“Religions and Meditation” is a study day scheduled for Friday, December 13, 2024, starting at 4:30 p.m., at the Institute of Higher Religious Sciences (ISSR) of Padua, located at Via del Seminario 7.
The Study Center has organized and promoted the event in collaboration with the Institute of Higher Religious Sciences (ISSR) of Padua, affiliated with the Theological Faculty of Triveneto, and the two-year Level I Master’s program “Contemplative Studies. The Practice of Meditation from Traditions to the Contemporary Age” at the University of Padua, delivered by the FISPPA Department in collaboration with the Italian Buddhist Union.
The study day is free to attend and consists of two parts: the first (4:30–6:30 p.m.) in seminar format, and the second (7:00–8:30 p.m.) as a round table.
SEMINARS “FOUR PATHS OF MEDITATION” (4:30–6:30 p.m.)
The seminar activities will be introduced by Marcello Ghilardi, Professor of Aesthetics at the University of Padua, and will take place in four parallel sessions, each led by a professor and focused on a distinct form of meditation.
- Lorella Fracassa, Professor of Patrology at ISSR Padua, will lead the seminar on the meditation of the Desert Fathers;
- Anna Canton, researcher at the University of Palermo and professor at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies in Rome, will address meditation in Islam;
- Sara Noventa, Professor of Eastern Religions at ISSR Padua, will explore Zen Buddhist meditation;
- Chiara Mascarello and Francesco Tormen, Tibetan language professors at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and co-directors of the UBI Study Center, will delve into day and night meditation in Tibetan Buddhism.
The four seminars aim to encourage participants to engage with and directly read fundamental texts related to meditation in the four selected paths. Teaching materials will be sent to participants in advance.
ROUND TABLE “THE PATHS OF MEDITATION” (7:00–8:30 p.m.)
The session will be opened by Andrea Albertin, Director of ISSR Padua, Francesco Tormen, Co-director of the Study Center of the Italian Buddhist Union, and Chiara Mascarello, Educational Coordinator of the Master in Contemplative Studies at the University of Padua. The same professors who led the seminars will then speak, each discussing their respective forms of meditation.
INFO AND REGISTRATION:
The seminars are primarily intended for ISSR and Master’s students, with registration required by December 5 via the following link: https://forms.gle/A4He1tWdkk3jqnuJ8. Other interested participants may apply by December 5, subject to availability.
For the round table, which is open to the public, reservations are appreciated by December 12 via the following link: https://forms.gle/A4He1tWdkk3jqnuJ8.
Info: segreteria@issrdipadova.it
Download the flyer here.
