Eastern and Western traditions. For the sake of simplicity, we sort theseexamples into four categories based on their experiential focus: the body,emotions, the mind, and mysticism. Second, we offer an exploratory accountof tranquility, arguing that the different examples of tranquility seem to sharecertain experiential features. More specifically, we propose that the sharedfeatures pertain both to the content or quality of the tranquil experiences,which involves a sense of presence and inner peace, and to the structureof these experiences, which seems to involve some degree of detachmentand absorption.

AB - Although tranquility is a fundamental aspect of human life, the experientialnature of tranquility remains elusive. Traditionally, many philosophical,religious, spiritual, or mystical traditions in East and West have strived to reachtranquil experiences and produced texts serving as manuals to reach them.Yet, no attempt has been made to compare experiences of tranquility andexplore what they may have in common. The purpose of this theoretical studyis to explore the experiential nature of tranquility. First, we present examplesof what we consider some of the most central experiences of tranquilityin Eastern and Western traditions. For the sake of simplicity, we sort theseexamples into four categories based on their experiential focus: the body,emotions, the mind, and mysticism. Second, we offer an exploratory accountof tranquility, arguing that the different examples of tranquility seem to sharecertain experiential features. More specifically, we propose that the sharedfeatures pertain both to the content or quality of the tranquil experiences,which involves a sense of presence and inner peace, and to the structureof these experiences, which seems to involve some degree of detachmentand absorption.

U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.931827

DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.931827

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 35978784

VL - 13

JO - Frontiers in Psychology

JF - Frontiers in Psychology

SN - 1664-1078

M1 - 931827

ER -