Conducted by Adam Liddle, Associate Editor for the Journal of Contemplative Studies.
JCS: In your perspective, what is contemplation?
MHD: It’s a vast question. In a nutshell, I would consider it a form of union of love and knowledge. This is a very ancient idea in the West as well, how love and knowledge are not necessarily two opposite things. When we’re talking here about contemplation, we are indeed considering very different traditions. But I would say that many of these contemplative traditions intend to cultivate a state of knowledge that is imbued with love, a sense of care, a sense of acceptance. It’s not only loving the beautiful—it’s also embracing the difficult. Contemplation clearly points us to a deepened state of awareness in which knowledge is fundamentally integrated with love. Our modern education is largely centered within the head, on discursive operations. There has been in the history of modernity this growing opposition between the head and the heart. And I think that the emerging field of Contemplative Studies invites us today to rediscover this ancient notion of contemplation. Thus, we may envision ways toward a reintegration of the head and the heart, or, from another perspective, the body and the mind.
Many of these contemplative traditions intend to cultivate a state of knowledge that is imbued with love, a sense of care, a sense of acceptance. It’s not only loving the beautiful—it’s also embracing the difficult.
JCS: We’re going to jump off course here a little bit. I’m curious about what you mean when you say “knowledge” and “love.” In a certain way these categories are immediately available to us, but could you break those apart a little bit for us as well? What are you really talking about when you’re talking about knowledge and love? What kinds of knowledge are here? What is that like? How does that relate to the body?
MHD: Please allow me first to define the standpoint of our interdisciplinary research group at Kyoto University: we approach contemplation by articulating three elements, according to a wisdom tree model. The first, like roots, is constituted by Religious Studies, especially Buddhist Studies, with a focus on Mahayana, and its living traditions in Japan and Tibet, in particular Zen and Dzogchen. The second, as a trunk, is formed by Philosophy, especially philosophy understood as a way of life, and having at the core of its methodology the very reflexivity of awareness, inquiring into the foundations of knowledge. The third, as the branches, expands with Cognitive Sciences, with an emphasis on the cognitive psychology of mindfulness. The roots are thus the ancient wisdom traditions accessed by Religious Studies, the trunk with the philosophical axis of reflexivity, and the branches, modern sciences of mindfulness or contemplation that can reach out to contemporary society and bring fruits that are relevant to current needs.
So, considered from this integrative approach, contemplation may be then simply defined as a deepened (or heightened) state of awareness. Let’s share here a material example from traditional Japanese culture that has a very contemplative orientation. Consider the gate of a tea garden. Tea ceremony, or rather “the way of tea” (chadō, 茶道), is conceived as a journey to go deeper into oneself and, from this more authentic place, to genuinely greet and meet another person. After a first gate from which to enter from the external city, there is also a middle gate (chumon, 中門) in the garden, inviting the visitor to enter a deepened state of awareness as she accesses the innermost part of the garden, before finally penetrating into the tea pavilion, itself built upon the model of a hermitage.
Tea ceremony, or rather “the way of tea” (chadō, 茶道), is conceived as a journey to go deeper into oneself and, from this more authentic place, to genuinely greet and meet another person.
Therefore, it’s not just a matter of focus or concentration, although this is an important aspect, but essentially it’s a different quality of attention. It’s paying attention with a form of care. Such a way of attending to objects characterizes a contemplative form of knowledge. There is a sense of acceptance, of turning toward the object, and embracing it fully. That’s one way to talk about love, befriending, or loving-kindness. Especially in Buddhism, this quality of mind, together with compassion, joy, and equanimity, are really foundational to a nonbiased way of knowing.
As revealed by Cognitive Sciences, we do have indeed many cognitive biases, and many of them have emotional roots or implications as well. Although cognition and emotion are to be distinguished through discernment, the duality of their separation is precisely to be overcome in the process of evolving from a state of inner division to a more integrated way of being and knowing. Such consideration is especially relevant to the exacerbation of polarization in the public domain of our contemporary democracies. To recognize things as they are, there is this need for embracing reality as it is, even (or especially) its difficult aspects. Embracing the painful or challenging is rather defined in Buddhism as compassion, while enjoying the pleasant or the beautiful has an element of appreciation that is more easily accessible, but equally important. In Buddhism, this union of love and knowledge that I chose to give as a straightforward definition of contemplation in plain English, is referred as the joint cultivation of wisdom and compassion on the path to awakening or buddhahood.
Essentially it’s a different quality of attention. It’s paying attention with a form of care.
JCS: I really appreciate love and knowledge as differentiated from wisdom and compassion because I think those terms become generic after a while, and we forget what exactly they’re referring to. Thank you very much for that. Can you speak a little more on that image of the tea ceremony? What’s going on there?
MHD: The way of tea was designed in very troubled times. And what it does is re-create a space to find peace and clarity of mind, even in busy cities. There is a tea garden very close to Kyoto University. It is in Seifūsō Villa (清風荘) that is now owned by the university. It’s a large traditional villa with a spacious garden that includes a tea pavilion.
