Contemplative Science

Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge

B. Alan Wallace, Brian Hodel

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Year: 2006
• eBook ISBN: 9780231510950
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Religion
• Index: Biological Sciences

Science has long treated religion as a set of personal beliefs that have little to do with a rational understanding of the mind and the universe. However, B. Alan Wallace, a respected Buddhist scholar, proposes that the contemplative methodologies of Buddhism and of Western science are capable of being integrated into a single discipline: contemplative science.

The science of consciousness introduces first-person methods of investigating the mind through Buddhist contemplative techniques, such as samatha, an organized, detailed system of training the attention. Just as scientists make observations and conduct experiments with the aid of technology, contemplatives have long tested their own theories with the help of highly developed meditative skills of observation and experimentation. Contemplative science allows for a deeper knowledge of mental phenomena, including a wide range of states of consciousness, and its emphasis on strict mental discipline counteracts the effects of conative (intention and desire), attentional, cognitive, and affective imbalances.

Just as behaviorism, psychology, and neuroscience have all shed light on the cognitive processes that enable us to survive and flourish, contemplative science offers a groundbreaking perspective for expanding our capacity to realize genuine well-being. It also forges a link between the material world and the realm of the subconscious that transcends the traditional science-based understanding of the self.

1

PRINCIPLES OF CONTEMPLATIVE SCIENCE

THE VERY IDEA of proposing a discipline called “contemplative science” may arouse suspicion among those who value the triumphs of science, which have been won, in part, by divorcing its mode of inquiry from all religious affiliations. Such unease has a strong historical basis, so it should be taken seriously. But there are also historical roots to the principles of contemplation and of science that suggest a possible reconciliation and even integration between the two approaches.

The Latin term contemplatio, from which “contemplation” is derived, corresponds to the Greek word theoria. Both refer to a total devotion to revealing, clarifying, and making manifest the nature of reality. Their focus is the pursuit of truth, and nothing less. As the Christian theologian Josef Pieper comments, the first element of the concept of contemplation is the silent perception of reality.¹ This, he claims, is a form of knowing arrived at not by thinking but by seeing. “Intuition is without doubt the perfect form of knowing. For intuition is knowledge of what is actually present; the parallel to seeing with the senses is exact.”² But unlike objective knowledge, contemplation does not merely move toward its object; it already rests in it.

While the term “science” has long been affiliated solely with the exploration of objective, physical, quantitative phenomena—even to the point that they alone are deemed by some scientists to be real—there are also grounds for viewing science in a broader context. Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines the scientific method as follows: “Principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.” There is nothing in this definition to preclude the possibility of first-person observations of mental phenomena and their relation to the world at large. Just as scientists make observations and conduct experiments with the aid of technology, contemplatives have long made their own observations and run experiments with the aid of enhanced attentional skills and the play of the imagination. In principle, then, there is nothing fundamentally incompatible between contemplation and science. But the weight of history is still against any fruitful collaboration between the two.

The strength science has acquired by divorcing itself from religion, and more recently from philosophy, has taken a severe toll on its host societies. It is sobering to note that the twentieth century, which generated the greatest growth of scientific knowledge in the entire course of human history, also witnessed man’s greatest inhumanity to man, as well as the greatest degradation of our natural environment and the decimation of other species. The expansion of scientific knowledge has not brought about any comparable growth in ethics or virtue. Modern society has become more knowledgeable and powerful as a result, but it has not grown wiser or more compassionate.

Science has long been viewed proudly, not without justification, as being “value free.” Time and again I have met with scientists who speak of the sheer joy of discovery, unrelated to any practical applications of their research. But we cannot ignore the fact that most scientific research is presently funded by governments and private institutions that have very specific goals in mind. They want a good return on their investments. With the modern dissolution of the medieval fusion of religion, philosophy, and science, there has occurred a similar disintegration of the pursuits of genuine happiness, truth, and virtue—three elements that are essential to a meaningful life. The contemplative science I have in mind seeks to reintegrate these three pursuits in a thoroughly empirical way, without dogmatic allegiance to any belief system, religious or otherwise. To explore this possibility, let us first review the salient features of genuine happiness, truth, and virtue that are to be united.

THE ESSENTIALS OF A MEANINGFUL LIFE

Genuine Happiness

Genuine happiness is a way of flourishing that underlies and suffuses all emotional states, embracing all the vicissitudes of life, and it is distinguished from “hedonic pleasure,” which is the sense of well-being that arises in response to pleasurable stimuli. The Greek term that I am translating as genuine happiness is eudaimonia, which Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics equated with the human good. This is disclosed as a being-at-work of the soul in accordance with virtue, and if the virtues are more than one, in accordance with the best and most complete virtue.³ Genuine happiness is not simply the culmination of a meaningful life, but a characteristic of a developing person in the process of ethical and spiritual maturation. This is an intentionally general notion of human flourishing that leaves it up to the individual reader to determine what virtues are “the best and most complete.” Clearly, this ideal of genuine happiness can be embraced by both religious and nonreligious people, who may define its specific attributes in terms of their own worldviews. As we shall see in the following discussion, such well-being is a natural consequence of developing mental balance in ways that fortify the “psychological immune system,” so that one rarely succumbs to a wide range of mental afflictions. A state of calm presence, emotional equilibrium, and clear intelligence are all characteristics of such genuine happiness, which naturally expresses itself in a harmonious, altruistic way of life.

