This talk was given as part of a weekend program at BCBS called “Cognitive Science and the Buddhist Understanding of Mind” in January, 2005. As I think we all know, Buddhism and cognitive science are increasingly coming into dialogue with one another these days. For this interchange to be successful, something from Buddhism or something from cognitive science (depending on which side you’re looking from) should affect the other in a way that really changes that field’s mode of operation. … [Read more...]
Rajesh Kasturirangan
Buddhism, Body, Mind-Problem?
Many of the key questions scientists will be trying to answer in this century revolve around the mind and its relation to other entities. Is the mind the brain? Is the mind the body? Is the mind the body in the environment? Or is the mind some abstract entity that lives outside space and time altogether? I believe that Buddhist philosophy can help the process of reconciling these issues. Science is based on the assumption that there is a single “real” reality that we each see through … [Read more...]
MIT Meets the Monastery
Rajesh Kasturirangan is a faculty member at the National Institute of Advanced Studies at Bangalore, India. He has a doctorate in cognitive science from MIT. He has taught at BCBS about the overlap between Buddhadharma and cognitive science, most recently in 2009. This month, Insight Journal talks with him about a new online community he is starting to explore these issues further. In addition to the implications of its title, MIT meets the Monastery, he uses phrases like "Wisdom and Science," … [Read more...]
