Our specific teaching experiences of life education to both undergraduate and postgraduate students reflect the perspective of Taiwanese Education (Chen, 2012; Ministry of Education Taiwan, 2018). The subject content of life, in brief, considers the importance of ‘life functioning’ for individuals and society, both short-term (e.g., a student’s social relationship with her peers as she works on a group assignment) and long-term (e.g., a graduate’s goals for the next five years for accomplishment). Life functioning, as the nomenclature connotes, relates to a person’s functioning on a daily basis (i.e., how is he/she going at the moment for a particular context?) for different domains and/or courses of action (e.g., the importance of social functioning versus academic functioning). In this sense, from our point of view, positive and/or proactive life functioning, in general, is a central tenet of life itself. Understanding the meaning and/or the nature of life functioning, in general, would help a person to have differing opinions, interpretations, viewpoints, etc. about daily life complexities (e.g., one’s financial struggle and personal hardship as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic).

Our teaching of life education is philosophical and open-ended, seeking to understand the proactivity of life functioning. What can a parent do to ensure that his children have self-fulfilling life experiences, for example, is an important question that resonates with our teaching of life education. In this analysis, our teaching of life education establishes and stipulates one important premise for development – namely:

The aforementioned premise of active transformation of life knowledge, or life wisdom, into daily practice (i.e., life wisdom → positive life practice) is an important aspect, which we focus on in our teaching of life and death. Central to this premise of transformation is the viewpoint, or the belief, that life knowledge, not necessarily academic per se (e.g., knowledge in Calculus), may be utilized appropriately for the purpose of effective life functioning. In other words, from our point of view, knowledge per se is a valuable investment and/or a commodity that may produce positive yields to help facilitate positive life and death experiences. For example, how can a senior citizen use his knowledge and understanding of ‘walking meditation’ (Phan et al., 2021a,b) to assist him with the Covid pandemic? In a similar vein, how can a teenager’s knowledge and understanding of Freud’s theory of moral conscience (Jones, 1966; Abel, 1989) help others in the neighborhood? Our teaching of death, as detailed next, also emphasizes the importance of active transformation of life knowledge.

Aside from the importance of active transformation of life knowledge, or life wisdom, we also incorporate different religious faiths, cultural beliefs and epistemologies, and customary practices in our teaching, as this practice would help facilitate appreciation and meaningful understanding of the subject matter. As a point for consideration, we use the term ‘theoretical infusion’ to denote and/or to reflect our practice of incorporation (e.g., the notion of ‘spiritual infusion’ in life teaching). For example, for the Taiwanese sociocultural-learning context, both the second author and the fourth author theoretically ‘infuse’ Buddhism (Yeshe and Rinpoche, 1976; Sheng Yen, 2010), Taoism (Saso, 1970; Rahul, 2018), and Confucianism (Yao, 2000; Havens, 2013) in their teaching of life and death. In relation to Buddhist philosophy, say, our teaching of life to students would highlight the importance of perceived positive ‘Buddha-like’ (佛系) qualities and/or characteristics, such as ethical morality, truthfulness, equanimity, and kindness (Chattopadhyay, 2022). From our point of view, attainment of ethical morality, truthfulness, equanimity, etc. may help a person to understand and to appreciate both the ‘ethics’ and the ‘esthetic nature’ of life. In a similar vein, our teaching of life education also infuses the philosophical premise of Confucianism (Yao, 2000; Havens, 2013). For example, we contend that good practice of life functioning entails a person’s reverence for the practice of ‘filial piety’ (Chow and Chu, 2007; Chen and Ho, 2012), such as her fulfillment of dutiful obligations (e.g., doing well academically at school), respecting elders and family members, helping others in society, etc.

By all account, we acknowledge that there may well be other theoretical approaches to the teaching of life education (Chen, 2009; Tsai et al., 2018; Phan et al., 2021a,b). As such, we contend that our teaching approach, somewhat philosophical, is not exclusive in nature. What is of significance, however, is that our teaching approach to life and death emphasizes the importance of theoretical infusion (e.g., spiritual infusion). That perhaps, to enhance teaching practice and theoretical understanding of life and death, we consider ‘infusing’ our approach with different contextual matters (e.g., the infusion or incorporation of Buddhist philosophy).

