On Having No Body

April 15th, 2006 Fred McVittie

In 1961 Douglas Harding published ‘On Having No Head’, an essay bringing together elements of Buddhist and Zen teaching with certain observations about the nature of seeing. A key theme within the process of enlightenment described in the essay is the realisation that, in purely experiential terms, a human being (the self) does not have a head. Whilst we may look around and see other people with heads we do not experience our own self in that way. Rather, when we try to consider the form or nature of ‘the place we are looking from’ we are confronted with a void. Our bodies also may be ‘out there in the world’ but our heads, or more specifically our minds, are empty space. In Harding’s writing this apparently whimsical observation is developed into a comprehensive holistic metaphysics in which this void, this empty space, is ‘the void in which the world appears’.

A weakness in Harding’s analogy is that it relies very heavily on our apprehension of the world through our sense of sight. Vision is paralleled with being to an extent which some readers may find too much of a stretch, particularly when the visual sense, whilst clearly very important in organising our sense of reality, is not necessarily the strongest sense we possess which provides this orientation. This paper will attempt to reinforce this weakness in Harding’s analogy by considering the unusual case of Miss L. ; a young woman who, after recovering from a severe viral infection, lost her ability to access her proprioceptive sense, the sense that gives us information about where our bodies and limbs are in space. This woman, who prior to her disease had no religious or unusual philosophical interests, on losing her proprioception, reported regular feelings of satori or ‘divine illumination’ (sic) accompanied, or possibly produced by, a sense of her body being ’simultaneously everywhere and nowhere’, or ‘empty and full’. This presentation will be illustrated with writings and images produced by Miss L in her attempt to describe her experiences.

Posted in Buddhism, Conference Abstract, Embodiment, Enlightenment, Harding, Douglas, Sense | No Comments »

Flying through the Space of Thought

June 23rd, 2006 Fred McVittie

The kind of processes we refer to when we arrange out thoughts, and the type of psychological gestures we make in order to move through our thoughts, suggests that cognitive organisation makes heavy use of a metaphor of space. The metaphor of the mind as a kind of spatially extended domain is one of the most important and robust mental structures. This space of thought roughly corresponds to Cartesian or Newtonian space, a fact which is evidenced in the language we use to talk about the contents and processes of our minds (streams of consciousness etc) and also in techniques for cognitive enhancement such as mnemonic systems like the method of loci, which uses the construction of elaborate storage spaces, so-called ‘memory palaces’, to enable easy retrieval of facts and ideas.

A significant departure from this schema is our ability to make intuitive leaps, or simply to allow our thoughts to hop from one topic to another without apparently crossing any intervening space. A number of subsidiary metaphors attempt to explain this phenomenon; William James, in addition to referring to the ’stream of consciousness’ also describes consciousness rather as a bird in flight. He says, ‘Our psychic life has rhythm: it is a series of transitions and resting-places, of “flights and perchings”‘ (PP 236). Also, a common feature of Buddhist meditation teaching is an attempt to tame the ‘monkey mind’, the tendency of consciousness to jump uncontrollably from one branch of knowledge to another. Both these metaphors invoke an image of space which, whilst still Cartesian, is not empty and unstructured but is somewhat like a forest. A space in which knowledge forms grow, interpenetrate, and spread, allowing a smooth linear passage from one to the next, but also a space through which it is possible to swing and swoop, catching knowledge on the fly.

Baby swifts leave their nests at a few weeks old, launching themselves on their first flight without any tuition or preparation. They then spend the next two years of their lives on the wing. It may be interesting to speculate on the possibilities of maintaining extended periods of flight in cognitive space. Staying airborne, like the swift, in the spaces between one idea and another.

