Qualitative Study on Awareness by Baumann Institute

I just got a message from Thittato:

"Hello Kenneth,

Just thought I wanted to let you know about this study if you're not already aware of it:

The Discovery of Awareness and its Impact - A Qualitative Study.

baumanninstitute.org/bi_study.php

It's probably one of the best, clearest and most comprehensive things I've read about the 'direct path'."

This is really good stuff! (I just started reading it, and I think it's sensational.) Thanks, Thittato!

Kenneth

This is a really remarkable piece of qualitative research. It's not the sort of thing that gets a lot of attention these days, where brain studies using fMRI's tend to dominate the academic waterfront and media coverage of meditation research. Here's a fine quote from the Executive Summary:

"While there was considerable diversity across respondents in terms of how they described their view and experiences, a number of consistent themes and patterns emerged. First, in general, participants defined awareness as that which knows or cognizes phenomena, the space within which phenomenal experiences and perceptions arise and subside. Some also described awareness as the recognition or felt sense of being or existence itself. While it was noted by many that awareness could not really be characterized owing to the fact that it is not exclusive of any phenomena or experience, a number of qualities of awareness were noted. These included: vital, intelligent, wide-open and unobstructed, indivisible, indestructible, spontaneously present, and incapable of being grasped."

Wow! I'm sitting at a coffee shop taking a break from working on my dissertation, which is part qualitative - and just checked out the study. It gives me a lot of ideas about where I can take my own research in the future. From all of us research geeks out there, thanks for posting it.

This was a lot of fun to read.

Con: Only 28 people surveyed. That isn't many. I know this isn't a quantitative study, so numbers aren't everything. Even still, larger samples , especially those that include individuals of diverse cultural backgrounds, tend to be viewed more seriously in the greater scientific community.

Pro: The population surveyed was experienced and intelligent. With this kind of study, the results depend on how well the sampled individuals are at using the particular instrument of inquiry. The results would probably be different if the population surveyed were not experienced in contemplative practices. It would be like asking a person who had never looked through a telescope to describe the Milky Way. The answer would be very different when compared to a description given by an Astronomer.

Overall good reading. Thanks for sharing

Jackson

Does anyone know who/what the Baumann Institute is? Connected with that Integral Institute south of San Francisco?

"Does anyone know who/what the Baumann Institute is?"

From the Baumann Institute website:

The Baumann Institute is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, educational and research corporation based in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 2009 by Peter Baumann, an original member of the legendary music group, Tangerine Dream, and founder of the Private Music record label.
The Institute was established to investigate the capacity of human beings to realize an abiding well-being that is not dependent upon circumstance or experience. Toward this end, it will focus its efforts and resources on the experiential and scientific investigation of the nature of awareness and its relationship to human health and well-being.
Core Activities
The activities of The Baumann Institute will be focused on four related areas:
1. Providing grants to and working collaboratively with scientists and teachers of awareness on topics of direct relevance to the Institute's mission
2. Conducting Institute-initiated research projects
3. Fostering collaboration and dialogue between teachers and scientists who are interested in exploring the impact that the discovery of awareness has upon human health and well-being
4. Convening private and public conferences in order to disseminate research findings and also stimulate interest in those topic areas of relevance to the Institute's mission.

Also from the website:

Collaborators:
Below is a list of teachers and scientists with whom we have either been in dialogue or whose work is of relevance to the Baumann Institute's mission.
Scientists:
Kaisa Puhakka - California Institute of Integral Studies
Richie Davidson - University of Wisconsin, Madison
Elissa Epel - University of California, San Francisco
Cassandra Vieten - Institute of Noetic Sciences
Cliff Saron - University of California, Davis
Amishi Jha - University of Pennsylvania
Zoran Josipovic - New York University
James Gross - Stanford University
Mark Leary - Duke University
Teachers
Richard Miller: www.nondual.org/
Adyashanti: www.adyashanti.org/
Candice O'Denver: www.greatfreedom.org/
Joe Sousa (Mokshananda): www.freewatersangha.org/
Loch Kelly: www.lochkelly.org/