The mesmerists inquire about “Oriental mind powers”: West meets East in the search for the universal trance
✍ Scribed by David T. Schmit
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2010
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 129 KB
- Volume
- 46
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0022-5061
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Contemporary interest in Asian meditation raises questions about when Westerners began investigating these practices. A synopsis of Western‐originating scientific meditation research is followed by a brief introduction to mesmerism. Next, the unappreciated ways the mesmerists explored Oriental mind powers is recounted. How the mesmerists' cultural positioning, philosophy, and interest in mind—body practices facilitated their inquiries of Oriental medicine and Hindu contemplative practices is explored, followed by a consideration of why these investigations were unique for the era. The way this work subverted Western cultural imperialism is examined. A consideration of the historical continuities and discontinuities between the mesmerists' inquiries and twentieth‐century meditation research concludes the article. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.