Posted in Buddhism, James, William, Knowledge, Meditation, Metaphor, Mind, Space | No Comments »

Zen and Metascience

July 11th, 2006 Fred McVittie

Typically, the subjective experience of the world, and the folk/naive science is constructs, is considered to be a pre-scientific, possibly even primitive way of knowing. Historically as well as individually folk science gives way to the superior knowledge of rational science, subjectivity cedes precedence to objectivity as the more advanced and valid epitemological method. We see evidence for this in the historicisation of 15th century alchemy and hermeticism, which is usually construed not as a practice in its own right but as simply a precursor to the ‘real science’ of chemistry. Similarly, in child development we tend to assume that the knowledge possessed by small children prior to formal education is an inferior and temporary substitute for real knowledge. For instance, children’s tendency to experience themselves as located at the centre of the world, what Piaget referred to as ‘ontological egocentricity (1926: 110, 241), is supposedly supplanted by a more ‘correct’ view of themselves in a world which has no centre. Both these examples relate a narrative of subjectice knowledge being superceded by objective ways of knowing.

Some practices, however, have been developed which do not tell this story. Zen (buddhism) particularly regards its own mystical practices, and those of other philosophies and religions, not as precursors to rational science, or even as spiritual counterparts (’non-overlapping magisteria’ to use Stephen Jay-Gould’s term). These practices, and the knowledge they produce, is assumed to have value both before and after science, or ‘antescience and ‘metascience’ as philosopher D.T. Suzuki puts it. This position arises from a realisation that objectivity necessarily excludes the observer or subject from the data and is therefore inevitably incomplete. It is interesting to note that a number of prominent scientists, particularly scientists studying consciousness (also, so far, largely resisted to conventional scientific methods) are practicing Zen Buddhists; Susan Greenfield, (the late) Francisco Varela etc.

Jean Piaget. La représentation du monde chez l’enfant. Paris: Alcan, 1926.

Posted in Alchemy, Buddhism, Naive Physics, Subjective | No Comments »

Space and Buddhism

September 15th, 2006 Fred McVittie

‘Space is the precondition of all that exists, be it material or immaterial form, because we can neither imagine an object nor a being without space. Space, therefore, is not only a conditio sine qua non of all existence, but a fundamental property of our consciousness.
Our consciousness determines the kind of space in which we live. The infinity of space and the infinity of consciousness are identical. In the moment in which a being becomes conscious of his consciousness, he becomes conscious of space. In the moment in which he becomes conscious of the infinity of space, he realises the infinity of consciousness.’ (1969)

Lama Anagarika Govinda, The Foundation of Tibetan Mysticism, 1969

Posted in Buddhism, Consciousness, Space | No Comments »

Enlightenment every Morning

September 20th, 2006 Fred McVittie

Many Zen Buddhist texts, as well as those from widely different metaphysical traditions, stress that enlightenment is not some otherworldly, spiritual state of grace removed from everyday existence, (as if is often framed by the modern enlightenment industries), but rather is a simple realisation of everyday awareness; a ‘waking up’ to the life we are actually living. The Buddha is known as ‘the awakened one’, and this association of enlightenment with the passage from sleep to wakefulness is telling. The most phenomenal and phenomenologically evident example of the illuminated state of consciousness is the everyday act of waking up. In a few moments every day, to the accompaniment of alarm clock ring, birdsong, or traffic noise, each of us breaks the surface of sleep. This transition from ‘not-being’ to being, from unconscious to conscious, from endarkened to enlightened is more ontologically remarkable than the most affecting ’spiritual’ moment can ever be. This moment, together with its complementary transition in which we slip between the folds of consciousness and pass from wakefulness to sleep, is surpassed in its significance only by the birth and death of the organism, and whatever cognitive experience accompanies that process, (which may turn out to be very anticlimactic).

Posted in Buddhism, Enlightenment, Sleep, Spirituality | No Comments »

Induced Spirituality

June 1st, 2007 Fred McVittie

Work carried out by Michael Persinger at Laurentia University (reviewed at http://home.comcast.net/~neardeath/religion/001_pages/04.html) suggests that some of the feelings associated with spirituality: union with a greater power, the presence of a divine being etc, can be induced by the application of Trans-cranial Magnetic Signals (TMS). This work is complemented by that of Andrew Newberg who, working with Buddhist monks and nuns, discovered that the meditative practices they engaged in, and which induced feelings of divine union, seemed to produce particular patterns of activation in the brain similar to those produced by TMS. Whilst this work does not dismiss or disprove the concept of the divine, or erase God from the equation (completely), it does clearly indicate that some of the experiences and feelings which we associate with ’spiritual practice’ are not evidence of the validity of whatever beliefs we may hold, but are part of our cognitive operation.