This architecture and garden design invites us to progress according to different steps, externally in different spaces, and internally in deepened states of awareness. This is a very supportive and conducive environment for the cultivation of a contemplative attitude. Entering the domain of the villa, we’re no longer in the external world with all its busyness and dispersion; we are already in a safe space, a space in which we can recollect or gather our scattered mind, making possible a reconnection to oneself and to nature. A Japanese garden is very much designed by and for the contemplation of nature. This topic of the contemplation of nature has considerable philosophical significance, and ecological relevance as well. Japanese gardens historically developed within the process of urbanization as ways to carefully cope with its perceived negative sides, and to maintain the most vital or symbiotic relationship with nature through the cultural act of contemplating it, crafting hermitages in the midst of cities, finding spaciousness within busyness.
JCS: Thanks so much for sharing that. It’s really, really beautiful. So we’ve talked about what contemplation is in all of these various forms, and you’ve alluded your work a little bit, but I’m curious for you to dive further into where contemplation really comes alive in your work—how it becomes real.
MHD: At Kyoto University I supervise the Mindful Living Research Group that pursues the academic goal of articulating a philosophical anthropology of attention. To do so, we focus on the notion of mindfulness, originally a core Buddhist concept (Pali: sati; Sanskrit: smṛti; Chinese: nian, 念; Tibetan: dran pa). And of course, this notion or construct has a long history and is now being integrated with modern medicine and Psychology in Western societies. In our research group, we intend to bridge the two poles—ancient wisdom traditions, especially Buddhism, and modern Cognitive Psychology. But the bridge is notably constituted by a cross-cultural philosophy and critical reflection. Mindfulness is, according to Buddhist traditions, the mental factor that allows contemplation to flourish in association with other elements such as clear intention, carefulness, attentiveness, meta-awareness, etc. We examine how this faculty, or mental factor of mindfulness, has been cultivated according to different exercises or techniques, and then ultimately weaved into ways of life. This leads to inquiry into the possible ways to live more responsible, caring, and sustainable ways of life, imbued with a sense of peace and contentment that is very different from the frantic excitement and fleeting rewards of a society all too focused on consumption. Based upon mindfulness, contemplation may lead to rediscovering other ways of being, of attending to, and caring for, and the simple joy of living or joie de vivre.
Contemplation is very much at the center of my own research, especially in association with the concept of mindfulness. And in Western traditions, especially with Aristotle, contemplation is defined as the highest activity of humanity. It’s very connected to how we live, in search of the good life, because, in a sense, it consists in living according to what in us is the best. Contemplation is analyzed by Aristotle as an activity, and that of the intellect. But the intellect in those ancient times was not limited to analytical discourse, even if it was very important indeed. In its pinnacle, so to speak, it was rather an intellectual intuition. That’s much closer to what we find in Buddhism with the notion of wisdom, or in Sanskrit, prajñā. In Buddhism, contemplation is very connected, of course, with meditation, but it leads to a discernment, to an insight. Contemplation, or in Greek theoria—this activity of seeing, of pure knowing—doesn’t have to be separated from how we live. Actually, it can become integrated. In terms of my research, we try to dig into those ancient traditions, trying to make sense of them through a philosophical reflection, and then in dialogue with psychologists, envisioning ideas and techniques that could be relevant to modern life, in a way that is appropriate, common-sensical, and context-sensitive.
We try to dig into those ancient traditions … envisioning ideas and techniques that could be relevant to modern life, in a way that is appropriate, common-sensical, and context-sensitive.
JCS: That’s really amazing work. That tree picture is so great because this work through the tree is taking us through that trunk and then out to the different branches—and the fruits then can kind of come to us. It’s incredible work to translate and redigest those ancient traditions and make them really tangible and useful for us today. Since that’s what you’re doing now, what excites you about the future either for your own work or for what you’re seeing out there in Contemplative Studies right now?
MHD: At many levels, we’re living in a time of crisis. We may really be considering the possibility of the very survival of humanity, if we think about climate change, the environmental crisis, or the possibility of self-destruction. Facing the crisis can be very worrisome. But what we see today is also this extraordinary integration of the ancient wisdom and modern science of mindful contemplation. On one hand, we see this major threat to the very survival of humanity, and, on the other hand, this globalization has also brought all those elements into dialogue. A very firm, sound, and profound knowledge of Asian traditions like Buddhism, of contemplative traditions, has really taken roots in the West. Contemplative techniques—meditation techniques and mindfulness skills—are also being very well researched in science, medicine, and Psychology. And today, I think that we have reached the point that all those different advances can be brought together.
This is indeed here the case at Kyoto University, in Kyoto, the heart of Japanese traditional culture and its arts of contemplation, of contemplative living. We have these extraordinary traditions that are still alive, still being cultivated, and also we have advanced sciences that can further elucidate them. That’s what really excites me a lot in Kyoto University. We are now able to collaborate together with people from different cultures, from different fields, in order to provide integrative programs.
