Yuria Celidwen PhD
United Nations / University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, United States
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I am Indigenous Nahua and Maya from the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. I study self-transcendence in Indigenous contemplative traditions and how it enhances prosocial behavior (ethics, compassion, kindness, and a sense of awe, love, and sacredness). My approach intersects Indigeneity, psychology, and contemplation for epistemological equity, relational well-being, and actions toward planetary flourishing. I co-chair the Indigenous Religions Unit of the American Academy of Religion, I'm on the Contemplative Studies committee, and I'm contemplative faculty and scholar at UC Berkeley.
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Self-transcendence in Indigenous Concepts of Kin-Relationality and Ecological Belonging
Contemplative science and practice recognize humans as naturally prosocial. In the past 25 years, Western conceptions, theories, and empirical studies shifted from earlier perspectives of humans as self-interested to humans as capable of cultivating behaviors that promote the well-being of others. The 21st-century contemplative neuroscientific study of compassion and kindness has focused on identifying the determinants that promote behaviors in humans as social beings. However, contextual factors of cultural conditioning impact these natural tendencies. Much less is known about how cultural narratives influence self-transcendence, as evidenced in today's sheer social and environmental challenges. Exceptional opportunities to advance the cultural motivators of flourishing can be generated from the perspectives of Indigenous cultures, who have refined prosocial and pro-environmental behaviors over millennia to benefit humans and other-than-human beings and the Earth. I synthesize Indigenous and Western scientific perspectives on pathways of self-transcendent, focusing on integrating these traditions' insights on Indigenous self-transcendent collective states I call kin-relationality and ecological belonging.
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