In this article we start off from the comparative religion studies and their search for concepts ... more In this article we start off from the comparative religion studies and their search for concepts to include Buddhism in the study of religion. We analyze and criticize concepts of Otto, Zaehner, Smart and Wiebe and show how they give a biased view of Buddhism and are not able to include all aspects of the Buddhist tradition in their study, thereby reducing Buddhism to the categories influenced by Western cultural a priori’s. With Orye we uncover the cultural preconceptions and the underlying problematic cognitive paradigm in their interpretations of Smith’s concepts. We discuss the qualities and weak points of cognitive and Gibsonian ecological psychology and place them next to the Buddhist theory on mediated and direct perception. We use ecological psychology and Ingold’s application of ecological concepts and theory in a new conceptual framework. This conceptual framework is able to include the non-conceptual learning processes and the fine-tuning of the mental perceptual system in Buddhist shamatha meditation. This results in a new learning environment in the mind and in an instrument for the acquisition of a non- symbolical, non-conceptual, conscious, perceptual kind knowledge about the mind in vipassana meditation. A characterizing aspect of this kind of knowledge is that it has a transformative effect on the ‘knower’ as a whole, including his body, mind, heart and perceptual systems. We explain the different aspects of mindfulness and awareness in fine-tuning and training mental perception and the Buddhist learning environment in this process of ‘guided rediscovery’. We show how Buddhist knowledge and Buddhist practices have inspired mainstream psychology and neuropsychology. The introduction of Buddhist knowledge and methodologies in science has raised controversies and meta-philosophical discussions about whether Buddhism, often still perceived of as a ‘religion’, can have a legitimate voice in the scientific investigation of the mind. With Latour we will show how Buddhism and science are fundamentally different and unique, but both valuable systems for the investigation of reality. In Latour’s radical symmetrical approach however, not a single statement or hypothesis can be excluded from the scientific debate for the sole reason of being derived from Buddhism, or not being compatible with the cognitive paradigm of Western knowledge. With Latour we plea for a dialogue, more research, multiple methodologies, debates and controversies, in which a posteriori any statement can be collectively refuted as ‘artifact’ or accepted as ‘fact’ on the basis of rigorous scientific research. In this way Buddhist knowledge and practices can have a place in the scientific investigation of the mind, rather than merely being reduced to the object of science, be it the comparative religion studies, psychology or neuroscience. There are many testable hypotheses in Buddhist psychology which could give new inspiration to the scientific debate. Buddhist psychology as a partner to Western psychology could throw new light on the explanations for the positive effects found in outcome studies on mindfulness-based approaches and could help in our scientific understanding of the working-mechanisms of the mind.
In this article we start off from the comparative religion studies and their search for concepts ... more In this article we start off from the comparative religion studies and their search for concepts to include Buddhism in the study of religion. We analyze and criticize concepts of Otto, Zaehner, Smart and Wiebe and show how they give a biased view of Buddhism and are not able to include all aspects of the Buddhist tradition in their study, thereby reducing Buddhism to the categories influenced by Western cultural a priori’s. With Orye we uncover the cultural preconceptions and the underlying problematic cognitive paradigm in their interpretations of Smith’s concepts. We discuss the qualities and weak points of cognitive and Gibsonian ecological psychology and place them next to the Buddhist theory on mediated and direct perception. We use ecological psychology and Ingold’s application of ecological concepts and theory in a new conceptual framework. This conceptual framework is able to include the non-conceptual learning processes and the fine-tuning of the mental perceptual system in Buddhist shamatha meditation. This results in a new learning environment in the mind and in an instrument for the acquisition of a non- symbolical, non-conceptual, conscious, perceptual kind knowledge about the mind in vipassana meditation. A characterizing aspect of this kind of knowledge is that it has a transformative effect on the ‘knower’ as a whole, including his body, mind, heart and perceptual systems. We explain the different aspects of mindfulness and awareness in fine-tuning and training mental perception and the Buddhist learning environment in this process of ‘guided rediscovery’. We show how Buddhist knowledge and Buddhist practices have inspired mainstream psychology and neuropsychology. The introduction of Buddhist knowledge and methodologies in science has raised controversies and meta-philosophical discussions about whether Buddhism, often still perceived of as a ‘religion’, can have a legitimate voice in the scientific investigation of the mind. With Latour we will show how Buddhism and science are fundamentally different and unique, but both valuable systems for the investigation of reality. In Latour’s radical symmetrical approach however, not a single statement or hypothesis can be excluded from the scientific debate for the sole reason of being derived from Buddhism, or not being compatible with the cognitive paradigm of Western knowledge. With Latour we plea for a dialogue, more research, multiple methodologies, debates and controversies, in which a posteriori any statement can be collectively refuted as ‘artifact’ or accepted as ‘fact’ on the basis of rigorous scientific research. In this way Buddhist knowledge and practices can have a place in the scientific investigation of the mind, rather than merely being reduced to the object of science, be it the comparative religion studies, psychology or neuroscience. There are many testable hypotheses in Buddhist psychology which could give new inspiration to the scientific debate. Buddhist psychology as a partner to Western psychology could throw new light on the explanations for the positive effects found in outcome studies on mindfulness-based approaches and could help in our scientific understanding of the working-mechanisms of the mind.
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