Two Sciences of Mind

Shambhala SunSpace:

"In Francisco Varela, the Dalai Lama found a kindred spirit. Together — along with some of the greatest names of both neuroscience and modern Buddhism — they laid the groundwork for a scientific revolution.
Barry Boyce tells the story in this Shambhala Sun feature.

By Barry Boyce

In 1979, two cognitive scientists, Francisco Varela and Eleanor Rosch, and a computer scientist named Newcomb Greenleaf — all freshly minted Buddhists — organized what was to be a groundbreaking conference at The Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado. Recently established by Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the Institute was designed to be a place where meditation traditions and Western scholarship would meet on common ground.

The conference, entitled “Comparative Approaches to Cognition: Western and Buddhist,” would be an exciting convergence of East and West. While some [...]"