Projections of the Imaginal in the Museum of World Religions

Abstract

This reflective essay focuses on the work performed by the author as part of a Harvard University team of researchers who, in 1999, developed the early content outlines of the Museum of World Religions (www.mwr.org.tw), built in Taipei, Taiwan, by the Buddhist leader, Dharma Master Hsin-Tao. Apart from its reflective content, the scientific research component of this essay highlights themes related to the internal debates on how religion ought to be displayed in a museum, and on the significance of „imaginal” as a compelling conceptual device in exhibiting religion in its essence and outlook.