Lucid Dreaming, Meditation, and Consciousness, with Evan Thompson

In this episode, philosopher, author, and meditator, Evan Thompson speaks with host Michael Taft. Topics include: the meaning of awakening; lucid dreaming and noticing the construction of the waking state; the 3-fold structure of Awareness, Contents of Awareness, and then Identification with Contents; The cosmopolitanism of Buddhism, and the myth of Buddhist exceptionalism; consciousness hacking and psychedelics; and much more.

Evan Thompson, PhD, works on the nature of the mind, the self, and human experience. His work combines cognitive science, philosophy of mind, phenomenology, and cross-cultural philosophy, especially in Asian traditions. His most recent book, Waking, Dreaming, Being, examines the self and consciousness in neuroscience, meditation, and philosophy.

Show Notes

1:50 - Evan’s personal practice and retreat in Nelson, British Columbia.

4:55 - Central metaphor of awakening from sleep-wake cycle. Fractal nature of awakening.

8:50 - Phenomenal sense of insight into waking up, false awakening.

11:40 - Is waking up a recurring process as in the ordinary sleep-wake cycle?

15:10 - Awakening as metaphorical concept and not a state. Ethics, values tied to awakening.

17:15 - Embodied nature of consciousness and awakening.

19:55 - Extended consciousness involving brain, body and environment vs panpsychism.

23:35 - Meditation is not first person science, more similar to dance and martial arts.

28:25 - Basic structure of Waking, Dreaming, Being based on Upanishads.

29:05 - Unpacking the Upanishadic structure in the context of meditation.

33:45 - Lucid dreaming for cultivating awareness rather than dream control.

37:45 - Connection between framing of dream and waking states.

38:50 - Consciousness versus contents of consciousness. Sense of self while awake, dreaming.

43:25 - Neuroscience of self and memory while dreaming.

45:30 - Neuroscience of self and memory while awake.

46:20 - Brain as active while asleep as awake, but in different local and network ways.

48:00 - Sleep needed for memory consolidation, learning and self regulation.

49:35 - Meditation not only limited to brain but an activity practiced in a social context.

53:05 - Meditation embodied in a wider context that may be missed in brain only fMRI scans.

55:40 - Wings needed for flight but flight is not in the wings, brain needed for meditation …

56:55 - Meditation reduced to neuroscience correlates may be too reductionist.

58:05 - Neuroscience being used to “prove” Buddhism. Fetishizing Buddhism.

1:00:35 - Buddhism is a religion despite claims to the contrary, a lot of Buddhist exceptionalism.

1:03:00 - Critique of Buddhist exceptionalism in new book. Cosmopolitan Buddhism preferred.

1:05:35 - Evan’s book in progress Why I am not a Buddhist.

1:07:05 - Hopeful signs in greater sensitivity to environment, equality.

1:10:05 - Unbalanced approach to psychedelics. Consciousness hacking as fear of death.

1:13:20 - Outro

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