THE CONCEPTUALIZATION OF TRANSFORMATIVE STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS ACROSS CULTURES: A COGNITIVE-LINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE
Abstract
he article examines the cross-cultural conceptualization of transformative states of consciousness from a cognitive-linguistic perspective. The study focuses on five concepts ENLIGHTENMENT, AWAKENING, BODHI, NIRVANA, and MOKSHA selected for their relevance to philosophical and religious discourse. The research material comprises lexicographic sources, philosophical and religious texts, and academic literature. The methodology combines conceptual analysis, comparative linguistic analysis, etymological investigation, and cognitive-linguistic modeling. The study reconstructs the notional structures and conceptual domains of the five concepts. The findings show that the analyzed concepts are not totally synonymous lexical units but partially overlapping conceptual models of transformative experience. Their semantic structures converge around liberation, awakening, wisdom, transformation, and ultimate realization, while culture-specific components reflect different doctrinal traditions. ENLIGHTENMENT integrates cognitive, spiritual, and historical-philosophical dimensions, whereas AWAKENING combines physiological, cognitive, psychological, and spiritual domains. By contrast, BODHI, NIRVANA, and MOKSHA are organized within the SPIRITUAL DOMAIN and retain semantic stability as specialized doctrinal concepts. The comparative analysis reveals two patterns of conceptual development: semantic diversification in culturally widespread lexemes and semantic specialization in tradition-specific terms. The study concludes that the five concepts form an interconnected conceptual network representing the transition from ordinary human experience to higher levels of consciousness, knowledge, liberation, and spiritual realization. The findings confirm the potential of cognitive-linguistic methodology for investigating culturally significant concepts and provide a framework for further cross-cultural research into the linguistic conceptualization of transformative experience.