a state of mind in which cognitive resources are voluntarily focused on specific aspects of the environment rather than on others, and the central nervous system is in a state of readiness to respond to stimuli (APA, 2024).
the cultivation of relaxation, mindfulness, and introspection to develop the stability and vividness of attention, where “stability” refers to the mind’s ability to remain focused on its chosen object of attention, and “vividness” refers to the precision with which the mind can apprehend details of its chosen object of attention.
Knowing the world of experience without omission, projection, or distortion.
The mental faculty or ability of purpose, desire, and volition (Wallace, 2019).
Refers to our desires, aspirations, values, and intentions. To a large extent, these aspirations determine the course of our lives. By developing conative intelligence, we learn how to make wise decisions that truly benefit ourselves and others (Wallace 2019).
Mental luminosity, by which all sensory and mental appearances are made manifest, and cognizance, by which all objects are known.
Contemplative education encompasses practices to heighten learners’ awareness of conative, ethical, cognitive, and attentional balance and their capacity for emotional regulation, spiritual equilibrium, and transcendence in daily life.
Teaching methods that incorporate academic rigor, experiential learning, and contemplative practice to deepen and cultivate awareness, concentration, discernment, and insight. It incorporates the principles of Eastern and Western scholarship to produce a learning experience beyond the mere transmission of knowledge. By integrating academic study with experiential learning and contemplative practice, it helps learners discover their authentic selves and develop the skills and insights they need to flourish in a rapidly changing world.
A discipline of first-person, subjective inquiry into the nature of the mind and its role in Nature, which utilizes methods for developing refined attention, mindfulness, and introspection to directly observe states of consciousness and mental functions in their relationship with the body and the physical world at large.
A type of result in evidence synthesis in which different kinds of empirical methods yield evidence that supports the same hypothesis. For example, complementing EEG studies with highly trained contemplatives’ first-person reports allows for greater convergence of evidence because two disparate empirical methods — EEG and introspection — can be used to provide evidence about mental phenomena.
Emotional balance entails appropriate emotional responses via emotional awareness of oneself and others and that arise from conative, ethical, attentional, and cognitive balance.
Conscious mental responses that are subjectively experienced as intense feelings, often directed towards a specific object or event, and typically accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in the body (Wallace, 2024).
The practice of relying on observation and experiment, especially in the natural sciences, as opposed to the practice of reaching conclusions by way of applying a pre-existing system, formula, or belief system.
A theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes among valid modes of knowing, justified belief, and opinion.
A stimulus-independent sense of psychological flourishing that emerges directly from the prevalence of conducive mental processes and impulses (Wallace, 2005). It is a quality of well-being that comes not from what we get from the world (like hedonia) but what we bring to the world (Wallace, 2019).
Exploration of the deep parallels between theory and practice in contemplative traditions. This exploration involves first-person, subjective knowledge and second-person approaches (e.g. evaluation by teachers). It analyzes the contemplative experience from an intersubjective viewpoint to reveal universal aspects of the human experience and the truth they represent.
is a qualitative research methodology in Psychology that explores how individuals make sense of their experiences.
Accessible to or capable of being established for two or more knowing subjects.
A reflective looking inward upon one’s own body, speech, and mind, with a special emphasis on observing mental states and processes. The ability to monitor the quality of the attention, swiftly recognizing whether it has succumbed to dullness, loss of attention, distraction, loss of clarity, etc (Wallace, 2019)
A research design involving repeated observations of the same variables (e.g. people) over short or long periods of time.
Mental processes that disrupt the equilibrium of the mind, and that entail a distortion of reality.
a mental faculty — distinct from the five senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell — that allows us not only to experience mental phenomena such as thoughts, dreams, and mental imagery but also to metacognitively access the sensory experiences that arise in dependence upon the five senses.
A research facility that studies mental phenomena, states of consciousness, and the origin and potentials of consciousness through direct, first-person observation by contemplatives. It is a place where contemplatives have few distractions and few other concerns and can dedicate themselves single-pointedly to cultivating refined states of attentional focus, applying introspection to explore the very nature of consciousness. This research requires professionally trained contemplatives, just as conventional scientists require years of study. In Mind Labs, professional contemplatives work alongside psychologists, neuroscientists, and other mind scientists to combine contemplative first-person (subjective) and second-person (intersubjective) methods with modern science’s third-person methods.
the branches of science — including psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience, and neurology — that investigate mental phenomena such as consciousness, learning, memory, and sleep, as well as other phenomena that entail subjective, phenomenal experience, and how they relate to the brain and behavior.
the faculty of sustaining voluntary attention continuously upon a familiar object, without forgetfulness or distraction.
A scientific research program aimed at addressing the hard problem of consciousness in a pragmatic way. It combines neuroscience with phenomenology in order to study experience, mind, and consciousness with an emphasis on the embodied condition of the human mind.
A branch of physiology and neuroscience concerned with the study of the functioning of the nervous system.
expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived without distortion by personal feelings, prejudices, or interpretations. The “third-person” view that enables assertions to be publicly validated or refuted.
The study of structures of consciousness as experienced from the first-person point of view. The central structure of an experience is understood to be its intentionality, its being directed toward something, as it is an experience of or about some object. (Stanford)
A philosophical approach introduced by William James, the father of American Psychology. It refers to an open-minded investigation of the entirety of human experiences. Its essential feature is that, within the domain of science, it admits as inaccessible any claims that lie outside of the range of human knowledge. At the same time, it forbids the exclusion of any phenomena within the range of human experience, including the experience of consciousness itself in all its varied manifestations.
A quality of well-being that carries one through all the vicissitudes of life and death and which derives from knowing ourselves and our relation to reality as it is — liberation through insight.
refers to any sense of well-being, happiness, or joy we experience in response to pleasant stimulation. It can be positive (like basic food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and education), neutral, or negative (Schadenfreude) (Wallace, 2019). See also eudaimonia.
arising out of or identified by means of one’s perception of one’s own mental and sensory states and processes. The “first-person” view.
an ability to be consistently kind and compassionate, equally for all, while cultivating empathetic joy or a deliberate choice to venture out with attentiveness to discover happiness and delight in the goodness of the world.
