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We don't have to assume that, you know, the Buddhist position is to remove and reduce all senses of self. There are more constructive approaches to how we engage with self concepts that could fit within a meditation program and that could align with Buddhist views.Assoc. Prof. Bronwyn Finnigan (ANU)
One of the most puzzling doctrines of Buddhism is this idea of non self. So what does that mean? That doesn't mean that you and I don't exist as individuals. We do. It's not a negation of existence as such. But we don't exist in the way we think we do.Dr. Leesa Davis (Deakin)
Academic perspectives featured in this episode include:
Bronwyn Finnigan is currently an Associate Professor in Philosophy at the Australian National University, and in 2025 had a visiting position teaching Buddhist philosophy at Princeton University. Her work focuses on a broad range of issues in philosophy of mind, moral psychology, and ethics in both mainstream and Indian Buddhist philosophical traditions. She is currently working on a book examining various Buddhist positions on the idea that there is no-self, and she also has a research project focused on putting Buddhist philosophy into dialogue with the mind sciences about the nature of fear, anxiety, and their cognitive and social regulation.
Leesa S Davis is a lecturer in philosophy and religious studies at Deakin University, Australia. She is the author of Advaita Vedanta and Zen Buddhism: Deconstructive Modes of Spiritual Inquiry and has written on Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, meditative experience, Buddhist ethics, and Buddhism in Australia. Her current research is on the nondual underpinnings of Zen thought and practice; the use of paradox in Zen Buddhism; Japanese Dry-Stone Gardens and Zen; and the interaction of tradition and modernity in the work of Bob Dylan.
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