Mindful life or mindful lives? : exploring why the Buddhist belief in rebirth should be taken seriously by mindfulness practitioners
This thesis will explore whether those interested in Buddhist practices such as mindfulness but who approach such practices from a broadly secular perspective can be offered reasons to take rebirth seriously as an afterlife possibility. It will begin by exploring some of the history of mindfulness and its adoption from Buddhism to show how foundational cosmological elements such as rebirth have been side-lined as part of a wider movement to bring Buddhism in line with modernist, particularly scientific, discourses. The thesis will investigate the philosophical principles behind the Buddhist multi-life perspective in order to see whether arguments could be rallied in defence of it. This will involve focussing specifically on the argument in defence of rebirth offered by DharmakiÌrti and show how its premises draw from philosophical principles adopted by the earliest Buddhist philosophical systems. DharmakiÌrtiâs argument will be examined within the context of contemporary philosophy of consciousness where philosophers such as Evan Thompson and Galen Strawson have challenged the view that consciousness could arise from entirely unconscious factors. This challenge aligns with a key premise of DharmakiÌrtiâs
Lucas, J.
Buddhism ; Rebirth ; Mindfulness ; Phenomenal Consciousness ; Philosophy of Mind
Mindful life or mindful lives? : exploring why the Buddhist belief in rebirth should be taken seriously by mindfulness practitioners. This thesis will explore whether those interested in Buddhist practices such as mindfulness but who approach such practices from a broadly secular perspective can be offered reasons to take rebirth seriously as an afterlife possibility. It will begin by exploring some of the history of mindfulness and its adoption from Buddhism to show how foundational cosmological elements such as rebirth have been side-lined as part of a wider movement to bring Buddhism in line with modernist, particularly scientific, discourses. The thesis will investigate the philosophical principles behind the Buddhist multi-life perspective in order to see whether arguments could be rallied in defence of it. This will involve focussing specifically on the argument in defence of rebirth offered by DharmakiÌrti and show how its premises draw from philosophical principles adopted by the earliest Buddhist philosophical systems. DharmakiÌrtiâs argument will be examined within the context of contemporary philosophy of consciousness where philosophers such as Evan Thompson and Galen Strawson have challenged the view that consciousness could arise from entirely unconscious factors. This challenge aligns with a key premise of DharmakiÌrtiâs
mindful life mindful life exploring buddhist belief rebirth take_seriously practitioner explore_whether interested buddhist practice practice broadly secular perspective offer reason take rebirth seriously afterlife possibility begin explore history adoption buddhism show foundational cosmological element rebirth side part_wider movement bring buddhism line modernist particularly scientific_discourse investigate philosophical_principle behind buddhist multi life perspective order see_whether argument could defence involve focus_specifically argument defence rebirth offer show premise draw philosophical_principle adopt early_buddhist philosophical_system argument examine within_context contemporary_philosophy consciousness philosopher galen challenge_view consciousness could arise entirely unconscious factor challenge key premise