Heart openings: The experience and cultivation of love in Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam

The HEART OPENINGS project focuses on the experience and cultivation of love in religious and contemplative practice. Christian Suhr (PI) invites for a discussion of the project, which is planned to be conducted over five years (2021-2026) in collaboration with Buddhists, Christians and Muslims in Denmark, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Egypt – possibly also including additional contemplative communities in other parts of the world. Using audiovisual and microphenomenological methods, HEART OPENINGS seeks to examine the sensory and emotional structures of concrete experiences of love. Through participant observation and life history interviews, the project will examine and compare how the cultivation and experiences of love impact and emerge from people’s everyday lives across different contemplative and religious traditions.