EVA Alumni Talks: Dr. Terje Sparby - “First-Person Methods in Contemplative Science”

“First-Person Methods in Contemplative Science: Micro-phenomenology, Anthroposophy, and the Stages of Meditation”

One of our chief missions at Mind & Life Europe has been to actively support the cutting-edge research of scientists, scholars, and clinicians working in the interdisciplinary field of contemplative science, notably through the annual European Varela Awards (EVAs). Now, with the launch of the 'EVA Alumni Talks', we are excited to share some of the most fascinating findings from these research projects with a wider audience. In the inaugural season of this series, we will have the opportunity to hear from alumni whose projects explore a wide range of topics, all with a focus on contemplative approaches to the human mind: from the use of microphenomenology in Anthroposophic meditation, to an in-depth study of the experience of nightmares, to the effectiveness of yoga interventions for depression, to mindfulness-based social and emotional learning protocols in early childhood education. We’ll also hear how the EVA project has helped to shape the longer arc of these researchers’ careers, foster new interdisciplinary collaborations, and encourage novel methodological approaches. We hope you’ll join us for this new adventure, which will be an important step in creating a community to welcome the next generation of contemplative researchers.

In this talk Prof. Sparby described the unfolding of a research endeavor based on the idea of a first-person approach to contemplative science. He outlined a philosophical framework for this approach, show how it has been influenced by research on Anthroposophic meditation, and gave examples of how first-person methods can contribute to current research on meditation and contemplative development. The guiding idea and motivation behind this approach is that it is possible to involve oneself fully as a practitioner in the research one does. A meditator’s exploration of the process of awakening does not have to be separate from their scientific search for truth and their commitment to intellectual rigor. The research that he presented is based on previous work done as a visiting scholar at the Mind & Life Institute in the US and work supported by the European Varela Awards of Mind & Life Europe in 2014.

Terje Sparby, PhD is a philosopher and meditation researcher. His main areas of research are German idealism, consciousness, and phenomenological or first-person methods. He studied philosophy at the University of Oslo and received his PhD in philosophy at Heidelberg University in 2012. The topic was Hegel’s conception of the determinate negation. He has been a postdoc at Humboldt University and the Bender Institute of Neuroimaging. He has also been a visiting scholar at the Mind & Life Institute and collaborated with researchers part of Varieties of Contemplative Experience project. He did his habilitation at the Witten/Herdecke University, co-organises the First-Person Science of Consciousness conference. Currently, he is a professor of philosophy at the Steiner University College in Oslo. He is a member of IBAP (Integriertes Begleitstudium Spirituelle und Anthroposophische Psychologie) and the Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium, and collaborates with the The Meditation Research Group at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.