Posted in Buddhism, Neuroscience, Newberg, Andrew, Persinger, Michael, Spirituality | No Comments »

Rollercoaster Zen

August 29th, 2007 Fred McVittie

The experience of riding a rollercoaster, or more generally of visiting a theme park, is a useful parallel to an experiencing of existence which is idealised within Zen and related practices. A trip to 6 Flags, Universal Studios, or Alton Towers, for those of us who are keen riders, involves preliminary research into the types of rides that are available and where they are located. Then one might put together a rough ‘running order’ of the rides so that they provide a good overall experience; one should not start with the fastest, most thrilling ride, or the most idiosyncratic, and one should definitely aim to finish on a high note. This plan might include and take into account such indirect factors as: distance one might need to walk between rides, opportunities for eating and drinking, availability of bathroom etc. Also, proper planning should identify external features which may affect the rides; if your script for the day includes the biggest fastest rides, it is not a good idea, for example, to plan your visit on a day near the end of a school term when school parties may be visiting and clogging up the queues for these.

When you actually arrive on the day, the plan you have changes status. A lot of unforeseen circumstances can arise which might force you to change your ideas, and new opportunities might arise which you would be stupid to pass up, so stay flexible and improvise. Stay with the plan where it proves useful, but feel free to deviate wildly from it if the need arises. In many ways the success of your day depends not on either the plan or what you actually do, but on a dynamic and healthy relationship between the two.

The most significant time during your visit is, of course, the actual rides themselves, and it is worth paying special attention to what is happening at every stage of these special moments. The chances are that, even if you have bought an express pass to let you have priority access, you will still have to stand in a queue. This is not a problem. Do not see this as a problem. I repeat, there is no problem here. Standing in the queue for the fastest, more terrifying ride, particularly as you edge toward the front, is probably the most fully conscious you will feel all day, maybe all week. At any time you could turn around and walk out; you are sweating and nervous, everyone around you is nervous, the hype of the ride itself, if it is designed properly, is making you even more nervous, and almost every self-protective instinct in your body is telling you to get the hell out of there. And yet you stay. You don’t heed the hailing of your intuition and refuse to go with the flow of your instincts. You can feel the pressure to do what comes naturally (run) building up inside you but you stand your ground, and the longer you stand the more conscious you become. You can feel your self, fully and completely here, now, and under threat.

The moment has arrived and you move from the queue across the threshold and are being strapped into the ride. This transition is carried out in an almost blissful state of self-consciousness in which you seem to witness yourself from outside your body. Part of you cannot quite believe that you are going to go through with it, whilst another part of you is moving mindlessly from the easily escapable position in the queue to the inescapable inevitability of the ride itself.

And then there is the ride itself. Now the time for choosing is over and whatever happens is out of your hands. Of course you know that rides are safety checked and that nothing can really go wrong, but that knowledge is no good to you now. That was just something you read when you were doing your preliminary research. What is important now is way beyond the rational evaluation of risk factors as laid down is health and safety standards, what matters is that you have committed yourself incontroverably to a course of events in which choice is absolutely and totally absent. There is no possibility of escape and every move, shock, twist, turn, and gyration is mapped onto your future as surely as the events of yesterday are mapped onto your past. For these seconds there is nothing to think about, nothing to do, nothing to be. There is just you, and the ride.

