The Lived Experience of Meditation

Abstract

Heuristic Phenomenology lends itself well to a relatively naïve exploration of meditative experiences. I began with an interest in knowing more about the nature of the bodily sensations that I experienced during meditation. I aimed to capture lived experiences as they emerged into consciousness, so I bracketed out my expectations, as much as possible, and meditated. I noticed that I could not tape descriptions of my experiences while in a deep meditative state because when in this state, I was not aware of the material world in which my body and the tape recorder existed. I had to be satisfied with describing meditative experiences as I emerged out of them, and regained connection with my body.