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 …
Continue reading “Cultivating Fear to Achieve Fearlessness: A Puzzle in Buddhist Moral Philosophy”
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.
Two contemplative neuroscientists consider meditation in light of a leading theory about brain function
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. …
In cases where two human cultures disagree over fundamental ethical values, questions about what could make one or the other position correct arise with great force. Philosophers committed to naturalistically plausible accounts of ethics have offered little hope of adjudicating such conflicts, leading some to embrace moral relativism. This project develops an empirically grounded response …
Continue reading “Concurrent Session 5 – Grounding Ethics in the Qualities of Heart”
As a Christian who has spent many years practicing Buddhism, I have observed a strong parallel between the unfolding of experience that occurs in the Tibetan Lamrim (Graduated Path to Enlightenment) and in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. There is a natural and predictable arc to both (as there is in vipassana meditation), suggesting …
This presentation brings Buddhist teachings on anatta to research findings based on the Silencing the Self Scale to examine central concepts of self and selflessness from Buddhist and Western psychological perspectives. Anatta, realized through meditation, insight, and teachings, is an essential aspect of the Buddha’s teaching on liberation from suffering. In contrast, selflessness, and self-silencing, …
Over the past six years, the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative has created a science education program designed to bridge Western science and Tibetan Buddhism, and scaffold mutual engagement. The program will grow exponentially as it rolls out across Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in India and Nepal, cultivating the grounds for deep, sustained conversations between science and Buddhism. …
This unique presentation and performance experience will draw on Jay Rinsen Weik’s extensive experience with avant-garde music and the teachings of Zen. The Zen Arts Ensemble formed out of a series of workshops titled “Being Sound” that Rinsen developed to explore the intersection of sound and contemplative practice. The Zen Arts Ensemble is a chapter …
