Preprints.org
April 25, 2025
Johannes Bronkhorst
preprint
There can be degrees of attention. Greater depth of attention is often referred to as concentration or absorption. Great depth of attention may affect the way we experience the world, leading in extreme cases to religious experiences. In spite of its importance, little is known about the neural correlates (NCCs) of those states. This paper makes a proposal as to those correlates. It suggests...
Subhasita: Journal of Buddhist and Religious Studies
April 23, 2025
Johannes Bronkhorst
This research aims to examine the integration of spiritual techniques in the traditions of Buddhism and Yoga with the concept of memory reconsolidation in psychology and neuroscience. The main aim of this research is to show that these spiritual techniques are not only of mystical or religious value, but also serve as psychological mechanisms for emotional and cognitive transformation that are...
Religions
January 6, 2023
Johannes Bronkhorst
1 citation
Scholarship has not so far raised the question whether the so-called Buddhist noble truths are actually true. The present article addresses this question in light of recent developments in neuroscience and psychology. It bases itself primarily on the theory proposed in some publications by Mark Solms, and on some other recent discoveries in psychology. Concentrating on the role of memories in...
Religions
June 24, 2022
Johannes Bronkhorst
15 citations
This paper proposes to study mystical experience by contrasting it with “ordinary” experience, i.e., with standard consciousness. It emphasises the construed nature of standard consciousness and the role that the mutual connectedness of mental contents plays in its construction. It then shows that removal of the factors that are responsible for the “making” of standard consciousness accounts...
Method & Theory in the Study of Religion
July 23, 2020
Johannes Bronkhorst
4 citations
Abstract This article first predicts, on the basis of an analysis of deep absorption, a number of features of mystical and related states of consciousness. It then observes that these very same features appear in beliefs held by people who have never experienced deep absorption. Moreover, many people engage in activities that, though not normally leading to deep absorption, bring about lesser...
Asian Traditions of Meditation
October 31, 2016
Johannes Bronkhorst
This essay argues that the many discontinuities and innovations in the history of Jaina meditation stem from the confusing descriptions of meditation in canonical texts, including the Āyāraṅga and the Uttarajjhayaṇa. The term used to denote meditation, dhyāna (or jhāna), is also used for non-meditative mental activity, but canonical lists of four types of dhyāna were typically, and confusingly,...
Philosophy East and West
April 1, 2011
Johannes Bronkhorst
62 citations
A Note on Nirvikalpaka and Savikalpaka Perception Johannes Bronkhorst Some ten years ago an interesting discussion took place in the pages of this journal. It began with an article by Arindam Chakrabarti (2000) whose title betrays its intention: "Against Immaculate Perception: Seven Reasons for Eliminating Nirvikalpaka Perception from Nyāya." There followed a response by Stephen H. Phillips...