Meditative and mindful dialogue -- with otherness

Second-order Dialogue and Higher Order Discourse for the Future (Part #12)

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Consideration may be distinctively given to what might be termed meditative dialogue. An obvious example is the articulation of Martin Buber (I and Thou, 1923; Kenneth Paul Kramer, Martin Buber's I and Thou: practicing living dialogue, 2004; W. John Morgan, et al, I and Thou: The educational lessons of Martin Buber's dialogue with the conflicts of his times, Educational Philosophy and Theory 44, 2010. 9). Ironically, as an iconic Jewish author, there is little sense in which Buber's "I" could be understood as "Israel" and "Thou" as "Palestine".

Contexts in which meditative dialogue is especially framed are a feature of the work of Susan A. Lord:

• Meditative Dialogue: cultivating compassion and empathy with survivors of complex childhood trauma (Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 22, (2013, 9)
• Meditative Dialogue: a tool for engaging students in collaborative learning processes (Journal of Family Therapy, 29, 2007, 4)
• Meditative Dialogue: cultivating sacred space in psychotherapy â-- an intersubjective fourth? (Smith College Studies in Social Work, 80, 2010, 2-3)

It is to be expected that interfaith dialogue, especially involving theologians and mystics, might clarify the nature of meditative dialogue. This is not immediately evident. The discourse within the Parliament of the World's Religions does not seemingly aspire to any such modality (Learnings for the Future of Inter-Faith Dialogue, 1993).

Of much greater potential interest from a mindful perspective is the tradition of apophatic discourse and the cultivation of "unsaying" (Michael A. Sells, Mystical Languages of Unsaying, 1994). This is not to be confused with inner dialogue. Of some relevance is the more general and fundamental understanding of mindful "intercourse" -- with nature, as variously discoursed ("Human Intercourse": "Intercourse with Nature" and "Intercourse with the Other", 2007).

Potentially relevant to "meditative dialogue" is recognition of the process of inner dialogue and how this may necessarily engender some form of internal meta-communication. One contrast among inner verbal forms is between self-talk and inner dialogue (Piotr K. Oles, et al, Types of Inner Dialogues and Functions of Self-Talk: Comparisons and Implications, Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 2020; Donna R. Vocate, Intrapersonal Communication: Different Voices, Different Minds, 2012). Self-talk involves only one voice talking to itself. For inner dialogue, several voices linked to different positions take turns in a form of imaginary interaction. Models of intrapersonal communication explore which components are involved and how they interact (James P. Lantolf, Intrapersonal Communication Theories, Encyclopedia of Communication Theory, 2009).

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