Alan Wallace

B. Alan Wallace (born 1950) is an American author, translator, teacher, researcher, interpreter, and Buddhist practitioner interested in the intersections of consciousness studies and scientific disciplines such as psychology,

cognitive neuroscience, and physics. He endeavors to chart relationships and commonalities between Eastern and Western scientific, philosophical, and contemplative modes of inquiry.

Since 1976, Wallace has taught Buddhism, philosophy, and meditation in Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Australia. Wallace grew up in America and Switzerland but left college after three years to study Buddhism in India. He has

served as interpreter for many Buddhist contemplatives and scholars, including the Dalai Lama. He is a prolific author of numerous books and essays and has translated dozens of Sanskrit and Tibetan texts into English. Wallace has a bachelor's degree in physics and philosophy of science from Amherst College and a Ph.D. in religious studies from Stanford. He also founded and is President of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies.

In 2010 Wallace became the Director and Chairman of the Thanyapura Mind Centre, Phuket, Thailand, which provides a blend of contemporary psychology and neuroscience alongside ancient Asian contemplative practices. He is currently leading

two 8-week, residential, intensive meditation retreats there each year. In addition, together with Paul Ekman and Eve Ekman he is leading a 5-week course to train instructors in "Cultivating Emotional Balance," a 42-hour program developed by Dr. Wallace and Dr. Ekman, which was scientifically studied at the University of California, San Francisco. All these retreats and courses are organized in collaboration with the Santa Barbara Institute.

Biography

Alan Wallace was born in Pasadena, California, in 1950, the son of Protestant theologian David H. Wallace, and was raised in the United States, Scotland, and Switzerland. Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies

In 2003, B. Alan Wallace founded the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies as a not-for-profit institution with the interest of furthering our understanding of the nature, origins, and role of consciousness. He proposes that

the nature of consciousness can most deeply be studied from a first-person perspective, and not be limited to the third-person methodologies of psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Optimally, the first-person methods of the

contemplative traditions of the world, such as Buddhism, may be integrated with the objective methods of science to create a new discipline of "contemplative science." Influences on his thinking and research derive not only from Buddhism

and contemporary physics and neuroscience, but also William James, the pioneering American psychologist and philosopher whom he often refers to as one of his "intellectual heroes."

Wallace's beliefs on consciousness have not gained acceptance within the scientific community. Steven Novella, a clinical neurologist, performed an analysis of Wallace's position and concluded there is no evidence for his claims,

I find Wallace’s position similar to the famous “kettle defense” – he seems to be marshaling whatever arguments he thinks he can use to defend his beliefs, but he is not articulating a coherent position. The reason is clear enough –

he is making the classic mistake of starting with a desired conclusion (merging Buddhist mysticism with modern science) and then working backwards. To achieve these ends he tries but fails to make scientific arguments for dualism and he simultaneously tries to fudge the rules of science to sneak in mysticism as evidence to support his side.

Also he utterly mangles quantum mechanics theory in an attempt to argue that – science says the world is weird, and my beliefs are weird, therefore science supports my views. The logic of this argument fails, but it doesn’t matter

because the premise if wrong – quantum weirdness disappears at the macroscopic level. In the end Wallace does no better than anyone who tries to subvert science to support any ideology. —Steven Novella,

Writings Published Books

• Minding Closely: The Four Applications of Mindfulness.
• Stilling the Mind: Shamatha Teachings from Dudjom Lingpa’s Vajra Essence,
• Meditations of a Buddhist Skeptic: A Manifesto for the Mind Sciences and Contemplative Practice,
• Mind in the Balance: Meditation in Science, Buddhism, and Christianity.
• Embracing Mind: The Common Ground of Science and Spirituality, co-authored with Brian Hodel.
• Hidden Dimensions: The Unification of Physics and Consciousness.
• Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge.
• The Attention Revolution: Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind.
• Genuine Happiness: Meditation as the Path to Fulfillment.
• Buddhism and Science: Breaking New Ground (Ed.).
• Buddhism with an Attitude: The Tibetan Seven-Point Mind-Training.
• The Taboo of Subjectivity: Toward a New Science of Consciousness.
• Boundless Heart: The Four Immeasurables.
• The Bridge of Quiescence: Experiencing Tibetan Buddhist Meditation.
• Tibetan Buddhism From the Ground Up.
• A Passage from Solitude: A Modern Commentary on Tibetan Buddhist Mind Training.
• Choosing Reality: A Contemplative View of Physics and the Mind.

