Numinous Nonsense

My buddy Lion has some good reflections on a new book that I’m pretty excited about:

I’ve been reading Alan Wallace’s book Contemplative Science recently, and continue to be amazed by how simple and profound his idea of creating a contemplative science academic program is. As I understand it from getting a sneak peak of a talk of his on Buddhist Geeks (everyone else will have to wait a little longer, but stay tuned) he’s planning to create a Ph.d program designed to further the study of consciousness through first person inquiry. The way he puts it in his book is that objective science uses technology to extend the scope of our five senses to carry out its empirical research. Interior research, or research of the mind, likewise must find a way to further the scope of introspection, or the mind looking at itself. While no external technology has been devised to aid in such a process, awareness training developed by the world’s great contemplative traditions, is more than adequately able to refine such an instrument.

We’ve both been discussing the potential of this kind of academic endeavor, and I think if it were a program that were available right now, I’d probably be in the process of applying. Look to hear more about it on our up-and-coming podcast series on Buddhist Geeks.