With my background in Buddhist Studies, I’ve been also collaborating for several years now with the University of Oxford on Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). In order to continue to improve such an intervention and also to investigate many of those ancient elements of wisdom or contemplative traditions, we are reaching a very sophisticated pedagogy that is meeting the needs of students or participants who are responding very positively. Some of these resources are very supportive to flourish as a young adult, to study well, and to make important decisions for one’s future. We can provide programs that are well adapted and suitable, relevant and safe. When I discovered Buddhist meditation at the age of 18, in France, there were still a lot of misunderstandings concerning such Asian traditions. This misconception could be potentially harmful in terms of mental health. And there could be, as part of the Western interest in them, an attraction for exoticism, and in correlation, some tendency of experiential avoidance, the latter being the very root of psychological distress, as it is now well conceptualized in evidence-based mindfulness programs. But today, I feel that these pitfalls may be better overcome, and mindfulness programs can be well adapted to the workplace and education.
JCS: That’s all really exciting work. I’m really curious to see where this all goes for you. So our final question, then: What have you been reading as you’re going through this journey? What are some of your favorite books that you would recommend?
What we see today is also this extraordinary integration of the ancient wisdom and modern science of mindful contemplation.
MHD: Based on those three elements, I will recommend two books in Asian Studies, two books in Philosophy, and one book in Cognitive Psychology. For Tibetan Studies, I may recommend the translation of Jigme Lingpa’s Treasury of Precious Qualities by Padmakara (in two volumes) that goes from the foundations of Buddhism to the summit of contemplation in Dzogchen. For Japanese Studies, I would recommend Marc Peter Keane’s Japanese Garden Design, an excellent historical overview that offers a clear synthesis of the various cultural influences that have merged into this unique contemplative art. For Philosophy, I may recommend Pierre Hadot’s celebrated book, What Is Ancient Philosophy?, which articulates the concept of philosophy as a way of life, contemplation being at its center. Another book by Pierre Hadot is The Veil of Isis: An Essay on the History of the Idea of Nature. Those two books are very related. It is hard to rediscover the notion of contemplation without considering its symbiotic relationship with the larger environment. By seeing nature only with a utilitarian perspective, human beings do lose a sense of ease of being, and become a threat to themselves and to other forms of life. My final recommendation is Christina Feldman and William Kuyken’s Mindfulness: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Psychology. This integration that we have been talking about is masterfully envisioned in this book.
JCS: That’s wonderful. There are a couple of books in there that I haven’t read, so I’m really looking forward to that. One more thing before we wrap up here—you mentioned a couple times philosophy as a way of life, and before the interview you mentioned thinking about contemplation as this continual process throughout our life, not just in these kinds of particular moments. I wonder if you can just talk a little bit more about that.
MHD: Yes, of course, thanks a lot. Contemplation, and especially mindfulness, is the very antidote to distractibility, arguably a tendency of the human mind that is being exacerbated in our digital or AI age. But distraction is not only a problem of unstable attention. Because when we are distracted, we are being narrow-minded, and that narrow-mindedness prevents us from recognizing that we are being distracted, thus maintaining our attention being carried away! We have a sort of tunnel vision. But another way is possible. To illustrate it again in reference to Japanese culture, we can see that Japanese traditional architecture and garden design are inviting us to stabilize our attention and also to open our awareness, by coming back to our senses and enlarging our perspective. In recent research, this has also been shown to be very important. If we think about those two aspects, stabilizing attention and opening awareness, as being the two pillars of the mastery of attention, we can come to realize how to weave mindfulness into our ways of life.
In MBCT, this is theoretically summarized and practically operationalized with the so-called Three-Step Breathing Space. It’s a simple, short technique, that serves to blend mindfulness with daily life. The first step of this technique is to deliberately become aware of what’s going on in our lives, bringing a sense of care and acceptance, opening to our experience and recognizing it. Then it is possible to become more specifically aware of thoughts, emotions, and sensations in the body. The second step consists in stabilizing attention on a chosen anchor in the body, generally on the sensations of breathing, especially in the lower abdomen. This is very grounding. And from that narrower focus, the third step is then to re-expand awareness to include the whole sensations of the body breathing, and then eventually to open the eyes, open the senses to the whole field of experience. From this state of open awareness, one may then better respond to the calls for attention and care.
In Kyoto University, we present this exercise according to an eight-shape figure because it shows that we can, in our everyday life, flexibly move from a larger awareness to a more focused attention, depending on circumstances or needs, from working to resting.
The summit of contemplation, so to speak, may be here expressed as resting in pure awareness itself: beyond the sense of an effortful intentionality, relaxing in the open blue sky of awareness, so to speak. And from there, redeploying skillfully our attention to compassionately respond to various calls or challenges. This model invites us to continuously stay with the flow of mindfulness in our lives, alternating a more deliberate focus with a larger sense of relaxed wakefulness, so not to lose touch with what’s in us is the best, for the sake of others as well.
JCS: That’s all really well put—piecing apart the different kinds of contemplation and how they can flow together, and the intentionality behind that as well. Well, you’ve given me so much to think about! Thanks so much for sitting down with us.
MHD: Thank you, it was a pleasure to discuss with you.
