RE: UN-LEARNING M I N D L E S S N E S S - NeuroScience and the Art of Meditation
Thank you. Thank you. It motivates me how you judge my blog posts.
"Scientific experiments separate their field of observation from the world of the observer, reduce their object to the repeatable and quantifiable, and objectify the experimenter himself as a neutral observer instance. The methodically conscious production of such prepared world excerpts becomes possible only due to a long cultural development [...], so that one could say that the 'nature' of natural science is a construct and thus a cultural product".
translated that from here
The natural sciences can only approach what is called "being" in an abstract way, but human experiences cannot be interpreted quantitatively. Everything a person has ever experienced, what he perceives, interprets, feels and thinks, is accustomed to, encompasses his entire life span and breaks its ground in moments when he is confronted with decisions. It is impossible to make the superstructure of the human psyche comprehensible by means of cut-out and isolated thought games. People decide, for example, on the basis of a chosen identity in one moment and on the basis of another identity in another moment. Depending on external conditions and inner resonance and reflecting thoughts or non-reflecting impulses to these conditions.
Some things simply lie outside the empirical measurability and thus outside the classical scientific experiment and investigation arrangement. In my opinion, the dangerous thing you are talking about is that nothing that is not scientifically verified may claim reason.
But if reason is only reserved for the natural sciences, then we do indeed have a new religion.
I suppose this is what you meant?
The anecdote about the mother elephant is a nice analogy to the wake. Thank you for this example.
That you pick out what produces the greatest resonance in you is interesting in the sense that one could say that you either feel inspiration there that is positively motivated. Or even lets a problematic aspect sound, in which you reflect what might still need to be contemplated, as you have also hinted. You could call it "selfish", but the ego is also a very good servant.
Everyone gets impatient with meditation. It's one of the most difficult things to do when one is not practiced. I train myself on being mindful (present to the moment and not on autopilot) but I am not a regular mediator myself. Still fearing the lack of being successful in it :-(
<Some things simply lie outside the empirical measurability and thus outside the classical scientific experiment and investigation arrangement. In my opinion, the dangerous thing you are talking about is that nothing that is not scientifically verified may claim reason
There is a saying, which I don't particularly like, "Render unto Caesar those things that are Caesar's and unto God those things that are God's". I think the concept may be applied to science. There are whole areas of concern where I insist upon the scientific method for validity. And then there are areas that science cannot possibly measure. It doesn't have the tools. Doesn't even have the ambition. We need the monks, and ourselves, to sort out questions of being. Consciousness is a kind of hybrid: science can measure certain values and certain I think will always be beyond its reach. The idea of "knowing" becomes profound. We know somethings because we can prove them. But knowing, as in awareness of ourselves and others--that's another matter.
As always a thought-provoking discussion. Just got up. Just beginning to drink my coffee and you awaken my awareness :)