Essays

ACADEMIC ESSAYS

  • “Restoring a Spirit of Radical Empiricism in Science and Religion: A Buddhist View” in

    Buddhism in Dialogue with Contemporary Societies

    , Carola Roloff, Wolfram Weiße, & Michael Zimmermann (Eds.), Religionen im Dialog, vol. 20, 2021.

  • “Buddhism and Free Will: Beyond the ‘Free Will Problem'” in

    Buddhist Perspectives on Free Will: Agentless agency?

    Edited by Rick Repetti; Routledge, 2017.

  • “Energy Dynamics” in

    Exploring Buddhism and Science

    , ed. Ven. Chuan Sheng. Singapore: Buddhist College of Singapore & Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery, 2015, 197–206.

  • “The Potential of Emptiness: Vacuum States in Physics and Consciousness” in Exploring Buddhism and Science, ed. Ven. Chuan Sheng. Singapore: Buddhist College of Singapore & Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery, 2015, 207–221.
  • “L’essenza della mindfulness.” In La Cura della consapevolezza, a cura di Massimo Tomassini. Milano, Tecniche Nuove 2012.
  • “Achtsamkeit: mehr als eine Methode zur Stressbewältigung.” In Achtsamkeit: Ein buddhistisches Konzept erobert die Wissenschaft. Edited by Michael Zimmermann, Christof Spitz, & Stefan Schmidt. Bern: Verlag Hans Huber 2012.
  • “Contemplative/Emotion Training Reduces Negative Emotional Behavior and Promotes Prosocial Responses.” Margaret Kemeny, Jim Cavanagh, Phillip Shaver, Paul Ekman, Erika Rosenberg, Carol Foltz, Patricia Jennings, Janine Giese-Davis, and B. Alan Wallace, Emotion. 2012 Apr; 12(2): 338–50. Epub 2011 Dec 12.
  • “Enhanced Response Inhibition During Intensive Meditation Training Predicts Improvements in Self-Reported Adaptive Socio-Emotional Functioning.” Baljinder K. Sahdra, Katherine A. MacLean, Emilio Ferrer, Phillip R. Shaver, Erika L. Rosenberg, Tonya L. Jacobs, Anthony P. Zanesco, Brandon G. King, Stephen R. Aichele, David A. Bridwell, George R. Mangun, Shiri Lavy, B. Alan Wallace, and Clifford D. Saron, Emotion. 2011 Apr; 11(2): 299-312.
  • “The Next Great Scientific Revolution.” In Spiritism and Mental Health: Practices from Spiritist Centers and Spiritist Psychiatric Hospitals in Brazil. Edited by Emma Bragdon. London & Philadelphia: Singing Dragon, 2011: 172–181.
  • “A Buddhist View of Free Will: Beyond Determinism and Indeterminism.” In Journal of Consciousness Studies, 18, No. 3-4, 2011: 217-33.
  • “Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity Q1, and psychological mediators.” Tonya L. Jacobs, Elissa S. Epel, Jue Lin, Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Owen M. Wolkowitz, David A. Bridwell, Anthony P. Zanesco, Stephen R. Aichele, Baljinder K. Sahdra, Katherine A. MacLean, Brandon G. King, Phillip R. Shaver, Erika L. Rosenberg, Emilio Ferrer, B. Alan Wallace, and Clifford D. Saron, Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2011 Jun; 36 (5): 664-81. Epub 2010 Oct 29.
  • “Intensive meditation training leads to improvements in perceptual discrimination and sustained attention.” Katherine A. MacLean, Emilio Ferrer, Stephen R. Aichele, David A. Bridwell, Anthony P. Zanesco, Tonya L. Jacobs, Brandon G. King, Erika L. Rosenberg, Baljinder K. Sahdra, Phillip R. Shaver, B. Alan Wallace, George R. Mangun and Clifford D. Saron. Psychological Science, 21 (6) 2010: 829-839. Online version: “Buddhism & Science: Confrontation and Collaboration” Presented at the International Conference on Buddhism & Science, Sarnath, Varanasi, December 2008.
  • “Mental Balance and Well-Being: Building Bridges Between Buddhism and Western Psychology.” American Psychologist, October 2006.
  • “Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being.” Co-author with Paul Ekman, Richard Davidson, and Matthieu Ricard. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 59-63.
  • “The Intersubjective Worlds of Science and Religion.” Published in Science, Religion, and the Human Experience. James Proctor (ed), New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
  • “A Science of Consciousness: Buddhism (1), the Modern West (0).” The Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, 2003. Presented at a conference sponsored by the Institute of Buddhist Studies at the Graduate Theological Union.
  • “External, Internal, and Nondual Space” presented at the 26th Mystics and Scientists conference, entitled “Space in Mind: at the Interface of Inner and Outer Space,” held at King Alfred’s College, Winchester, England, April 13, 2003.
  • “Vacuum States of Consciousness: A Tibetan Buddhist View” presented at the 5th Biennial International Symposium of Science, Technics and Aesthetics: “Space, Time and Beyond,” Lucerne, Switzerland, January 19, 2003.
  • “Buddhism & Science: Breaking Down the Barriers”. Introduction to Buddhism & Science: Breaking New Ground. B. Alan Wallace, ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003.
  • “The Scientific Frontier of the Inner Spirit.” Network: The Scientific and Medical Network Review, Dec., 2002, No. 80, pp. 18-19.
  • “The Spectrum of Buddhist Practice in the West.” Westward Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Asia, Charles Prebish & Martin Baumann (eds.). Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.
  • “Four Applications of Mindfulness.” American Spiritualities: A Reader. Catherine L. Albanese (ed.). Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001.
  • “The Potential of Emptiness: Vacuum States in Physics and Consciousness.” Network: The Scientific and Medical Network Review, Dec., 2001, No. 77, pp. 21-25.
  • “Intersubjectivity in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism.” Journal of Consciousness Studies, 8, No. 5-7, 2001, pp. 209-30.
  • “Afterword: Buddhist Reflections.” Concluding essay for Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Brain Science and Buddhism. With Zara Houshmand and Robert Livingston. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 1999.
  • “Is Buddhism Really Non-theistic?” presented at the National Conference of the American Academy of Religion, Boston, Mass., Nov., 1999.
  • “The Dialectic Between Religious Belief and Contemplative Knowledge in Tibetan Buddhism.” Buddhist Theology: Critical Reflections of Contemporary Buddhist Scholars, John Makransky & Roger Jackson, eds., pp. 203-214. London: Curzon Press, 1999.
  • “Three Dimensions of Buddhist Studies.” Buddhist Theology: Critical Reflections of Contemporary Buddhist Scholars, John Makransky & Roger Jackson, eds., pp. 61-77. London: Curzon Press, 1999.
  • “The Buddhist Tradition of Samatha: Methods for Refining and Examining Consciousness.” Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6, No. 2-3, 1999. pp. 175-187. Also published in The View from Within: First-person Methods in the Study of Consciousness. London: Imprint Academic, 1999.
  • “A Contemplative View of the Mind.” Choosing Reality: A Buddhist View of Physics and the Mind. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 1989.

