Ep193: Waking, Dreaming, Being - Dr Evan Thompson

Guru Viking Podcast

In this episode I am once again joined by Dr Evan Thompson: Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, an Associate Member of the Department of Asian Studies and the Department of Psychology, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Dr Thompson discusses his 2014 book ‘Waking, Dreaming, Being’ and takes a deep dive into the self from the point of view of the world’s contemplative traditions as well as neuroscience and philosophy of mind. Dr Thompson shares his life-long fasciation with the way in which consciousness and the sense of self change across different phases of the wake-sleep cycle, and challenges claims that insight into the self is a means to eliminate suffering and attain enlightenment. Dr Thompson reveals his own deep practice of meditation, lucid dreaming, Tai Chi and Chinese energy arts, and explains how he, as both a trained skeptical philosopher and as a dedicated practitioner, approaches the religious framing of practice and related concepts such as ‘chi’ and ‘enlightenment’. Dr Thompson also answers Youtube comments about our previous interview, including a clarification of his critique of Buddhist exceptionalism and a response to Buddhists who feel his work threatens their religious affiliation. … Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep193-waking-dreaming-being-dr-evan-thompson Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’. … Topics include: 00:00 - Intro 01:30 - Answering Youtube comments 02:14 - ‘Why I Am Not A Buddhist’ and Bertrand Russel 04:59 - What would Bertrand Russel target today? 06:18 - The non-aligned mystic 08:15 - Does Evan meditate? 10:13 - Evan’s extensive daily qigong and tai chi practice 11:55 - Retreat practice and states of high concentration 13:00 - Why does Evan practice so diligently? 13:15 - How does Evan think about ‘chi’? 17:35 - Traps in understanding of chi 18:24 - Why does Evan still meditate if he is not a Buddhist? 20:11 - Evan’s critiques of the doctrinal framing of practices 22:25 - Response to Buddhists who are threatened by Evan’s work 25:43 - Waking, Dreaming, Being 27:28 - Fascination with how consciousness alters across the sleep-wake cycle 28:11 - Evan reflects on ‘Waking, Dreaming, Being’ 29:58 - How Evan’s views on practice have evolved 31:12 - The sense of self and the experience of consciousness 32:20 - Awareness, contents of awareness, and sense of self 34:21 - Self construction in imagination, memory, and lucid dreaming 37:03 - 1st person vs 3rd person memory 38:23 - View/field dreams vs outside dreams 39:11 - The self experience in lucid dreaming and OBE’s 41:12 - Evan’s lucid dreaming practice 42:38 - Meeting the Dalai Lama and beginning to lucid dream 44:50 - The curriculum of lucid dreaming in Tibetan Buddhism 46:09 - Meditating in the dream state and Alan Wallace’s advice 48:37 - Walking through walls and transforming the dream 49:39 - Evan’s powerful tai chi dreams 50:06 - Variation in lucid dreaming talent 51:07 - What constitutes the sense of self? 52:51 - How does the self complex arise? 54:56 - Metacognition 55:33 - Mindfulness rides on social cognitive capacities 56:40 - Self understanding and claims of liberation 59:10 - The value of the Buddhist view of self 01:01:54 - The claim that insight into self reduces suffering is naive 01:04:12 - How to make the world a better place 01:04:49 - Social is crucial 01:05:57 - Hermit is a social category 01:06:31 - Recognising the value of meditation in a social context 01:09:27 - Vasubandu vs Candrakirti and Metzinger vs Thompson 01:12:32 - Evan’s upcoming projects 01:14:22 - Dying, our ultimate transformation … Previous episode with Evan Thompson: - www.guruviking.com/podcast/158-why-i-am-not-a-buddhist-evan-thompson … To find out more about Evan Thompson, visit: - https://evanthompson.me/ For more interviews, videos, and more visit: - www.guruviking.com Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James