Our specific teaching experiences of death education, similar to that of life education, is philosophical and emphasizes the importance of theoretical infusion. Death, in its simplistic term, is defined as the ceasing of life of a living organism in the physical world (Phan et al., 2021a,b). The subject of death education, also known as thanatology (Meagher and Balk, 2013; Chapple et al., 2017), is not new and is relatively universal in terms of teaching and research development, despite variations in methodological designs, instructional approaches, epistemological and cultural beliefs, etc. For example, Tibetans (Prude, 2019), Indigenous Fijians,² and Vietnamese (Son and Nga, 2019) have distinct cultural beliefs and viewpoints about death and dying and such differences, from our point of view, serve to accentuate the importance of ‘cultural specificity’.

We contend that the ceasing of life, or a person’s death, may come to espouse a perceived sense of distress, grief, despair, suffering, etc. One’s journey toward death or the ‘finalization of life’, from our experiences, is individualized and personal. Some, for example, may fear, suffer, and/or experience a state of angst and depression, whereas others may come to embrace and accept that the end is near. Our teaching of death education, in this case, focuses on philosophical reflection (e.g., what does death feel like?) and the transformation of life knowledge, or life wisdom, into practice. For us, personally, transformation of lifelong knowledge is integral to the negation and/or placation of one’s fear of death. For example, transformation of knowledge and personal understanding of Buddhist philosophy (Yeshe and Rinpoche, 1976; Xiao et al., 2017; Chattopadhyay, 2022), such as the tenet of ‘saṃsāra’, or the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, may help a person to query and/or to consider the possibility that life continuously perpetuates and does not cease. This transformation, from our observation, is reflected by evidence, which showcases volunteers offering spiritual advice to those individuals who are dying and on the cusp of death (e.g., volunteers would make weekend visits and pray and recite the Buddhist sutras).

Transformation of knowledge or wisdom into practice, involving spiritual infusion (e.g., Buddhist philosophy) is hopeful and extraordinary, helping perhaps to alleviate one’s fear, angst, and distress about death and dying. In a similar vein, our teaching practice touches on another aspect of transformation, which is somewhat unconventional. In this case, we purport that transformation of personal understanding of ‘esoteric knowledge’ and/or ‘esoteric experiences’ (Phan et al., 2021a,b) into practice, where possible, may also help to ‘normalize’ a person’s perception and/or fear of death. One example of this is related to the notion, or concept, of what we term as ‘spiritual connectedness’. Spiritual connectedness, in this case, does not actually espouse and/or equate to a person’s perceived connectedness with some ‘divine being’ (e.g., God) in the physical world. Rather, in our context, spiritual connectedness entails the potentiality for a person, via means of meditation practice (Loden, 1996; Xiao et al., 2017; Chattopadhyay, 2022), traditional rituals (e.g., the ritual of ‘Guan Luo Yin’), etc. to ‘connect’ with ‘spiritual beings’ or ‘souls’ of loved ones who have moved on. The notion of spiritual connectedness is extremely fascinating as it delves into the unproven unknowns of this physical world, reflecting the important nature of esotericism or esoteric experience (Faivre, 1994; Pasi, 2015; Blake, 2020). Such thinking and/or rationalization contends that some form of life or that the ‘afterlife’ (Segal, 2004; Ellwood, 2010; Picone, 2012; Joaquin, 2019) in another non-physical realm is possible.

Overall, then, the preceding sections have introduced the teaching of life and death from the Taiwanese sociocultural-learning context. As a brief recap, we theorize that the subject of life and death may, in fact, support the theoretical scope of lifespan development (Peterson, 2004; Dacey et al., 2009; Sigelman et al., 2016). Our complementary teaching experiences and research inquiries, situated in different sociocultural-learning contexts (e.g., Australia) have led us to propose the following:

Our proposition, as Figure 1 shows, is innovative, highlighting the potential significance of the ‘merging’ or unification of three theoretical viewpoints. There are a number of defining reasons that may explain and/or justify why we choose to include and merge the social viewpoint, the psychological viewpoint, and the philosophical viewpoint within one overarching framework – for example:

