The Potential of the Bi-Directional Gaze
A Call for Neuroscientific Research on the Simultaneous Activation of the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems through Tantric Practice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3248176 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jeffrey Lidke, Jeffrey S Lidke (Berry College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 11 |
| Pages | 132 |
| Publication date | 2016-11-14 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel7110132 |
| OpenAlex | W2554065296 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 17 |
This paper is a call for the development of a neuroscientific research protocol for the study of the impact of Tantric practice on the autonomic nervous system. Tantric texts like Abhinavagupta's Tantrāloka map out a complex meditative ritual system in which inward-gazing, apophatic, sense-denying contemplative practices are combined with outward-gazing, kataphatic sense-activating ritual practices. Abhinavagupta announces a culminating "bi-directional" state (pratimīlana-samādhi) as the highest natural state (sahaja-samādhi) in which the practitioner becomes a perfected yogi (siddhayogi). This state of maximized cognitive capacities, in which one's inward gaze and outward world-engagement are held in balance, appears to be one in which the anabolic metabolic processes of the parasympathetic nervous system and the catabolic metabolic processes of the sympathetic nervous systems are simultaneously activated and integrated. Akin to secularized mindfulness and compassion training protocols like Emory's CBCT, I propose the development of secularized "Tantric protocols" for the development of secular and tradition-specific methods for further exploring the potential of the human neurological system
Autonomic nervous system · Cognition · Cognitive science · Contemplation · Epistemology · Gaze · Mindfulness · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Secularization · Medicine · Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions · Neuroscience · Pain Mechanisms and Treatments · Philosophy · Psychology · Sleep and Wakefulness Research
Reinscribing the Goddess into the Culturally Relative Minutiae of Tantric Texts and Practices
Esoteric Physiology and Subtle Body Systems
Tantric Studies
Unbalanced Flows in the Subtle Body
Strange Bedfellows
When the Poison Is the Cure-Healing and Embodiment in Contemporary Śrīvidyā Tantra of the Lalitāmbikā Temple
The Relaxation Response
Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice
Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners
Tantric Visual Culture
Imagining Religion
Three Case Reports of the Metabolic and Electroencephalographic Changes during Advanced Buddhist Meditation Techniques
Terrifying Beauty
The Hermeneutics of Touch
Possible Selves, Body Schemas, and Sādhana
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,6 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2024 (9) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |