Abstract
The first part of the paper focuses on the narrow philosophical question of whether one can know ultimate reality through meditation. I argue that such knowledge is not possible, that experience is always mediated. Interpreting the Buddha naturalistically, I argue that his aim was less about knowledge and more about providing insight into how one can live a flourishing life. In the second section of the paper, I discuss ways in which a philosophical approach (broadly understood) may benefit a team engaging in neurological studies of meditation. Such an approach might help in linguistic analysis, as well as in understanding the cross-cultural context of traditional meditation traditions. I further suggest that mindfulness might make one more open to scientific discovery. Finally, I propose that the study of meditation will both benefit and be benefited by theories of extended cognition.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
This is part of a longer discussion to be found at: http://www.londonbuddhistVihara.org/med_aware/pmedinsight.htm/
- 3.
This section “The Buddha as Healer”, entitled Meditation, is part of a larger discussion found at: http://www.buddhanet.net/cmdsg/Gettings8.htm. In fairness, I want to note that the discussion begins with a different focus on the aim of meditation, one that aims primarily at mental development. I will return to this aim later in the paper.
- 4.
Hanson distinguishes between “seeing as” and “seeing that,” but these are distinctions made in seeing-talk, “in our seeing concept” (p. 21), but they are logical distinctions, not different steps in knowing.
- 5.
For an additional argument, see Polanyi (1966).
- 6.
This is a device that induces an altered state in a participant, developed originally by Bob Masters and Jean Houston. One stands in a cradle that is hung by a rope so that it swings freely; the participant is blindfolded and, in my case, had headphones playing white noise, so that the combination of loss of spatial orientation and minor sensory deprivation puts one into an altered state which can then be guided by the experimenter. I used the device only a short time before turning to a more analytic approach to the mystical state.
- 7.
I believe my arguments against experience being a two-step process apply here.
- 8.
To be fair to Suzuki, it should be pointed out that he also sometimes uses language that seems to say that one experiences reality. He says, for instance, “The Zen master had taken hold of the real thing” (1972, p. 3). But, I think the direction of his thought is to reject these attempts in favor of another approach.
- 9.
As well as his newer Confessions of a Buddhist atheist (2010).
- 10.
I am using mindfulness in a general way referring to Eastern approaches. See Schmidt (2011) for an analysis of the differences in mindfulness in the East and West.
- 11.
See Flanagan (2011, p. 106).
- 12.
So, at this point, you may want to stop reading this chapter and just sit!
- 13.
Certainly virtues such as compassion, altruistic joy, equanimity, truthfulness, patience, and vigor would make both lists.
- 14.
Or whether there exists a human nature; the Buddhists seem to deny it.
- 15.
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Edge, H.L. (2014). Does Meditation Give Us Unique Insight into Ultimate Reality? The Ethical Aim of Buddhism. In: Schmidt, S., Walach, H. (eds) Meditation – Neuroscientific Approaches and Philosophical Implications. Studies in Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01634-4_16
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