We contend that a theoretical overview on its own (e.g., the philosophical viewpoint) is somewhat limited in terms of explanatory account. One major deterrence regarding this relates to the ‘restrictiveness’ in knowledge, ideas, reasonings, etc. that a person may acquire. For example, recapping our earlier discussions, a focus on acquiring life wisdom via philosophical understanding alone is rather confined. It is better and/or more appropriate, in this analysis, to consider a wider scope in coverage of subject contents, knowledge, and/or understanding of life and death. Merging the social viewpoint, the psychological viewpoint, and the philosophical viewpoint into one core theoretical framework is unique as it offers both contrasting and complementary viewpoints, which could help ‘generalize’ the subject of life and death to a wider, international audience for recognition. This premise contends, of course, the uniqueness of the following:

Central to our conceptualization, as shown in Figure 1, is the rationalization that complementing with each other, the three theoretical viewpoints may help to facilitate one’s ‘holistic’ understanding of the subject contents of life and death. A singular theoretical viewpoint is rather restricted, confining knowledge and personal understanding of life and death to a narrow focus (e.g., simply a philosophical focus on life and death). By the same token, perhaps there is no overarching theory that may adequately explain the underlying nature of life and death. More appropriate therefore, from our aforementioned rationalization, is the integration, or unification, of comparative theoretical viewpoints – namely, the philosophical viewpoint, the psychological viewpoint, and the social viewpoint.

A unifying approach is innovative as it reflects the potential promotion, facilitation, and /or cultivation of different ideas, perspectives, and/or reasonings for the underlying nature of life and death. Moreover, we contend that a unifying approach may enable us to achieve the following:

Our first proposed inquiry introduces a theoretical concept, which we term as ‘situated mindset’. Situated mindset, for us, is psychological and espouses a person’s attitude, perception, connectedness, introspective reflection, and contemplation of life and death-related matters. This considered viewpoint expands on previous theoretical tenets of ‘spiritual mindset’, which may espouse different religious affiliations – for example, ‘Islamic spiritual mindset’ (Nasr, 1987/2008; Bonab et al., 2013), ‘Christian spiritual mindset’ (Kourie and Ruthenberg, 2008; Van der Merwe, 2018), ‘Buddhist spiritual mindset’ (Thanissaro, 2015; Chattopadhyay, 2022), etc. A Buddhist spiritual mindset (Yeshe and Rinpoche, 1976; Xiao et al., 2017) for example, which may intimately associate with life and death education (Chen, 2009; Huang, 2014; Tsai et al., 2019), considers the perceived ‘connectedness’ and/or perceived feeling of ‘spiritual enlightenment’ experience (Yeshe and Rinpoche, 1976; Loden, 1996), or spiritual awakening (Chattopadhyay, 2022). One portal of communication or source of relevance, which may assist to facilitate a person’s Buddhist spiritual mindset is her proactive engagement in meditation (e.g., walking meditation).

The study of spiritual mindset (e.g., Buddhist spiritual mindset) (Thanissaro, 2015; Chattopadhyay, 2022) is somewhat restricted as ‘spirituality’, in this case, does not fully and/or truly represent a person’s psychological mindset. In other words, spirituality alone does not define the totality of a person’s mindset. One underlying reason is that on a daily basis, perhaps, a person may not necessarily exhibit a spiritual mindset. Not every individual has the willingness, inclination, and/or interest to attain a ‘state of spirituality’ (Jones, 2004; Bonab et al., 2013; Srivastava and Barmola, 2013). This considered viewpoint contends, then, that a person’s psychological mindset does not necessarily have to associate with his spiritual experience and/or feeling of some religious faith (e.g., Christian spiritual mindset) (Kourie and Ruthenberg, 2008; Van der Merwe, 2018). Rather, from our point of view, it is more meaningful to include a wider scope, which may encompass a spiritual mindset and/or a non-spiritual mindset. A situated mindset, a theoretical concept that we recently conceptualized, is expansive in scope and may, in accordance with our rationalization, associate with the notion of a ‘holistic self’ (Phan et al., 2021a,b). In brief, the tenets of a holistic self suggest that rather than having a singular ‘self’, a person in fact has multiple selves (e.g., see Figure 2). In this sense, we conceptualize that a person’s holistic self is overarching, espousing and/or encompassing multiple, varying selves – for example: a person may have a ‘self’ of herself as a part-time university student (i.e., Self 1) and, in tandem to this self, a ‘self’ as an older sister to her younger siblings at home (i.e., Self 2), and a ‘self’ as a full-time bank employee at work (i.e., Self 3).

