The Emory-Tibet Science Initiative, in partnership with the Dalai Lama and the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, is developing and implementing a comprehensive science curriculum for Tibetan monastics, and initiating a range of mutually beneficial exchanges, discoveries, and knowledge. Science and Buddhism offer two distinct methods of inquiry, and a critical challenge in this …
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Concurrent Session 3 – Are We Ready to Investigate Non-Dual Awareness?
Non-dual awareness (NDA) has been identified as an important aspect of spiritual awakenings, from contemplative trainings practiced in both traditional wisdom traditions and in emerging contemporary “Dharma” teachings (such as mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-oriented recovery enhancement). Although NDA itself may not necessarily be an ultimate goal or destination, attaining NDA may signify an important …
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Concurrent Session 3 – Stages of Mind Training in Dzogchen: Contemplative and Neurocognitive Perspectives
This presentation will outline the progression of mind training in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of Dzogchen, from the ordinary distracted mind to the highest levels of mental balance, in terms of changes at four basic levels: motivation, attention, emotion, and consciousness. Within this framework, we will discuss the main markers of contemplative progress and possible …
Concurrent Session 3 – Half Empty: Measuring Indicators of Emptiness Awareness Through Contemplative Practice
Traditional Mahayana Buddhist teachings emphasize the importance of understanding emptiness — the absence of independent substantiality of phenomena — through contemplative study and practice. Contemplative practices are becoming more widely integrated into the fields of education and clinical training. While self-report methodologies for assessing mindfulness have allowed researchers to quantify some of the changes that …
Concurrent Session 3 – Heartfulness as Mindfulness: Affectivity and Perspective in Abrahamic and Dharmic Traditions
Current theories of mindfulness (Pali: sati) emphasize attention, emotional regulation, and meta-awareness. This interpretation de-emphasizes an original association of sati with remembrance in relation to cultivating virtue. Recovering remembrance reconnects mindfulness with narrative traditions of loving virtue. In practice, this occurs through cultivating both (1) affective awareness of the source of love, or ultimate reality; …
Concurrent Session 3 – Resilience and Compassion
This paper discusses the relationship between psychological resilience andcompassion. It will begin by looking at a particular set of techniques, drawn from the Tibetan Buddhist mind-training (lojong) tradition, in which the stresses, adversity, and suffering of the subject are the initial focus that eventually inspires empathetic identification with others. This type of compassion meditation training …
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Concurrent Session 3 – Spiritual Well-Being in Historical Perspective
Over the past 20 years, there has been a growing interest in economic and psychological studies of happiness through the concept of “subjective well-being.” Contemplative studies can also be situated within this history, insofar as it is indebted to mindfulness studies, Buddhist modernism, and thus the twin goals of minimizing suffering and enhancing well-being. Contemplative …
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ISCS 2014 – Master Lecture – Ted Slingerland
Contemplative Science Research and The Psychology of Confucian Virtue Ethics
Master Lecture – Contemplative Science Research and The Psychology of Confucian Virtue Ethics
Although the study of ethics in the Western academy has been dominatedfor the past several hundred years by two rationalist models, deontology andutilitarianism, there has been a resurgence of interest, especially in the past decade, in more embodied, practice-based approaches such as virtue ethics. In this talk, I will review evidence from various branches of …
ISCS 2014 – Master Lecture – Andrew Olendzki
A Buddhist Contribution to Neurophenomenology