Saint Augustine (354–430) raised this theme when he declared that the only thing we need to know is the answer to the question “How can man be happy?”⁴ Genuine happiness, he declared, is a “truth-given joy,”⁵ while the two real causes of the miseries of this life are “the profundity of ignorance” and the “love of things vain and noxious.” The path to genuine happiness, he declared, is motivated by the love of God, which is the desire for union with him. This emphasis on the profundity of the pursuit of happiness is not confined to Greek antiquity or Christian theology. The Dalai Lama writes in his best-selling book The Art of Happiness, “I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness. Whether one believes in religion or not, whether one believes in this religion or that religion, we all are seeking something better in life. So, I think, the very motion of our life is towards happiness.”⁶

Truth

Genuine happiness is not experienced simply as a result of encountering a pleasant sensory or intellectual stimulus. Nor is it produced merely by learning to think in a certain way or by adopting an optimistic attitude. It must be based on a sound understanding of truth. But there are many truths that have little relevance to human flourishing. Many of the aspects of the natural world studied by scientists seem far removed from human values, and there seems no reason to believe that scientists in general, for all their knowledge of the physical world, are happier than members of any other profession. As noted earlier, the exponential growth of scientific knowledge in the past century did not correspond to any comparable growth in human happiness, though advances in medicine have certainly contributed enormously to our physical well-being.

This implies that the types of truths most relevant to human flourishing are not those most commonly and successfully explored in modern science. While scientists have primarily focused their attention on the external world, there is no aspect of reality more pertinent to genuine happiness than the nature of human identity. Christian theologian Joseph Maréchal addresses this topic within the context of contemplative inquiry:⁷

The human mind ... is a faculty in quest of its intuition—that is to say, of assimilation with Being, Being pure and simple, sovereignly one, without restriction, without distinction of essence and existence, of possible and real.... But here below, in place of the One, it meets with the manifold, the fragmentary. Now, in the order of truth, the unreduced multiplicity of objects suspends affirmation and engenders doubt.... The affirmation of reality, then, is nothing else than the expression of the fundamental tendency of the mind to unification in and with the Absolute.

In the Buddhist tradition, as well, the importance of self-knowledge cannot be exaggerated, especially in light of the Buddhist assertion that the fundamental cause of human suffering is ignorance and delusion, specifically pertaining to one’s own identity. Of all the virtues emphasized in Buddhism, none is more important than that of wisdom, entailing insight into the ultimate nature of reality. The seventh-century Indian Buddhist contemplative Śāntideva wrote, “The Sage taught this entire system for the sake of wisdom. Therefore, with the desire to ward off suffering, one should develop wisdom.” ⁸

Virtue

Just as genuine happiness is inextricably related to the understanding of truth, so it cannot be understood apart from virtue. While diverse theories of virtue abound among philosophers and theologians, Augustine’s short definition is particularly salient and universal, as he explained it in terms of “the order of love,” which has to do with the priority of our values.⁹ Following the words of Jesus concerning the centrality of the love of God and of one’s fellow humans, theologian John Burnaby writes, “The love of God which is the desire for union with Him, and the love of men which is the sense of unity with all those who are capable of sharing the love of God, are indeed bound up most intimately with one another.”¹⁰ This is the basis of all virtues within this theistic context.

In Buddhism, which is commonly referred to as a nontheistic religion, a life of virtue is a necessary foundation for pursuing truth and genuine happiness, or human flourishing, of which there are three kinds: social/environmental, psychological, and spiritual. While Buddhist theories of ethics are deeply embedded in the Buddhist worldview, including its assertions of reincarnation and karma, in his book Ethics for the New Millennium the Dalai Lama has developed a view of secular ethics that is equally relevant to religious believers and nonbelievers alike.

Psychological Flourishing

The explanatory power of behaviorism, psychology, and neuroscience pertains to topics such as decision making, attention, and statements about what subjects experience under various controlled conditions. The mental processes studied in the cognitive sciences consist largely of those that have, from an evolutionary perspective, helped mankind survive and procreate. All branches of psychophysics, attentional psychology, cognitive psychology, and personality and social psychology depend on asking people such questions as how bright something seems, what color they see, how loud they hear a sound, what they believe, what attitudes they have, and so on. Many of these data have been organized in terms of coherent principles, and the structured sets of findings that cognitive scientists have been trying to organize and understand are very large. Contemporary neuroscience has shed additional light on what psychologists have explored regarding memory, attention, emotions, attitudes, and so forth.

