Host Michael Taft talks with neuroscientist and meditator Ruben Laukkonen about the phenomenology of the insight experience, how the sequence of deepening meditative practices maps onto the model of predictive processing in the human brain, the Eureka heuristic, what neuroscience can tell us about the deconstructive model of meditation, the science of cessations, and much more.
Ruben Laukkonen is a postdoctoral fellow at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and lecturer at Amsterdam University College. Ruben seeks to uncover an empirically grounded and experientially authentic understanding of meditation, insight, and non-duality. Using a combination of neuroimaging, machine learning, and phenomenology, he is investigating some of the rarest states of consciousness available to human beings. Ruben has an eclectic contemplative background, including traditions such as Zen, Advaita, and Theravada.
Learn more at https://rubenlaukkonen.com/
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This was a tremendous episode of the podcast Michael. Thank you deeply for deftly guiding an exploration of the work of this Ruben feller. I really twanged with the idea of the feeling of realization as a manifestation of an optimal moment of Bayesian pruning. Very nice.
This episode inspired me to do several Roll Play Inquiry classes bringing the ideas of Bayesian pruning and predictive processing into movement. They are both posted on my YouTube channel if anyone wants to dive down the rabbit hole in embodied practice… Loved it! Thank you Michael and Ruben.
Many thanks for a fascinating discussion