We’re joined again on Buddhist Geeks by one of the most influential figures in the transpersonal psychology movement, Dr. Charley Tart. We cover a huge range of topics in this interview, covering many things related to what he refers to as a “broad scale approach to meditation.”
Charley starts off by speaking about several hypnosis and sensory deprivation research studies, wherein the “demand characteristics” of the experiments dramatically affected the results of the research. We explore the implications this might have on the “set” or context that is used to set up meditation practice, and on the results people experience. We also discuss the lack of useful feedback that occurs in meditation communities, and the dramatically lower success rates of meditation communities, when compared to Western educational institutions.
Episode Links:
An Evidence-Based Spirituality for the 21st Century ( http://bit.ly/1S15WGC )
The Buddhist Atheist ( http://bit.ly/1S15VCy )
The End of Materialism: How Evidence of the Paranormal Is Bringing Science and Spirit Together ( http://amzn.to/py2BQ2 )