Clarke Scott at the State Library of Victoria
Clarke Scott is a fully ordained Buddhist monk trained in the Tibetan tradition. A student of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Clarke has received personal instructions on Madhyamaka philosophy and meditation from His Holiness. Clarke is also the founder and chairman of the Australian Institute for Consciousness Studies. AICS was established as a nexus for advancing interdisciplinary understanding which combines scientific and contemplative investigatory knowledge. A non-sectarian organization, AICS reaches out to the scientific and academic communities, a variety of contemplative traditions, and the general public. AICS activities focus on research into the nature, origins, and potentials of consciousness. Clarke is also a copyeditor for the academic Journal Buddhist Ethics and the editor of the Tibetan philosophy section of Philpapers.org.
From 1995 to 2009 Clarke lived and studied with the famed Tibetan lama Geshe Thubten Loden from Sera Je monastery. In that time he studied Buddhist epistemology, psychology, Madhyamaka philosophy, Buddhanature, Abhidharma and Vajrayana directly with Geshe Loden. In 2010 Clarke moved to Tasmania to pursue a Ph.D in philosophy from the University of Tasmania, where he is currently working on his thesis entitled: From the Given to the Givenless: A Critical Analysis of No-Self and the Givenness of First-person Experience.
His research interest lies in Buddhist philosophy, philosophy of mind and cognitive science. He is particularly interested in rigorous scientific investigations into the nature and origin of consciousness and its relation to dispositional narrative. “Cognitive science has brought us objective, third-person investigative techniques to the study of attention, emotion, and other aspects of consciousness. Yet, there is still no consensus or even a clear understanding of the nature of consciousness and therefore there is still much work to be done. It is my belief that cognitive science must include a first-person approach to research for clarity to obtain. Perhaps this is where contemplative traditions such as Buddhism can make a real contribution to modernity.”
Clarke Scott in the press
Photos of my teachers
Random Thoughts: I believe Buddhism is not simply a religious doctrine founded by a long dead ancient culture with little connection to contemporary life. I would claim it is the investigation and articulation of the natural world. I would also suggest that at its core, is not mysticism, but rather empirical data garnered through investigation into such things as the nature of mind and experience. These claims are then evaluated via meditation and just like science these experiments must be repeatable by any individual. The Dalai Lama has often said: “If science finds empirical evidence that contradicts Buddhist doctrine we must abandon that tenet”. I would therefore claim that Buddhism should be understood to fall somewhere between science, philosophy and religion.
Moreover, Buddhism claims the process of enlightenment is merely the explication of dysfunctional states of mind such as anger, jealousy, arrogance, and the development of functional cognitive states such as confidence, friendliness and wisdom or intelligence. Analysis and reasoning play a large role in this process and meditation is a vital tool of this process. It is therefore a diagnostic, therapeutic and analytic tool used in this endeavor. Philosophical truths are not things we look up in books or that are given to us by some mystical process. Truths are acquired through reading, thinking and in the Buddhist tradition, meditation. This is true because if we merely report what someone else has said we are not doing the investigating for ourselves. However, Buddhist science is more than the articulation of philosophical or religious views, it is the critical investigation into whether these views correspond with reality. Therefore, I hope I can, in some small way, participate in the conversation between East and West in order to bridge the divide between these two great traditions. This is a project that I have set myself for the remainder of my life. The PhD is merely the first step in this project.
Research: My research entails a critical investigation into the soteriological efficacy of the Buddhist doctrine of emptiness and dependent-origination. Particularly whether the cognition of emptiness or no-self can in fact remove dysfunctional states of mind. The overall philosophical enterprise of Buddhism and the insight into the illusory-like nature of the self is about solving the problem of existential suffering. According to Buddhists the solution to this problem is the extirpation of ignorance that reifies intrinsic essence in things and which functions as the root cause of suffering. The conception that reifies essence in the self is the root of suffering, as it pervades the cognitive process of ordinary unenlightened beings propelling them into dysfunctional actions. These misconceptions empower dysfunctional actions in a self-perpetuating cycle of false appearances and dysfunctional actions. My research will also investigate whether all conscious experience involves self-awareness? As well as: is consciousness fundamentally “egological”, constituted by a sense of “I”? Thus the core of my research is: can we reconcile a view of consciousness that takes the first-personal dimension with a non-egological position? I hope to further the discussion between cognitive science and contemplative phenomenological first-person accounts of the relationship between brain/body functions and the outer world. While long-term, by participating in collaborative research into first-person phenomenology and cognitive science – by means of refining fine-grained phenomenological skills with my own research, I hope to help bridge the so-called divide between Buddhist accounts of first-person experiences of mental phenomena, the philosophical assertions of dependent-origination and emptiness, with Western scientific research into brain/body functionality.
Private audience with HH Dalai Lama June 2009
Photo with HH Karmapa taken at the Mind and Life conference Dharmasala June 2009
Lama Tsongkhapa Institute Italy 1998
DISCLAIMER: I have no special wisdom or insights to convey, and the opinions and views expressed here are my own. I take full responsibility for any mistakes made in my work. What value that is derived from this website is due to the inspiration of my teachers. Any mistakes made are my own.
