J. Niimi has written a short paper on the occasional overlap between Buddhism and Cognitive Science. As will be clear from the text, J touches on quite a few rather different points of contact, and in each case, there is clearly a need to establish some common vocabulary. There is not just one discussion to be had here, there are many.
Sample Quote
When the Buddhist spokesman Dharmapala attended one of James’s lectures at Harvard, James was quoted as having said to him, "Take my chair. You are better equipped to lecture on psychology than I," and after one of Dharmapala’s own lectures, James declared, "This is the psychology everybody will be studying twenty-five years from now." [6] James often drew on Buddhist cosmology when framing perceptual concepts, such as his term "stream of consciousness," which is the literal English translation of the Sanskrit vinnana-sota, a Buddhist metaphor for the impermanent nature of the mind (anitya). In the landmark text Varieties of Religious Experience, James also breaks new ground for modern psychology by addressing the functional value of meditation. [7]
Here are some related works:
- Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge (Columbia Series in Science and Religion) by B. Alan Wallace.
- "Buddhism and Science: Probing the Boundaries of Faith and Reason", Martin J. Verhoeven, Religion East and West, Issue 1, June 2001, pp. 77-97.
The next few articles are unfortunately only available if you have a subscription to the respective journals. Pity.
- Baringa, M. BUDDHISM AND NEUROSCIENCE: Studying the Well-Trained Mind, Science 3 October 2003: Vol. 302. no. 5642, pp. 44 - 46
- Knight J (2004) Religion and science: Buddhism on the brain. Nature 432: 670