Prasad Kaipa
preprint
Artificial intelligence should be examined not only as a technology humans build, but as an environment humans increasingly inhabit. This reframing is the organizing claim of this paper. Contemporary AI systems demonstrate extraordinary capability in language, reasoning, and problem-solving, yet these advances leave open questions about consciousness, discernment, and human flourishing that...
Pratyush Ranjan, Sunaina Sabat
preprint
Artificial intelligence, neural interfaces, prosthetic technologies, and related developments have given renewed urgency to an old philosophical problem: what is the relationship between consciousness and embodiment, and must consciousness remain tied to the particular biological form through which human beings presently experience the world? The problem is not simply technological. It concerns...
Uzi Ben Zvi
preprint
The biblical story of eating from the Tree of Knowledge and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden is traditionally interpreted in terms of sin and punishment. This article proposes an alternative reading grounded in two complementary frameworks: the Interface Theory of Consciousness (Ben-Zvi, 2025), which offers an evolutionary and neurological account of the emergence of human consciousness,...
Shawn Prest
preprint
Meditative experience has long been associated with conceptual attenuation, reduced reactivity to phenomena, increased present moment perception and more pleasant experience. However, the computational mechanisms underlying such meditative “deconstruction” are not well understood, with no formal computational models available to explicate how deconstruction alters perception and action during...
Nana Kofi Amoako Glover
This paper proposes that trees and mycelial networks represent an alternative model of advanced life and intelligence. Unlike mobile, animal-based intelligence—evolved primarily to solve problems of movement—arboreal intelligence privileges longevity, integration, and inner experiential states. By comparing arboreal systems with artificial intelligence, Buddhist and indigenous philosophies...
Zhenguo Lai
preprint
Contemporary emotion science lacks a Yogācāra‐grounded model capable of engaging constructionism’s central tension: operational reliance on category-like units despite rejecting natural-kind categories. Drawing on Asaṅga’s Yogācārabhūmi and the five omnipresent mental factors (sarvatraga-caittas), this article develops a six-layer model of emotion generation—from phenomenal awareness through...
Giuseppe Pagnoni
preprint
This paper is based on a presentation delivered at a 2024 conference on consciousness studies in Padova, Italy. The event, titled "The Elephant in the Room: Investigating Consciousness Beyond Reductionism," was a collaborative effort between the Italian Buddhist Union (UBI) and the University of Padova. A revised version of this work is slated for publication in the conference proceedings volume.
Feri Sulianta
preprint
This literature review examines Vipassana meditation as a multifaceted practice with significant psychological and social benefits. Rooted in ancient Indian traditions and revived in the 20th century by S.N. Goenka, Vipassana meditation focuses on self-observation and mindfulness to cultivate deep self-awareness and ethical living. This review synthesizes historical, empirical, and theoretical...
Wenge Huang
preprint
Altered states of consciousness (ASC) induced by meditation, psychedelic drugs, or impending death are quite a fascinating and important field of investigation. This paper argues that ASC essentially have nothing to do with consciousness, but a story about perception.Our study starts from summarizing four essential phenomena (hallucinations, paranormal phenomena, mystical experiences and...
Jake H. Davis, Evan Thompson
This chapter examines relates current philosophical conceptions of consciousness to the Buddhist scheme known as the five aggregates.