Psyche Online by AEON and M3CS Contemplation Series

A series of articles and discussions on contemplation produced by the Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies (M3CS), in conjunction with Psyche Online by AEON. This special series is authored by M3CS members Jakob Hohwy, Kevin Berryman, Jennifer Windt, and Monima Chadha.

Personal transformation can start with a whisper, not a bang

We tend to think of major personal transformations as big, loud and sudden. We imagine an explosion of fireworks or, conversely, an earthquake that brings everything crashing down. But personal transformations don’t always follow a ‘bang’. Sometimes they build from a whisper. Article by Dr Jennifer Windts in Psyche Online.

Your consciousness has been completely transformed. Now what?

What if our awakening experiences – those temporary but powerful moments of insight, clarity, acceptance and self-transcendence – are not directing us toward permanent states of happiness, oneness and freedom? Article by Kevin Berryman in Psyche Online.

Here’s what to know about using meditation to be a better person

Meditating has long been thought to enhance morality. To many people in contemplative traditions, and now in the general population, this intuition holds strong. But the type of meditation matters. Article by Jakob Hohwy and Kevin Berryman in Psyche Online.

Transforming Consciousness - Discussion Panel

Does transforming our consciousness change how we experience the world?

To commemorate our launch of the Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies (M3CS), our Centre members Monima Chadha, Jennifer Windt, and Kevin Berryman held a panel discussion outlining different perspectives on what it means to transform our conscious experience. Their panel discussions spanned from considering meditative experiences to our nightly dreams and waking mind wandering, to integrating broader concepts beyond meditation from Wisdom Traditions. They discuss how these experiences can both deliberately and spontaneously transform our consciousness in a variety of ways. Their perspectives aim to give novel perspectives on how to understand and improve not only our own lives, but also positively impact those in the broader collective around us.

Watch the discussion that inspired the article series

Transforming Consciousness Speaker Topics and Bios

Kevin Berryman

Kevin Berryman is a PhD candidate in M3CS who’s research focuses on how different contemplative practices such as meditation impact how we morally engage in the world. He is also a Buddhist monastic of almost two decades.

Topic: Consciousness Transformed… Now what?

What is an ‘awakening experience’ in contemplative practice? And once we have these experiences, how do we now understand and integrate them? This presentation covers how we should understand and utilise awakening experiences so they not only benefit us subjectively, but also permeate outwards into the social environment.

Jennifer Windt

Jennifer Windt is a senior research fellow in philosophy at Monash University whose research lies at the intersection of philosophy and cognitive science. She seeks to understand what our minds do when left to their own devices, for example when we fall asleep and dream, or when our thoughts and attention wander away from ongoing tasks and activities in the here and now. Her current research on spontaneous experience in waking and sleep is funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award. Jennifer is the author of Dreaming (MIT, 2015), which received the 2018 William James Prize awarded by the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness. She is co-founder and editor-in-chief of the open access journal Philosophy and the Mind Sciences which is free of charge to authors and readers.

Topic: Transformation in our stream of consciousness, in wakefulness and sleep.

Our stream of consciousness is subject to constant change. Conscious experience changes in response to major life events and minor day-to-day and even moment-to-moment occurrences. We can alter our consciousness using psychedelic drugs or certain meditation techniques. Even when our minds are left to their own devices, as they are during sleep, our stream of consciousness is in constant flux. Strikingly, in sleep, our stream of consciousness itself can stop and restart, as we slip from dreaming into unconscious sleep and back again into consciousness. Spontaneous experiences, such as dreaming and waking mind wandering, show that transformation is not just a reaction to external events or the result of deliberate attempts at changing our minds, but part of the very fabric of our conscious mental lives.

Monima Chadha

Monima Chadha is Professor, Department of Philosophy and Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies, Monash University. Her research interests are in the self, consciousness and mind. She studies these topics from a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspective. Her current work on the Buddhist doctrine of no-self is funded by Australian Research Council Discovery Grants. She is the author for Selfless Minds forthcoming with the Oxford University Press.

Topic: Wise Transformation: Consciousness transforms passively and actively.

Active transformation of consciousness also known as contemplation or meditation in the various wisdom traditions is informed by the need to transform our individual psychologies in a way that enables us to engage with the world and each other in new ways. Contemplation is deeply informed by the worldviews and ethical frameworks that are fundamental to the wisdom traditions. Using the Buddhist tradition as an example, this presentation explains how various meditation practices informed by doctrines of selflessness, interdependence and impermanence foster a more compassionate engagement with each other and the world.