ABSTRACT:
Psychedelic-based experiences are characterized by powerful autonomous sensory experiences that unfold outside of either one’s internal intentions or the external stimulation of specific sensory objects. The Great Perfection (dzokchen) tradition of Tibetan Buddhism offers a variety of meditative practices focused on eliciting precisely such self-emergent experiences as part of a contemplative pathway aiming at transformative insight into the nature of self and reality. Its central practice of “direct transcendence” (thogel) involves sustained gazing to the side of the sun, at an empty sky, or in pitch black darkness to elicit self-emergent visions of colors, shapes, and patterns that gradually become mandalas of Buddhas. However, there are also a variety of other framing meditations that involve all five senses and focus on such self-emergent sensory experiences. These practices are then embedded within, and transformed by, a larger contemplative path and powerful philosophical system. I will explore the nature of these meditations in the hope of contributing to discussions of how best to practice psychedelics, how to interact with and respond to such self-emergent experiences, and how to develop broader theoretical frameworks for understanding their significance. In addition, the tradition in its early form draws extensively upon the sensory experience of material substances, including, in at least one important instance, hallucinatory substances.

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David Germano is Professor of Tibetan Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia, where he has led many centers and projects over the years in software development, entrepreneurship, cultural documentation, media production, student flourishing, educational reform, and contemplative sciences. He has a deep expertise in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and meditation and in the tantric and Great Perfection (dzokchen) traditions in particular. Since 2011, he has drawn upon that expertise to extensively support the creation and application of new forms of contemplative practice, environments, and applications in education, architecture, entrepreneurship, engineering, and many other contexts. He founded the Contemplative Sciences Center at UVA in 2012 and currently directs the Generative Contemplation initiative, which brings together scholars, lineage holders, meditation teachers, and designers to explore the past and future of contemplation through an innovative blend of humanistic scholarship, scientific research, and creative design.