This session will begin with a brief guided meditation to experientially introduce themes from Christian contemplative practice. Neither experience nor a Christian background are necessary. Discussion of the multi-dimensional quality of mind and ways in which it can be released from the tyranny of fear and anxiety will follow. Comparison with Buddhism and other religious …
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Fear and Fearlessness in Contemplative Christianity
The Didache (1st century) describes Christianity as a “way of life” in which the “fleshly and bodily lusts” of fear and hatred are transformed into compassionate love. This theme was revisited by John of the Cross who composed love poetry to God in a tiny prison cell from which he was regularly taken for ritual …
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Attachment Theory and Attachment Security in Relation to Buddhist Non-Attachment
The ideal mental state, or stance, according to attachment theory and research is secure attachment or attachment security. The ideal state, or stance, according to Buddhism has been often been described as non-attachment. I will present some ideas and measures, including measures of attachment anxiety and avoidance, mindfulness, and non-attachment, in hopes of sparking theoretical …
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Devotion as a Doorway to Existential Trust: Rethinking Devotion in Light of Attachment Theory
According to current theory in social psychology, secure attachments are accompanied by a secure-base script. This script includes an assumption that there are people one can turn to for support, an assumption others can be trusted to give support and a recognition that you will be comforted by the support you receive. Interestingly, the devotional …
How Can a Buddhist Realize that They Are Afraid? A Study in Buddhist Philosophy of Mind
Buddhists hold that fear is a root of much suffering. It is also widely thought that fears can be either occurrent events in conscious awareness or have a ‘background’ causal influence on our experience and behavior of which we are not immediately aware but need meditation and reflection to uncover. What must the nature of …
Cultivating Fear to Achieve Fearlessness: A Puzzle in Buddhist Moral Philosophy
Buddhists hold that fear is a root of much suffering. In his Bodhicaryāvatāra, Śāntideva provides a series of provocative verses aimed at inciting fear (bhaya) to motivate taking refuge in the Buddhas and ‘Supreme Beings’ and thereby achieve fearlessness (nābhayam). This is puzzling. Why would one cultivate fear in order to eradicate fear? And how …
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Richie Davidson on Meeting the Dalai Lama
Mind & Life Institute board member and neuroscientist Dr. Richard Davidson tells the story of how meeting the Dalai Lama redirected his work towards studying kindness and compassion.
Remembrance of things to come: the predictive nature of the mind and contemplative practices
Two contemplative neuroscientists consider meditation in light of a leading theory about brain function
Mind & Life Institute: ISCS 2014 highlights
Concurrent Session 5 – Resuscitating the Heart: Hesychast Spirituality and the Neurophenomenology of Depression
The paper stages a conversation between Eastern monastic spirituality and the contemporary neurophenomenology of depression. The claim is that, much as the heart once functioned as a symbol for the structured core of the human being, the brain has now come to act as a symbol around which imaginative visions of human nature are pooling. …
