Buddhism and Cognitive (Neuro)Science: An Uneasy Liaison?

Vöröš, Sebastjan

doi:10.4312/as.2016.4.1.61-80

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Contextualizing the Buddhism-science dialogue establishes why dialogue is productive in cross-cultural education. Formal encounters between Buddhism and science began in the 19th century in the context of Western imperialism, raising questions about motivations and power dynamics (Jinpa, 2010;Vörös, 2016;Sheng, 2017). For example, Darwinian theory of evolution directly challenged Biblical creationism, a tension that reverberates today.…”

Section: The Buddhism-science Dialoguementioning

confidence: 99%

Dialogue-Based Learning: A Framework for Inclusive Science Education and Applied Ethics

et al. 2021

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Dialogue-based learning is an inclusive pedagogy that leverages epistemological pluralism in the classroom to enhance cross-cultural education, encourage critical thinking across modes of inquiry, and promote novel contributions in applied ethics. The framework emerged from the Buddhism-science dialogue and our experiences teaching science courses for Tibetan Buddhists in India through the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative. Buddhism and science are two modes of inquiry that emphasize critical inquiry and empiricism, yet navigating complementarities and points of friction is challenging. Our proposed framework aims to raise awareness of onto-epistemological assumptions to convert them from obstacles into assets in dialogue. In drawing attention to epistemological orientations, our framework demonstrates that receptivity to other ways of knowing fosters clarity in one’s own views while creating space for new and enriching perspectives. In this article, we contextualize the Buddhism-science dialogue, explore the development of our dialogue-based learning framework, and demonstrate its application to a novel exchange about the COVID-19 pandemic. Broader aims of the framework include increasing scientific literacy and advancing transdisciplinary research.

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Section: The Buddhism-science Dialoguementioning

confidence: 99%

Dialogue-Based Learning: A Framework for Inclusive Science Education and Applied Ethics

et al. 2021

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“…destroy nyon-mongs [S. klesha], the afflictions which sentient beings suffer from" (Mills 2003, p. 86). 43 For critical analyses of the different positions that have arisen from the interaction between Buddhism and Western science, see Cabezón (2003) and Vörös (2016). See also Palitsky et al (2023) for an evaluation of the different relationships between religious and scientific worldviews that arise while Western practitioners navigate their meditation-related challenges.…”

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confidence: 99%

“I Can’t Do All This—This Is Nuts!”: An Ethnographic Account of the Challenges Posed by Vajrayāna Deity Yoga in a Western Context

Perkins

2023

Religions

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This article provides an in-depth exploration of the contextual, epistemic, ethical, personal, practical, religious, and socio-cultural factors that sixteen Western practitioners of Vajrayāna Buddhism highlighted as having particularly challenged their ability to learn and engage in deity yoga, including what strategies they may have adopted in attempting to overcome their impact. While these have been largely overlooked by empirical research on meditation, their pertinence to understanding practice efficacy and outcome, as well as the phenomenological unfolding of particularly adverse practice-related experiences, have recently been recognized alongside the prevalence of the latter. In addition, these practitioner testimonies shed light on how the cross-cultural transmission of Vajrayāna Buddhism involves a process in which practice approaches and environments are undergoing adaptation and negotiation in light of the needs and lifestyles of lay practitioners, while meaning is being synthesized through their responses to the experiences that unfold not only from their exposure to teachers and their teachings but also from their engagement in tantric practice.

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Parallels between Mindfulness and First-person Research into Consciousness

Markič

Kordeš

2016

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The article highlights some of the parallels encountered in the areas of mindfulness and first-person scientific approaches to research into consciousness. It thus considers the possibilities of using mindfulness as a scientific method in the area of cognitive science. We are well aware that both first-person research approaches in cognitive science and mindfulness as a type of Buddhist practice are intertwined with certain conceptual frameworks. This calls for a careful consideration of their individual characteristics, which may gain completely different meanings outside of their primary contexts. Since the concept of mindfulness has been a part of Western thinking for some time now, especially in the area of therapy, we believe it is necessary for a critical reflection on the possibilities of both of these areas to inspire each other. We touch upon some of the important epistemological and methodological questions, and point out some of the problems common to both empirical first-person research and Buddhist methods of contemplation of experience. More specifically, this work examines the problem of limited scope of insight, the subject-object split and excavation fallacy, the problem of researching everyday experience, and the issue of horizon. We also consider the question of research intention in both science and Buddhism. The conclusion gives some suggestions as to how these two areas might mutually benefit one another. We also point out the ethical aspects that Buddhism might contribute to scientific research, and the open-endedness that science could contribute to Buddhism and other spiritual practices.Keywords: mindfulness, phenomenology, first-person research, ethics, cognitive science IzvlečekČlanek osvetljuje nekatere vzporednice, ki jih lahko najdemo med prakso čuječnosti in prvoosebnimi znanstvenimi pristopi k raziskovanju doživljanja. Gre za razmislek o možnosti uporabe čuječnosti kot raziskovalne metode na področju kognitivne znanosti. Upoštevano je, da so tako pristopi prvoosebnega raziskovanja v kognitivni znanosti, kot DOI: 10.4312/as.2016.4.2.153-168 154 Urban Kordeš and Olga Markič: Parallels between Mindfulness... tudi čuječnost kot praksa v budizmu, vpeti v določen konceptualni in kulturni okvir. To nedvomno zahteva veliko previdnost pri obravnavi posameznih značilnosti, ki lahko zunaj svojega konteksta dobijo drug pomen. Uporaba čuječnosti je že nekaj časa tudi del zahodnih pristopov, predvsem v terapiji, zato je dobrodošel kritičen razmislek o možnosti medsebojnega oplajanja obeh področij. Prispevek se dotakne nekaterih pomembnih epistemoloških in metodoloških vprašanj in opozori na nekatere probleme, ki so skupni empiričnemu prvoosebnemu raziskovanju in budističnim metodam zrenja doživljanja: problem omejenega spoznavnega dosega, problem razcepa med objektom in subjektom v t. i. napaki izkopavanja, problem raziskovanja vsakdanjega doživljanja in vprašanje horizonta spoznanja. Obravnavano je še vprašanje namere raziskovanja v znanosti in v budizmu. Zaključek nakaže, na kakše...

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Buddhism and Cognitive (Neuro)Science: An Uneasy Liaison?

Cited by 5 publications

References 13 publications

Dialogue-Based Learning: A Framework for Inclusive Science Education and Applied Ethics

Dialogue-Based Learning: A Framework for Inclusive Science Education and Applied Ethics

“I Can’t Do All This—This Is Nuts!”: An Ethnographic Account of the Challenges Posed by Vajrayāna Deity Yoga in a Western Context

Parallels between Mindfulness and First-person Research into Consciousness

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