Retrospective - Metamorphosis
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Description: Indigenous Contemplative Science: Ethics of Belonging
I am a native of Indigenous Nahua and Maya descent, born into a family of mystics, healers, poets, and explorers from the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. I grew up with one foot in the wilderness and another in magical realism. My Elders’ songs and stories enthralled my childhood. They enhanced my mythic imagination and emotional intuition, which became the fertile soil where the seeds of kindness, play, and wonder dig their roots.
My research converges the vibrant threads of Indigenous studies, cultural psychology, and contemplative science. I am interested in transdisciplinary approaches to how the experience of self-transcendence is embodied and enhances prosocial behavior (ethics, compassion, kindness, reverence, and a sense of awe, sacredness, and love) across Indigenous contemplative traditions. From this work, I am uncovering Indigenous contemplative practices from the world, and finding their place in contemplative studies.
I have developed a broader statement I call the “ethics of belonging,” encouraging awareness, intention, and relational well-being and actions toward planetary flourishing. Within this work, I examine how our personal stories relate to cultural accounts that can transform our identities and the social and racial injustices of our times. This ethos orients us toward an ever-expansive unfolding of a path of meaning and participation rooted in honoring Life.
Retrospective - Metamorphosis
Home - The AYAC