Philip Novak

The Dynamics of the Will in Buddhist and Christian Practice

The task of this paper is to suggest that the will-dynamics educed by Buddhist and Christian contemplative paths share fundamental structural similarities, a hypothesis which, if true, lends support to the notion of a psychologia perennis. The contemplative dimensions of Buddhism and Christianity, we will suggest, possess formally similar strategies for the attunement of the human will to its source in the Real, an attunement and dynamic balance in which both Buddhist and Christian contemplatives discover the salvation they seek. To help show common ground between Buddhist and Christian contemplative paths, both are discussed in relation to a tertium quid, namely, the tension

The Buddha and the computer: Meditation in an age of information.

Information overload is one of the factors behind current alarming statistics on stress. Meditation helps the body-mind resist the deleterious effects of the information onslaught. Though meditation is well known as a relaxation technique, its noetic value is often overlooked. Its benefits extend well beyond superficial soothing: it trains attention; it increases pattern recognition; and it reconnects us to the whole of our intelligence, enhancing coordination between its complementary poles. Meditation is a potent high-touch resource in a high-tech world.