Spirituality Studies 9-1 Spring 2023 99 Oleksandr Zubariev As a whole, this typology is not an absolute surprise. Most meaningful contexts of interpretation seem to be general for understanding transpersonal experience within the framework of religion and Eastern spiritual practices, e.g., reasoning, cognitive, compensatory meaningful contexts, a meaningful context of the impossibility of articulation, a meaningful context of a reward. In contrast, such meaningful contexts as adventure, eudaimonic, and epiphenomenal are more likely to express the specificity of Eastern spiritual practices. The variety of transpersonal experiences of informants does not lead to radical relativization and depreciation of the relevance of their routine lives. We did not find features of “radicality” in these experiences in the meaning ascribed to this notion by Peter Berger; we did not find a meaningful context that would be unambiguously connected with alternation, i.e., cardinal rethinking of life, a change in life trajectory, and division of life into “before” and “after” the experience, plenty of which examples could be found in the Christian religious tradition. Probably, it is connected with the fact that the transpersonal experience of people practicing Eastern spiritual practices is not sufficiently “radical.” However, we are inclined to think that the matter is rather in totally different modus of its perception and experience. In his idea, Peter Berger argues that modern humans tend to trust their personal experience and tradition when it comes to an understanding of the existence of other realities, with the experience of the supernatural serving as the final argument (Berger 1979, 32–60). However, we encounter a different understanding of transpersonal experience when it comes to Eastern spiritual practices. It is acknowledged to exist but is constantly subjected to doubt and is continually redefined in the context of an individual’s life. Furthermore, it is expected that this experience will be followed by another, shedding light on something and allowing for further interpretation. As a result, Eastern spiritual practices offer unique conceptual and social conditions for legitimizing transpersonal experience that significantly differs from traditional church religiosity. However, these assumptions can only be verified or refuted through comparative studies of individuals practicing Eastern spiritual practices and those holding traditional church religiosity. Therefore, in the context of socio-cultural changes, Eastern spiritual practices serve as a source of transpersonal experience in an individual’s life world that is not mediated by religious tradition. Additionally, different symbolic systems are utilized to interpret these experiences, making them accessible and variable, which is one of the reasons for the popularity of Eastern spiritual practices in the modern world. Notes [1] The survey was conducted for Agence Thomas Marko & Associés and Bion 3 from May 21 to May 27, 2010. The sample consisted of 105 individuals and is representative of the French population aged 15 years and older. ipsos.com. [2] The study was conducted by V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University and it involved 621 3rd and 4th year students of the institution. [3] Due to the article’s limited volume, we cannot delve deeply into Schützian explication of the notions of “essence” and “meaningful context” that were crystallized in polemics with Max Weber’s ideas. [4] We have enclosed in quotes the expressions that are elements of linguistic concepts of cultural forms of Eastern spiritual practices. [5] Qualitative methods allow the use of extensive interview fragments in academic text, but we have shortened them where possible without compromising meaning. [6] We have used pseudonyms in place of the informants’ names. [7] According to Alfred Schütz (2004, 698), “the problem of meaning is the problem of time”. [8] This perspective is possible when viewing narration as a world of aesthetic vision (Bakhtin 1990, 4–256). [9] A complete interview with Oleksandra is available in Zubariev 2018, 276–297.
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