Posted in Art, Buddhism, Flow, Rollercoaster | No Comments »

The Middle Way of Consciousness

September 30th, 2007 Fred McVittie

It is interesting that Buddhism refers to the ‘middle way’ as a route to the non-duality of undivided consciousness or non-being. This image seems to be drawn from the metaphor of lived experience as a kind of journey, perhaps along a road or down a river. On this cruise downstream we are constantly confronted with divergent paths; tributaries in the stream. At these moments of choice, which we may not consciously be aware of, we may feel the play of those cognitive operations which allow us the dubious luxury of such choices. The flow of our existence is momentarily arrested at such times (which are most of the time) as our brain loops around the possibilities, entering and re-entering the suspended moment in and endless series of yes and no. This yes/no interlude may be one of the defining characteristics of individual consciousness and its close association with the feeling of ‘free will’ (or ‘free won’t’ as Benjamin Libet rephrased it). In a quest for non-duality however, this suspension of the flow in which we are held behind the dam of our own free will is counter productive, and the desired state is one in which the mind is not divided up into personal consciousness through the apparent necessity of endless decision-making. The cultivation of an approach to the journey downstream which conceives of a third option: a way which is neither left or right, but which is simply straight ahead, may help to avoid the dams.

This is the middle way of Buddhism in which one (One) is carried downstream in the effortless action of the stream itself. More, one realises that one is the stream and that the stream is One.

Posted in Buddhism, Consciousness, Flow | No Comments »

buddhism emotion cognition

October 7th, 2007 Fred McVittie

Buddhist Thought and Contemporary Science

Ayya Khema:

“In Pali, heart and mind are one word (citta), but in English we have to differentiate between the two to make the meaning clear.
When we attend to the mind, we are concerned with the thinking process and the intellectual understanding that derives from knowledge, and with our ability to retain knowledge and make use of it.
When we speak of “heart” we think of feelings and emotions, our ability to respond with our fundamental being.
Although we may believe that we are leading our lives according to our thinking process, that is not the case. If we examine this more closely, we will find that we are leading our lives according to our feelings and that our thinking is dependent upon our feelings. The emotional aspect of ourselves is of such great importance that its purification is the basis for a harmonious and peaceful life, and also for good meditation.”

There is a parallel here to Damasio, Ledoux, on role of emotion in cognition.

Posted in Buddhism, Emotion, Feeling | No Comments »

Non-duality in Science and Metaphysics

January 15th, 2008 Fred McVittie

The separation of mind and body articulated in the various dualistic models of Descartes and others is usually considered an unwanted and irrational consequence of our embodiment and our evolutionary history. An exception to this negative relationship to dualism is the religious distinctions which posit the ephemeral mind (or soul) as somehow elevated from the the mortal and physical body. Some traditional forms of Christianity, for example, cast the body as the site of sordid temptation and original sin. As such this body is something to be disowned, cast off, and escaped from. In this formulation the intuitively separate mind can provide the vehicle for such an escape; as a separate entity connected only by virtue of temporary circumstance to the fallen flesh, it can be considered radiantly virtuous and possibly even immortal. In this tradition the natural dualism created by our phenomenology is given a moral (and some would say morally reprehensible) spin. Cartesian dualism is thus put to the service of a moralistic theology. Other traditions seem to resonate more closely with contemporary sensibility in its rejection of this moralistic divide and its repressive consequences. The various contemplative traditions including Buddhism stress a practice which seems to have the aim of dissolving this dualism, (along with other dualism, hence the title ‘non-duality’ which is often given to the aims of such practices). Vipassana mindfullness meditation for example includes within its techniques a close alignment of body and mind, requiring the proponent of such practice to give full conscious awareness to the behaviour of the body. One adept and teacher has even commented that mindfullness might more accurately be referred to as ‘bodyfullness’, stressing the unified embodied nature of the enlightened mind. The apparent accord between scientific understandings of the relationship of mind and body, which attest to the illusory aspect of such distinctions, and the practices of some contemplatives such as Buddhists, may be one reason why the study and practice of Buddhist and related techniques is increasingly popular in Western neuroscience and psychology.

Posted in Buddhism, Dualism, Non-duality | No Comments »