Episode 13: The 5 Contemplative Landmarks
Episode 13 of M3CS’s Contemplative Science Podcast saw Terje Sparby come on to the podcast to talk about the contemplative landmarks in meditation, religion and phenomenological methods.
For the full podcast, check out the episode here.
In this episode, we cover...
The five landmarks of concentration practice.
Terje’s vision to create an observatory to collate different ideas about meditation.
The neuroscience of the master level attention states, often called Dhyāna.
Terje Sparby is a philosopher and meditation researcher whose work centres on consciousness and phenomenological methods. Rooted in community and spirituality, he unpacks the different views of individuals and religions on meditative practice.
Here are some of the key insights from the conversation...
Undertaking a meditation research project is a big commitment, but with big potential.
”You know, you need different skill sets. You need to be interested in going into meditation and then also the research side of it. And then you need to find time to do this. Maybe even financing for a research like this... but the whole idea is sort of a re-establishing of a contemplative monastery or even an observatory.”
Terje’s work would challenge himself to describe the state of Dhyāna in simple terms.
“I would go into the state and go out of it and try to describe it. Using experiential terms. What did I experience there? Like, forget about the books for now and just describe it. And then there are the terms that are easily relatable to the traditions. For instance, something happens to thinking, something happens to concentration... it becomes effortless. But then I started to go to terms like... magical, you know? Awe-inspiring. And it feels cosy. It feels protected.”
There is no set way to approach your practice.
“I think also there is some possibility of just trusting that there's some wisdom in these kinds of processes. You know, if you're left alone trying to figure this out, it might take much longer to go through it. So try to do this: stick with a practice, maybe find a supportive community, but also just trust that this is unfolding the way it should be.”
The best place to find Terje Sparby is here.
See you next week!
