Lecture
LUCIP/Numata "Buddhism, Neuroscience, Consciousness: Some hard problems”
- Date
- Thursday 16 April 2026
- Time
- Location
-
Lipsius
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden - Room
- 0.28
The Leiden University Centre of Intercultural Philosophy and the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies are pleased to announce a lecture by Prof. Bernard Faure.
Abstract
In his discussions with Western philosophers and neuroscientists, the Dalai Lama, a prominent representative of Buddhist modernism, has repeatedly argued that higher mental states, and awakening itself, have no neural correlates. In other words, they may not depend on the brain. Such a position, which no neuroscientist is likely to endorse, raises the question of dualism, a specter that haunts both Buddhist modernism and Western cognitivism. This paper examines Western attempts to naturalize Buddhism, and compares them to neurological studies on psychedelics and neo-shamanism. It raises the question of what is at stake in such endeavors.
About
Bernard Faure's research focuses on various aspects of East Asian Buddhism, with a particular emphasis on Chan/Zen Buddhism and esoteric Buddhism. Influenced by anthropological history and cultural theory, his work has focused on themes such as the construction of orthodoxy, Buddhist relic worship, iconography, sexuality and gender, the mythical-ritual system of esoteric Buddhism and its relationship to medieval Japanese religion. He has published numerous works in French and English, including a recent five-volume series on medieval Japanese gods, and he is currently completing a book on Buddhism and neuroscience.
All are welcome!