Especially since the Second World War, most psychological research, particularly in the United States, has been focused on normal and pathological mental processes. Only recently has scientific attention begun to focus on mental well-being, but funding for such research has been limited due to the fact that the nature of well-being and its behavioral effects are not well understood—a catch-22! This is where the contemplative traditions of the world, which have long been concerned with human flourishing within the context of truth and virtue, could make significant contributions.

Within the broad context of genuine happiness, it may be useful to identify specific domains of flourishing. On the basis of the social and environmental well-being that derives from the cultivation of ethical behavior, one may bring about psychological flourishing that emerges from a healthy, balanced psyche. I am using the word “psyche” to refer to the whole range of conscious and unconscious mental phenomena studied by psychologists, including perceptions of all kinds, thoughts, emotions, memories, fantasies, dreams, mental imagery, and so on. Psychological processes are conditioned by the body, personal history, the physical environment, and society, and from moment to moment they are closely correlated with specific brain functions. The psyche can be studied indirectly by the interrogation of individuals and by the examination of behavior and the brain, and it can be observed directly through introspection.

If psychological flourishing emerges from mental health and balance, it must be understood with respect to specific types of mental imbalances to which normal people—often deemed relatively healthy—are commonly prone. A fundamental premise behind the following analysis is that mental distress is generally a symptom of mental imbalances, much as physical pain is a symptom of physical illness or injury.¹¹ In the following sections, I shall set forth four kinds of mental imbalances—conative, attentional, cognitive, and affective—and for each one identify imbalances in terms of deficit, hyperactivity, and dysfunction.

Conative Imbalances

“Conation” is a valuable term, though not in common use, which refers to the faculties of desire and volition. Conative imbalances constitute ways in which our desires and intentions lead us away from psychological flourishing and into psychological distress. A conative deficit occurs when we experience an apathetic loss of desire for happiness and its causes and an unwillingness to alleviate our own and others’ suffering. This is commonly accompanied by a lack of imagination and a kind of stagnated complacency: we can’t imagine faring better, so we don’t try to do anything to achieve such well-being. Conative hyperactivity occurs when we fixate on obsessive desires that obscure the reality of the present. We are so caught up in fantasies about the future—about unfulfilled desires—that our senses are dulled as to what is happening here and now. In the process, we may also blind ourselves to the needs and desires of others. Finally, conative dysfunction sets in when we desire things that are not conducive to our own or others’ well-being, and don’t desire the things that do contribute to our own and others’ flourishing. It is crucial to recognize that individual psychological flourishing is not something that can be cultivated without any relation to others. We do not exist independently from others, so our well-being cannot arise independently of others either. We must take into account the well-being of those around us.

What kinds of goods (in the broadest sense, including both tangible and intangible things and qualities) are truly conducive to psychological flourishing? In his book The High Price of Materialism, psychologist Tim Kasser analyzes the relation between the materialistic values that so dominate today’s world and the well-being that we all seek. He concludes:¹²

Existing scientific research on the value of materialism yields clear and consistent findings. People who are highly focused on materialistic values have lower personal well-being and psychological health than those who believe that materialistic pursuits are relatively unimportant. These relationships have been documented in samples of people ranging from the wealthy to the poor, from teenagers to the elderly, and from Australians to South Koreans.

As noted earlier, Augustine pointed to the “love of things vain and noxious” as a kind of conative dysfunction, while the most profound, reality-based desire is the love of God, which is the desire for union with him. Nicholas of Cusa, a fifteenth-century cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, echoed this theme when he wrote, “Everyone . . . who is seeking seeks only the good and everyone who seeks the good and withdraws from you [God] withdraws from that which one is seeking.”¹³ Śāntideva expressed a similar theme from a nontheistic perspective: “Those seeking to escape from suffering hasten right toward their own misery. And with the very desire for happiness, out of delusion they destroy their own well-being as if it were their enemy.”¹⁴

Although there are many ways of restoring conative balance, a general approach is to remedy apathy with the recognition of the possibility of genuine happiness, remedy obsessive de...

Table of contents

• THE COLUMBIA SERIES IN SCIENCE AND RELIGION
• Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• Epigraph
• 1 - PRINCIPLES OF CONTEMPLATIVE SCIENCE
• 2 - WHERE SCIENCE AND RELIGION COLLIDE
• 3 - THE STUDY OF CONSCIOUSNESS, EAST AND WEST
• 4 - SPIRITUAL AWAKENING AND OBJECTIVE KNOWLEDGE
• 5 - BUDDHIST NONTHEISM, POLYTHEISM, AND MONOTHEISM
• 6 - WORLDS OF INTERSUBJECTIVITY
• 7 - ŚAMATHA
• 8 - BEYOND IDOLATRY
• NOTES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX
• Copyright Page