Peter Malinowski
“Over the past 10 years or so, the interest of science in Buddhism has increased dramatically. This development is epitomized by an exponential increase in the number of scientific publications in which authors try to link Buddhist views to scientific data or to shed light on some aspects of Buddhist practice. This meeting between Buddhism and science appears to happen in two main areas. In one of them, Buddhist scholars and Western physicists are discussing empirical evidence and theoretical models from physics, for instance from quantum physics, in relation to Buddhist views of reality.
In addition to this more philosophical discourse, an applied approach manifests in the rapidly expanding area of meditation research, where scientists employ an arsenal of empirical methods for investigating Buddhist meditation practices. As an academic psychologist and cognitive neuroscientist, my research focuses on the mechanisms and outcomes of Buddhist meditation practice, and at the same time I have been practising Diamond Way Buddhism for more than 20 years. From this personal perspective, I shall attempt here to provide a glimpse into the latter area of research.”
To read the whole fascinating article, we encourage you to read the Middle Way journal. It can be ordered from the Buddhist Society here.