Evan Thompson: Buddhism and the brain

Update: Also see my review of his book Waking, Being, Dreaming at academia.edu.

Here's an interview with Thompson on Buddhism and the Brain. It starts with defining consciousness as awareness, its changing contents and how both then identify as a self in changing contexts. "Consciousness is something we live, not something we have."

I also like using the metaphor of dance for the process of self. Both are in the enaction of the process, not a thing apart from that process.

He also goes into how mindfulness in our culture has turned into McMindfulness, how we might learn to pay attention non-judgmentally but then fail to then judge how the work we do might be harming others and the environment. It's taken out of context with the entire Buddhist ethical framework.

There's more in the interview with an embedded link to the full interview.