This Dharma thought brought to you by Steve Allison-Bunnell, leader of Joining Rivers Sangha.
“Could a brain in a vat meditate?” I posed this question to students in the Psychology of Consciousness course at MSU this last week. One thought so, because the brain would still have memories and thoughts to contemplate. Another thought no, because the brain has no body to actually experience the world with. That was my answer. The Buddha understood and taught that for a human at least, meditation is an embodied practice. Coming home to ourselves through Mindfulness is in its essence living in our own body in a particular moment. We now also know that many aspects of our feelings come from our bodies and do not arise only in the brain. When do you feel like a brain in a vat? How to you get back in touch with your body?
