In this episode I am once again joined by Dr Evan Thompson: Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, an Associate Member of the Department of Asian Studies and the Department of Psychology, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Dr Thompson discusses his 2014 book ‘Waking, Dreaming, Being’ and takes a deep dive into the self from the point of view of the world’s contemplative traditions as well as neuroscience and philosophy of mind.

Dr Thompson shares his life-long fasciation with the way in which consciousness and the sense of self change across different phases of the wake-sleep cycle, and challenges claims that insight into the self is a means to eliminate suffering and attain enlightenment.

Dr Thompson reveals his own deep practice of meditation, lucid dreaming, Tai Chi and Chinese energy arts, and explains how he, as both a trained skeptical philosopher and as a dedicated practitioner, approaches the religious framing of practice and related concepts such as ‘chi’ and ‘enlightenment’.

Dr Thompson also answers Youtube comments about our previous interview, including a clarification of his critique of Buddhist exceptionalism and a response to Buddhists who feel his work threatens their religious affiliation.

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Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep193-waking-dreaming-being-dr-evan-thompson

Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.

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Topics include:

00:00 - Intro

01:30 - Answering Youtube comments

02:14 - ‘Why I Am Not A Buddhist’ and Bertrand Russel

04:59 - What would Bertrand Russel target today?

06:18 - The non-aligned mystic

08:15 - Does Evan meditate?

10:13 - Evan’s extensive daily qigong and tai chi practice

11:55 - Retreat practice and states of high concentration

13:00 - Why does Evan practice so diligently?

13:15 - How does Evan think about ‘chi’?

17:35 - Traps in understanding of chi

18:24 - Why does Evan still meditate if he is not a Buddhist?

20:11 - Evan’s critiques of the doctrinal framing of practices

22:25 - Response to Buddhists who are threatened by Evan’s work

25:43 - Waking, Dreaming, Being

27:28 - Fascination with how consciousness alters across the sleep-wake cycle

28:11 - Evan reflects on ‘Waking, Dreaming, Being’

29:58 - How Evan’s views on practice have evolved

31:12 - The sense of self and the experience of consciousness

32:20 - Awareness, contents of awareness, and sense of self

34:21 - Self construction in imagination, memory, and lucid dreaming

37:03 - 1st person vs 3rd person memory

38:23 - View/field dreams vs outside dreams

39:11 - The self experience in lucid dreaming and OBE’s

41:12 - Evan’s lucid dreaming practice

42:38 - Meeting the Dalai Lama and beginning to lucid dream

44:50 - The curriculum of lucid dreaming in Tibetan Buddhism

46:09 - Meditating in the dream state and Alan Wallace’s advice

48:37 - Walking through walls and transforming the dream

49:39 - Evan’s powerful tai chi dreams

50:06 - Variation in lucid dreaming talent

51:07 - What constitutes the sense of self?

52:51 - How does the self complex arise?

54:56 - Metacognition

55:33 - Mindfulness rides on social cognitive capacities

56:40 - Self understanding and claims of liberation

59:10 - The value of the Buddhist view of self

01:01:54 - The claim that insight into self reduces suffering is naive

01:04:12 - How to make the world a better place

01:04:49 - Social is crucial

01:05:57 - Hermit is a social category

01:06:31 - Recognising the value of meditation in a social context

01:09:27 - Vasubandu vs Candrakirti and Metzinger vs Thompson

01:12:32 - Evan’s upcoming projects

01:14:22 - Dying, our ultimate transformation

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Previous episode with Evan Thompson:

- www.guruviking.com/podcast/158-why-i-am-not-a-buddhist-evan-thompson

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To find out more about Evan Thompson, visit:

- https://evanthompson.me/

For more interviews, videos, and more visit:

- www.guruviking.com

Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James