Workshop: Transpersonal Philosophical and Spiritual Practice

Abstract: Transpersonal practices aim at the reintegration of the person by overcoming the limited Self. In this workshop we will present ways of philosophical practice, through guided meditation, starting from the question: Who am I? The Atma Vichara methodology proposed by Ramana Maharshi will be explored from the perspective of philosophical practices, aimed at finding oneself in an everyday universe where the individual is increasingly separated from his own higher Self.

Antonio Sandu is tenured Professor PhD at “Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, Romania, Senior Researcher at LUMEN Research Center in Social and Humanistic Sciences, Iasi, Romania, visiting Professor and PhD adviser at Oradea University and also CEO of LUMEN Publishing House, Iasi, Romania. His main areas of interest include ethics, bioethics, sociology, social work and social philosophy, public administration. The original contributions of the author’s scientific activities start from the social construction of reality and social constructionism as seen from a semiological perspective. He analyses the social construction of reality by developing his very own version of social constructionism operating at the crossroad between the social-constructionist paradigm and the theory of communicative action. He studied the interpretative adrift of ethical concepts such as ethical acceptability and ethical values. He also conducted research in autonomy and informed consent in medical ethics and public health ethics. He is also interested in transhuman and posthuman changes in human condition due to the virtualisation of social space. He is the author of the book: Bioethics in Crisis or the Crisis of Bioethics? An Anthropology of Pandemic in Medicalised Society, published by Lumen Publishing House. He also authored Social Construction of Reality as Communicative action, published at Cambridge Scholar Publishing (2016), and also Social Work Practice: Research Techniques and Intervention Models, Appreciative Ethics: A Constructionist Version of Ethics and Social-Constructionist Epistemology: A Transmodern Overview. The last three books have been published by Lap Lambert between 2012 and 2013. He is main editor of the books Ethical Issues in Social Work Practice and Ethics in Research Practice and Innovation published by IGI Global between 2018-2019. He has published more than 100 papers in scientific journals, among which 45 are WoS indexed, with H factor 10. He has also authored more than 20 volumes in Romanian and English language.