I am delighted to announce affiliation between the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies and the Australian Institute for Consciousness Studies (website coming soon). For those who may be unaware, the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies (SBICS) is an organization established as a nexus for advancing interdisciplinary and cross-cultural understanding that joins scientific knowledge and spiritual practice. It is a non-sectarian organization that reaches out to the scientific and academic communities, a variety of contemplative traditions, and the general public. Most recently SBI completed a study on the Shamantha meditation in collaboration with the University of California’s Center for Mind and Brain and the Fetzer Institute. As a side note the chief scientific investigator on this project was Clifford Saron. I had pizza at Namgyel monastery with Cliff during the Mind and Life conference held in Dharamsala last year. A nice man with a healthy appetite. He ate more pizza than I, and let me tell you—I like pizza.

Anyway, enough of my jibbajabba, here is a copy of the letter of affiliation from B. Alan Wallace.

To whom it may concern,

Clarke Scott is committed to bringing the full vitality of Buddhist theory and practice to the modern world.

It is therefore with pleasure that I acknowledge the affiliation of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies with the Australian Institute for Consciousness Studies.
In bringing these two institutions together we can further advance the aim of establishing collaborative research projects between contemplatives and scientists around the world.

I fully support the Australian Institute for Consciousness Studies and look forward to working with Clarke and his team as they endeavor to establish research projects and retreat facilities within Australia.

B. Alan Wallace Ph.D
President, Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies

Santa Barbra Institute for Consciousness Studies affiliation letter

The activities of the Australian Institute for Consciousness Studies—AICS—will closely follow the lead of the Santa Barbara Institute and its overall aims. We can get a feel for what this might mean by looking at the following statement from the SBI website:

The Santa Barbara Institute is dedicated to interdisciplinary research and education to advance understanding of the nature and potentials of consciousness. Its comprehensive approach integrates the insights and techniques of contemporary science with those of the world’s classic contemplative and philosophical traditions.

As I have said before: 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.

I feel a close collaboration between science and the contemplative traditions, such as Buddhism, could prove beneficial. Buddhism has a long history of investigation into the nature of mind and its various aspects—this is effectively what Buddhist meditation and it’s critical analysis constitutes (The Universe in a Single Atom: His Holiness Dalai Lama P.134).

It is, therefore, my aim and in fact the very purpose of establishing this center to focus on three inter-related fields of endeavor:

1. To establish a collaborative projects between scientists, psychologists, philosophers and contemplatives in order to research the nature of consciousness and experience.
2. To establish facilities for those wishing to learn meditation and or engage in meditation retreats.
3. To establish education which facilitates the understanding of the utility of meditation and its positive affect on individuals and community.

More of what this will actually entail will become available shortly as we flesh out the details and begin building a new website for the Institute.