Which physical systems are agents, and why? The sciences of life and mind presuppose an answerorganisms act, neurons learn, robots decide, software systems pursue goals yet no accepted theory states, non-circularly, the physical conditions under which a system is a locus of agency rather than a process, an aggregate, or an observer-imposed carving of a causal eld. Existing candidates either...
The general objective of this article is to propose an epistemological and psychiatric-cognitive critique of the absolutization and reification of form in philosophy (in Kant, Husserl, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein), grounding a ‘third way’ that reintegrates formal analysis, psychogenesis, praxis, and clinical-neurological evidence under the central thesis that form does not ground the world but...
Abstract This chapter focuses on Śaṅkara’s ideas about the inquiry into Brahman through examining the relationship between knowledge, desire, and renunciation. It argues that Śaṅkara reinterprets Vedic injunctions as terminating in cognition rather than action, classifying knowledge of Brahman as prohibitory in kind and thereby independent of ritual performance. The discussion situates the...
Abstract This chapter introduces concepts and exercises of contemplative pedagogy and spiritually competent orientation. Drawing upon theoretical and empirical work on educational benefits of contemplative practice to enhance student learning and clinicians’ attitudes, awareness, and dispositions, we describe a model consisting of four parts which instructors may apply to their courses:...
Our minds are not always full of thoughts. Occasionally, people will report absence of any mental content, an experience termed mind-blanking (MB). So far, MB has been primarily quantified through experience-sampling paradigms. While experience-sampling has allowed researchers to study the behavioural and neurophysiological profile of MB, the practice of asking participants for thought...
Ellen Pearlman is a visionary polymath, putting her knowledge of art, Buddhism, computer technology, science, Southeast Asian Vipassana meditation, and Tibetan tantric dance in the service of inquiries into the individual and collective human psyche. In the art world, she may be better known as an arts writer than as an artist since she has been a regular contributor to art publications such as...
Abstract This chapter examines Śaṅkara’s Upaniṣadic hermeneutics, focusing on the distinction between texts of knowledge (para-vidyā) and texts of meditation (apara-vidyā). It argues that while all Upaniṣadic passages operate within the framework of ignorance, only some intend to negate it by presenting Brahman as non-dual and devoid of attributes, whereas others affirm duality through...
Abstract This chapter examines pre-Śaṅkara deliberations on liberation (mokṣa) and its status as the highest good (niḥśreyasa) in Vedic theology, tracing its conceptual evolution from early Mīmāṁsā to the Brahma-sūtra. It begins by situating niḥśreyasa within dharma literature, where it initially denoted general human goods before being redefined as liberation from rebirth through knowledge and...
Abstract In his talk, Joseph Campbell introduces Indian and Far Eastern arts to Western audiences. Both sets of practices foster a transformation of the mind that is accompanied by the reduction of a subjective sense of the self. This “ego-quenching” process can be fostered by skills that are typically developed by mindfulness or meditation training (vigilance, cognitive flexibility,...
Abstract The Epilogue argues that Śaṅkara’s enduring significance in Indian intellectual history lies not in his originality as a philosopher or his portrayal as a mystic but in his theology of liberation. While often described as a synthesizer of prior doctrines and cast as a mystic by Western and Indian scholars influenced by Otto and Schleiermacher, Śaṅkara’s project was to repudiate the...