Contemplative Science

Contemplative Science PDF Author: B. Alan Wallace
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231138352
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
Science has long treated religion as a set of personal beliefs that have little to do with a rational understanding of the mind and the universe. This work attempts to bridge this gap by launching an unbiased investigation into the history and practices of science and Buddhist contemplative disciplines.

Contemplative Science

Contemplative Science PDF Author: B. Alan Wallace
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231138352
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Get Book Here

Book Description
Science has long treated religion as a set of personal beliefs that have little to do with a rational understanding of the mind and the universe. This work attempts to bridge this gap by launching an unbiased investigation into the history and practices of science and Buddhist contemplative disciplines.

Contemplative Science

Contemplative Science PDF Author: B. Alan Wallace
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231138345
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
B. Alan Wallace, renowned Buddhist scholar, integrates the contemplative methodologies of Buddhism and Western science into a single discipline: contemplative science. The science of consciousness investigates the mind through Buddhist contemplative techniques, such as shamatha, an organized, detailed system of training the attention. Just as scientists make observations and conduct experiments with the aid of technology, contemplatives have long tested their theories with the help of highly developed meditative skills of observation and experimentation. Contemplative science allows for a deeper knowledge of mental phenomena, and its emphasis on strict mental discipline counteracts the effects of conative (intention and desire), attentional, cognitive, and affective imbalances. Just as behaviorism, psychology, and neuroscience shed light on the cognitive processes enabling us to survive and flourish, contemplative science offers a groundbreaking perspective for expanding our capacity to realize genuine well-being. It also forges a link between the material world and the realm of the subconscious, transcending a traditional science-based understanding of the self.

Meditations of a Buddhist Skeptic

Meditations of a Buddhist Skeptic PDF Author: B. Alan Wallace
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231158343
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
A radical approach to studying the mind. Renowned Buddhist philosopher B. Alan Wallace reasserts the power of shamatha and vipashyana, traditional Buddhist meditations, to clarify the mind's role in the natural world. Raising profound questions about human nature, free will, and experience versus dogma, Wallace challenges the claim that consciousness is nothing more than an emergent property of the brain with little relation to universal events. Rather, he maintains that the observer is essential to measuring quantum systems and that mental phenomena (however conceived) influence brain function and behavior. Wallace embarks on a two-part mission: to restore human nature and to transcend it. He begins by explaining the value of skepticism in Buddhism and science and the difficulty of merging their experiential methods of inquiry. Yet Wallace also proves that Buddhist views on human nature and the possibility of free will liberate us from the metaphysical constraints of scientific materialism. He then explores the radical empiricism inspired by William James and applies it to Indian Buddhist philosophy's four schools and the Great Perfection school of Tibetan Buddhism. Since Buddhism begins with the assertion that ignorance lies at the root of all suffering and that the path to freedom is reached through knowledge, Buddhist practice can be viewed as a progression from agnosticism (not knowing) to gnosticism (knowing), acquired through the maintenance of exceptional mental health, mindfulness, and introspection. Wallace discusses these topics in detail, identifying similarities and differences between scientific and Buddhist understanding, and he concludes with an explanation of shamatha and vipashyana and their potential for realizing the full nature, origins, and potential of consciousness.

Mind in the Balance

Mind in the Balance PDF Author: B. Alan Wallace
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231519702
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
By establishing a dialogue in which the meditative practices of Buddhism and Christianity speak to the theories of modern philosophy and science, B. Alan Wallace reveals the theoretical similarities underlying these disparate disciplines and their unified approach to making sense of the objective world. Wallace begins by exploring the relationship between Christian and Buddhist meditative practices. He outlines a sequence of meditations the reader can undertake, showing that, though Buddhism and Christianity differ in their belief systems, their methods of cognitive inquiry provide similar insight into the nature and origins of consciousness. From this convergence Wallace then connects the approaches of contemporary cognitive science, quantum mechanics, and the philosophy of the mind. He links Buddhist and Christian views to the provocative philosophical theories of Hilary Putnam, Charles Taylor, and Bas van Fraassen, and he seamlessly incorporates the work of such physicists as Anton Zeilinger, John Wheeler, and Stephen Hawking. Combining a concrete analysis of conceptions of consciousness with a guide to cultivating mindfulness and profound contemplative practice, Wallace takes the scientific and intellectual mapping of the mind in exciting new directions.

Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy

Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy PDF Author: Joseph Loizzo
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317245849
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy offers mental health professionals of all disciplines and orientations the most comprehensive and rigorous introduction to the state of the art and science in integrating mindfulness, compassion, and embodiment techniques. It brings together clinicians and thinkers of unprecedented caliber, featuring some of the most eminent pioneers in a rapidly growing field. The array of contributors represents the full spectrum of disciplines whose converging advances are driving today’s promising confluence of psychotherapy with contemplative science. This historic volume expands the dialogue and integration among neuroscience, contemplative psychology, and psychotherapy to include the first full treatment of second- and third-generation contemplative therapies, based on advanced meditation techniques of compassion training and role-modeled embodiment. Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy offers the most profound and synoptic overview to date of one of the most intriguing and promising fields in psychotherapy today.

