Shamil Chandaria - The Bayesian Brain and Meditation - Summary
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Below is my summary of the video ‘The Bayesian Brain and Meditation’ by Shamil Chandaria.
The real title is in the subtitle: A predictive processing account of radical changes in the character of phenomenal experience. Experiences of awakening, enlightenment, liberation.
When we perceive something we have to infer what is going on, we act as scientists or statisticians.
“if … the self-model of a conscious system would become fully opaque, then the phenomenal target property of experiential ‘selfhood’ would disappear” (Metzinger)
Attention: increased precision weighting on object of meditation
Increased skill at attention – training effect
Increased skill at meta-awareness / meta-cognition: where is the attention? Am I mind wandering?
Decreased precision on other objects, higher level priors, sense of self. Decrease in the phenomenology of ‘monkey mind’. Quieting of the mind. Calming. More Peace.
Deep Non-dual absorption state - Minimal Phenomenal Awareness (MPE): (9, 9, 9)
Non-dual meditation with phenomena arising: (4, 1, 8)
The 8 Jhanas also go up in y, x and z:
Energy, physical pleasure, rapture
Joy, mental pleasure, energy
Serene contentedness, quiet, peace
Deep peace, stillness
Infinite space, boundless body map
Infinite consciousness
Infinite nothingness, void
Neither perception nor non-perception
After Deconstructing Yourself, Reconstructing Yourself
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Through meditation and other practices (including psychedelics) the strength / weight of higher level priors, beliefs, models, assumptions or attitudes are attenuated
At this stage these higher level priors are more amenable to be changed (reprogramming mode)
New priors and beliefs may more easily be formed (update operating system)
Loving kindness meditation can be seen as a constructive practice to re-weight priors
Skillful fabrication, Yidam practice and Soulmaking