POPULAR ESSAYS

  • “Rationale for the Establishment of a Network of Contemplative Observatories,” in

    Snow Lion: The Buddhist Magazine & Catalog

    , Vol. 26, No. 1, Spring 2012.

  • “Distorted Visions of Buddhism: Agnostic and Atheist” In Mandala: A Tibetan Buddhist Journal, October/November, 2010, Online version.
  • “Within You, Without You: Like a telescope launched into orbit beyond the distortions of the earth’s atmosphere, shamatha meditation provides a platform for exploring the deep space of the mind.” In Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Winter, 2009: 78 – 83, 119.
  • “Achieving Free Will: A Buddhist Perspective.” In Mandala: A Tibetan Buddhist Journal, January/March 2009: pp. 55 – 58
  • “Shamatha in the Indian Buddhist Tradition.” In Mandala: A Tibetan Buddhist Journal, April, 2010:
  • “Within You, Without You: Like a telescope launched into orbit beyond the distortions of the earth’s atmosphere, shamatha meditation provides a platform for exploring the deep space of the mind.” In Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Winter, 2009: 78 – 83, 119
  • “Achieving Free Will: A Buddhist Perspective.” In Mandala: A Tibetan Buddhist Journal, January/March 2009: pp. 55 – 58
  • “A Mindful Balance.” Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Spring 2008.
  • “Awakening to the Dream.” Tricycle, Winter 2006.
  • “Religion and Reason: Letter to a Christian Nation Reviewed.” Shambhala Sun, November 2006. pp. 99-100
  • “Mental Balance and Well-Being: Building Bridges Between Buddhism and Western Psychology.” American Psychologist, October 2006.
  • “Immaterial Evidence.” Tricycle, Spring 2006. pp. 84-86.
  • “Illusions of Knowledge” Response to “Quantum Mechanics and the Brain” by Christof Koch and Klaus Hepp (Nature, Vol. 440/30 March 2006).
  • “Choice of Perspectives: Science limited in explanations.” Science & Theology, Jan. 2006, p. 11.
  • “Energy Dynamics.” Life Positive, Jan. 2006.
  • “Forum: Lojong Mind Training Practices.” With Judith Lief and Ken McLeod. BuddhaDharma, Fall 2005, pp. 38-47 & 85-86.
  • “What is True Happiness?” Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Fall 2005, pp. 72-73 & 118-119.
  • “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: Reflections on the American 2004 Elections.”
  • “Lucid Dreaming and Meditation.” and “Overlapping Worlds.” Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Spring 2003, pp. 58-69.
  • “Refining the Attention: Focusing on What Matters, Moment by Moment.” Spiritual & Health: The Soul/Body Connection, Summer 2002, pp. 30-33.
  • “Tibetan Buddhism in the West: Is It Working?” Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Summer 2001, pp. 54-63.
  • “Emptiness on My Mind.” Mandala: Buddhism in Our Time, June 2001, pp. 26-27.