| institution | Department of Social Geography and Regional Development, Faculty of Science, Charles University |
| e-mail | kamila.klingorova@natur.cuni.cz |
| dates | June 13th – 16th (3 nights) |
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| Title of contribution: |
| “To feel it wherever she is”: Experiencing spirituality in everyday places |
Abstract:
Recent development in social geography has expanded the attention to everyday and emotional aspects of life. This paradigm is followed by geographies of religions as well. But the concept of everyday is very abstract and emotions are difficult to capture. I use the method of auto-photography which enables to identify everyday places and connect them with emotions and identities. Auto-photography combines participant-generated photographs and participant’s interpretative narratives about these photographs. During the research, participants become self-reflexive and aware of the space. In this contribution, I focus on experiencing the Diamond Way Buddhism, a new religious movement attractive especially among young, well-educated people. My participants were young women who intensively practice Buddhism for most of their adult lives. Results show that participants experience their spirituality “wherever they are”, which means in every place of their daily lives including the most mundane places and activities such as washing dishes, commuting to work or cleaning a room. I challenge the division between sacred and secular, mundane, everyday spaces. Women’s spirituality is also connected to places with feminine characteristics such as quiet, stable and natural places, which are in a contrast to masculine places such as a city.
Keywords: everyday places, sacred space, emotions, spirituality, women, auto-photography
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