Dialogue between Buddhism and Science: from the Hard Issues about Consciousness to the Study of the Phenomenon of Tukdam Postmortem Meditation

Abstract

The analysis of the dialogue between the world’s philosophical cultures in recent years has been focused on the study of a special space “inter”, or “interspace”, which can be regarded as a metaphor of the “meeting place” of different cultures and approaches. Therefore, understanding the way this space is organized, its laws and principles is a precondition for the interaction of cultures and their mutual enrichment. In particular, the concept of “interspace” is analysed by the Vienna school of intercultural philosophy (B. Saal, B. Boteva-Richter, N. Weidtmann). Such characteristics as openness (the inclusion into the philosophical knowledge any existing traditions of thought), anti-hierarchy (“Cognitive Modesty”) and dynamics have been revealed. The dynamics in the framework of philosophy manifests itself as philosophical talk in the forms of the first-person monologue addressed to the audience, the dialogue in which the voice is given to more than one participant, as well as the polylogue – a special form of philosophical talk, which involves the cohabitation of multiple logics, rationalities, semantic positions, existences, and so on. The nature of “interspace” is refl ected in the framework of the dialogues on consciousness between Tibetan Buddhism and Western science. The paper reviews a brief story of their interaction, including the conferences, hold be the “Mind and Life” Institute, the project “Fundamental Knowledge: Dialogues of Russian and Buddhist Scholars”, and the study of physiological aspects of Buddhist contemplative practices. A signifi cant point to overcome the challenges on the way to understand each other (for example, such as the problem of translation, intellectual colonialism, etc.) has become the articulation of the “hard problem” of consciousness, as well as the concept of “neurophenomenology” (F. Varela). The paper provides a case study: it examines the methodological approach of Russian scientists that combines first- and third-person perspectives in the study of contemplative practices (including postmortem tukdam meditation), which they develop in laboratories located in Tantric monasteries in India. Based on this, it is suggested that an intercultural philosophy approach is promising for solving the “hard problem of consciousness”.