A person’s perceived holistic self, espousing multiple, varying selves (e.g., Self 1, Self 2, Self 3, etc.) may associate with and help to explain his situated mindset. Specifically, we rationalize that a person’s multiple selves (e.g., Self 1, Self 2, Self 3, etc.) give rise to his perceived feeling and experience of ‘multiple mindsets’, which may situate within and adhere to different contexts. Referring to our previous explanation, for example, a person’s mindset of being a university student (i.e., Self 1) is unique and differs from her mindset of being a bank employee (i.e., Self 3). In this sense, a person’s mindset, situating within a particular context, may be:

How does the theoretical concept of multiple mindsets operate or function? We conceptualize that as an analogy, multiple mindsets are like a coin, a person’s hand, and/or a Rubik’s Cube. For example, the constant changing of the palmar side and the dorsal side of a person’s hand may depict and/or indicate the ‘dynamics’ of his two contrasting mindsets at any moment in time. This analogy contends that personal mindset, encompassing comparable and contrasting types may ‘fluctuate’ or alter at any moment in time with reference to differing contexts (e.g., a work context versus an academic context). A context, in this case, is postulated to account for and to compel a person to adopt and manifest a particular mindset. The context of spirituality (e.g., a teenager goes to church), for instance, may serve to instill, facilitate, and/or result in a person’s ‘adoption’ and subsequent ‘manifestation’ of a Christian spiritual mindset (Kourie and Ruthenberg, 2008; Van der Merwe, 2018). In a similar vein, the context of academic learning of Algebra (Ngu and Yeung, 2013; Booth et al., 2015; Star et al., 2015) would give rise to a student’s adoption and subsequent manifestation of her cognitive mindset.

The proposed concept of situated mindset, as opposed to an exclusive spiritual mindset (Thanissaro, 2015; Chattopadhyay, 2022), is innovative for its emphasis on the notion of ‘contextualization’ or specificity – for example, what is the context at hand (e.g., academic learning versus employment versus community counseling, etc.)? In terms of research undertakings, then, it would be of interest to explore and validate our proposition of the contextual nature of situated mindset – for instance, a Catholic priests’ spiritual mindset during Holy Communion (i.e., the context of religion) versus a postgraduate student’s philosophical mindset during her doctorate confirmation (i.e., the context of academia). As such, we acknowledge that there is credence to advance research inquiries of conceptual, philosophical, and/or empirical nature. One notable empirical inquiry, in this case, may involve the collection of primary-sourced data, quantitative and/or qualitative, which could help to validate and affirm the aforementioned proposition: that a person, at any moment in time, could have multiple selves and multiple mindsets, depending on the specific context at hand has multiple selves and multiple mindsets. A qualitative approach (Esterberg, 2002; Maxwell, 2005; Lofland et al., 2006), involving the use of in situ observations and/or interviews, say, may help to elucidate and/or affirm the importance of multiple situated mindsets. What does a person indicate (e.g., attitude, perception, connectedness, introspective reflection, contemplation, etc.) in terms of situated mindset when she is engaging in her academic studies?

Our second proposed inquiry is closely aligned to the theoretical concept of what is known as ‘transcendence’ or ‘spiritual transcendence’ (Hood and Morris, 1983; Long, 2000; Ruschmann, 2011). Some may contend that, perhaps, spiritual transcendence is something that is psychological, mythical, and/or non-scientific in nature. What is spiritual transcendence? Unlike other traditional psychological and/or achievement-related constructs (e.g., the concept of ‘optimal best practice’) (Fraillon, 2004; Mascolo et al., 2010; Phan and Ngu, 2021; Granero-Gallegos et al., 2023), spiritual transcendence is somewhat difficult for us to envisage, define, measure, and/or assess. Both Western and Eastern literatures do consider and have delved into the theoretical nature of transcendence (Maslow, 1969; Ruschmann, 2011; Gorelik and Shackelford, 2017; Llanos and Martínez Verduzco, 2022). For example, according to Levin and Steele (2005), transcendence is defined as subjective awareness and is something that is “beyond perception and beyond understanding” (p. 89). This broad definition, from our collective interpretation, is extremely abstract, connoting a person’s perceived ‘spiritual connectedness’ or union with God or some form of Divinity. In their overview, Levin and Steele (2005) equate transcendence, or spiritual transcendence, with other comparable terms [e.g., see Table 1 in Levin and Steele (2005), p. 90], such as ‘Clear Light’, ‘Cosmic Consciousness’, ‘God Experience’, ‘Mystic Experience’, ‘Satori’, ‘Peak Experience’, and ‘Subliminal Consciousness’. This description (e.g., equating spiritual transcendence as some form of ‘subliminal consciousness’) contends that a person’s experience of spiritual transcendence is something that extends beyond the realm of the physical body and its psychosocial boundaries.

