TALK: The Natural and the Supernatural in the Scientific Study of Meditation and the Cognitive Science of Religion
John D. Dunne (Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Thursday, February 18, 2016 / 4:00 PM
McCune Conference Room, 6020 HSSB

Over the last two decades, some of the most influential scientific studies of meditation have examined practices derived from Buddhism, and the success of these studies — as expressed in impact factors, citation rates, and grant funding — likely rests in part on their capacity to articulate “meditation” in a fashion that remains strictly naturalistic. During the same period, however, the cognitive science of religion (CSR) has routinely deployed the category of the “supernatural” as essential to anything that we can properly call “religion.” From the CSR perspective, one might conclude that the naturalistic rhetoric found in scientific studies simply reflects the ongoing modernist strategy of formulating a “scientific Buddhism” that is not a “religion.” While illuminating, this interpretation nevertheless leaves in place the highly problematic notion of the “supernatural” itself, especially as the marker of “religion.”  

This talk explores the aligned oppositions of natural/supernatural and science/religion within both the science of meditation and the Cognitive Science of Religion. Drawing on the critique offered long ago by Emile Durkheim, it shows how the rhetoric of both contexts remains largely blind to the modernist assumptions inherent in the concept of the “supernatural.”

Sponsored by the IHC’s Idee Levitan Endowment and the IHC series The Humanities and the Brain.

John Dunne: The Natural & Supernatural in Study of Meditation & Cognitive Science of Religion

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Doctor of Philosophy in religious studies about body-mind-relationship in Vajrayana Buddhism
Master of Arts in philosophy, applied ethics, religious studies;
DJ, producer, song writer
and Mother of a small angel:-)

Everything has began with a deep love for vibration and energy. Later in her teens she had the opportunity to sing and dance in public. 
In 2001 she started organizing audio live shows for the local radio station and techno underground parties around Jena. Most of the time she invited famous and local Musicians.

All DJ Mixes are available at mixcloud.com!!!
https://www.mixcloud.com/djanejuliakoenig/

At the sweet age of 16 her love for music and the urge to give expression to that love through the turntables began. Music is not only her profession but also her highest passion. As she herself says; "Music is unexpected energy released in pulses and it is the art and the role of a DJ's to bring this energy as aroused emotions in the audience, which manifests itself into an experience of the senses". 
As an House, Techhouse and Techno Djane she was able to perform her sets since 2002 in countless venues. These include BKI Hamburg, Butan Club Wuppertal, Kassablanca Jena, Lehmann Club Stuttgart, Morlox Berlin, Distillery Leipzig, Club Zooma Plauen, Redclub Cottbus, Ostfrieslandhalle Leer, gigs in London (GB), Rotterdam(NL); Lahore (PK) and many more.
In October 2010 Julia was named "DJ of the month" in one of the leading German magazine for electronic dance music, RaveLine. So she has developed her style to be cultivated TECHNO, DANCE and INDEPENDENT MUSIC. As 'DJ' she makes a brute mix of cinema techhouse, minimal and techno and as 'producer' she lays on warm spherical reggae, house, electro or d'n b beats. Julia is also a philosopher, song writer, moderator and scholar of religions 
In 2013 Julia finished her studies major in philosophy, specializing in theoretical, practical and Asian philosophy at the University of Jena. In her studies, she has among other things, devoted a great deal to the question of what is beautiful music in a philosophical sense. This knowledge has been applied jointly with various band projects in recent years to create new sounds. 
The last few years she has colaborated with several musicians to produce their collection of impressions on the world into music. She worked on tracks with her own written and sung texts.

John Dunne: The Natural & Supernatural in Study of Meditation & Cognitive Science of Religion

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