Ethnography 11(2) 309–328 ! The Author(s) 2010 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1466138109339041 eth.sagepub.com Article Producing intersubjectivity in silence: An ethnographic study of meditation practice Michal Pagis The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Abstract The ‘problem of other minds’ is central to sociological theory and of immediate impor- tance to contemporary research on subjectivity and interiority. How do we cultivate and maintain an intersubjective space during silent, private, experiences? Drawing on Alfred Schutz’s phenomenology, this study challenges the common view which regards silence as an obstacle to social relations. The data consist of two years of participant observation of vipassana meditation practices in Israel and the United States. Vipassana meditation is conducted in complete silence, discouraging group sharing of meditation experiences, thus offering an extreme case of silence and privacy. The findings illustrate how, despite the absence of direct verbal communication, the practice of meditation still holds important intersubjective dimensions. I suggest that covert mechanisms of silent intersubjectivity play an important role in everyday social life and require further ethnographic attention. Keywords intersubjectivity, meditation, phenomenology, silence, subjective experience It was evening when I arrived. 1 The door was opened by a young woman, and I entered a narrow hall. She then disappeared into a second room. I peeked into it and saw a few computers and three men working. They seemed occupied, so I waited quietly. Shortly after, a few people arrived. One woman glanced through the door to the other room and said hello to one of the workers inside, she seemed to know him. The others just took off their shoes and waited quietly in the hall. No one introduced herself to me, or gave me the opportunity to introduce myself. It felt Corresponding author: Michal Pagis, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel 91905. Email: michal.pagis@mail.huji.ac.il