Religions and Meditation – Study Day
December 13, 2024 – Theological Faculty of Triveneto, Padua.
Interreligious dialogues to explore the variety of contemplative practices
The Sstudy Dday was jointly promoted by the Istituto Superiore di Scienze Religiose (ISSR) of Padua (affiliated with the Theological Faculty of Triveneto), the Postgraduate Program in Contemplative Studies at the University of Padua, and the Italian Buddhist Union Research Center.
The initiative was divided into two parts: a session with concurrent seminars, titled Four Paths of Meditation and reserved for students, and the public roundtable The Paths of Meditation.
Four Paths of Meditation – Concurrent Seminars
Introduced by Marcello Ghilardi (Professor of Aesthetics, University of Padua), the seminars covered four major meditative traditions.
- Christian tradition: Lorella Fracassa (ISSR Padua), on the Desert Fathers’ approach to meditation.
- Islam: Anna Canton (University of Palermo / Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies), on meditation in Islam.
- Zen Buddhism: Sara Noventa (ISSR Padua), on meditation in the Sōtō and Rinzai schools.
- Tibetan Buddhism: Chiara Mascarello and Francesco Tormen (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice; UBI Research Center), on day and night meditation practices in Tibetan Buddhism.
The Paths of Meditation – Public Roundtable
Opening remarks were delivered by:
- Andrea Albertin, Director of the ISSR of Padua;
- Francesco Tormen, Co-Director of the UBI Research Center; Board Member of the Postgraduate Program in Contemplative Studies, University of Padua.
- Chiara Mascarello, Co-Director of the UBI Research Center; Board Member of the Postgraduate Program in Contemplative Studies, University of Padua.
The main contributions were given by the lecturers in the afternoon seminars, who presented short papers on their respective meditative traditions.
The round table discussion was moderated by Giulio Osto, permanent lecturer at the ISSR in Padua.
The title of the round table was inspired by the book I sentieri della meditazione. Vie cristiane, induiste e buddhiste (Edizioni Qiqajon, 2024), edited by Matteo Nicolini-Zani, which includes contributions by scholars such as Maciej Bielawski, Patrick Goujon, Benoît Standaert, Axel Bayer, Jean-Marie Gueullette, Pinuccia Caracchi, Francesco Sferra, Chiara Mascarello, Mauricio Yūshin Marassi, and Jacques Scheuer.
Reference was also made to the open access publication La possibile via. Meditazione e preghiera, edited by A. Bertazzo (Triveneto Theology Press, 2024), which further explores the theme of interreligious dialogue and contemplation.
Context and Future Perspectives
This initiative is part of a broader collaboration between academic institutions and religious communities engaged in contemplative studies.
The event referenced the interreligious seminar The Contemplative Dimension of Life, held in Rome on 7 May 2022 and promoted by the National Office for Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), in collaboration with the Italian Buddhist Union, the Italian Hindu Union, and the Italian branch of the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue.
The study day aimed to provide tools to better understand meditation in its religious diversity. Future editions may expand to include additional meditative traditions.