Buddhism & Science

Buddhism & Science PDF Author: B. Alan Wallace
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishe
ISBN: 9788120820258
Category : Buddhism and science
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description
Reflecting its wide variety of topics, Buddhism and science is comprised of three sections. The first presents two historical overviews of the engagements between Buddhism and modern science or rather how Buddhism and modern science have definced, rivaled and complemented one another. The second describes the ways Buddhism and the cognitive sciences inform each other, the third address point of intersection between Buddhsim and the physical sciences. On the broadest level this work illuminates how different ways of exploring the nature of human identity the mind, and the universe at large can enrich and enlighten one another.

Platonic Mysticism

Platonic Mysticism PDF Author: Arthur Versluis
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438466331
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
Restores the Platonic history and context of mysticism and shows how it helps us understand more deeply the humanities as a whole, from philosophy and literature to art. In Platonic Mysticism, Arthur Versluisclearly and tautly argues that mysticism must be properly understood as belonging to the great tradition of Platonism. He demonstrates how mysticism was historically understood in Western philosophical and religious traditions and emphatically rejects externalist approaches to esoteric religion. Instead he develops a new theoretical-critical model for understanding mystical literature and the humanities as a whole, from philosophy and literature to art. A sequel to his Restoring Paradise, this is an audacious book that places Platonic mysticism in the context of contemporary cognitive and other approaches to the study of religion, and presents an emerging model for the new field of contemplative science. “An important work on the mystical experience delving deep into its history, particularly from the Platonic perspective. An essential text for anyone interested in mysticism and its relationship to philosophy and creative expression.” — Andrew Newberg, author of How Enlightenment Changes Your Brain: The New Science of Transformation “The present work, the latest from the pen of Arthur Versluis, provides a trenchant, learned, and illuminating analysis of the origins of Western mysticism in the Platonist tradition, relayed through such figures as Plotinus and Dionysius the Areopagite, down through Meister Eckhart and others, while suitably excoriating the attempts of certain modern philosophers and sociologists of religion to ‘deconstruct’ it from a materialist perspective. I found it a rattling good read!” — John Dillon, author of The Heirs of Plato: A Study of the Old Academy (347–274 BC)

Contemplative Pedagogies for Transformative Teaching, Learning, and Being

Contemplative Pedagogies for Transformative Teaching, Learning, and Being PDF Author: Jing Lin
Publisher: IAP
ISBN: 1641137827
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 397

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Book Description
In our current systems of education, there is a trend toward compartmentalizing knowledge, standardizing assessments of learning, and focusing primarily on quantifiable and positivist forms of inquiry. Contemplative inquiry, on the other hand, takes us on a transformative pathway toward wisdom, morality, integrity, equanimity, and joy (Zajonc, 2009). These holistic learning practices are needed as a counterbalance to the over-emphasis on positivism that we see today. In addition to learning quantifiable information, we also need to learn to be calmer, wiser, kinder, and happier. This book aims to find and share various pathways leading to these ends. This book will describe educational endeavors in various settings that use contemplative pedagogies to enable students to achieve deep learning, peace, tranquility, equanimity, and wisdom to gain new understanding about self and life, and to grow holistically. Embodiment is a central concept in this book. We hope to highlight strategies for exploring internal wisdoms through engaging ourselves beyond simply the rational mind. Contemplative pedagogies such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, dance, arts, poetry, reflective writing and movements, can help students embody what they learn by integrating their body, heart, mind, and spirit.

Mindfulness-Oriented Interventions for Trauma

Mindfulness-Oriented Interventions for Trauma PDF Author: Victoria M. Follette
Publisher: Guilford Publications
ISBN: 1462518583
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
Grounded in research and accumulated clinical wisdom, this book describes a range of ways to integrate mindfulness and other contemplative practices into clinical work with trauma survivors. The volume showcases treatment approaches that can be tailored to this population's needs, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), and mindful self-compassion (MSC), among others. Featuring vivid case material, the book explores which elements of contemplative traditions support recovery and how to apply them safely. Neurobiological foundations of mindfulness-oriented work are examined. Treatment applications are illustrated for specific trauma populations, such as clients with chronic pain, military veterans, and children and adolescents.

Contemplative Practices in Higher Education

Contemplative Practices in Higher Education PDF Author: Daniel P. Barbezat
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118646924
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
Contemplative pedagogy is a way for instructors to: empower students to integrate their own experience into the theoretical material they are being taught in order to deepen their understanding; help students to develop sophisticated problem-solving skills; support students’ sense of connection to and compassion for others; and engender inquiries into students’ most profound questions. Contemplative practices are used in just about every discipline—from physics to economics to history—and are found in every type of institution. Each year more and more faculty, education reformers, and leaders of teaching and learning centers seek out best practices in contemplative teaching, and now can find them here, brought to you by two of the foremost leaders and innovators on the subject. This book presents background information and ideas for the practical application of contemplative practices across the academic curriculum from the physical sciences to the humanities and arts. Examples of contemplative techniques included in the book are mindfulness, meditation, yoga, deep listening, contemplative reading and writing, and pilgrimage, including site visits and field trips.