Category | News

Hi All, Well AICS —Australian Institute for Consciousness Studies continues to move forward rapidly. I have four new board member appointments to report. But over and above the highly accomplished board we are developing, there has also been an incredible amount of public and media interest. New board members: Peter Boord Ph.D in neuroscience—director of the World Happiness Forum joins AICS as a director. While Robert Thurman Professor of Buddhist philosophy from Columbia university,  Shaun Gallagher Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Sciences from the University of Central Florida,...

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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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When my mother calls to see how I am going I almost always say: same old; same old. I feel like this post is a little like a phone call to my mother. That is to say, when I call mum because it has been awhile, she will almost always ask: how are you dear? Good mum and you? I am fine, thank you. Then she will follow that question with the following: what have you been doing? Oh, same old. same old. Of course, after this initial phase and with the parsing of short term memory we do find something to talk about. So, how have I been? Dare I say it...same old; same old. Oh wait...actually...I do have...

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Below is a link to a "low budget" video I recorded as an introduction to the Australian Institute for Consciousness Studies If you cannot see the video because you are reading this in an email, here is the link http://clarkescott.org/aics-introduction-video Of course the problem with an interview is you only get one chance to get it right! Needless to say, I didn't. Indeed, there are a number of sentences which do not actually mean anything. My Bad! I should, however, mention there is a lot of interest in the AICS project—both from in and out of the academy. Most people I talk with get quite...

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For those of you are are on Facebook, the following may well be old news. For that I apologize. Having said that given this is my personal blog, the following does have a more personal tone than the offical announcement over at the AICS website. Here's a quote from the AICS to kick things off. From http://australianinstitute.org/announcement-new-aics-board-members/ It is with great pleasure that I welcome the following eminent professionals to our board of directors and advisory board. Each new board member brings a unique skill and focus to AICS. Thus giving the Insitute a wide set of skills...

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I am delighted to officially announce that B. Alan Wallace has accepted my request to join the board of the Australian Institute for Consciousness Studies. Alan, as you may well know, is a dynamic lecturer, scholar, and one of the most prolific writers of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. Alan continually seeks innovative ways to integrate Buddhist contemplative practices with Western science and was the genesis behind AICS. I want to thank Alan for his open and warm approach to the Buddhadharma and for believing in me.

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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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So, it has been a while since the last post. I promise this one will be less obscure. Since we last spoke His Holiness the Dalai Lama has visited Australia. Sydney in fact is where the teachings were held. Unfortunately I do not have any photos from the event. I spent the week traveling from just near Gosford to Sydney with friends. 90 minutes in a car each way, was, believe it or not, alot of fun. I got to see parts of NSW I have not seen and we spent most of that time in discussion on Buddhist philosophy, meditation and university politics. My friends - (Daniel and Ally) are also attemting PhDs....

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