This talk explores a central challenge in contemplative sciences - the roles of so-called "contexts" in contemplation and the possibility of consilience between the humanities and sciences in contemplative research. It will focus on a specific contemplative tradition, namely Tibetan Buddhist practices, to address this in a deeply contextual manner. This is particularly appropriate given that it constitutes one of the world's most diverse contemplative traditions, as well as the subject of considerable scientific investigation and scholarly analysis. In its discourses and practices of emptiness and interdependent origination, Buddhism explores the way each thing in the world has constitutive threads trailing off into impossible complexities. Contemplation is no exception, with endless numbers of constitutive "contexts" for each practice and experience that far escape our scope of understanding. Given the central and constitutive character of contexts, it raises questions about our too quick decisions about what is core and context in contemplative research. The talk will explore twelve different contexts - which are often prescribed in detail in traditional literature - and argue that scientists and practitioners alike tend to take contemplation out of such "contexts", and thus make assumptions that throw our subsequent conclusions into question in the process.

David Germano, PhD, teaches and researches Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia. He is the director of UVa's Contemplative Sciences Center (www.uvacontemplation.org); as well as the Tibetan and Himalayan Library (www.thlib.org), Tibet Center (www.uvatibetcenter.org), and SHANTI (Sciences, Humanities and the Arts Network of Technological Initiatives, www.shanti.virginia.edu). His personal research focuses on tantric, philosophical, and contemplative traditions in Tibet. He has lived for many years in Tibetan communities in Asia, in the context of which he has also worked extensively on programs of scholarly engagement, community service, and participatory knowledge initiatives. He has extensive experience with the development of digital technology for use in the humanities and education. He is currently focused on the exploration of contemplative ideas, values, and practices involving blended humanistic and scientific methodologies as well as new applications in diverse fields.