This presentation will provide an overview of themes to be considered throughout this Summer Research Institute. It will begin with a consideration of fear from a psychological perspective, particularly emphasizing the process and psychophysiological correlates of threat appraisal and how this is influenced by the perception of personal coping resources (e.g., in self-concept and self …
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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, …
Interoception, awareness of one’s body, informs our sense of being in the world.Over time, we form associations between experiences and embodied responses,creating a set of expected body responses. While these expectations allow for rapid, proactive responses to life’s challenges, they can also mask unexpected embodied feelings. Meditation often contains an interoceptive focus such as breath …
The main goal of this presentation is to explore the entanglements betweentechnologies of the self and ecology. I am particularly interested in the ways in which the modern self — characterized by Elias as the homo clausus and by Watts as the skin-encapsulated ego — can be suspended, eroding the dualism between self and others, …
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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The Classical Daoist tradition in China, known through its two famous “mystical” works, the Daodejing («The Way and its Potency») and the Zhuangzi («Teachings of Master Zhuang”), provides specific advice about forms of contemplative practice that develop qualities of selfless and impartial cognition thus enabling accurate perceptions, judgments and spontaneous intuitions to be made about …
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Science, Daoism, and Scholarly Subjectivity
Eugene Gendlin’s “focusing” is frequently referred to as a Western form of meditation. Attention toward “felt meaning” and the experiential effects of verbalization enable a deep sense-making process. It is used in psychology, pedagogy, qualitative research, creative work, and in meditation retreats. Besides his acclaimed research in psychology, Gendlin is also a philosophical “pioneer” (Petitmengin) …
Taking as our starting point the appropriation of Buddhist principles such as “mindfulness” by Silicon Valley organizations, this paper outlines a normative framework for the critique of constructions of the self in online platforms, with a primary emphasis on Facebook. Through an analysis of public statements from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, we highlight tensions between the …
In this paper, I argue that results from contemplative neuroscience can help resolve a dispute between Husserl and Gurwitsch regarding whether attention is endogenous or exogenous. The empirical results indicate that attention is endogenous, i.e., that we are subjectively aware — and to a certain extent in control — of the direction of our attention. …