Published Translations

• The Vajra Essence: From the Matrix of Primordial Consciousness and Pure Appearances: A Tantra on the Self-arisen Nature of Existence by Düdjom Lingpa (Mirror of Wisdom Publications, 2004).
• Healing from the Source: The Science and Lore of Tibetan Medicine by Dr. Yeshi Dhonden (2000).
• Naked Awareness: Practical Teachings on the Union of Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen by Karma Chagmé, with commentary by Gyatrul Rinpoche (Snow Lion Publications, 2000).
• Transcending Time: The Kālacakra Six-Session Guruyoga by Gen Lamrimpa (Wisdom Publications, 1999).
• Realizing Emptiness: The Madhyamaka Cultivation of Insight by Gen Lamrimpa (Snow Lion Publications, 1999).
• A Spacious Path to Freedom: Practical Instructions on the Union of Mahāmudrā and Atiyoga by Karma Chagmé, with commentary by Gyatrul Rinpoche (Snow Lion Publications, 1998).
• Natural Liberation: Padmasambhava’s Teachings on the Six Bardos by Padmasambhava, with commentary by Gyatrul Rinpoche (Wisdom Publications, 1998).
• A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life: A translation from the Sanskrit and Tibetan of Ṥāntideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra by Ṥāntideva, co-translated with Vesna A. Wallace (Snow Lion Publications, 1997).
• Ancient Wisdom: Nyingma Teachings of Dream Yoga, Meditation and Transformation, by Gyatrul Rinpoche. Co-translated with Sangye Khandro (Snow Lion Publications, 1993).
• Shamatha Meditation: Tibetan Buddhist Teachings on Cultivating Meditative Quiescence by Gen Lamrimpa (Snow Lion Publications, 1992).
• Transcendent Wisdom: A Commentary on the Ninth Chapter of Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life by the Dalai Lama (Snow Lion Publications, 1988).
• The Kalachakra Tantra by Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey (Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 1986).
• The Life and Teachings of Geshé Rabten by Geshé Rabten (George Allen & Unwin, 1980).
• Waterdrop from the Glorious Sea: A History of the Sakya Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism by Sherab Gyaltsen Amipa (Tibet Institute, 1976).
• The Ambrosia Heart Tantra: A Classic Treatise on Tibetan Medicine, Annotated by Dr. Yeshi Dhonden (Library of Tibetan Works & Archives, 1976).

Essays

B. Alan Wallace has written dozens of published essays in the fields of philosophy, psychology, physics, and Buddhism. Electronic copies of his essays are available from his website.

Selected Essays:

• "Vacuum States of Consciousness: A Tibetan Buddhist View." In Buddhist Thought and Applied Psychology: Transcending the Boundaries. D.K. Nauriyal, ed. London: Routledge-Curzon, 2006, pp. 112–121.
• "Awakening to the Dream" Tricycle, Winter 2006, pp. 52–57.
• "Religion and Reason: Letter to a Christian Nation Reviewed." Shambhala Sun, November 2006, pp. 99–100.
• "Mental Balance and Well-Being: Building Bridges Between Buddhism and Western Psychology." American Psychologist, October 2006.
• "Immaterial Evidence." Tricycle, Spring 2006. pp. 84–86.
• "Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being." Co-author with Paul Ekman, Richard Davidson, and Matthieu Ricard. Current Directions in Psychology, 2005, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 59–63.
• "The Intersubjective Worlds of Science and Religion." Science, Religion, and the Human Experience. James Proctor, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
• "A Science of Consciousness: Buddhism (1), the Modern West (0) The Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, 2003.
• "The Spectrum of Buddhist Practice in the West." Westward Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Asia, Charles Prebish & Martin Baumann (eds.). Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.
• "Tibetan Buddhism in the West: Is It Working?" Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Summer 2001, pp. 54–63.
• "Intersubjectivity in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism." Journal of Consciousness Studies, 8, No. 5-7, 2001, pp. 209–30.
• "Afterword: Buddhist Reflections," concluding essay for Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Brainscience and Buddhism. With Zara Houshmand and Robert Livingston. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 1999.
• "The Dialectic Between Religious Belief and Contemplative Knowledge in Tibetan Buddhism." Buddhist Theology: Critical Reflections of Contemporary Buddhist Scholars, John Makransky & Roger Jackson, eds., pp. 203–214. London: Curzon Press. 1999.
• "The Buddhist Tradition of Samatha: Methods for Refining and Examining Consciousness." Journal of Consciousness Studies, 6, No. 2-3, 1999. pp. 175–187.

Other Projects

• Consultant for The Mechanisms of Meditation Project, with Charles Raison as the Principal Investigator, co-sponsored by Emory University and the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies, 2007 – present.
• Consultant for the research project Cultivating Emotional Balance in the Classroom (CEBC), with Patricia Jennings as the Principal Investigator and Margaret Kemeny as Co-Principal Investigator, co-sponsored by San Francisco State University, the University of California, San Francisco, and the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies, 2005 – present.
• Consultant and meditation instructor for the Mindful Attention Training (MAT) for epilepsy, a research project to study the effectiveness of attentional training for reducing the frequency and intensity of epileptic seizures, directed by Dr. Jerome Pete Engel at the Reed Neurologic Research Center at UCLA, and Dr. Christoph Baumgartner at the Medical University of Vienna, 2005 - 2006.
• Consultant for the Mindful Awareness Project (MAP), involving research to develop meditative training for the prevention and treatment of ADHD, directed by Dr. Susan Smalley and her colleagues at the Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics at the UCLA School of Medicine, 2004–present.
• Co-principal investigator and Contemplative Director for the “Shamatha Project,” a longitudinal, scientific study of the effects of 3 months of attentional training on attentional and emotional balance, in collaboration with a team of cognitive scientists at the University of California, Davis; co-sponsored by the Santa Barbara Institute and the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain, the Department of Psychology, and the Imaging Research Center, 2003–present.
• Consultant and trainer for the “Cultivating Emotional Balance” (CEB) project, co-sponsored by the University of California, San Francisco and the Santa Barbara Institute, 2003–present.
• Consultant and interpreter for a research project on traditional Tibetan medical treatment for breast cancer, University of California at San Francisco and California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, 1995-8.
• Researcher in the project “Training the Mind” to conduct psychological and neuroscientific studies of attention and compassion among advanced Tibetan contemplatives in northern India 1990-1992.

Source

Wikipedia:Alan Wallace