Levin and Steele’s (2005) definition suggests that spiritual transcendence is extremely unique for its open-ended, abstract, anomalistic, and mystical nature. Does a person’s testament of spiritual transcendence entail and/or reflect her ‘relatedness’ to some ‘divine entity’? Does spiritual transcendence infer and/or espouse some form of consciousness with ‘something’ that is unexplained? Does personal experience of spiritual transcendence traverse the time–space dimension and involve something else altogether? Does spiritual transcendence intimately associate with deep, meaningful understanding of religious faiths (e.g., Islamic spiritual transcendence) (Nasr, 1987/2008; Bonab et al., 2013; Marzband et al., 2017)? Does spiritual transcendence reflect, indicate, and/or associate with a person’s perceived feeling of ‘self-enlightenment’? Is it possible for a person to assist another person to experience a perceived sense of spiritual transcendence (e.g., the notion of application or ‘practical transcendence’, where one is able to practice and help others to experience transcendence)? These purposive reflective questions, we contend, highlight the abstractness and open-ended and mystical nature of spiritual transcendence.

One interesting line of inquiry for consideration relates to the extent to which extensive practice of meditation (e.g., Buddhist meditation) (Hanh, 1976; Xiao et al., 2017; Wu et al., 2019) could, in fact, provide ‘grounding’ for a person to experience some form of spiritual transcendence. Moreover, from our personal experiences, we rationalize that a person’s ‘spiritual transcendence’ is intimately associated with her ‘esoteric experiences’. In-depth practice of meditation may give rise to the personal experience of ‘meditative insight’, which consists of the following: (i) an ‘out-of-body’ experience where a person’s ‘spiritual soul’ intimately connects with other esoteric entities (e.g., spiritual soul of a loved one who has passed away), (ii) a person’s ‘out-of-body’ experience, which traverses to another time–space realm, and (iii) a person’s ability to gauge into future events that have not yet happened and, likewise, concurrent events that she has no privy to. In essence, a person’s experience of meditative insight is partly esoteric and may, in this sense, reflect her experience of spiritual transcendence. In essence, in accordance with our proposition of life and death teaching, transcendence is something that expands and/or goes beyond one’s own state of consciousness and/or self-awareness of ‘closeness’ with some divine being, etc. (e.g., Buddha).

How do we empirically validate and/or affirm the existence of meditative insight, which may give rise to certain esoteric experiences (e.g., a person’s self-awareness of an event that is currently occurring at another sociocultural setting, or a person’s subconscious communication with a loved one who has moved on)? We acknowledge that personal experience of spiritual transcendence is subjective and individualized, reflecting uniqueness and variations among individuals. Even still, there is the question of personal experience in life – for example, does one have enough ‘insight’ and/or ‘experience’ to attain a state of spiritual transcendence? There are many unknowns that do not have definitive answers and, as such, anything is plausible in terms of validation and/or affirmation. Is it ever likely that we would be able to accurately measure, assess, and/or evaluate a person’s esoteric state of spiritual transcendence? One possibility, in this case, may involve personal recording or documentation of daily meditation practice (e.g., keeping a reflective journal with daily recording of thoughts, feelings, etc.), and whether such engagement could enable a person to experience unknown phenomena that may closely align with spiritual transcendence.

Seeking to validate the underlying nature of spiritual transcendence may also involve other possibilities, such as a person’s introspective reflection and evaluation of her ‘spiritual’ feelings, thoughts, emotions, etc. on a daily basis. One possible angle, in this case, may involve a person’s concerted effort to seek avenues and/or pathways, which could help him to experience a state of spiritual transcendence. In other words, is it possible for a person to experience the aforementioned attributes of spiritual transcendence (e.g., a person’s subconscious communication with a loved one who has moved on) without having to undertake meditation and/or any other mindfulness-related practice? We query, for example, whether the sharing of personal experiences of spiritual transcendence (e.g., via focus-group discussion) could help ‘enlighten’ a person’s self-awareness of his esoteric knowledge, understanding, etc.?

