The quintessential rational mind: Buddha
1–10 of 26 posts
Re: The quintessential rational mind: Buddha
#2The 'cleaner' copy of the same article: http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/magazine/article435036.ece
Re: The quintessential rational mind: Buddha
#3The linked article gives no actual support for its claim that the Buddha's was "the quintessential rational mind". It cites a few of his opinions and draws tenuous connections with the findings of modern neuroscience.
It's pretty clear that the Buddha was a clever and insightful chap. It wouldn't surprise me to find that some of the things he said about minds and bodies and persons fit well with contemporary science. It would be interesting to read something about this written by someone with no axe to grind. The hyperbole of the linked article, though? A waste of space.
Re: The quintessential rational mind: Buddha
#4The author may be a top-notch neuro-scientist (for all I know), but he's not much of a Buddhist scholar. He's quoting texts that were written approximately 1000 years apart, and attributing them to the same author.
There's a lot of fascinating work being done in Buddhist Psychology; in fact, I'm in the middle of a course on precisely that subject as part of an M.A. in Buddhist Studies. Unfortunately, this article only hints at the subject.
Re: The quintessential rational mind: Buddha
#5The linked article gives no actual support for its claim that the Buddha's was "the quintessential rational mind". It cites a few of his opinions and draws tenuous connections with the findings of modern neuroscience. It's pretty clear that the Buddha was a clever and insightful chap. It wouldn't surprise me to find that some of the things he said about minds and bodies and persons fit well with contemporary science.…
This is a take I found on modern Buddhism view on science http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhmaK4Q19RY
Though it's only a few minute spot directed rather to non-tech people, it scratches the surface.
Re: The quintessential rational mind: Buddha
#6The linked article gives no actual support for its claim that the Buddha's was "the quintessential rational mind". It cites a few of his opinions and draws tenuous connections with the findings of modern neuroscience. It's pretty clear that the Buddha was a clever and insightful chap. It wouldn't surprise me to find that some of the things he said about minds and bodies and persons fit well with contemporary science.…
I can't complain since I don't think hindu.com (or thehindu.com) specifically aims Neuroscientists who know Buddhism very well as their target audience.
Re: The quintessential rational mind: Buddha
#7The author may be a top-notch neuro-scientist (for all I know), but he's not much of a Buddhist scholar. He's quoting texts that were written approximately 1000 years apart, and attributing them to the same author. There's a lot of fascinating work being done in Buddhist Psychology; in fact, I'm in the middle of a course on precisely that subject as part of an M.A. in Buddhist Studies. Unfortunately, this article onl…
"I'm in the middle of a course on precisely that subject as part of an M.A. in Buddhist Studies" - Are there any books, articles that are more insightful than the linked article that you would recommend ?
Re: The quintessential rational mind: Buddha
#8"the day when he attained enlightenment at Gaya in India; and the day he attained Nirvana (Unity with the Absolute) in 480 B.C."
Because attaining enlightenment and nirvana are rational, factual, non-dogmatic "events" that can be dated.
Re: The quintessential rational mind: Buddha
#9The 'cleaner' copy of the same article: http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/magazine/article435036.ece
A small piece of my weekend project that I'm working on is extracting text from articles. You can try it on this one:
http://toadjaw.com/article?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hindu.com%2F...
Re: The quintessential rational mind: Buddha
#10The author may be a top-notch neuro-scientist (for all I know), but he's not much of a Buddhist scholar. He's quoting texts that were written approximately 1000 years apart, and attributing them to the same author. There's a lot of fascinating work being done in Buddhist Psychology; in fact, I'm in the middle of a course on precisely that subject as part of an M.A. in Buddhist Studies. Unfortunately, this article onl…
"I'm in the middle of a course on precisely that subject as part of an M.A. in Buddhist Studies" - Are there any books, articles that are more insightful than the linked article that you would recommend ?
Well, it's a huge subject, but a couple of good starting points on the neuroscience angle are the works of B. Alan Wallace ("Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge", for example) or Mathieu Ricard ("The Quantum and the Lotus: A Journey to the Frontiers Where Science and Buddhism Meet", for example).
If, however, you are looking for a more general introduction to Buddhism (and Buddhist psychology) from a rationalist perspective, I'd recommend Stephen Batchelor's "Buddhism Without Beliefs."