Locations of Spirituality: ‘Experiences’ and ‘Writings’ of
the Sacred
Venue
Humanities Research Centre, Old Canberra House, ANU.
Dates
Date: 26-27 October 2002
Convener
Minoru Hokari
Email: mhokari@hotmail.com
Conference Program
Conference Abstracts
Conference Report
The aim of this project is to bring researchers from various
disciplinary and cultural backgrounds together in order to query
and cross the boundaries of 20th century ‘secularism’. Through
this process, the project seeks to find possible arenas within
which we can develop an adequate language for discussing the contemporary
and historical experiences of ‘spiritual realities’.
In the era of globalisation, questions relating to the ‘locations
of spirituality’ need to be (re)addressed in order to explore
such issues as impact of religious fundamentalism and the search
for a ‘sense of belonging’ in (post)colonial societies. Furthermore,
these questions relate to long debated issues of ‘otherness’;
from signalling the ethical and methodological impossibility of
representing ‘the other’ to the struggle for the possibility of
communicating with ‘the other’. Is it possible to express, discuss,
and write about inter-subjective spiritual experiences across
cultural, political and historical boundaries, given the histories
of colonisation, appropriation and religious conflicts which exist
in the world today? Is it possible to set out some frameworks
to enable mutual trust in order to facilitate a cross-cultural
dialogue between true equals? If not, what are the pre-conditions
for facilitating this type of communication in the future?
For example, the concept of ‘post-secularism’ can be one of the
keys to explore the limits of secularism. Up to now, debates over
post-secularism have been largely confined within the convention
of Christian theology. Expanding these debates into the field
of humanities in general holds the possibility of moving beyond
the Reductionism of spiritual experiences into ‘beliefs’. Therefore,
the project aims to find (or develop) a shared language that enables
us to discuss the process of inter-subjective ‘spiritual experiences’
based on cultural difference and interactions.
Questions
The overall question is whether or not we can talk and/or write
about lived experiences of spirituality without reduction, and
without either misrepresenting others, or having the life-blood
of spiritual experiences appropriated by others. More specifically,
the questions to be discussed are the following:
(1) Is it possible for indigenous and non-indigenous individuals
in settler societies to discuss and share their varying spiritual
experiences in their lands and societies?
(3) How can we ‘express (talk, discuss, share, and write)’ our
own and others’ spiritual experiences, once we reject the Reductionist
notion of ‘beliefs’ and accept them as ‘lived human experiences’?
(3) Accordingly, how can we (both indigenous and non-indigenous
writers) express ‘my/our spirituality’ without fear of being stereotyped
by the other, and how can we write ‘her/his/their spirituality’
without being oscillated between the polarities of ‘respect but
reject it’ and ‘universalise and/or steal it’?
(4) In a more philosophical manner, what lies in-between the
‘secular’ and the ‘sacred’? How can we think of spirituality as
an inter-subjective process?
The project begins exploring the questions above from historical
and anthropological inquiries into ‘Australia’ and ‘Indigenous
spirituality’. However, it will necessarily expand its scope to
other disciplines such as philosophy, religious studies, and cultural
studies as well as to other areas such as Asia, the Pacific region,
Africa and Latin America.
The project convener aims to produce a published volume on
‘locations of spirituality’ for the purpose of promoting public
and academic discussion over this potentially highly controversial
issue (by the end of 2003).
Enquiries
Leena Messina, Programs Manager, Humanities Research
Centre, ANU
Email: Leena.Messina@anu.edu.au
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