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20Introduction
ofitcouldhelpindealingwithemotions,removingtheemotionaland
bodilyblockages.Sometimes,itcanleadtopersonaldevelopmentand,
undersomeconditions,evenspiritualaccomplishment(Konecki2016).
Wecanassumethatcontemplativestudyistheempiricalorientationin
humanisticandsocialscience.Ifso,wecanreconstructtheepistemology
andmethodologyofthiskindofresearch.Epistemologyisconnectedwith
thequestionhowtoresearchtheworldthatweencounter?However,
whatisIthisworld’?Wealwaysfacetheontologicalissue,evenifwe
wanttoavoiditordismissitssignificance.Reducingthequestionof
ontologytoepistemologycouldbecalledtheIepistemicfallacy’(Porpora
2016:80-81).However,inselectinganobjectofstudyweshouldknow
howitissituatedinreality,andaskourselveshowweunderstandthe
realityandhowwedefineit?Ifwestudyhowthemindworksand
elaboratesthesubjectiveselfandlooking-glassselfoftheindividual
(Cooley1922),weassumethatmindexistsandthattheselfexists,and
thattheselfismorerelatedtotheperceptionsofothers.Therefore,
assumptionsabouttheothersandtheirrelationsalwaysexist,sosome
kindofsocialityalsoexists.Ifwecanlearnsomethingonlyaboutthe
selvesandminds,wecanthenassumewhatthissocialityis.Therelations
withtheselvesandminddefinethesituationsandidentities.Therefore,
thesocialityincludesthesituationsandselves,andtheindividualsthat
definetherelationsandtheirmeanings(Blumer1969).Thesocialworld
iscreatedbydefinitionsofsituations,anditschangeispossibleonly
bybeingconsciousofwhatisgoingtobechanged.Thecausesforthe
appearanceoftheselvesaresocialinnature,andtheshapeoftheselves
arefinallyelaboratedandmaintainedbythemind.Thepersonthatis
awareoftheserelationshipsisconsciousofit.So,consciousnessisalso
assumed,buttheconsciousnesscouldhavemanyotherobjectstobe
consciousof.Theobjectsarereal,atleastintheconsciousnessofthe
person.Thesocialitycouldbesuchanobject.
Awarenessoftheexistenceandcreationofsomethingalsoassumes
itschangeability,sochangingreferstoimpermanence.Thesebriefly
expressedargumentsshowthatontologyisalwayspresentinour
scientificendeavours.Evenifwedonotexpressitopenly,ashappens
inpositivisticandneo-positivisticsocialsciences,wealwaysassume,in
thebackground,whattherealityisandalsoitsstructure.
Sowhattheniscontemplativeontology?AccordingtoRenteria-
Uriarte,contemplativeontologyH…positsthattheassumedouter
world,perceivedbytheresearcher,andtheordinarymind,fromwhich
itisobserved,arenothingbuttwodistinctmanifestationsofthesame
inneranddeepconsciousnessthatcanberealizedbymeditationor
contemplatingtechniques”(2016:142).Mentalityisincludedinthe