Our third proposed inquiry acknowledges the importance of what we term as ‘methodological consideration’ and/or ‘methodological appropriateness’ (Phan et al., 2019). Lifespan development research (e.g., the study of cognitive development), to date, has involved the use of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methodological approaches. For example, researchers tend to rely on primary-sourced data, situated within experimental and/or non-experimental frameworks (e.g., a longitudinal approach that involves, say, the use of autoregressive structural equation modeling) to study children’s cognitive growths (e.g., Greene et al., 2004; Cury et al., 2006; Koskey et al., 2010). Having said this, we allude to the methodological difficulty that one would face when researching inquiries that are associated with subject matters pertaining to life and death education (Chen, 2009; Tsai et al., 2018; Phan et al., 2021a,b). How would we accurately and/or realistically measure, assess, and evaluate, say, the concept of spiritual transcendence? To date, to our knowledge, some researchers have used quantitative methodological designs – for example, Tsai and her Taiwanese colleagues (e.g., Tsai et al., 2019, 2020) have relied on experimental designs to investigate the impact of life education within the context of Medicine.

The proposed social viewpoint of life and death education, from our point of view, would require some alternative methodological designs. What would be an appropriate and/or adequate methodological design, which could assist researchers to measure, assess, and /or ‘capture’ the social practice of life and death? One of the co-authors of the present article, for example, has encouraged the use of personal diaries and/or journals to document a person’s reflective thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc. as she engages in different types of social discourse. Such practice of documenting daily actions and/or behaviors may encourage one to analyze, interpret, and/or make meaningful sense of his/her continuous life experiences. What have I done today that may assist me in my understanding of the importance of life practice? What do I need to engage in, socially and/or academically, in order to help me appreciate life? What have I learned so far from the local community in terms of spirituality?

In relation to the study of life and death (Tsai, 2008; Chen, 2009; Huang, 2014; Tsai et al., 2018), the notion of methodological alignment or methodological appropriateness is somewhat difficult to ascertain. One notable factor or reason for this uncertainty is related to the complex nature of the subject matter itself. We reason that a typical traditional methodological approach (e.g., the use of a Likert-scale survey) would not be sufficed and/or appropriate. One innovative methodological design for consideration, in this case, may involve using what is known as ‘meditative-reflective documentation’. Meditative-reflective documentation is a term that one of the co-authors of the present article has coined, reflecting the importance of one’s personal account of his insight and/or experience, which may intimately associate with the practice of Buddhist meditation (Yeshe and Rinpoche, 1976; Xiao et al., 2017). In brief, engagement in meditation (e.g., walking meditation) and experience of mindfulness (Thera, 1972; Hanh, 1976; Keng et al., 2011) may help and/or enable a person to introspectively analyze, reflect, and contemplate about any subject for that matter. As such, it is encouraged, as personal practice, to record one’s inner ‘meditative thoughts and insights’ for potential daily usage. Documentation of ‘meditative thoughts and/or insights’, in this case, may involve a person identifying and recording down specific keywords, drawings, and/or brief descriptions of her current thought, insight, emotion, feeling, etc. as he meditates – for example, “…. I feel pretty buoyant….,” “…. relaxation….,” “…. transience….,” “…. impermanence….,” etc. This personal approach, we contend, may also accentuate our theoretical premise of active transformation (i.e., to consider meditative thoughts and insights for daily relevance).

We contend that meditative-reflective documentation, aligning closely with the practice of meditation, is an innovative methodological approach for consideration. Moreover, from our point of view, meditative-reflective documentation may also help a person to seek deep, meaningful understanding of higher-order consciousness and subconsciousness of the mind. For example, individualized recall of keywords, descriptions, etc. (e.g., “…. transience….,” “…. impermanence….,” etc.) upon personal meditation practice may facilitate self-awareness of higher cognitive thoughts, and/or encourage a person to seek out different esoteric experiences of life, if possible (e.g., a person’s testament of her subconscious interpersonal communication with loved ones who have since passed on) (Phan et al., 2021a,b). Having said this, however, we do acknowledge that the perceived potency and/or effectiveness of meditative-reflective documentation requires further practice and investigative measures in order to determine whether our narrative is valid or not.