MetaFilter posts tagged with buddhism and Science

MettaFilter

homunculus — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 10:12:50 -0800

"Attention regulation and monitoring in meditation" (PDF). A recent article in Trends in Cognitive Sciences on the neuroscience of meditation, focusing on how meditation alters and sharpens the brain's attention systems. The research is being done at the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior (previously), who have also recently published research on the "Regulation of the neural circuitry of emotion by compassion meditation" (PDF), which describes how meditation can cultivate compassion by physically affecting brain regions that play a role in empathy. They shared this research with the Dalai Lama at the recent Seeds of Compassion forum.

The Dalai Lama talks with neuroscientist about craving, suffering and choice

Kattullus — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:57:11 -0800

Traveling a lot this weekend? Long drive, plane or train ride? You can use that transit time to listen to the Dalai Lama talk for more than four hours with neuroscientists and Buddhist scholars on the topic of craving, suffering and choice. Part one. Part two. [iTunes links] If you're stuck at home, you can watch the video. The video link has the full list of participants.

Neuroscience and Mysticism

homunculus — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 16:14:43 -0800

Searching for God in the Brain. "Researchers are unearthing the roots of religious feeling in the neural commotion that accompanies the spiritual epiphanies of nuns, Buddhists and other people of faith." [Via MindHacks, which points out a few niggling omissions in the article.]

Meditators have bigger brains

homunculus — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 13:24:36 -0800

Meditation found to increase brain size (maybe) according to research led by Harvard neuroscientist Sara Lazar. Meanwhile, Atheist Manifesto author Sam Harris recently went on a meditation retreat and seemed to find it pleasant enough.

mediareport — Mon, 08 Jul 2002 09:47:34 -0800

"It is very necessary to begin the study of science," says His Holiness the Dalai Lama in a speech posted at the Science for Monks site. He says science offers "precise and accurate analysis" of phenomena Buddhists have so far explained only "at a very gross level," like time and atomic structure. Tibetan translations of scientific texts and familiar classroom experiments are part of the plan. Will the "unending positive doubts and constructive curiosities" of modern science deepen or undermine the Buddha's teachings? An army of scientists who've taken a vow of poverty sure would throw an interesting kink into the current debate about corporate science.