Dhamma and Science: The Phenomenology of Awakening, Neural Correlates, and the Ethics of Mindfulness Meditation
Graduation Year
2016
Abstract
It is my contention that, although researchers of neural correlates of well-being (N.C.W.Bs) have rightly recognized the utility of Buddhist mindfulness practices for cultivating well-being, researchers have not focused enough on Buddhism’s own schemes of the psychological development that occurs as an effect of mindfulness practice. Specifically, I will argue that the tools of Neurophenomenology now have given us the ability to study the Theravada Buddhist developmental model of The Progress of Insight, which may be able to equip researchers with an account of how mindfulness meditation and the cultivation of well-being are related. If researchers want to continue implementing Buddhist mindfulness practices for helping individuals cultivate psychological well-being, I will argue that we have both a practical and ethical imperative to better understand the larger philosophical and soteriological context of the Progress of Insight.
Recommended Citation
Berardelli, Nicholas
(2016)
"Dhamma and Science: The Phenomenology of Awakening, Neural Correlates, and the Ethics of Mindfulness Meditation,"
CrissCross: Vol. 4:
Iss.
1, Article 1.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/crisscross/vol4/iss1/1
