Category | Contemplative Science

For those of you who could not make the recent meditation conference in Melbourne (Australia), or asked to hear the presentation again, here is a shortened version of the talk recorded recently. I must apologize for the quality of the audio at the beginning. But it does come good about 2 minutes in. You may also like to know that the content in the video is being developed into course material for future retreats. Retreats that will include (1) foundational theory that will give participants an understanding of traditional Buddhist psychology and epistemology recast into modern secular language....

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Well, it has been a week since I got back from the Alan Wallace Shamatha retreat in Sydney. The retreat was great, of course, we were all well looked after and the teachings were wonderful. Below is a photo of the meditation hall taken between sessions. The retreat was held at a Catholic conference/convent in Sydney hence the crucifix. But what was extraordinary so my Catholic friends tell me is to see statues of Buddha and other Buddhist images along side those of Jesus. There we were, Buddhist, Christian and scientist types all together, all investigating the nature of the mind by employing...

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Mark your calendars! July 31st is this years date for the Australian Meditation conference. The conference, I believe, has been running for two or perhaps even three years now, and focuses on bringing teachers of meditation together to discuss and present their work. From their website we get the following information: The Conference brings together some of Australia's leading meditation teachers, meditation researchers and performing artists in the field of contemplative/intuitive music. The event provides practitioner-oriented education for wellness professionals. Our commitment is to bring...

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please note this is a draft version: 23/2/2010 1. Introduction Does Buddhism need science? That is to say, does Buddhism need the validation of science? Perhaps not, however, in order to lift the essence of Buddhism out of the cultural setting from which we as practitioners have learnt this science of the mind we call Buddhism, we need to test the claims presented. In this article, I want to explore the possibility that science and Buddhism need each other. Most would agree I think when I say that calling Buddhism a religion is really a misnomer. For the Buddha himself urged his students...

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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...

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I want to share with you—the loyal reader—some of the exciting events that have taken place over the past month or two. It all began when I emailed Alan Wallace—a Buddhist teacher and writer with a B.A in Physics and a Ph.D also—to thank him for his wonderful presentation at the Mind and its Potential conference, which some of us monks and nuns attended in the same week as His Holiness Dalai Lama teachings held in Sydney last year. You can hear the panel discussion which included HH Dalai Lama at the ABC radio show All in the Mind here Here is Alan's reply: Dear Clarke, Thank you for your...

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It seems that my assertion from the article Philosophy as Practice raised some eyebrows among Buddhists. Here is the section of in question: ...without the ability to analyze and use critical thinking, even the compassion spoken of in Buddhism cannot be fully developed. Therefore the wisdom lineage, as in “method and wisdom”, pervades the method lineage. I was surprised by the doubt raised by this statement, as it seems to me to be quite clear. However, in order to practice what I advocate, that is, doing philosophy, since last Thursday when the doubt was surreptitiously raised during...

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Note: below I have described "mindfulness" as it is popularly known in modern cognitive psychology. This is but a small piece of the pie of the Buddhist practice called mindfulness. Mindfulness is a technique usually spoken of in terms of meditation. However it can be defined as: being intentionally phenomenally aware of cognitive states. That is, being intentionally aware of your thoughts and actions in the present moment without placing values, labels or categories on these mental phenomena. It is a process of observing thoughts, feelings,, sensations, everything around you, and staying...

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Meditation is an integral part of a larger process of becoming healthy, and as such, it is both a diagnostic and therapeutic tool used in this endeavor. In the Buddhist context, the term meditation is used to translate the Sanskrit term bhavana. While the Tibetan equivalent is gom. To receive notification of articles as they are published subscribe below: Subscribe via RSS Enter your email address: The Sanskrit term bhavana carries with it the connotation of cultivating particular cognitive states. While it's Tibetan equivalent gom has the idea of developing a familiarity...

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For those of us that aspire to meditate well, it can be easy to get caught in thoughts of how wonderful it would be to have flawless concentration. As most of us carry expectations into our meditation sessions, and as we sit with a mind that continues to wander, continues to play the uncontrollable buffoon, it is easy for us to become disheartened by our lack of progress. Be like a meditator, think like a meditator: embrace failure. Successful meditators on the other hand, no strike that, successful people, embrace failure. Such people are not put off by long and difficult journeys, in fact,...

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